Keeping a month or two of extra food on hand is no longer something only a niche group of preppers does. Everyday moms like me now stash away a backup supply for those "just in case" moments. After nearly a decade of refining my own pantry, I've gathered plenty of wisdom to share with you. If you're hunting for fresh goals, give these a try.
- Don't let the chase for "perfect" stop you from having "good enough." You don't need freeze-dried items to build a solid pantry. Canned goods – lots of them! – work perfectly fine. Focus on stocking shelf-stable foods your family will actually eat, and keep it within your budget.
VIDEO: "Don't let perfection become the enemy of progress."
- Do your best to shield stored food from its biggest enemies. Heat, humidity, pests, oxygen, light, and time all speed up spoilage. Heat is the worst, so try to store the bulk of your food in the coolest spot in your home.
READ THIS to learn more about what harms stored food. Remember, these enemies also affect emergency kit supplies.
- Sample a few new food varieties from companies like Thrive Life, but start with the smallest packages you can for a taste test. With each purchase, check flavor, color, and try using the food in different recipes to see if it's a good fit. My family loves freeze-dried corn – we use it in chowders, stews, my Mexican rice recipe, and more. The more versatile a food is, the more value it offers.
NEW TO FOOD STORAGE? Read my advice for placing your first order with a food storage company here.
- Don't stock up on foods that vanish once the kids discover them! Early on, I loaded up on juice boxes and granola bars, only to find them mysteriously gone – just wrappers left behind. My kids thought, "Hey, Mom finally bought the good stuff and hid it from us!"
- Buy what you truly like and will use, and resist the urge to stockpile something just because it's super cheap on double coupon day. At one point I had about 15 bottles of salad dressing we never touched, and two years later they looked so disgusting I tossed them all.
- Keep your food storage areas free from pests. Sprinkle diatomaceous earth along the floorboards of your pantry – it's a non-toxic way to control bugs. I also set out small containers of cornmeal mixed with borax as a safe bug killer. Given enough time, a determined rodent can chew through a 5-gallon bucket's plastic, so watch for droppings.
- Focus on buying foods that work in multiple recipes rather than just-add-water meals. Those quick meals are fine for short-term emergencies, but you want a pantry full of healthy ingredients for real meals – a longer-term solution.
- Aim to collect 12 new recipes your family loves that use only shelf-stable ingredients. If your pantry is already well-balanced, you'll likely have most of the needed items on hand. With fresh recipes, you'll prevent food fatigue if you ever rely entirely on stored food.
- Start rotating your stored food if you haven't already. This means using the oldest items first and replacing them with new ones. If you keep food storage conditions – especially temperature – in check, your food stays fresh longer. But if anything is over 5 years old, start using and replacing it.
- Stock up on comfort foods. If your kids love macaroni and cheese, buy macaroni in bulk and repackage it for longer shelf life, or get it from a food storage company that has already removed oxygen and sealed it in a can. Buy cheese, butter, and milk powders, and you can make that mac-n-cheese years later without fresh ingredients! Chocolate chips, jelly beans, and other candies are also great comfort foods.
LEARN MORE: Use a vacuum sealer, like a Food Saver, to repackage foods such as nuts and chocolate. Here are my video instructions:
- Don't get lazy about repackaging food! Rule of thumb: if a food comes in cardboard or a flimsy plastic bag, it needs to be repackaged. I have full details in this article.
- Add a little something to your food storage every time you go to the store, even if it's just a single can of store-brand soup. It really adds up over time.
- There's more to life than food, so also include cleaning supplies (I buy lots of white vinegar, baking soda, and bleach) and toiletries. These categories are great for coupon shopping.
When you stock up on food, you're buying it at today's prices and planning for a time when those prices will rise. Food price inflation is sneaky – it's not always about the number on the price tag, but the package size and the ounces inside. When I compare cans of tuna I bought recently with older ones in my pantry, the older cans are noticeably bigger – yet the price is the same! Food price inflation is happening, but most people don't notice.
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