Please comment on my family's preps
 

I have a good deal of brown and white rice, still not sure if we can eat brown rice during a famine.

I have 20 cans of salmon, 20 cans of chicken, some fruits and vegetable cans. 8 big jars of peanut butter, 8 big jars of jelly.

I have a good amount of dried beans.

I have 100 pounds of organic white wheat berries

One case of whole egg powder from honeyville foods. 25 pounds of organic valley dry milk in a bag (worried about storage and how long this will last)


I really need to inventory these items to see the exact ounces I have.

I have ordered the following :

* 5 Honeyville Farms Freeze Dried Strawberry Slices 6 ounce #10 Can.
* 5 Honeyville Farms Freeze Dried Apple Cubes 8 ounce #10 Can.
* 5 Honeyville Farms Freeze Dried Raspberries 8 ounce #10 Can.
* 5 Honeyville Farms Freeze Dried Peaches 12 ounce #10 Can.
* 5 Honeyville Farms Freeze Dried Blueberries 14 ounce #10 Can.
* 5 Honeyville Farms Dehydrated Banana Chips 32 ounce #10 Can.

* 5 Honeyville Farms Freeze Dried Corn 20 ounce #10 Can.
* 5 Honeyville Farms Freeze Dried Peas 20 ounce #10 Can.
* 5 Honeyville Farms Dehydrated Carrots 24 ounce #10 Can.
* 5 Honeyville Farms Dehydrated Onions 28 ounce #10 Can.
* 5 Honeyville Farms Dehydrated Celery Slices 20 ounce #10 Can.
* 5 Honeyville Farms Instant Potato Flakes 24 ounce #10 Can.

Mountain House is as followed:

# 1 Seafood Chowder
# 1 Turkey Tetrazzini
# 1 Sweet & Sour Pork with Rice
# 2 Chicken Stew
# 2 Chicken Ala King
# 2 Oriental Style Spicy Chicken
# 3 Spaghetti and Sauce with Meat
# 1 Vegetable Stew with Beef
# 2 Lasagna with Meat and Sauce
# 3 Noodles & Chicken
# 4 Beef Stroganoff with Real Beef
# 1 Chicken Teriyaki with Rice
# 3 Beef Teriyaki
# 2 Wild Rice & Mushroom Pilaf
# 2 Hearty Beef Stew
# 1 Rice & Chicken
# 3 Beef Chili Macaroni
# 1 Pasta Primavera
# 1 Macroni & Cheese

Baby Lima Beans 25 LB



Beans - Lentils 25 LB


Freeze Dried Peas (Case)



Great Northern Beans 25 LB



Light Red Kidney Beans 25 LB



Pinto Beans 25 LB



Smal Red Beans 25 LB



Small White Navy Beans 25 LB



Yellow Split Peas 25 LB




Please tell me what else I need to do for 2 adults, a 9, 7, 2 and 1 year old, thanks for helping a n00b out. To me I see this as only a start. When I read about no butter in Japan and life in prison for rice hoarders I took it seriously.

Re: Please comment on my family's preps
 

I didnt see powdered milk or eggs on the list..
The kids need some type of milk and if you have milk and eggs you can combine them with other things for cooking..
edited to add some type of spices or flavoring like bullion. All those beans are going to get old with no flavoring...
Otherwise it looks good..

Re: Please comment on my family's preps
 

I forgot I ordered a case of whole powdered eggs and a 25 pound bag of organic valley dry milk. the dry milk bag won't keep long but the real organic pasture feed cows milk is so nutritious. should I order that inferior canned milk that keeps alot longer?

Re: Please comment on my family's preps
 

Did you remember the vitamins?

Re: Please comment on my family's preps
 

Something to eat the peanut butter and jelly on...crackers, bread, etc....some ability to make bread, either stored flour, or whole wheat with a way to grind and bake.

Dry milk and eggs....especially for the kids sake.

I'd probably add some more meat protein.

How long are shooting for timewise ?

Re: Please comment on my family's preps
 

I have 100 pounds of organic white wheat berries, forgot about that, an electric grinder, need to get a hand grinder.

What kind of meat protein do you suggest?

Timewise I am just trying to get all I can afford.

Is olive oil a good oil to have or another type?

I need to learn how to make bread without electricity. we use a bread maker now.

Re: Please comment on my family's preps
 

I think powdered milk packed properly in 10# cans would last longer then canned liquid. Also low fat or no fat dry lasts longer then whole. I bought some dry in #10 cans and I also put up some of my own in Mylar bags.

Tech Guy has this stuff down... Hopefully he will check in.

Re: Please comment on my family's preps
 

I just hate synthetic vitamins and believe they are toxic to the body.

I wonder how good these are http://www.nitro-pak.com/product_inf...oducts_id=1022

Re: Please comment on my family's preps
 

thanks for that advice.

Re: Please comment on my family's preps
 

Get a cast iron dutch oven, learn how to use it.
Get Lodge... don't buy that Chinese crap.

Re: Please comment on my family's preps
 

You are totally prepared....
You will live through anything......
Have no fear of the future.....

(that's what you're looking for, no?)

Re: Please comment on my family's preps
 

Corned beef, canned stew, chili, etc Freeze dried pork chops, hamburger, chicken.....lot of sources, depends on your taste and wallet.

Agree with Avalon on the #10 cans of nitrogen packed dry milk. I opened one while back that was 10 years old and just fine.

Olive oil is good...and butter.....store both in a freezer for longer life.

Re: Please comment on my family's preps
 

this? http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html...t_adv_XSG10001

Re: Please comment on my family's preps
 

I am going to clean out walmarts butter today and olive oil. corned beef, stew, chili from a can at the store, or freeze dried?

Re: Please comment on my family's preps
 

No..I think honest advice is what they were looking for....you may remove your pants, and return your head to it's former location.

Re: Please comment on my family's preps
 

Buy what YOU normally eat first.....save the exotics like freeze dried for last.

And don't go into panic mode, if that's where you are headed.....

Re: Please comment on my family's preps
 

You can probably sprout the lentils and peas, but you really need
some sprouting seeds alphalfa, clover, radish, mung etc...

Think about the future... quality hand tools for gardening and fixing things,
these have as much to do about preparedness as freeze dried crap... oh, I mean food.

Re: Please comment on my family's preps
 

I am in panic mode, settle down, settle down d00d

I have about 3k in preps so far.

Re: Please comment on my family's preps
 

salt, pepper, sugar, water purifier like a big berky? hard candy or bags of suckers? spices for the beans and rice---

unless you are already eating rice and beans, it might be good to add more of other items/meals your kids are used to--ravioli, canned soups?

bleach for sterilizing, extra soap/detergent, toothpastes, TP?

Re: Please comment on my family's preps
 

Naw, you need a camp dutch oven with a lid that has a lip because
for cooking bread you need twice and many coals on top as you do on the bottom...
the lip keeps the coals from sliding off... you need a lid lifter
too so your ashes don't fall on your food when you take the lid off.

Buy a preseasoned dutch oven "Lodge Logic"

https://secure.lodgemfg.com/storefro...413&menu=logic

Re: Please comment on my family's preps
 

this advice is priceless, I thank you all for these tips

Re: Please comment on my family's preps
 

I was thinking the same thing. Dehydrate some meat.

As an aside...how many weeks do you think most folks are prepared for.



Back to the original poster.....

How much water do you have?

Water is so much more important than any amount of food.


Personally....I'm not stocked up on food....my neighbors and I will be alright soon enough....and if things got weird...we could forage.

Re: Please comment on my family's preps
 

just ordered that

Re: Please comment on my family's preps
 

I need a water solution. berkey or gallons of spring water or both?

Re: Please comment on my family's preps
 

Which one?

Re: Please comment on my family's preps
 

There you go...breathe in and out :D ........now, don't ignore your preps, but don't feel you have to run out TODAY and buy a carload of stuff you haven't thought about, because that is a GREAT way to end up with a bunch of spoiled, useless STUFF down the road.

Make a plan....it can be simple, but I can already tell from the hodge podge of stuff you have, you don't have one.

Look at what you need to get by for today....then this week, then this month, then several months. STOP THERE, or you will get overwhelming and go back to panic mode.

And when I say NEED, I don't mean "sodas and ice cream would be nice".....assume to yourself your power is off TODAY, and the car is broken, so you can't go out to eat. What would you feed your family TODAY....then extend that to TOMORROW, and keep going like that.

GO thru your cabinets/pantry and make a simple list of things you NEED today....and maybe for the next several days/weeks....get those ( or a start on them ) today.....then simple get more of it next time.

If you use one cans of beans today, put 2 on the list....one for replacement and one for extension of your storage. Build THAT way.

Same for your dry goods.....go mentally thru a day, and what do you NEED ( not what would be nice, like hair spray ) to maintain some like how you live.

Slow down, get methodical, don't simply run BUY because you read or saw something. Panic is the first step toward being in a mess.

Re: Please comment on my family's preps
 

Lodge Logic 1 qt. Camp Dutch Oven 39.95

Re: Please comment on my family's preps
 

My guess would be both....but I do not know where you live.

I think a lot of it has to do with where you are.

If you are in an urban or exurban setting...I don't know that preps are really going to help that much in the long run.

If I were in those settings....and something radical happened....I would do my best to get the hell out of that location because people are going to freak.

(BTW...I don't think anything weird is in the offing for at least a few more years...)

But short answer...I would say both.....and get some rain barrels too. Your berkey will do you no good if you can't get any water.

http://www.cleanairgardening.com/rainbarrels.html

Re: Please comment on my family's preps
 

Easy answer....most folks are about 2-3 meals and one paycheck away from the jungle. The 'average' household I'm convinced has JIT delivery down to an art form.





Care to expand on that ?

Re: Please comment on my family's preps
 

no butter in japan and life in prison for rice hoarders in phillipines, wheat riots, and the like is not weird?

http://www.beforeitstoolate.us/

Re: Please comment on my family's preps
 

Remember dutch oven cooking is a skill all in it's own.....if you plan to just set it on the shelf with the thoughts "I'll have that IF I need it", don't buy it. The time to learn is NOT after the power goes off.

Re: Please comment on my family's preps
 

Cancel that order that thing is tiny, you need a 10-12 qt oven for
cooking bread...

Re: Please comment on my family's preps
 

Condiments.

Re: Please comment on my family's preps
 

Never put a time line on it. Better to be prepped YEARS too early than one minute too late.....chaulk any losses up to insurance.

I've been doing this for 30 years, really intense and with purpose for the last 15, and personally, I hope I die in 30 more years never having used much of it and whoever does our estate has the laugh and yard sale of the century over the crap I have stuck away.

On the other hand, I may be the one with the last laugh.

Time will tell......but I sleep like a baby in the meantime :D

Re: Please comment on my family's preps
 

Sorry...I meant most folks with our mindset.



Got a loose group of 4 families who all at least understand the potential for societal breakdown in our lifetimes....we have about 20 acres..almost all contiguous....Got some chickens and goats and a couple horses between us.

We've started collecting pre-industrial type tools and are storing them....just in case...

We've got big gardnes on a four year rotation right now....

We've got running water...we've got wells that can be accessed manually.

We aren't survivalists by any means...but we are trying to prepare to live off the land as well as we can.

As far as what I meant by foraging.....there are plenty of deer, rabbit, squirrel all around us.....

We're in Hominy Valley, NC...not so far from you......closer to Asheville than I would like to be....but we've been purchasing land in Old Fort, NC the last couple of years.

Basically...we don't plan on bugging out...we plan on simplifying and continuing onward if things get weird.

EDIT: Oh and turkey too!!!! Got two gobblers last week...smoked the breasts this past weekend!

Re: Please comment on my family's preps
 

Definitely... I've screwed up many a time learning how.
There is ton's of info and recipes on the net... A valuable skill
and a very important one... Practice makes perfect.

Dood.. get this one and the lid lifter and the tripod on the same page.

http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/st...L&cmid=PP_P1_2

Re: Please comment on my family's preps
 

I mean reeeealy weird man....like zombies running around weird.

If you want to do the best thing in the world to protect yourself from a little shortage of butter....I'd get some land away from large populations and simplify your life.

I think that is the first, best step.

Barring that....you need to figure out how to get the hell out of the 'burbs when there is a "real" crisis....(I understand we all have different stress levels our particular situations can tolerate)

Re: Please comment on my family's preps
 

A few items...

First - don't forget the extra 'feminine products' for your wife. Most people do.

Second - don't forget the extra bathroom stuff - tp, bath soap, toothpaste and toothbrushes, flossing products

Third - don't forget MATCHES, LOTS OF MATCHES, cause unless you are really great with flint & steel or doing the 'rub two sticks together' you will be eating cold food, never fun

The rest is to 'store what you eat'. DO NOT FORGET YOUR SPICES, especially salt and pepper, as Jazzy said. Also sugar (white & brown).

Do you have someplace to 'bug out' to? Do you expect 'extra guests' like family in a SHTF scenario? Esepcially older guests like parents? They have different needs.

Also, NO ONE mentioned a well stocked first aid kit. Plus at LEAST two decks of cards. Other childrens games that don't require electricity? Books for adults to read? Which brings us to illumination. Candles are a minimum. Next step up from them is kerosene lamps. Next step up from that are Lanterns (Coleman makes many 'dual fuel' type lanterns).

enough for now.

Build yourself a list. Then 'practice' shtf. Turn off the electricity in your abode for a few hours (at least ONE meals worth). Then try a full day. Then a full weekend. Tell the kids you are 'camping' at home. Get THEM involved. You would be amazed at how resilient your kids can be and how smart they are, once you involve them in the 'camping game'. DO NOT tell them SHTF. Just tell them you are practicing in case the power went out. That's ALL they need to know. You don't need to have them telling their friends you are 'preparing for the end of the world' type of thing. Could cause problems down the road.

Re: Please comment on my family's preps
 

Really hard to say.....there are so few. I would imagine many are of this mindset are not near as well prepped as they would like to think.....Ponce's quote "To be ready is not" is so true it isn't funny....but I would imagine most are good for only a few months.....the more fringe lunatics like me, for couple years...with the plans to do what you list below.....


Simplify and continue is going to be the trend of this century, I suspect.

Sounds like you have a good start in that direction.

Re: Please comment on my family's preps
 

Good advise, Wallew....especially the 'camping game'.

Re: Please comment on my family's preps
 

:D I was wondering what that smell was.....


Edit:
Maybe I should explain.....some days I just feel that those of us who are concerned about "preps", are in actuality just prepping for those who are not presently concerned.

Today is one of those days.

Re: Please comment on my family's preps
 

wonderful advice, thanks

Re: Please comment on my family's preps
 

Best advice of the day, IMHO. What I would do prior to spending much more on food.



There, I'd disagree. Unfortunately, IF YOU REALLY BELIEVE SOMETHING LIKE THIS COULD HAPPEN, then a plan "b" where you are a refugee on the road is not going to cut it. You need to apply your efforts and energies to the above advice.....find a more sustainable place and GO LIVE THERE NOW. Just like that Dutch oven......living on the land is a skill that comes with time and practice.

And if you don't believe this could happen, then simply store the FEMA recommended 3 days of food and water, and you will be fine until the govt gets there to help you.

Re: Please comment on my family's preps
 

ahahahaaaaaaaa......


Edit:

That I fully understand.

Re: Please comment on my family's preps
 

i have no children,
so take this for what it's worth
assuming a SHTF situation

i would look into some hard candy(?) as a reward for your two older kids
for the times when they watch the younger ones to give you and your wife a break
hard candy would have a reasonably long storage time
also, what if the power grid goes off-line,
perhaps something for the kids to pass the time

how much time do your children spend watching tv,playing video games, etc
now take that away with a power outage and replace it with ?

Re: Please comment on my family's preps
 

QWAK,I just ordered one from them too also got a big frying pan with STRIPES on the bottom!:wub:

One of thease days I'm gona have to LEARN how to COOK!!!:D

I can fix or build damn neare any thing but COOKING is a SKILL I never aquired --- just sort of worked out that way.:dontknow: HUMmmmmmmmm don't know why cause I like to eat. :s9:

At this point I have so many preps that I have acumulated that the DUCK NEST could be set up as a base camp/hospital but the COOKING and FEEDING parts are real sketchey.:wink:

I guess I should concider THAT "the DUCKS akillies HEAL" :D:hahaha::haha: in MY survival plan.:questionm:dontknow:

One of the problems of learning to "DO WITH OUT" is that doing so becomes NORMAL!:thinkey:

the DUCK

Re: Please comment on my family's preps
 

Don't worry Duck, If you have food and a way to cook it...
you won't have any problem finding a Gourmet cook that will
prepare your meals all for the price of allowing them to eat too! :clap2:

Re: Please comment on my family's preps
 

QWAK,TLM,:wink: Sort of a "Build IT they will COME" thing has sort of been how it's been working for about 20 years now and I keep building.

A George forman grill,microwave and refrigerator and I will never STARVE but HOW to make DRIED RICE taist good and all the other stuff I never or rairly ever eat --- that is a horse of a diferent color --- and IF I cook the HORSE it will probably be BURNED!:D I get distracted a lot working on projects.:grin:

Just got to make it TO and THREW the 2012 PARADIGN SHIFT and I figure the pieces will ALL COME TOGETHER with out much effort on my part --- been puting in the EFFORT for a long LONG time and been doing IT my WAY which always seeme the RIGHT way for me.:wink:

The WORLD is CRAZY --- I'm NOT --- I'm the DUCK :D

:haha::haha::haha:

the DUCK

Re: Please comment on my family's preps
 

i really advise you get a big berky and extra set of the filters if at all possible--get the stainless steel one--this will be invaluable through the years. we use our extensively and are still on our first set of filters after 12 years. I pull them out once every other month and clean them gently with a scrubber (they are ceramic), and they are good to go.

it sure doesnt hurt to stock up on bottled water to have some around, or every time you use a soda or juice bottle, rinse it out extra clean, fill with tap water and mark it TAP. put lids on real tight and set them aside in a closet or under a bed. id not recommed the gallon water jugs that are shaped like milk jugs, they dont last. cleaned out soda bottles work better. you can always put a few drops of bleach in each one (10 drops per gallon i believe).

Re: Please comment on my family's preps
 

One thing everyone needs to remember, you have access to this info when offline. If have a laptop that has a solar battery charger, you can download this info on the laptop for later reference.

Re: Please comment on my family's preps
 

When do you think the day will come?

Re: Please comment on my family's preps
 

dood. over the years I've read many threads/posts on several survival forums about your current prep situation.
I think you're doing fine and are sincere in your efforts to prep.
I hope you use the advice offered.
Good luck