# Lifestyles & Discussion > Freedom Living >  Food storage porn - Pics please.

## SL89

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## SL89

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## Kotin

you are a man after my own heart.


props.

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## amy31416

Everybody's more organized than me. I'm too ashamed to share pics. .  .

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## SL89

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## SL89

> Everybody's more organized than me. I'm too ashamed to share pics. .  .


We are not that organized. We threw stuff out of the way for pics, i.e. busted my ass to hide my pig self.

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## SL89

There is more. I will detail it later if wanted. Numbers, pounds and servings.

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## amy31416

> There is more. I will detail it later if wanted. Numbers, pounds and servings.


Please do! And this time show a little chaos.

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## Kotin

> Please do! And this time show a little chaos.


yeah.. make the rest of us feel a little better..

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## SL89

here's my mess! I even leave my kids laying around. Notice the stained 2 year old carpet. Lots of crumbs too.

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## SL89

Don't want to hijack this thread; but since its mine....Meet my new puppy.

Liberty Belle.

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## SL89

3/4 Golden Retriever 1/4 Newfoundland. Back to topic at hand, I need more puppy food.

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## LittleLightShining

> Don't want to hijack this thread; but since its mine....Meet my new puppy.
> 
> Liberty Belle.


Too funny! That's my pup's name, too! Yours is a doll!

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## Krugerrand

> Don't want to hijack this thread; but since its mine....Meet my new puppy.
> 
> Liberty Belle.


Just don't report yourself.

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## amy31416

> Don't want to hijack this thread; but since its mine....Meet my new puppy.
> 
> Liberty Belle.


Congrats! She's absolutely adorable!

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## SL89

I added a detailed list of whats in storage.

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## pcosmar

Cool pup, I'll have to get some of Cassie up.
But back to the subject. These are not recent, the shelves are always changing.
Will have a new canning season soon.







Terrible pic of me, wasn't feeling well, but my sister wanted a pic of the pumpkin.

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## SL89

PC, Nice pantry! Had one once and lost it. Storage is hard in a doublewide. I am jealous!

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## Michael P

1/3 of my total in storage currently, not including water and other supplies:

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## SL89

Not bad, not bad at all! Love to see the other 2/3.

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## tmosley

SL89:  What are those containers that you have holding your oats and such?  My family runs a small bakery out of the house, and we need something that can hold that much flour without letting bugs in, yet is easy enough for my almost elderly mother to get into without having to bend over.  

We started baking so that we would have some extra money coming in, but we've also found it's a great way to increase your SHTF supply, as you have a constant, large draw on it, and if TSHTF, then you can just stop baking for money (ie in the case of price controls, shortages, etc) and BAM, you've got enough flour, sugar, honey, etc to last the whole family for ten years.

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## SL89

The 16 gallon containers I found at Costco for $29. Can't find them on their site though.
The company is here...http://www.gamma2.net/ . Amazon lists them for $54.
Air tight and critter proof. They will hold just shy of 100 lbs flour.

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## TCE

What will you guys do if a real shtf scenario happens? What I mean by this is: no water, no heat (to cook), no electricity, etc.

Also, can someone explain to me the purpose of flour, wheat, etc? I keep seeing them on survival sites but I have no idea what I would use them for.

P.S. I would love to see all of your collections of can openers.

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## pcosmar

> What will you guys do if a real shtf scenario happens? What I mean by this is: no water, no heat (to cook), no electricity, etc.
> 
> P.S. I would love to see all of your collections of can openers.


I have 2 wells. One deep,one shallow.
And though this is not in use, it is functional.

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## Kotin

I also have two wells like that.. one with a hand pump tap and the deeper one is not..

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## amy31416

> What will you guys do if a real shtf scenario happens? What I mean by this is: no water, no heat (to cook), no electricity, etc.
> 
> Also, can someone explain to me the purpose of flour, wheat, etc? I keep seeing them on survival sites but I have no idea what I would use them for.
> 
> P.S. I would love to see all of your collections of can openers.


A knife and a rock can be a can opener. 

Flour/wheat etc makes bread, or if you're very talented--a futon.

If you can start a fire, you have heat. If you can purify, you can have water.

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## pcosmar

> I also have two wells like that.. one with a hand pump tap and the deeper one is not..


Yeah my deep well is electric. I would love to use wind power, but up here it takes a court fight to get past code enforcement.
I'll wait till TSHTF and build it from scavenged materials, once they are no longer relevant. 

oh, and I have a P38 (can opener)on my key ring.

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## tmosley

Yes, my family is big on baking, so flour is a must.  We are on a well as well, and I plan to shift the well to solar power within a year.  Solar ovens are easy to build, if you lose access to electricity.

I personally don't think there will be a real SHTF scenario, but rather we will have a situation where living "normally" just gets worse and worse, and everything gets more and more expensive relative to your earnings as more and more people go on the government dole (a la Atlas Shrugged).  Though it will come to a real head eventually, that is probably years away.  For now, it's better to stockpile for hard times.

Thanks for that, SL89.

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## Original_Intent

Sorry no pics to post but I got roughly:

800 lbs wheat
400 lbs rice
300 lbs oats
250 lbs sugar

Both an electric and hand wheat grinder

~100 gallon cans of various dehydrated foods (tasty stuff, not the blech TVP)
15 gallon cans of Morning Moo, best dehydrated milk I have ever tasted.
90 cans of tuna
~300 cans of various grocery canned goods such as canned meat, veggies, fruit, chili, tamales, all that good stuff.
~100 16 oz. cans of locally canned turkey, chicken and beef
40 or so jars of home canning, mostly relish and chili sauce.
I case each TP, paper towels, feminine hygiene.
2 kerosene heaters and 50 gallons kerosene
Gravity water purifier
2 handguns, two rifles, and between a few hundred and a few thousand rounds for each.
All kinds of camping gear
A bugout bag with 72 hour kit for each family member.
A basic set of hand tools
A 55 gallon drum of water, + a few dozen 2 liter bottles of water.
Some PMs for barter 

I think I am in pretty good shape finally - still some stuff i would like to get, I realize that we don't have a lot of soap/detergent and stuff like that. Always could use more PMs and ammo.

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## Krugerrand

> What will you guys do if a real shtf scenario happens? What I mean by this is: no water, no heat (to cook), no electricity, etc.
> 
> Also, can someone explain to me the purpose of flour, wheat, etc? I keep seeing them on survival sites but I have no idea what I would use them for.
> 
> P.S. I would love to see all of your collections of can openers.


I haven't yet been able to convince my wife to do any large scale stock piling.  However, we do now have wheat and an electric mill.  Homemade bread from fresh ground wheat had tremendous health benefits and tastes really good.  An electric mill and bread machine make it super easier - of course only when you have electricity.  I'm not going to try and guess what percentage of our foods are made with flout ... but it must be huge.  If it's whole wheat flour, you get a good dose of nutritional value in it.

I'd like to get some sort of rain collection system in place.  I haven't looked into it too much yet.  I'll pitch that as a 'for the garden' thing.  I planted 6 apple trees this year.  Next year I should be able to get some hardy kiwi in the ground.  I'm also looking into Pawpaw trees.

We buy in large quantities of some things for discounts ... and that's a workable angle.  Saving money and being health conscious can help make good strides.  Then, as we develop more of a routine of using stored foods/supplies ... it'll be easier to store more.

I wouldn't mind more PM's too!  

So, yeah.  I'd be in trouble with no water or electricity.  But, I'm trying to get there gradually ... and hope that it won't be too late.

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## SL89

> What will you guys do if a real shtf scenario happens? What I mean by this is: no water, no heat (to cook), no electricity, etc.
> 
> Also, can someone explain to me the purpose of flour, wheat, etc? I keep seeing them on survival sites but I have no idea what I would use them for.
> 
> P.S. I would love to see all of your collections of can openers.


We have water by means of a well and springs behind the house. We heat with wood and have unlimited supply again behind the house. Although the wood stove is for heat, we have cooked on it numerous times. The only draw back is no oven without power. looking to getting a "chimney oven"....

http://www.kansaswindpower.net/wood_stove.htm second pic down on left.

But I have baked on my BBQ... Worked really well...homemade sourdough bread.




This is a good use for flour. As is tortillas, flatbread, pitas, pancakes, dumplings, donuts and much more. 

OI WOW!

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## amy31416

> We have water by means of a well and springs behind the house. We heat with wood and have unlimited supply again behind the house. Although the wood stove is for heat, we have cooked on it numerous times. The only draw back is no oven without power. looking to getting a "chimney oven"....
> 
> http://www.kansaswindpower.net/wood_stove.htm second pic down on left.
> 
> But I have baked on my BBQ... Worked really well...homemade sourdough bread.
> 
> 
> 
> This is a good use for flour. As is tortillas, flatbread, pitas, pancakes, dumplings, donuts and much more.


That looks awesome. My grandfather was a baker and I really, really wish he were still alive to teach me all he knew.

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## jclay2

Please keep posting the pics, however, I have a question about these mass food banks at everyones houses. How do you go about consuming 800 lbs of flour without it spoiling and other such goods. Do you eat the oldest and just replace what you eat? Some elaboration on this would be helpful.

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## SL89

> Please keep posting the pics, however, I have a question about these mass food banks at everyones houses. How do you go about consuming 800 lbs of flour without it spoiling and other such goods. Do you eat the oldest and just replace what you eat? Some elaboration on this would be helpful.


Sure.....
First let me say the wife and I have 4 boys: two of which are teenagers. And being a single income family, it makes sense to buy in bulk. We use at least 2 lbs. flour per day.

To answer the consumption question...We use what we have. We bake 85% of our own bread. Don't buy krusteez etc.Make most everything from scratch. Rotation is a way of life. Once you get used to it, you can whip up organic pancakes just as fast as adding water to a packaged mix full of artificial pancake stuff. 

Flour, in the bag, has a relative short shelf life. 6 mo for ground whole wheat and most "whole" grain flours, a solid year for white. Whole wheat berries or other seed corns last indefinitely if stored right.(and they can be planted) As for "other" stuff. White rice and beans last forever. I know of a woman that got her hands on a ceramic jar of beans from an Indian excavation site that were dated over 1000 years old, She ate them and she planted them; yes they sprouted.

What we can't rotate in a reasonable amount of time is stored in buckets that have had the oxygen removed. this raises the life expectancy exponentially.

YouTube - Long term food storage part 1.

Even when packed this way you have a limited storage time frame for "ground" whole grains. This is from the oils which may go rancid. Better to pack whole and grind them yourself.

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## TCE

I forgot to say that the bread looks awesome. If I may ask for the ingredient list? Is it hard to bake?

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## SL89

TCE, sorry it has taken so long to reply,

Here is the sour dough recipe you wanted...

First you have to make the Sourdough Starter or you need to buy a separate Sourdough starter package from the super market.

If you would like to make it, here the how to do it

2 cups purified water
1 Tbsp. sugar, honey or maple syrup
2 cups all purpose flour
1 Tbsp. dry yeast

Beat all ingredients together in a bowl. Cover the bowl with a towel and place it somewhere warm. Use a towel, not plastic wrap, to allow airborne wild yeast to enter - it will contribute to the unique character and flavor of your starter. The Mix will begin to bubble within a few minutes. Initially, it will double in bulk, but as it begins to ferment, it will settle down. Let the mix sit in a warm place, stirring the liquid back into the batter *as it will separate) once a day for 2 - 5 days. When the bubbling diminishes and it has a sour, yeasty aroma, it is ready to use. Stir the mixture and measure out the amount you need. It will be the consistency of pancake batter.
After that you just have to keep it going.
After each time you remove some starter to bake, "feed it" with equal amounts of flour and water. Then let the starter sit in a warm place for 12 hours and let the yeast bubble and grow again before returning it to the refrigerator.
The starter can be kept indefinitely. It gets better with time.

Here the Sourdough Bread recipe

2/3 cup sourdough starter
1 cup warm spring water
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. sugar, honey or maple syrup
1 Tbsp. oil
4 cups all purpose flour, or bread flour
2 tsp. yeast

Mix all ingredients really good and let the dough rise for about 1 hour or until double in size. Knead dough a little more and put on a baking sheet or bread pan and let it rise a second time. If you like, cut the top cross wise to make it look pretty 
Heat oven to 400 degrees F and bake for about 30 Minutes.

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## LibertyEagle

> Sorry no pics to post but I got roughly:
> 
> 800 lbs wheat
> 400 lbs rice
> 300 lbs oats
> 250 lbs sugar
> 
> Both an electric and hand wheat grinder
> 
> ...


Holy .  That's what I call PREPARED.

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## Dieseler

> TCE, sorry it has taken so long to reply,
> 
> Here is the sour dough recipe you wanted...
> 
> First you have to make the Sourdough Starter or you need to buy a separate Sourdough starter package from the super market.
> 
> If you would like to make it, here the how to do it
> 
> 2 cups purified water
> ...


I've got to try this.
Thanks.

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## kathy88

> here's my mess! I even leave my kids laying around. Notice the stained 2 year old carpet. Lots of crumbs too.




What an angel! I love it when my kids play so hard they drop. Those pics of the foods are S-E-X-Y

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## tangent4ronpaul

> The 16 gallon containers I found at Costco for $29. Can't find them on their site though.
> The company is here...http://www.gamma2.net/ . Amazon lists them for $54.
> Air tight and critter proof. They will hold just shy of 100 lbs flour.


Nice containers - but expensive...  I also found this, which means you'd need a shelving unit to really take advantage of space saving:

"How high can we stack the rigid containers?

In normal situations usually no higher than two high is safe. If the customer is using the containers for birdseed or something light weight, then stacking up to three high can be done."

-t

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## SL89

Really I will!

View numbers or not I will post more pics tomorrow.

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## Original_Intent

> Holy .  That's what I call PREPARED.


You should see my parents. I swear they expect all of us kids to come running home, with our families, AND with their extended families, and a few dozen friends thrown in.

But thanks - yes I am feeling pretty prepared for the worst. It's only taken 20+ years to get there =)

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## eOs

woops

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## libertybrewcity

lol at the title.

cute pup

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## SL89

Bump. Things are a tad worse than they were when I started this.  I know people are busy getting RP elected and with good cause, I doubt the republic could last another 5 years waiting for Rand. RON PAUL or NOTHING! That said, are you taking steps to protect you and yours? Am I a freak? not really, I buy silver and gold as a hedge against inflation but, if it gets as bad as it potentially could, food will be worth more than its weight in gold. I'll update with pics soon.

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## helmuth_hubener

Being Mormon, I have food storage of course, but in the past it's been mainly canned stuff.  Once I actually went for about 4 months without buying any food, other than very occasional restaurant outings, just kind of to prove I could do it, and also to show solidarity and support for an upcoming repeal of the local sales tax on food going into effect.  I still had quite a bit left when the date rolled around and I could stock up again on now-tax-free food.

Then I found a dehydrator at a garage sale and dehydrated a whole variety of fruits and vegetables.  That was fun.  They don't keep forever, though.

But now I'm starting to be converted to the idea of the "Primal Blueprint" diet -- no grains, no sugar.  So that rules out a lot of stuff.  No 100 lb bags of wheat, for one thing.  Plus, I'm thinking that freeze-drying seems to retain a lot more of the nutrition than canning.  So going forward, I'm thinking I'm going to stock up on a lot of freeze-dried vegetables.  And surprisingly, it actually seems to be about the same price or cheaper than canned.

Until then, I have a whole lot of cans to thin out.

So there's my story.  I don't know how interesting pictures of cans would be to anyone.

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## Acala

> Being Mormon, I have food storage of course, but in the past it's been mainly canned stuff.  Once I actually went for about 4 months without buying any food, other than very occasional restaurant outings, just kind of to prove I could do it, and also to show solidarity and support for an upcoming repeal of the local sales tax on food going into effect.  I still had quite a bit left when the date rolled around and I could stock up again on now-tax-free food.
> 
> Then I found a dehydrator at a garage sale and dehydrated a whole variety of fruits and vegetables.  That was fun.  They don't keep forever, though.
> 
> But now I'm starting to be converted to the idea of the "Primal Blueprint" diet -- no grains, no sugar.  So that rules out a lot of stuff.  No 100 lb bags of wheat, for one thing.  Plus, I'm thinking that freeze-drying seems to retain a lot more of the nutrition than canning.  So going forward, I'm thinking I'm going to stock up on a lot of freeze-dried vegetables.  And surprisingly, it actually seems to be about the same price or cheaper than canned.
> 
> Until then, I have a whole lot of cans to thin out.
> 
> So there's my story.  I don't know how interesting pictures of cans would be to anyone.


I'm in a similar position.  A few hundred pounds of rice, wheat, sugar, and beans in the closet and now I don't eat any of it.  So I have been replacing it with canned fish (tuna, salmon, sardines, and anchovies) and now am making pemmican.  I need a few more months to get a comfortable supply made.     

I am also dehydrating the squash and pumpkin I get from the CSA and putting it up in jars.

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## Keith and stuff

Costco must love you!

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## GeorgiaAvenger

Cool thread

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## Dr.3D

The green bus will be around to pick up everyone who has more than 7 days worth of food.

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## SL89

OMG! Thats what they were.

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## moostraks

love the pics...I am sadly under prepared with 7 children in the house. DH nixed my idea of food for storage as a gift for me this year. My daily food needs resembles many folks' storage, so that makes it hard to put back. I am resolving that this next year will be the year I focus on this issue. Also love,love, love the bug proof containers. Have lost hundreds of pounds of flour in years past and that has discouraged me from hoarding ground wheat in bulk.

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## kah13176

I think a lot of you guys might be forgetting one of the most important things, especially if you aren't near the ocean:

Salt.

For cooking.  For preserving food.  For not dying.  For trade.  For makeshift IV's.  

It'll be one of the first things to go.

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## SL89

> I think a lot of you guys might be forgetting one of the most important things, especially if you aren't near the ocean:
> 
> Salt.
> 
> For cooking.  For preserving food.  For not dying.  For trade.  For makeshift IV's.  
> 
> It'll be one of the first things to go.



Yep, had 100 lbs of salt as well. I say had because I have been without income since June of '11 and we (me, wife and 4 boys) had to rely on our storage. The downside is.....I am low on stocks. Upside.... We got to experience life using what one put away. I would say that it was a blessing overall. Much better prepared to re-stock for the future with little to no waste. I will comeback in a few hours and tell you the shortcomings and other results of using food storage long term from a first hand experience.

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## SL89

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