In the last few years, our families have seen more than most people see in a lifetime, COVID-19 pandemic, civil unrest, and now a shipping crisis It's time we all sit down and start thinking of how we can better provide for our family in these trying times.

In talking with my friend Penelopenicia, we have both looked into building our pantries. Mine suffered a hit in the COVID-19 stay-at-home orders.

So Peneolencicia gave me a link to an article on the depression style panty, so I decided to share a bit more of what I have learned over the years.

First of all, it's not an easy task to keep a pantry. Some houses don't have the space for food storage. I have found that using tubs found at Walmart is a great way to store things. I keep my canned and dehydrated food in the basement, reducing the chance of spoiling.

I have lists of what goes in which tub, and I make sure nothing is too old to use. Make sure to check expiration dates each time you grab a can, taking the oldest first.

Dehydration

One of the most favorite things I got for Christmas was a dehydrator. You can pick them up at Amazon for not too much. You can count on spending anywhere from $25.00 to 300 or more. I have one that's no longer made, but I have had it for over 30 years. 

I regularly clean out my fridge, and when I feel I need fresher food, I'll take out that package of carrots I bought last week, cut them up, and put them on the dehydrator. In 8 hours, I have a bag full of dehydrated carrots, celery, potatoes, apples, bananas, whatever, whenever I need it. Just add water.

You need to pick up a few bags of desiccant, you know, those little packets you sometimes get in crackers?. You can order them from Amazon, and they won't cost you too much.

I get sealing containers to store my dehydrated food in and label my containers, so I know which to use first and what's in them. Getting the sealing storage containers to help keep pests out and food safe.

Long Term Storage Items

I have a lot of long-term storage items on hand. Including items like:

• Grains - Wheat, rice, oats, pasta, and flour
• Canned and dried meats.
• Fats and oils - Vegetable oil, shortening, dried butter, etc.
• Beans - kidney, black-eyed peas, soybeans, navy beans, lentils, etc.
• Milk and Dairy - dehydrated milk, dehydrated sour cream, dehydrated eggs, dehydrated cheese, etc.
• Sugars - Brown and granulated sugar, honey, molasses, etc.
• Cooking essentials like salt, yeast, baking powder, baking soda, and spices.
• Freeze-dried meals
• Dehydrated fruits and vegetables, meat (jerky)
• Canned foods
• Dried soups

I like getting my long-term storage items purchased on Amazon and usually get them from sellers like Auguson farms or Hoosier Hill Farms.

For my freeze-dried food, My Patriot Supply has a marvelous selection of food to choose from. You can also buy them in packages per person a year at a very reasonable price. I grew up on freeze-dried food whenever we'd go camping, so we got used to it. My favorite was the freeze-dried ice cream and the pineapple too.

Other Things You'll Need

Purchase a hand mill. If you find yourself without power, and you need to grind your wheat for bread, then you can use your hand mill. The one I got from Amazon is about $70.00

If you have a Kitchenaid stand mixer, it has a grain mill attachment you can pick up for $149.00 from Amazon. Otherwise, you can search through Amazon's inventory and find the one you would like.

How Much will you Need?

When putting together food storage, it's difficult to figure out exactly how much you'll need. Thanks to a website called ezprepping.com, you can use their calculator found here, to figure that out.

I like this website. It has sane amounts of food that you will need to help get a better idea of what your family's requirements are. You can find the calculator here.