Author Archives: Marily

How Long will Your Canned Foods Last?

How do you determine how long a can of food will last? Actually, it’s kind of hard to guess, but here are a few guidelines when trying to determine the shelf life of your canned foods: Home-canned foods Most sources say that home-canned foods will store safely for at least one year. With other food items, the level of acid in the food is the critical element for determining how long it may store. Low-acid foods last longer on your shelves than foods with higher amounts of acid. Some sources say all commercially canned food should last at least two … Continue reading →

What Do the Dates on Your Canned Foods Mean?

Are you unsure about how long a can of tuna will last? What do the stamps printed on the cans mean? Can the stamped dates tell you how long an item will store? Those codes sure can be confusing! Here are some things to keep in mind when storing canned foods: First, you may be able to get some information from the product codes printed on the cans, but not much. Cans that list a “use by” date or a “best if eaten by” mean more than random numbers or dates without labels. Other codes or dates printed on cans … Continue reading →

Pantry Meals: Vegetarian Chili

Pantry meals are meals that can be put together using only nonperishable food items. Having a few of these meals on hand means you will always have an easy homemade meal ready to be prepared, without having to go to the grocery store or buy take-out. More importantly, stocking up on food can help you to be prepared for an emergency when you cannot make it to the store. To learn more about pantry cooking as a method of long-term food storage, click here. The recipe below is for vegetarian chili. Modify it to your family’s personal tastes before you … Continue reading →

A Prepared Pantry: My Kitchen Staples

A prepared pantry is a beautiful thing. Keep staple items in your fridge at all times and you will never have to fret about having an empty fridge or pantry. You will also save lots of money by buying items only when they are on sale. Below is my personal list of staple items in my kitchen. Of course yours will not be the same as mine, as every family has their own specific tastes and eating habits. My family loves Mexican food for example, so we always have on hand chili powder, pinto beans, tortillas, and the makings for … Continue reading →

Prepare Your Pantry

I use to think that with my frugal ways it just didn’t make sense to keep my pantry stocked. Instead, I would try only to purchase the items that I really needed for the next week or two of meals. However (and as many others have discovered), I was mistaken. As you stock your pantry, it may take a little bit more money to begin with, but you will save money in the end. For instance, you will learn to stock up on items when they are on sale, instead of being forced to pay bigger prices for things when … Continue reading →

Internet Grocer: You’ve Got to Check out this Website!

I recently came across a fantastic tool for preparedness called Internet Grocer, the website for the company Best Price Storable Foods. If you are at all interested in any level of home preparedness, you have got to check out this site. You may find yourself spending hours browsing the site, but here are some of the things that I think you should check out: Canned Foods The website specializes in selling canned foods that are nearly impossible to find, like canned butter, cheese, and high-quality meats, including canned ground beef. Just reading the descriptions of their canned food products makes … Continue reading →

Most Likely Scenario

In preparing for emergencies, sometimes it’s hard to know where to start. What do we store? What types of emergencies should we be planning for? As you might expect, it depends on where you live and the weather concerns that might affect you. To begin emergency preparedness within your own family, you should begin thinking about some of the most likely emergencies that could happen to you where you live. I have listed here a few of the emergencies that are the most likely to happen, no matter where you live. Neighborhood evacuation There are a few different reasons why … Continue reading →

In-a-Hurry Kids’ Care Kit

There are a few reasons why you might need to leave your home in a hurry. Anyone with children, especially infants and toddlers, knows that it is nearly impossible to leave in a hurry unless you have prepared sufficiently ahead of time. For cases such as these, it could be very helpful to have a bag set aside already loaded with what you need and easy to grab and take with you at a moment’s notice. Imagine what would happen if there was an emergency in your extended family and you needed to pack up the kids and leave as … Continue reading →

Pantry Meals: Easy Fried Burritos

What is pantry cooking? Put simply, it’s preparing meals with nonperishable food items that you can keep in your pantry. It is a great idea to have on-hand ingredients for at least a few meals. In the event of an emergency or if you just don’t want to take a trip to the grocery store, you have what you need to make a great meal for your family with what you have on hand. If you are interested in building a year’s supply of food, pantry cooking is the option that I recommend. Here is a great recipe for fried … Continue reading →

Pantry Cooking: Six Can Chicken Tortilla Soup

Are you looking for a great-tasting meal with ingredients that you can always keep on hand? Try this recipe for chicken tortilla soup. It’s pretty much as easy as a recipe can get and still be called homemade. Just keep the ingredients on hand in your pantry and you will always have a simple go-to recipe for those hectic days when your only other option would be take-out. If you are working on storing food for emergencies, this is a great pantry-cooking meal. And unlike many other pantry cooking meals, this recipe has simple ingredients that you can find easily … Continue reading →