A good suggested pantry list to get started

GB - December 3, 2021

I read the Guide to Food Storage linked on another thread from JennyWren, as well as all the other terrific suggestions on the thread. It resulted in me spending the afternoon looking at my pantry and realising I have quite a few dinner options on my storm shelf, but my pantry is lacking in long term breakfast, lunch, snack and drink options. (We’re in the middle of the official storm season here in Qld, with cyclone season due to start in January.)

I went surfing because braining today was far too difficult, and found this pantry list from my state government, outlining suggested food and amounts to store that should feed two people for seven days.

I’m pretty sure the experienced among us here know what and how much they need, but for a newbie prep person like myself looking at a longer term pantry than the official three days, it seems to be a good place to start.

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Can’t argue with that list. It’s general enough to adapt to your families tastes but complete enough to keep body and soul together. I would perhaps go a bit heavier on milk and juices and don’t forget the crisis box! it’s a well known phenomenon in the Wren household. It’s a box that has all the sweeties and chocolate that body and soul could require to keep a black dog at bay.

 

Hi JennyWren,

I love the idea of a “crisis box”! Although, how do you keep sweet toothed family members from dipping into it and having to replace bits of it at least every week? Or do you just keep it topped up with all the sweeties?

I just know that my partner would sniff it all out in a heartbeat and eat it just as fast. If there is any kind of crisis, there would probably be nothing left! 🙂

 

I admit to extreme stock rotation. That is all.  LOL.

 

 Thank you for sharing GB, that is a very good beginners list and resource! As time goes on the need for a solid pantry supply is only growing. 

Here’s another good article, from The Prepared, about starting off a pantry using things you can find from the grocery store.

Hope you don’t mind me expanding the title of this forum post to draw more people into the conversation.

 

Hi Gideon,

Please expand, edit, delete away! I’m so grateful to the mods on here and am happy for any of you to fix my posts.

Now more than ever I can see the need for our household to try to have some food security. In the last two years, we’ve had drought so severe that crops and livestock have been compromised and some local council areas have had their “day zero” and have had to start trucking water in. Just in the last month, we’ve had so much rain that some food producing areas have had most of their crops have failed and small townships flooded.

Either drought or drenched, it means food prices go up and some food items stop becoming available.

 

Thanks for sharing! It’s great that you’re getting a pantry going! I found it was easiest to get started by setting goals based on time frames: 72 hours, 2 weeks, 90-days, 6 months and then one year for my household. 2021 saw me reach all of those goals. 2022 will be focused on building the longer term supplies for extended family in the area. 

My 90-day pantry is our high rotation every day items and is restocked weekly as part of our regular groceries. The 6-month and 1-year supplies are more of the long-term storage variety (pasta, grains, beans, freeze-dried fruits and veggies, oils, spices, sugar, etc.) though we do pull from there and replace for staples as needed. 

Love JennyWren’s crisis box idea! We have a large drawer that is always stocked with treats, so I may have to label it the “crisis drawer”. 😊

 

HI brekke,

Wow, that’s great you’ve hit your pantry goals! Did it take you long?

Also, how do you store that much food for a family for a year? I’ve enough room in my pantry to squeeze in three weeks worth, but to store any longer would require me taking over another room in the house! Unfortunately, our garage isn’t suitable for storing anything beyond a car, the odd picnic set or tent – it’s not insulated and is on the Western side of the house, which equals hot especially this time of year.

 

It took about 6 months I think. The stimulus checks we received helped a lot. I spent over half of one on long-term storage food. It always a work in progress though and I try to add at least a couple of items to it each month in addition to keeping our 90-day pantry re-stocked from whatever we use. We have a small walk-in pantry where I keep our 90-day items and I base that on what we normally consume in a week. It’s just me and my husband and our two young boys. I’m sure I’ll have to increase the amounts in there as the boys grow. I use a closet in one our bedrooms for the long-term food. My boys use dressers for their clothes, so we had an extra closet. The only thing we store in the garage is our extra water supply and we keep that on the sides that don’t get any direct sun. 

One of these days we’ll make a bed frame that has room underneath to store #10 cans or buckets, but we haven’t needed that space yet. I also hope to dig a small “root cellar” space in our back yard for potato and carrot storage, but we’ve got to get a better crop yield first. Last year was our first attempt and it was a bit comical. More research will hopefully reap better rewards this year though. 

 

Great list GB thanks for sharing, I think I will use it when I date check my supplies next month! I also love JennyWrens crisis drawer idea but suspect it would need to be out of sight in my house or the teens will demolish it without me realising!

 

Hi sewknot,

So glad the list is useful.

You said, “…the teens will demolish it without me realising!” I have a demolisher as well, only he left his teenage years a while ago! 🙂