THE CAN PLAN

Here is another plan that you could use to build your 90 day supply.

Plan meals entirely from cans and other dried stored foods.

Decide how many meals a week you think you’ll want a break from your stored bulk wheat, rice and beans and make a meal for each day. Example: I want three dinners a week that won’t be just wheat, rice or beans and I want them all to be different. This means that I have to find 12 recipes that my family likes and purchase the ingredients for each meal 3 times. This will give you 36 meals or 12 meals a month for 3 months. You could increase or decrease according to your families likes and dislikes.

Why:

It takes time to plan and learn to use the traditional food storage items. This way you can start storing usable items now to supplement the basics.

You don’t have a hand or electric grinder YET!

All wheat, rice and beans could be boring.

You’re more apt to rotate this food.

You may feel better with a little comfort food in emergencies.

Some Ideas:

12 jars of spaghetti sauce, 12 boxes of noodles.

12 cans of a great soup or stew, etc.

12 packaged dinners, add canned meat

Improvise your recipes to be made entirely from cans or dry packed foods.

Can Plan Recipes:

Taco soup

2 cans kidney beans or chili beans

2 cans diced tomatoes

1 can corn

1 packet (or ¼ cup) taco seasoning

Place contents of cans, including liquid and taco seasoning into sauce pan. Simmer for 20-30 minutes.

You could add cheese, crushed corn chips or tortilla chips and /or sour cream.

Great served with cornbread (from a package)

Potato Casserole

2 cans small white potatoes

parsley

pepper

dill seed

oregano

1 can mushroom soup

1 soup can of milk

garlic powder

paprika

Drain potatoes and place in a baking dish. Sprinkle generously with parsley. Season with salt, pepper, pinch of dill, 2 pinches of oregano. Mix soup and milk and add 1/8^th tsp garlic powder. Pour over potatoes and sprinkle with paprika. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

Chinese Casserole

2 cans Tuna

1 can mushroom soup

¼ cup water

1 Tbsp. soy sauce

1 cup whole cashews

1-4oz. can mushrooms

2 cups canned Chinese Chow Mien noodles

¼ cup minced onions (or equivalent in dried)

2 cans water chestnuts

Drain the tuna. Mix with the soup, water, soy sauce, and all other ingredients except 1 Cup of the noodles. Place in casserole. Can be refrigerated at this point or bakes at 375 for 40 minutes.

Quick Tamale Casserole

1 large can or 2 small cans tamales

1 can corn

1 can chili con carne

1 can chopped olives, drained

1/3 cup grated cheese (optional under extreme conditions)

Mix all canned foods, cover with cheese or corn chips, bake for 40 minutes.

Chicken Deluxe

4 cups Pepperidge Farms herb Stuffing Mix (1/2 bag)

1 cup margarine melted (sub. broth or pwd butter)

Mix this and press ½ mixture into the bottom of a 9x13 pan.

Mix together:

2 cans cream of celery soup

1 can milk

Pour over crumbs

Scatter on top:

3 cans of chicken

2 Tbsp dried onion

dash of pepper

1 can peas or water chestnuts

Top with the rest of the crumb mixture. Bake at 375 for 60 minutes. Cool slightly to cut into squares.

Fettuccini Alfredo:

1 package fettuccini noodles

1 jar alfredo sauce

1 can chicken or turkey

Cook noodles and drain.  Heat sauce and chicken together and pour over noodles.

Crab Bisque

3 cans crabmeat

4 Tbsp butter (sub with pwd butter)

¼ cup chicken stock

2 15oz cans tomato sauce

2 6oz cans tomato paste

3 Tbsp Old Bay Seafood seasoning

6 cups milk, (can use pwd or canned)½ tsp Tabasco sauce (opt)

Mix all ingredients except crab and stir till smooth over medium heat. Add crab meat and heat through.

Tuna Shortcake

1 can cream of mushroom soup

¼ cup milk

1 7oz can tuna, drained and flaked

1 cup cooked/canned peas, drained

1 Tbsp chopped pimento

In saucepan, combine ingredients. Heat,  stirring often.

Serve over biscuits

Spanish Rice

3 Tbsp oil

1 cup uncooked rice

1 can 11.5oz tomato juice

1 pint salsa

Toast rice in oil until most of the rice changes color and begins to brown slightly. Add tomato juice and salsa. Stir. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Peanut Butter Spread

1 cup peanut butter, smooth or chunky

3 Tbsp toasted sesame seeds

¼ cup honey

Mix together all ingredients and spread on bread or fruit. Makes about 1 ¼ cups.

Peanut Butter Cookies

1 box yellow cake mix

1 cup peanut butter

½ cup oil

1 egg or egg substitute

2 Tbsp water

Mix all ingredients well. Form 1 1/2” balls and criss-cross with fork on a non-stick pan. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes.

Don’t forget to store all the water necessary to cook your foods. Add some canned veggies with any of the meals and don’t forget to convert more of your favorite desserts so you have a treat.

Food Storage Containers

Food Storage Containers

An article from Mormon Times

- link above gives the entire article

If you’re going to the trouble to store food, you want to preserve its freshness and quality as long as possible. Containers play a big role in extending the shelf life of low-moisture, long-term food storage and even in eliminating insects. Here are some things to keep in mind.

Shelf life

Shelf life is extended when food is kept away from humidity, air, light and temperatures that are high, all of which destroy vitamins and food quality. Think of the acronym HALT (humidity, air, light, temperature) to help you remember. Food packaging affects the first three of these.

No. 10 cans, Mylar pouches and No. 2.5 cans

Low-moisture food, packaged in these containers using oxygen absorbers or vacuum sealing, is well protected from humidity, air and light. In humid climates, Mylar bags are an advantage because they do not rust. They can be stored in plastic tubs or other containers for further protection from punctures and from rodents, which have been known to eat through Mylar.

These containers are light-weight to transport, and you can open them and use food without exposing a large amount of it at a time. No. 10 cans are easy to stack in cardboard boxes, and Mylar bags can be stacked when stored in tubs or other containers.

Size No. 2.5 cans are about the size of a can of cocoa mix. Single people and couples may find these smaller cans helpful. If you want to try a product before you invest in a lot of it, this size is ideal. Cans this size can be good for foods you use only a tablespoon or two of at a time, like dried green peppers, celery, powdered eggs and butter powder, exposing a smaller amount of food by the time you finish the can. Food purchased this way is a more expensive, but it may be worth it. A group order with interested friends and neighbors can help to defray shipping costs.

Plastic buckets

High density plastic buckets offer better protection from light than buckets made with thin plastic. However, plastic buckets in general are air permeable, allowing oxygen to seep through the plastic into the food at a slow rate over time. Plastic buckets are not a big concern for storing wheat or beans long term. However, they are not recommended for long-term storage of foods like rolled oats or rice, which in the presence of oxygen go rancid over time, rendering them dangerous to eat.

This problem can be overcome for foods that deteriorate in the presence of oxygen by using plastic buckets lined with Mylar bags. The bags seal well, and the buckets offer protection from punctures and rodents. You can purchase food packaged this way (called Super Pails) from businesses that sell food storage, or you can purchase the bags at a nominal price online if you want to package food yourself.

Mylar bags can be purchased with zip seal tops, making them easy to seal using oxygen absorbers and to reclose after opening, protecting food from moisture. Some people prefer to ensure bags are sealed by heat sealing them instead of using zip seal closures.

The large quantities of food in buckets appeal to some people. They can be stacked to maximize storage space; however, it is not recommended that they be stacked more than three high as the lids can crack. Keep in mind that buckets can get heavier over time. How does that happen? Well, as we get older, they sure feel heavier to heft!

Occasionally, people are more hesitant to open large more expensive buckets to experiment with the food and use it, in comparison to opening smaller containers. If that’s you, consider buying food packaged in smaller amounts. It’s wise to open and use what you store so food does get too old, and so you know how you’ll use it before an emergency.

Vacuum sealers

Low moisture food packaged with vacuum sealers is protected from humidity and air. However, packaging in transparent containers does not protect food from light. If you use this method with transparent containers, be sure to store food in a dark place away from light to preserve its nutrition and quality. The Utah State University Extension Service cautions that regular polyethylene bags are not suitable to maintain a vacuum.

Eliminating insects

Pests can be a problem, particularly when storing wheat and grains. Fortunately, food technology and processing have improved so much that we are seeing fewer problems with insects than we used to.

Studies show that insects in all stages are killed when they are kept in an environment of less than 1 percent oxygen for at least 12 days. Oxygen absorbers or vacuum sealing make this simple when containers are not air permeable, like metal cans, and Mylar pouches.

A recent study published by Brigham Young University tested whether the addition of more oxygen packets to high density polyethylene plastic five-gallon buckets with gamma seal lids could maintain a low level of oxygen long enough to kill insects. Over 17 days, tests showed that some buckets maintained less than 1 percent oxygen inside, while others did not. The unexpected results indicated that seals in the lids were undependable. Tests were duplicated with less expensive gasketed lids, which had an even higher failure rate.

Unfortunately, the consumer cannot detect which buckets have sealed well and which have not. Lining buckets with Mylar bags that are sealed would provide the needed oxygen barrier to effectively eliminate bugs.

Insects in food can also be destroyed by freezing; however, insect eggs are not affected, making it necessary to freeze food several times as insects hatch. This can be a real nuisance.

The USU Extension Service cautions that dry ice is not the most effective way of controlling insects in stored grain. Diatomaceous earth is also not recommended. Various DE formulations have not been tested and DE poses an inhalation hazard. Use of bay leaves, chewing gum, 10-penny nails and salt are all old wives’ tales (see http://extension.usu.edu/foodstorage/htm/insect-treatments).

It is not necessary to store wheat in an oxygen-deprived environment unless insects are present. It should, however, be stored away from moisture in food-grade packaging. It is possible to purchase insect-free wheat packaged in heavy plastic bags. If you store wheat this way you should be confident your home cannot be invaded by rodents.

Selecting the best food packaging makes a big difference to how well your low-moisture food will last over time, and using an oxygen-deprived environment to eliminate insects is a very simple solution to ensuring your food remains pest-free.

A few tips:

Tip: Great news! After opening low-moisture food in long-term packaging, you have around a year to use the food without a significant decline in nutrition or quality, as long as it is kept away from light and moisture. This gives you a nice amount of time to use what you opened. The exception is dry milk, which may develop strong flavors in the presence of oxygen and should be used in a shorter amount of time.

Monthly Food Storage Purchasing Calendar

Compiled by Andrea Chapman

If you are just starting out, this calendar can be used any year.  Just start with the current month’s items.

We have tried to keep the costs down to between $40 and $50 per week. This might seem rather costly, but if you want to build a good food storage in only one year, it will cost you more each week than if you spread out acquiring it over several years. Be certain to buy only items your family will use, and rotate and use the items in your storage throughout the year. Milk is an expensive item and prices keep soaring, so you might need to invest in a bit higher food storage bill to buy it right now.

* The items in the first few months are basic essentials and are the most important to purchase and store.

It is vital to get WATER - STORAGE. If you don’t have water, you will not be able to use many of the foods you have that are dehydrated or require water to cook. Many times in natural disasters, the electricity goes down and you will not be able to access your water. Sometimes the water is contaminated from flooding and cross-contamination from sewage. You will need water, at very least; you will need 3 days worth.

________________________________

January

Week #1

1 case canned fruit

2 #10 cans instant potatoes

Week #2

3 #10 cans dry milk

Week #3

3 #10 cans dry milk

Week #4

9 pounds yeast

Week #5

Anything you have missed from above

________________________________

February

Week #1

Water Storage Containers-buy either 55 gallon drums, 5 gallon water containers (available at all emergency preparedness stores and some super markets) and spigot, or start to save water in pop bottles and plastic juice containers. Also purchase 100 lbs. hard white wheat and three plastic storage buckets with tight fitting lids. Check out the local mills in your area for best prices.

Week #2

25 lbs of sugar or 20 lbs of honey

5 lbs salt per person

Bucket opener

Week #3

4 #10 cans shortening or 4 - 48 oz bottles oil

2 #10 cans of dry instant milk

Week #4

2 case canned beans (like re-fried pinto, black, kidney, white, pink etc.) or

25 lbs dry beans (preferable) and bucket to store them in.

50 lbs dried corn or popcorn

(about $10.00 from a mill or food storage company) and a bucket to store it in.

(Can be ground into cornmeal as well as for popcorn.)

(All grains and beans can be put into #10 cans at the LDS cannery.) (If not, the buckets work well.)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

March

(Please note that many of these items are repeats because we want to be SURE you have enough of the essentials!)

Week #1

Enough water containers for 14 gallons per person in the family. (This was mentioned last month-but we want to be sure you have this) (Water is your most important item!)

If you didn’t get enough containers last month, you can get them this month.

White Rice, at least 15 pounds per person in the family and if possible buckets to store it.

(Brown Rice goes rancid faster.)

Week #2

2 jars mayonnaise

1 gallon oil

2 tubs shortening

Week #3

25 pounds sugar

1- 25 pound bag of legumes (pinto, lentils, white, pink etc.)

Week #4

Salt 5 more lbs

2 bottles of bleach

1 #10 can or 1 box of dry milk.

Week #5

Check your list for the last 8 weeks and purchase any items you fell short on. These items are essential ones and you will need to be sure you have enough.

________________________________

April

Week #1

100 pounds wheat

10 lbs. brown sugar

Week #2

2 #10 size cans dried fruit or 1 case canned fruit

1 pound yeast

Week #3

1 case tuna or salmon

2 #10 cans milk

3 lbs sprouting seeds

1 80 oz can Rumsford baking powder

Week #4

2 large jars peanut butter or

1 #10 can peanut butter powder (last longer)

2 cans dried whole egg (keep in a cool dry place)

________________________________

May

Week #1

2 to 3 bottles of multi-vitamins

2 #10 cans of rolled oats

(if #10 cans are not available in your area, buy the largest packages available in your local store, and also purchase a small bucket to store it in.)

Week #2

100 lbs. of wheat

3 buckets

Week #3

#10 can margarine powder - or shortening if marg. powder is unavailable

2 #10 cans rolled oats (or equivalent, and a storage bucket)

Week #4

4 #10 cans instant potatoes

1 bottle black pepper

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

June

Week #1

2 cans dry milk, 2 boxes of Rennet

(Used for making cottage cheese and other dairy products from dry milk.)

1 bottle lemon juice,

1 bottle vinegar. (also used in making dairy products from dry milk

Week #2

100 lbs wheat

25 lbs. white flour

Week #3

Baking soda (try to buy in bulk in places like Sam’s Club or Cosco) Buy about 10 lbs. 25 lbs. or legumes (choose those you are willing to eat. Remember you can sprout legumes and almost quadruple the nutritional value of them.

Buy one large box Knox or other gelatin to be used in place of eggs in baking.

Week #4

Tomato products (try to buy them by the case in normal size cans. Spaghetti sauce, tomato sauce, and whole and chopped tomatoes. Buy a combination of flavored and not flavored tomatoes.

Buy paste if you can get a good deal on it. It is less expensive to add water to paste to make sauce than it is just to buy sauce sometimes. Buy three cases if possible.)

Week #5

Be on the lookout for garden seeds that are NON- Hybrid.

That way you can use the seeds from the plants you grow to grow a garden the next season.

A good price for them is about $18-20 per can with about 10 varieties per can.

________________________________

July

Week #1

200# wheat

(buckets to store it in if needed)

+[keep filling pop bottles, Gallon syrup containers, etc. with water - basically no cost to this)

Week #2

20 lbs. Peanut butter

[Keep filling those water containers]

Week #3

4 #10 cans shortening

2 # 10 cans dry milk

[Keep filling water containers - make this a habit - when you empty something worthy of water storage, wash it and fill it right away]

Week #4

6 #10 cans dry milk

[Save more water!]

________________________________

August

Week #1

25# rice

25# sugar

1 # 10 can instant potatoes

5 lbs. salt

Week #2

1 case tuna or salmon or other meat

2 # 10 cans dry milk

Week #3

2 #10 cans dry milk

2 cans shortening

1 #10 can instant potatoes

Week #4

Note* In late August and early September, many stores have sales on canned fruits and vegetables. Ask your local store when these sales will be, and switch the weeks of this calendar as needed.

2 cases fruit

5 lbs. salt

Week #5

2 cases canned fruit

1 case misc. vegetables (green beans, peas, carrots, etc.)

________________________________

September

Week # 1

2 cases canned fruit

1 case misc. vegetables

Week # 2

2 cases canned fruit

2 cans shortening

Week #3

2 cases fruit

1 case vegetables

Week #4

2 cans shortening

25# rice

Buckets to store rice if it did not come in #10 cans

________________________________

October

Week #1

100 lbs. wheat and 3 buckets

Week #2

1 case tuna or other meat

Week #3

25 lbs. Sugar

2 large cans fruit juice powder

Week #4

3 #10 cans dry milk

Week #5

9 #10 cans potato flakes

________________________________

November

Week #1

4 large jars peanut butter

Week #2

1 case canned fruit

15 pounds rice

Week #3

7 #10 cans shortening

Week #4

50 pounds rice and buckets to store

________________________________

December

Week #1

100 lbs. wheat and 3 buckets

Week #2

1 large can fruit juice powder

3 large jars peanut butter

Week #3

3 #10 cans dry milk

Week #4

50 pounds of rice, oats, or barley buckets to store

Preparedness Manual 

Review of the Volcano Grill by "Utah Preppers" website

 This review is the personal opinion of someone writing for the "Utah Preppers" website.

I thought it would be good for everyone to see the stove and this has great pictures....(Launa)

Last week I had the opportunity to get in on a group buy for the Volcano II stove. (Sorry, I would have shared the details but I found out about it very last minute and barely made it in myself!) I had heard good things about this stove, and after a brief review of its features and online ratings, I decided to acquire one.
The main reason I wanted to add this to my supplies is its versatility—Volcano stoves can use charcoal, wood, or propane (with the adapter). I found this setup very desirable, since while my fuel may be diversified, this single stove can handle almost everything I throw at it. It’s made to accommodate dutch ovens, or you can lay down the included grill on top and use a normal pan, pot, or cook your things directly on it. And cleanup is as simple as turning the stove over and dumping the remnants out (unless you’re using propane, of course).
Another great feature of the Volcano is its unique heat chamber that channels the heat upwards towards your food, instead of wasting fuel by expelling heat out the sides and bottom. This also means that the area surrounding the stove is cooler than conventional stoves, allowing you to cook with the stove on a variety of surfaces that you normally might not use for putting your stove on.
Below are the pictures of my grand unveiling when I opened and first used the stove.

The box it comes in:

Opening the box:

The oven comes in a sturdy bag for easy transportation. The stove weighs 22 pounds and is about 16″ x 16″ x 4″ when closed (13″ high when open).

This is what the kit looks like when the bag is first opened:

Here are the contents of the kit fully unwrapped. From top left, clockwise: heat deflector plate, grills, stove, propane adapter, propane hose (this hooks to the 20 lb. tanks; you can buy an adapter for the 1 lb. tanks for ~$40), 2 tools for the propane assembly, manual.

Opening and closing the stove is brain-dead easy and some pretty cool engineering. By simply pulling up on the handle, the entire stove pops open, the legs unfold, and you’re set. To close the stove you lift up from the bottom, the stove folds in on itself, and the legs retract. Very cool. I opened and closed it a few times just to marvel at its elegant simplicity. :)

The propane assembly simply sits inside the stove as you see below:

Here is the stove hooked up to a propane tank, ready for use:

The propane hose comes with its own valve, so I had to open the fuel on the tank itself, and then on the hose. In addition, the stove has adjustable vents to control the amount of oxygen in the stove; this is more for using wood/charcoal and controlling how much oxygen is getting to your embers.

Mmmm, fire……

I’m very pleased with this stove so far and look forward to using it in the future. And yes, I would have been just as happy with it had I paid retail price. :)

UtahPreppers