After attending an emergency preparedness meeting, held by an LDS church in a neighboring town, I realized the importance of having some food put back, "Just in case". On recommendations, I found Emergency Essentials on the web: http://www.beprepared.com/.
Their freeze dried foods are some of the tastiest I've tried. And, being an older couple, I really like the smaller quantities that they offer in #10 cans. They are easy to store, economical to buy, and last longer than I'll be here on this earth!
There is one thing about starting and maintaining a food storage that can be intimidating, and that is keeping up with what you have, when you got it, and how much you may need for an extended period of time. Even if you are only trying to organize your pantry, you will find you need some kind of method to you madness!
Emergency Essentials has just the thing! The Food Storage Analyzer! It's a program that helps you determine how much food you need for your family, no matter how many people are under your roof, for a certain period of time. It helps you by breaking down the food into categories, such as grain, fruits and veggies, baking essentials, etc., that EE carries, then allows you to add your pantry items, and anything else you want.
If EE carries items, it gives you the opportunity to create a shopping list while you'r preparing your storage list!
Another feature, it gives you a breakdown of the nutritional value of the foods you have.
This really helps me to keep up with where I need to add things - if I'm short on protein items, for example, or desserts!
And, to make it really easy, when I order, I have the option of asking EE to add my purchases to my Analyzer, so that I don't have to do it.
Finally, there's a printer friendly option so I can have a list in my pantry, available to check off items as I use them.
One could probably make up their own spreadsheet and list the foods they have on hand, but that is time consuming, esp. if you not a computer whiz (and I'm not!). But it won't have all the extra features that the Food Storage Analyzer has, which, by the way is F+R+E+E!!!\
Check it out, get organized, and simplify your life.
