Your year supply one month at a time

Let's begin by saying I am not a professional in this area. I begin seriously last year after joining a friend's food storage program(www.myfoodstoragedeals.com). It got me excited and helped me to stress less and start simple. So that is what I am trying to pass on.
I took the information from the LDS church website, although I want to stress that this is a city wide program and not a church program. The LDS church has boundaries of neighborhoods already in place and the city thought this would be the easiest route.
It is less overwhelming for me when I look at it monthly instead of the full year
Suggested amount for 1 month for one person:

Grains: 25 lbs per person of any of the following:
-cold or hot cereal
-cornmeal
-flour
-mixes(muffin, cornbread, pancake)
-oats (quick or old fashioned)
-Rice
-wheat(grind to make wheat flour)
*For a family of 4 you could get a 25 lb bag of flour, 25 lbs of oatmeal, 25 lbs of rice, and 25 lbs of wheat- then you have a good variety. I know this seems a no-brainer but don't get things your family won't eat!

Legumes: 5 lbs per person
-Black beans
-chili beans
-kidney beans
-lentils
-pinto beans
-pork n' beans
-refried beans
*Beans are an important part of your diet. If you don't know what you would do with these, I have a lot of good recipes that I will pass on every Tuesday. They have gotten as low as .50 a can and if possible get as many as you can. I am getting low but right now they are a bit too much per can so I have been focusing on other stuff on sale.

Milk: 1.5 lbs per person
-Evaporated milk
-powdered
-sweetened condensed
*Powdered milk can come in handy when you run out and need some for a recipe or to drink. My kids can't tell the difference when I make it. In fact they think it is cool that I can make milk myself:)

Sugar: 5 lbs per person
-brown sugar
-corn syrup
-powdered syrup
-honey
-jam
-jello
-maple syrup
-molasses
-pudding
-white sugar
*Watch for good sales on all of these items and you will be able to stock up on more. I will let you know when there are great deals on Thursday.

Oils/fats:2 lbs per person
-butter
-oil
-margarine
-mayonaise
-peanut butter
-salad dressing
-shortening
*These items are essential in cooking. If you don't cook much then you could get a lot of peanut butter! I figure that if we had nothing we will at least have peanut butter and a spoon:)

Salt: 1.5 lbs a personIf you want to start simple start with the salt. It will cost you less than a dollar:) If you had the bare minimum to eat you would at least have salt to make it taste better.

Meats: 1.5 lbs per person
-canned chicken
-canned tuna
-canned turkey
-meat soups
-clams
-stew
-spam
-vienna sausages
-TVP
Fresh meat/freezer
-bacon
-beef/roast
-chicken
-pork
-sausage
-seafood
*It has helped me so much to have a supply of meat in the freezer. It makes it convenient as well as less costly. You get the meat when it is on sale then you can get more of it for other meals. Of course it is good to have canned meats as well in case the power to your freezer is out and it spoils.

Fruits: 15 lbs for ENTIRE family
-applesauce
-dry fruit
-fruit cocktail
-peaches
-pears
-pineapple
-mandarin oranges
*This is another easy place to start. 15 cans of the fruit your family enjoys most. I would get about 30, because my kids like to have a fruit with their dinner each night.

Vegetables: 15 lbs for ENTIRE family-beets
-carrots
-corn
-green beans
-green chili's
-instant potatoes
-mixed veggies
-mushrooms
-onions
-peas
-pickles
-pumpkin
-salsa
-spaghetti sauce
-tomato paste
-tomato soup
-tomatoes
-yams
*If you plant a garden this year you will save tons of money in this area. Last year I canned 35 jars of tomatoes and it cost me $2 for the lids. If you have never done this, I will post about it closer to gardening time! My family doesn't eat canned vegetables so I focus on frozen vegetables, salsa, tomato products for pasta sauce, and we love pickles.



Cooking essentials: At least one of each that you would need for cooking
-baking powder
-baking soda
-cocoa
-vanilla
-vinegar
-yeast

Auxillary foods:-Spices
-vitamins
-cake mixes
-crackers
-marshmallows
-casserole mixes
-chocolate chips
*These are just things to make your life a little more pleasant, and make your food a little tastier

Condiments:
-bbq sauce
-ketchup
-mustard
*You would be able to survive with all of these but it helps to have them on hand when you run out. I bought ketchup for $.50 a bottle last year and got a year supply. It is just one less thing I have to buy full price on grocery day.


Now you know what you need to buy, now you just wait for great deals and stock up! Maceys case lot sale is coming up and they may have some great deals. I will try to get a price comparison on later between the LDS cannery, walmart and cosco. If you have a cosco membership they have the best deals on Peanut butter, flour, brown sugar, and sugar most of the time.Sometimes case lots can beat them. Wheat and oats can't beat beat at the LDS cannery. A lot of the "cooking essentials" are the best prices at the Walmart price.