Survival Kit - As In, End Of Civilization Survival!

[ScottB]

I searched for survival on here and came up with some good suggestions for day to day survival kits but that's not what I'm looking for.

My 5 yr old daughter was diagnosed with Celiac almost 2 years ago now. It's been a challenge but we were already accustomed to my son having nut allergies. Yes, it's a limited and expensive diet in our household.

Anyway, with all the doom and gloom lately it got me thinking about how we would cope if we couldn't go to the local specialty grocery stores for a month or 10. Has anyone assembled a package or a list of food items that are non-perishable while still being gluten and nut free? Something with a multi-year shelf life?

Thanks!

[Hummingbird4]

I would include things like canned chicken and tuna, gluten-free soups, nonfat dry milk powder, gluten-free beef jerky, nuts or nut butters that your son isn't allergic to, rice, canned beans, canned fruit. You'll have to go through your stash and rotate things out periodically. Don't forget the can opener!

[DarkIvy]

It's funny, a while ago we were talking about this at work. Scary as it is to think about, I'm not really that concerned. The economy (and other things) will always experience ups and downs.

Still, I think it's a good idea to have a few things on hand "just in case". Maybe not enough for a few months or even a month, but enough in case there's say, a big blizzard and I can't get out of the house for a couple days. It happens periodically.

[ravenwoodglass]

After having starved a few times in my life I am a bit of a food hoarder. I always keep-

Rice and Wild Rice

Dinty Moore Beef Stew

Spam (yea I know it's gross)

Dried beans and peas

variety of gluten-free broths

canned veggies and fruits

tuna

Pnut butter

Tahini

Olive oil

a variety of jellys

gluten-free crackers

Pamelas mix

gluten-free flours- these I keep in the freezer tightly wrapped in plastic they will keep forever

While I do not do this because I fear any kind of end of the world sort of thing I have found that stocking up when I can allows me to skip grocery shopping if needed when money is tight.

If you do stock up on goods make sure that you rotate your foodstuffs, use the oldest first and do keep an eye of expiration dates on goods. If they get close to the date and you can't use them right away donate them to a food bank, just make sure the items are not past the use by date.

[ScottB]

Thanks for the ideas! I don't really believe we're there as far as the end of grocery stores. I just wanted to make sure I was separating this from the other "surviving with Celiac" threads. We live about halfway between suburban and rural and if we had to go without shopping for a couple of weeks for whatever reason, it would be a challenge for our current pantry. I could eat grass if I had to (boiled with some nutmeg perhaps!) but I don't want to subject my daughter to that.

Anyone else have ideas? Keep em coming!

[Jestgar]

Cans of soup. Buy 'em on sale. Actually, buy everything on sale. Build your stash slowly.

[ang1e0251]

I usually have on hand

Salsa (chopped tomatoes with green chilis)

corn chips (have a long shelf life in unopened)

canned tuna

mayonaise

chocolate bars

popcorn

meat in the freezer

canned beans

Pancake mix

rice

If we don't buy groceries one week, we're OK w/ these staples on hand.

[WW340]

I definitely stay stocked up on food. We live in a very rural mountainous area and frequently have power outages and can be trapped at home for a week or more. I also believe in being prepared for the worst at all times.

I buy the things we eat regularly in bulk, especially gluten free staples for me. I have a rather large stash of pamelas products, food tek items, corn meal, rice and gluten free pasta and noodles. Buying in bulk helps me save money and keep stocked up for emergencies.

We buy the cereal that each of us eats the most of, also in bulk. You can order lots of regular items like this in bulk from amazon for less than at the grocery store and shipping is free. Rice flour is cheap, so I keep a large stock of that. I have smaller amounts of the more expensive flours, but enough that I can boost the quality of the rice flour for baking. I also have xanthum gum in bulk as well.

I buy cases of fruits and vegetables and rotate these. I have a basement, so I put the cases there and then stock my regular pantry from my basement. I keep canned meats in limited amounts, as we don't eat these normally. We keep canned tuna and salmon, which we do eat often in larger quantities than canned meats. Canned tomatoes, chicken broth, dry beans, peas, etc. I keep lots of peanut butter, but in the little containers, as the big ones go bad before I can finish one. I have Hormel Chili with beans, Dinty Moore Beef Stew, progresso cream of mushroom soup, velveeta cheese, condenced milk, corn chips, crackers and fruit juices. Bleach for water purification, lemon juice for canning. Don't forget regularly used spices and sugar, and water. We keep stocked up on extra 5 gallon jugs of water.

The real key to stocking up enough food for months is to stock up on what you eat regularly. That is the only way to keep your food stores fresh and usable for emergencies.

There are some items I stock, but don't use much, such as powdered milk and eggs. I just replace these periodically to keep fresh to have in case of emergency.

We have been doing this for a number of years, so I know what to store now, and what we stored but never ate and had to get rid of. Some things will last beyond the expiration date, but you really need to keep food rotated. There are some really good web sites for home food storage, as well as some books. I recommend reading up if you want to get serious about it.

[loco-ladi]

I get my "tinkyada" pasta by the case at (Company Name Removed - They Spammed This Forum and are Banned) (free shipping that way too) along with a few other thing.... pretzels, snacks etc

Pasta is so versitile you can create almost anything with it and when your almost anything gets boring it can easily transform itself into a whole different dish! tired of plain old spagetti, try baking it with cheese on top.... still bored you got mac n cheese, throw some into your baking dish when cooking some chicken, a little sauce and cheese and bingo a whole new look with pasta.

canned veggies last a long time also, knowing I had 10-12 cans each of my favorites I still bought some today since they were on sale 10 for $10, got me some canned fruit also, lasts a very long time and I only buy it when its on sale.

Flour again in the freezer for me also, along with basic bakinig stuff, corn starch, broths and the like.

I am lucky this house has a pantry but before I moved here i stashed stuff under my bed, perfect size for cases of veggies and soups

[spunky]

I've pretty much tried to stay ahead on food since the y2K scare... which totally fizzled, thankfully, but I think it was an eye-opener as to how dependent we all are for getting food. With allergies, sensitivities, celiac, etc., it presents even more of a problem and possibly more of a need to plan to have enough to take care of ourselves.

I'm not that well-stocked... figuring if society itself completely went ka-blooy... someone would raid whatever you had (either legally, as in the National Guard, to distribute whatever was available equally, or illegally, such as mobs of hungry people with weapons, etc.)... but we do have to think of shorter term emergenices, such as weather-related, loss of income, etc.

Another thing I started worrying about after going gluten free was the possibility that I would get into some sort of horrid situation in which I had to be hauled off to some hospital or something (I'd have to be unconscious for this to happen... trust me... I do NOT like or trust doctors to know what they are doing... I have decades of experience to endorse my fears of their barbaric, fumbling ways)... so I have my own BUG-OUT BAG (BOB) which has things like packaged gluten-free snacks, canned sardines, canned fruit, etc., that I hope someone would bring to me in such an emergency situation, so I could not starve to death until I could get back into taking care of myself again. I think it might be wise for every celiac or anybody else who has food restrictions to have a personal BOB in case they should end up in the care of others... I wouldn't want to even attempt to explain to nurses, etc. (I've had enough conversations with friends/nurses who think white flour isn't wheat) the complexities of my diet now, etc.... would rather survive on gluten-free pretzels, sardines, and canned fruit than to even attempt to go into the explanation, especially if I was layin' there all stitched up, swelled up, etc. I even have safe chewing gum and aspirin in there.

You can fit a pretty decent BOB into a regular-sized back pack... replenish it every six months or so and just have it ready to go!

[Jestgar]

so I have my own BUG-OUT BAG (BOB) which has things like packaged gluten-free snacks, canned sardines, canned fruit, etc.,

Brilliant idea for a lot of things like emergency evacuations (fire, flood), unexpected car trips (ailing family member), kid snacks (Mom! I forgot I have to...) or whatever.

[Sweetfudge]

The real key to stocking up enough food for months is to stock up on what you eat regularly. That is the only way to keep your food stores fresh and usable for emergencies.

This is definitely a great tip. You have to know how to use what you've got when you're faced with an emergency, and panicking b/c you can't find a cookbook w/ recipes for a certain food probably won't help . My parents made it a goal to try a new recipe (whole wheat bread from fresh ground wheat, beans and something-or-other) every once in awhile so we knew what it was, and liked it. That way, if the time ever came, we wouldn't be afraid to eat it.

I have my own BUG-OUT BAG (BOB) which has things like packaged gluten-free snacks, canned sardines, canned fruit, etc., that I hope someone would bring to me in such an emergency situation, so I could not starve to death until I could get back into taking care of myself again. I think it might be wise for every celiac or anybody else who has food restrictions to have a personal BOB in case they should end up in the care of others... I wouldn't want to even attempt to explain to nurses, etc. (I've had enough conversations with friends/nurses who think white flour isn't wheat) the complexities of my diet now, etc.... would rather survive on gluten-free pretzels, sardines, and canned fruit than to even attempt to go into the explanation, especially if I was layin' there all stitched up, swelled up, etc. I even have safe chewing gum and aspirin in there.

genius idea!

My mom used to keep our old school backpacks when they got worn out. She would fill them with things we liked (granola bars, crackers, peanut butter, jerky, canned tuna, gatorade, etc) and keep them throughout the house and cars. That way they were always available wherever and whenever needed.

Since being on my own, I have been so bad about food storage. My goal this year was to buy one extra case of something at costco every month to build a supply. It sorta worked .

Also, don't forget other household staples - pepto, nyquil, feminine hygiene products, bandaids, alcohol (rubbing ), and other things like that.