When building your food storage, you need to have a variety of foods. They should be high in carbohydrates and vitamins. You also need a lot of food. It can be overwhelming, but I can help you!
The first item I want you to buy is rice. Just normal long grain white rice. You can do brown or Bismati if you’d like, but for simplicity I’m just going to say long grain white. Don’t buy Instant or “Minute” rice, as it doesn’t store as long. I bought 2 10-lb bags at Walmart for $11! 20 pounds for $11, folks! Talk about cheap!
Nutritional Value
Rice is very versatile and a good source of carbohydrates to keep you going during times of stress. It is 90% carbohydrates, 8% protein, and 2% fat. It’s low in fat, cholesterol, and sodium. Long grain white rice is also a good source of Manganese, Selenium, and Iron.
Long grain white rice doubles in size when it is cooked. You can boil it and use it as a base for many dishes. Add it to soups, stir-fries, and casseroles. I even like it in milk with just some butter and sugar.
Long term storage
If you take the little time it takes to store it properly, long grain white rice can be stored for as much as 25 years. Rice storage involves buckets, mylar bags, and oxygen absorbers. Check with restaurants and bakeries for free or very cheap food-grade buckets. Make sure they are food-grade. Non food-grade buckets can leach chemicals and bad taste into the food. You also need a way to seal the mylar bags. Some people use an iron or a hair straightener to seal and re-seal the mylar bags, but an impulse manual sealer can be bought pretty cheaply as well. Oxygen absorbers are cheap also, I have seen packs of 100 for about $10.
Rice is a great starting point for a good food storage plan. Get as much as you can, and build on it with my weekly tips!
Don’t forget to follow along with our January 2019 Self Reliance Challenge! Read my fellow homestead bloggers’ posts to increase your self reliance this year!
Sounds like I’ll be buying some rice on Friday! ? What do you think about Jasmine rice? My family prefers it to the white rice. Do you know if it will store the same/as well as the white rice? Thanks so much for doing this! Your tips are going to make this process a lot less overwhelming!
You’re welcome, Lisa, anything I can do to help! I THINK Jasmine rice would last as long as long grain white rice, but not totally sure. I’ll look into it! You might not get as much for as little, but if your family prefers, go for it!
Hi again, Lisa! I did a little research and the Jasmine rice also has a very long storage life, just as good as long grain white! So if your family prefers it, go right ahead!