Simple List of Storage Items to Always Have on Hand.

Anyone you may happen to speak to, on the phone, in the supermarket, on the street or over your backyard fence, are all talking about the same thing. "What are we going to do about the cost of... Everything!"

I have spent most of my life doing research, inventing, and keeping my eye on the ball, in reference to our ongoing economic lifestyle. Planning for an economic crisis has taken me years to put together a simple formula, for an average family to follow.

When I was in my early 20's, I lived through the first gasoline crisis and learned from the situation. The President, at that time, did a smart thing or two. He first froze the price of gasoline and put price freezes on supermarket items. Yes, we had gasoline consumption limits, however, it was a necessary thing that had to be done at that time. I was happy that a can of crushed tomatoes stayed at 49 cents for a long time.

Back to the Future.

Look around your home and notice any items that you use on a regular basis. These items are what you will need to try to stock up on... NOW! As the gasoline prices rise and fall you will start to notice that your favorite brand of pasta or bar soap, might not be available, anymore.

Store water in safe water storage containers. Some of the Mart's sell containers just for that purpose, otherwise, use any 1 or 2 Liter Empty Soda Bottle. DO NOT use anything else. Empty milk containers are known to leak.

Put together a first aid kit. (I use the one that The Red Cross suggests.) Also put together a traveling kit of emergency items. (Both of these lists can be obtained from the internet.) Be sure to include copies of medical, mortgage, insurance and any other important papers in both kits. Keep children and elderly medicines and special care items in your kits. Puzzles, games and coloring books are also good items.

Camping Items.

Get familiar with camping items. Stock up on charcoal and bottled gas.

You must have a 12" or 14" Cast Iron Dutch Oven, with feet. That's right, the same kind of Cast Iron Dutch Oven that the early pioneers took along on their Covered Wagons. You may as well purchase a Dutch Oven Cookbook. I know it may seem as if you are going backwards but if your local community has a major outage or hurricane or any other unexpected situation... your family will be prepared, to help each other and your neighbors. Someday you may have to make pancakes on your garden shovel... and yes it does work well.

Purchase or Make a Sun Oven. Do research on Sun Ovens. They work, and are used in poor countries all over the world where electricity is not available. You can bake bread; make stews, soup and more with the solar heat from the sun!

Make Sun Tea. All you have to do is fill any glass container with filtered water, add a few teabags and leave the covered jar out in the sun for a few hours. (Plastic containers are not good for this process.)

There are many storage cookbooks available. The following list is what I put together over the years and have saved a lot of money by keeping most of the items in my pantry. You can store these items under beds, in closets that can have shelves added or in any space that you have. All storage items will be safe, if you keep them located in an area that is 70 degrees or cooler.

Suggested Storage List:

• Water, at least 14 gallons per person. (could last two weeks.)
• Vegetable Oil, Spray Oil and Olive Oil (you won't be able to cook most items without some sort of fat, especially if you have to cook outside in a Dutch Oven.)
• Corn Starch, Baking Soda and Baking Powder
• Table Salt, Sea Salt and Kosher Salt and Ground and whole pepper and peppercorns.
• Jello and Instant Pudding. (You don't want to waste fuel on pudding that needs cooking.)
• Plain Gelatin (1 teaspoon = 1 egg.) Just add 1/2 cup hot water and 3 Tablespoons cold water to 1 teaspoon gelatin and put in refrigerator for 1/2 hour. Beat with egg beater, then add to your cake mix or other recipe that requires eggs.)
• Yellow and White Corn Meal, Grits and lots of Oatmeal.
• Cocoa Powder and Powdered Milk
• Rice (White and Brown. Rice will last for years at room temp., except for Brown Rice which needs to be refrigerated or frozen.)
• Assorted Dried Beans (especially, Pinto, Lima, Red, Black, etc. also Lentils and Dried Peas.)
• Dried Soups, Dehydrated Vegetables, Dried Onions, and Garlic.
• Dehydrated Fruits
• Flour
• Sugar (you don't need to store brown sugar... just mix a little molasses in white sugar.)
• Molasses
• Honey (Buy honey and lots of it. Honey has been known to have been found in Egyptian Tombs that have been around for 1,000's of year's, and has been proven to still be good for human consumption. Don't worry if the honey gets cloudy or hardens in the container. You just have to leave it out in the sun for a few hours and it will soften.)
• Corn and Maple Syrup
• Variety of Dried Pasta
• Canned Tomatoes, Fruit, Vegetables, Beans, Tuna, Turkey, Chicken, Spam, Ham and Soups.
• Gum and Hard Candy
• Dried Fruit, Banana Chips and Banana Flakes and Dried/Flaked Coconut..
• Peanut Butter and Jam and Jelly
• Dehydrated Potatoes
• Popcorn (Not the Microwave Type.)
• Bulk Yeast
• Bleach, Bar Soap, Laundry soap. (Learn How to Make your own Homemade Laundry Soap.) See my Hub on how to do this.
• Shampoo, Toothpaste
• Toilet Paper, Paper Towels
• Bulk Dried Spices and Herbs
• Variety Canned Nuts
• Canned Coffee and Tea Bags
• Packets of Kool Ade
• Non-Hybrid Seeds (To plant a garden in a Raised Bed)
• Batteries (variety)
• Solar Radio
• Flash Lights
• Matches
• White Vinegar
• Candles
• Sterno

You can make natural deodorant with: 1 Cup Corn Starch and 1 Cup Baking Soda. Mix together with a wire whisk and store in any size container. It stops odor, however, it will not stop perspiration.

Until we meet again... Francesca27

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