The 52 Week Food Storage Plan; Made Simple

via APN

In the beginning, we all struggle to wrap our heads around the idea of having enough food in our food storage to last our family for a year.  It can be very overwhelming.  I have learned through multiple sources how to break this project down to make your long-term goal more attainable AND controllable.  Organization is the key to getting your storage done faster and more effectively to ensure your family has a 3 month supply of food, and also a years worth of food.

This article will show a different way to go about collecting food storage, by having a set goal and plan in mind versus just buying this and that all the time and then wondering, “Just how many meals do I have here?”  So much space is wasted on food storage because a plan is not laid out and followed and you never really know how many meals you have on hand.



The plan:

The first thing you’re going to do is sit down and come up with a meal plan for two weeks (14 days).  That will include breakfast, lunch and dinner.  Everyone’s will be different based on your family’s needs.  We have four people in our family so my examples/numbers will be based on that.  You can change the numbers based on the amount of people you will feed and their dietary choices.

Now comes the math.  Based on your meal plan, you will have to figure up the amount of servings each family member would eat according to the package directions.  Once you have that figured out, multiply it by 52  to see how many servings of that product are needed.  (Or 13 weeks if starting with a 3 month plan)  Then  multiply it by the amount of each family member in your household.
It would look like this:  These figures are based on eating the product once a week.

• Amount of Servings x 52 Weeks in the Year = Total amount needed for one person.
• Total amount x 4 =  The complete amount needed to eat that product once a week for one year.
• If you were to eat that product twice in one week you would then multiply the complete amount x two.  (And so on)

Here is an example of one of our breakfast meals and one of a dinner meal so you can get an idea of how to work the math.

Breakfast For 1 day:

Sausage:

• Honey Ville #10 canned sausage holds 24 servings of sausage.  One serving is half a cup, but re-hydrates to 1 cup.  Based on that, I count the 1/2 cup servings as one cup of sausage. (Or you can opt for TVP freeze-dried sausage, this is considerably cheaper, but it is textured vegetable protein verses real pork)
• 1 cup of sausage x 52 = 52 c
• 52/24 (number of servings) = approx 2.1 cans
• 2 cans x 4 people = 8 cans of sausage
• 8 cans = sausage for breakfast once time a week for an entire year.

Water amount to re-hydrate the meat.  One cup of boiling water to a 1/2 cup of sausage.

• 24 cups of water x 8 cans of sausage = 192 cups of water
• Conversion: 192 cups of water = 12 gallons of water to prepare these meals.

Eggs:

• Honey Ville Powdered Eggs #10 can = 78 tablespoons
• One egg takes 2 tablespoons of powdered mix.
• 8 eggs = 16 tablespoons  (2 eggs each)
• 16 tablespoons x 52 = 832 tablespoons for 2 eggs each, once a week, for one year.
• 78 tablespoons x 11 cans = 858 tablespoons
• 11 cans = 2 eggs, one time a week, per person for a year with a little left over.

Water amount needed: To reconstitute 1 egg, add 4 tablespoons of water.

• 8 eggs x 4 tablespoons of water = 32 tablespoons water
• 32 tablespoons water x 52 weeks in a year = 1664 tablespoons water
• Conversion: 1664 tablespoons = 104 cups of water which = 6.5 gallons of water

Conclusion: To eat this meal once a week for a family of four, we would need;

• 8 cans of Honey Ville freeze-dried sausage.
• 11 cans of Honey Ville Powdered Whole Eggs
• 18.5 gallons of water.  (This doesn’t necessarily mean you have to add that to your water storage. These small amounts can be used out of each person’s gallon of water per day.)

Dinner for 1 day:
Spaghetti Sauce and Noodles:

• 1- 32 ounce jar of Classico spaghetti sauce x 52 = 52 Jars
• 1- pounds package of noodles x 52 = 52 packages of noodles
•  1- Packages of Bisquick garlic rolls that you just add water two x 52 = 52 packs

Conclusion: To eat spaghetti once a week for a year you will need;

• 52 Jars of spaghetti sauce.
• 52 packages of noodles.
• 52 packages of Bisquick garlic roll mix.

OR you can go with the simple pre-made entrees in # 10 cans.  For example:
Mountain House #10 Can of Spaghetti With Meat Sauce:

• 10- 1 cup servings per can
• 52/10 (number of servings) =  5.2 cans (We will say 6 cans.)
• 6 cans x 4 = 24 cans of Spaghetti and meat sauce.

As you can see, putting together the meal plan for a two-week meal plan takes a little time and a bit of basic math, but it will be worth it in the end.  It will save you money and give you comfort knowing that you have daily meals for 3 months or 1 year.  I recommend starting off with a 3 month supply of regular daily meals and then build upon that with your staples.  (Meaning 5 gallon buckets of flour, beans, wheat, sugar, powdered milk and things of that nature.)  That does not mean you can’t add other items like spices or snacks if you have the means to.  For us, having a plan and sticking to it according to our budget has really helped keep things in order and accomplish our goals.

We set aside $50.00 a week to use directly on our meal plans.  Make a list and start at the top.  Once you have completed your first item, move on to the second.  Before you know it, you will be fully stocked with your first 3 months. 

Please feel free to ask me any questions or add input in the comments section.  If you need to speak to me on a more personal level about coming up with a plan, please feel free to add/message me on face book.

Keepin It Spicy,
Jalapeño Gal

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=4woLOnURFiw#!