You need to plan your food storage in terms of what you can actually MAKE out of the items. Wheat will do you no good if you don't have other baking items necessary to make edible food out of it. Using the information from the book Marlene's Magic with Food Storage as a general guideline, I have compiled a list of different food items you can cook depending on what items you currently have in your food storage. This should be a starting point for anyone when determining which items to begin accumulating or to see what items you should add to really enhance your meal options.

I would suggest getting a 3 month supply of all of these items first, and then moving on to a full year's worth of food. You don't want to end up with a year's supply of wheat and unable to make even a loaf of bread because you don't have the other ingredients.

Foods You Can Make Using Common Food Storage Items

If You ONLY Have: Water, Wheat, Salt, Shortening or Oil

You Can Make:

• Sprouted wheat
• Cooked cracked wheat
• Cooked whole wheat
• Wheat grass
• Gluten (a strange bread-type food that has a very high protein content)
• Tortillas

Just Add: Powdered Milk, Powdered Eggs, Honey or Sugar, Flour

And You Can Make the Items Above PLUS:

• Wheat pudding
• German pancakes
• Crepes
• Pasta

Just Add: Yeast, Baking Powder, Baking Soda

And You Can Make the Items Above PLUS:

• Puddings/custards
• Pancakes
• Some varieties of cookies
• Waffles
• Muffins/English muffins
• Breads
• Biscuits
• Some varieties of crackers

Just Add: Tomatoes, Powdered Butter and Cheese, Unflavored Gelatin, Canned Milk, Canned Fruits

And You Can Make the Items Above PLUS:

• Meatless dinners
• Meatless casseroles
• Cream sauces
• Jello salads
• Whipped cream desserts
• Baby formula

Just Add: Rice, Legumes, Beef/Chicken Broth, Canned Meats, Dried Potatoes, Dehydrated Vegetables

And You Can Make the Items Above PLUS:

• Lots of great chunky soups
• Chili
• Refried beans
• Rice dinners
• Rice puddings
• Sandwiches
• Many different dinners and casseroles

Just Add: Extras such as Oats, Raisins, Nuts, Spices, Juice, Peanut Butter, Cream of Tarter, etc.

And You Can Make the Items Above PLUS:

• A wide variety of almost any type of food you would want to cook

Summary

As you can see, with a bit of planning (and a fabulous food storage recipe book on hand), you can be confident that you will be able to create healthy, filling, comforting meals for your family should a true emergency occur. It will also be helpful to start using and rotating through these foods in your every day cooking so that you can find the recipes your family likes, get them used to eating these foods, and ensure that all of your storage retains its maximum freshness.