Buying Enough Food for Three Months

3 month shelf stable food. Everything for every meal for 13 weeks.

“We can begin ever so modestly. We can begin with a one week’s food supply and gradually build it to a month, and then to three months.”

Gordon B. Hinckley, “To Men of the Priesthood,” Liahona and Ensign, Nov. 2002, 58.October 2002

I will describe Wendy Dewitt’s method. She thought about food storage, and she decided she wanted good food, food that she already liked to eat. She wrote down 14 dinners that her family liked, wrote down all the ingredients right down to the teaspoon of salt, multiplied it by 26 times, and bought that amount of food, so she could eat that meal every other week. Then she knew she had all the ingredients to eat dinner for a whole year.

She also did the same with breakfasts, and ingredients for one loaf of bread a day. This plan is all described in her booklet.

But I don't want to overwhelm you, so consider doing her method and basing it on Three Months. Just plan out everything for 13 weeks or three months instead of a year like she did.

Store what you eat. Eat what you store. Rotate, rotate, rotate.

The ladies on FoodStorageMadeEasy feel that it is okay to keep meat in the freezer for their 3 month supply. Wendy Dewitt doesn’t keep her meat in the freezer, she cans it. She doesn't want to rely on the power grid.

Ask yourself, How often can I stand to eat this dish? If you can eat it every other week, buy 6 or 7 meals of it.

If you can eat it once a week, buy 13 meals of it.

Canned goods can easily last 1-3 years, no problem.

Boxes can get bugs in them, rotate them quickly.

My family's plan: Here are some of the things in my three-month supply.

Taco Soup. We can easily eat it twice a month. Twice a month for 3 months = 6 times. So I bought 6 bags of Fritos at Sam's, and all the cans of beans, corn, and tomato sauce, bought a big jar of Taco Seasoning Powder, and canned some ground beef. Now I have all the ingredients except lettuce, and we could eat it without lettuce if we had to. (If you don't want to can the beef, just keep it in your freezer.)

Spaghetti. Twice a month. Spaghetti noodles, spaghetti sauce, powdered Parmesan cheese, oil. Buy enough for 6 meals.

Canned Soup- I buy it on sale. We have lots and lots of this.

Hamburger Helper, Asian Helper. One can of chicken for 2 boxes. Oil. Powdered milk.

Snacks and desserts, not just main dishes. Cake mix, can of frosting, oil, powdered eggs.

Jellos and puddings- two per week for 3 months. Remember to store ALL the ingredients. Jello just needs water. I store evaporated milk or powdered milk to make the pudding.

Eat cold cereal half the days for 3 months-11 boxes for our family. I have the powdered milk stored just in case, but for now I'll buy the milk at the store.

(Remember to store food inside the temperature controlled house, not in attic or garage.)