Food Storage As Convenience Food



How do you think of your food storage? 

Over time, the way I have thought of my food storage has evolved.  In the beginning, when I was building my food storage, it never entered my mind that I should rotate it.  In my mind it was an insurance policy for the future and not to be used until the time of need actually came.  I remember purchasing 100 lbs. of powdered milk and sealing it up in 5 gallon plastic buckets feeling very comfortable that it would provide for me and my family if we needed it.  Fortunately, no major time of need came.  However, at the end of the 20 years I realized that the milk along with many of the other items I had stored for so long had lost their nutritive value and in essence had been wasted.  This filled me with guilt.

I began to realize that if I was going to have food storage it needed to be rotated and managed.  At that point, I began to learn how to use my food storage in the everyday meals that I made for my family.  At that point, I learned to purchase only the items I would actually use.  I also learned how to manage the items so that they would be used before they reached their expiration date.  I wasn’t always successful, but I greatly decreased the food that was wasted.

When freeze-dried foods became available, I found that they were not only good for long term food storage, but that they were also great for convenience foods.  Freeze-dried foods with their vivid taste and aroma are very desirable.  They can easily be substituted in your own recipes without loss of taste, aroma, nutrition, texture or color.  The fact that they are fast and easy to rehydrate and require no slicing or chopping speeds up the cooking process.  They make the task of rotating all of my food storage easier and more convenient.  I find that they are great time savers, giving me more time to spend with my family.   I stock my pantry with the following items to use as convenience food:

1. Freeze-dried meats
2.      Freeze-dried cheese
3.      Freeze-dried onions
4.      Freeze-dried celery
5.      Freeze-dried mushrooms
6.      Freeze-dried spinach
7.      Freeze-dried strawberries

 A large variety of freeze-dried foods are available, making it easy to find the items you use most often.

Why I find using freeze-dried foods convenient.

1. Fast and easy to use.
2. Easy to use in my own recipes
3. Always available, even when the fresh item is out of season
4. Have vivid delicious tastes and aromas
5. Allow me to use only the amount I need (no waste)
6. They are always in my pantry ready to be used even if I haven’t had time to shop for fresh items
7. Long shelf life
8. They make great healthy snacks for children just as they are
9. My family loves them  

I enjoy cooking meals from scratch.  I find that freeze-dried foods used in combination with my regular food storage items make it possible to make a large variety of very desirable meals that my family loves.  This makes it easy to continually rotate my food storage and prevent waste.  If you don’t enjoy cooking or don’t have the time to cook from scratch, freeze-dried foods can be a great convenience food for you.  You will be surprised at the amount of time you can save by using them.  They can make it possible for you to actually keep and rotate a viable food storage for your family. 

If you are interested in more information about freeze-dried foods or would like to purchase freeze-dried foods, please click the link below to go to my Shelf Reliance website.

susansakurai.shelfreliance.com