One thing that every prepper needs is a special pantry filled with canned goods. You’ll need to eat, of course, and living off the land may not be an option at first. Before you begin stocking your pantry with various canned goods, take the time to read through this list of categories. You’ll need a few things from each category in order to have a well-rounded pantry and plenty of meal options. After all, you don’t want to subsist by eating the same things over and over!
1) Protein.
Protein is the main component of every meal. It gives you energy and keeps you healthy. Protein can be found in the form of canned beans, such as plain kidney beans, prepared baked beans (which taste good right out of the can, by the way), SPAM, tuna, and many other things. You’ll be surprised at how many canned and tinned meats there are on the market. You’ll even find canned chicken! Go for an array of canned foods from the protein category, as you can form many meals around them. Imagine making a tasty chili out of seasonings and canned beef and beans.
2) Fruit.
You don’t want to end up with scurvy, so make sure to stock a variety of canned fruits. Look for ones that have whole pieces of fruit in them, such as peaches, apples, cherries, and berries. You’ll even find tropical fruits, like pineapples and oranges. If you want to have different options, choose some that are mixed. The ever-popular fruit cocktail tends to have a variety of types of fruit in it. All of them are good for you and will provide your meals with some balance. Plus, in a pinch, you can use singular canned fruits as pie filling.
3) Vegetables.
Canned vegetables contain plenty of vitamins and minerals. The more popular varieties, like corn, green beans, and carrots, are good basics to start off with. You can’t go wrong with them. If you want more choices, take a long look in the canned goods section of your grocery store. You’ll find canned potatoes, mushrooms, asparagus, and more. All of them have a decent shelf life and will remain good for some time after the expiration date, as long as the cans remain clean, undented, and are kept in a cool, dry environment. Imaging is making a tasty stew out of the canned foods found in your pantry!
4) Sauces and gravies.
No emergency pantry is complete without cans of tomato sauce and various gravies. These tend to be overlooked by people who focus solely on meats and vegetables since those are two main building blocks of every prepper diet. However, you’ll need some variety in order to make your diet less boring, so why not add some interesting things to the mix? You can use the meat gravy on your canned potatoes.
5) Jellies and jams.
While these don’t quite have as long a shelf life, they’ll be a welcome addition to your meals. You can spread them on toast as a substitution for butter, which you may not have, and there’s nothing quite like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. (Yes, your emergency pantry should have a jar of peanut butter in it as well. They’ll last and don’t need to be refrigerated once they’re opened.) You can also use jelly to make hobo pies over an open fire, as long as you have some sort of bread or dough to wrap around them. And, last but not least, you can eat this tasty spread right out of the jar with a spoon.
