Do you have holes? This is my plan for my holes!

I call the lack of certain things in my food storage HOLES.  Some people call them gaps and then some people call them missing items. Whatever you call them, life might be pretty tough without them or maybe just bland or boring.  Can you imagine eating rice, beans, vegetables, fruit and bread without the seasonings, sauces, dressings,  jellies and desserts?  Do you want just to survive or to survive comfortably?  I for one want to feel satisfied at the end of the day each day.  I don’t want to be craving something I don’t have.  My family says they feel the same way.  While discussing this with my husband over dinner last night he told me of a few things he wouldn’t want to live without.  He said mayonnaise/salad dressing, mustard, ketchup, steak sauce, and hot sauce were a few of the things he could think of that would make life more bearable in rough times.  I asked my granddaughter and she said she wanted chocolate syrup and strawberry syrup. I thought about what I wanted to make meals more pleasant and I decided that the extras at some of my favorite meals would be necessary.  I want mushrooms, mandarin oranges, teriyaki sauce, soy sauce, relishes and cheese .  Now I have to look at what I could possibly make out of ordinary ingredients and what I will have to supply pre-made.  Mayo and salad dressing can be made but I would like to have a years supply if I can get it dated for that long, the same for ketchup and mustard.

I will stock enough pickles and relishes for a year as well.  I will also stock the spices and seasoning to make my own pickles and relishes to replace what I have used every summer when harvesting my garden.  Now as for the other things I listed.  I would like to have a years supply of all of them and then have recipes to make many of the items when I am close to running out.  The one thing that I don’t think I would want to make is soy sauce.  I don’t want to store a lot of soy beans.  They aren’t that easy to find in bulk and are quite expensive.  So if I can I will store a couple of years worth of soy sauce. 

Now I want to address cheese.  I live in the city and don’t have access to goats or cows, so I won’t have fresh milk to make good hard cheeses with.   So I have stored lots of dry milk powder and instant dry milk as well.  There are lots of recipes for making soft cheeses on the net so I have downloaded them.  I know I can make yogurt cheese because I know how to make yogurt.   The yogurt cheese will substitute for sour cream and cream cheese.  I have recipes for making some soft white cheese which I believe will melt and can be used in casseroles and pizzas.  I can make cottage cheese and I am hoping I can make mozzarella as well.  I already use cottage cheese in lasagna so we are used to that. I do need to stock up on more parmesan cheese.  The big wholesale stores carry big containers of grated parmesan.  I think I can repack the cheese into mylar with 02 absorbers and keep in a cool dry place to make it last longer.  Cheddar is my favorite cheese to cook with so I will miss that for sure.  I think I will try to buy some whole wheels of cheddar covered in the wax.  I believe it will last for years if kept cool and uncut.  Then of course when I cut into it I will have to recoat the quarters of the round that I am not using in fresh wax.  I have bought the wax to do this already and will keep it for future use. I need to buy some powdered cheddar to keep for using in sauces and in/on wet foods, for instance when making macaroni and cheese or making omelets.  I definitely want to practice making the soft white cheeses and cooking with them so that I won’t be surprised or disappointed after the collapse of society.

Everyone must decide where their own holes are in the food storage and decide how to fill them for themselves.  Research, shop sales, find recipes to make your own, or find alternatives.  I am listing my holes to show my thinking and plans.

My list of holes:

Condiments;
                          Mayo/salad dressing - store a 1 yr. supply keep recipes
                                                              for making my own
                          Mustard  - store 2 yr. supply -  keep recipes for
                                            making  my own                                                        
                          Ketchup– store 1 yr. supply - keep recipes for
                                           making  my own
                          Steak sauce – store 1 yr. supply – 
                                          find recipes for making my own               
                          Soy sauce – buy 2 yr. supply  
                          Teriyaki sauce – buy 2 yr. supply
                          Horseradish – buy 1 yr. supply – buy seeds to grow fresh     
                          Hot sauce – buy 2 yr. supply –
                                              store cayenne and recipe for more     
                          Relishes – buy 1 yr. supply –
                                            buy seeds and spices to make own
                          Chocolate syrup – 1 yr. supply –
                                            keep recipe for making own           
                          Strawberry syrup – 1 yr. supply –
                                            keep recipe and strawberry seeds

Cheese;             Buy cheddar cheese rounds in wax
                          Buy cheddar cheese powder in #10 cans
                          Buy Citric Acid for making cheese
                          Buy cheesecloth for draining cheese
                          Buy rennet to make cheese
                          Practice making and cooking with homemade cheese
                          Keep directions and recipes for cheese making with dry milk
                          Buy grated parmesan cheese in large containers and repack.
                          Buy jarred cheese whiz a case if possible     

Veg. & fruit;       Buy cases of mushrooms and mandarin oranges
                          Buy dried mushrooms and repackage in mylar with 02 absorber
                          Buy jarred red peppers
                          Buy jarred or canned jalapeños

This is my list.  Now figure out what your family will have problems living without and figure how to address it.  Have fun!