I found a very affordable way to store rice, beans, flour, noodles and any other food item (my Food Insurance™ food is stored in 15 of them). This is also a great way to store any paper products or paper towels, matches, and anything else that has to be kept dry, away from heat, and bug proof.
Go to a bakery in your area (groceries stores, bread bakers or cake bakers), and ask for their icing or dough pales with lids. Generally, they are more than willing to give them to you for FREE. Ask them when they get their shipments in, and find out when they empty the buckets. Make sure to find out when they throw the buckets in the trash. For me, I go in no later than Thursday, because they throw the buckets out on Friday and Saturday.
Be sure to clean the buckets out with a little bleach. You can then use them to store food, fuel disks, tooth paste and floss. I even made first aid kits out of two of the buckets.
You can stack them easily, label them with a marker, and lift them with ease. The buckets take up just a little space, and protect my emergency food and supplies.
Contributed by MC McGregor, a Food Insurance™ Guest Author
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I AM SAVING FOOD JUST IN CASE AND WAS WONDERING IF USING SILACA GEL PACS TO GET RID OF MOISTER WAS SAFE TO DO AND WOULD WORK
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Alex,
There are many different oxygen and moisture absorbers that are available on the market, some of which are made with silica gel. Our best advice is to make sure the absorbers you use are food grade.
Thanks,
-Food Insurance
Hadn’t thought of that source – thanks
That’s a great idea. I had bought the plastic storage containers for the kitchen like tupperware and store my cereals, rice and beans, etc. of all kinds and rotate 3-6 months when I buy in bulk.
I am going to do your idea today. Thanks.
Every time I think about saving food I hang up on what container to use.
This is a great idea.
How kind of you to respond! I had foorgtten about this video, but your answer not only cleared some questions up for me, but it also reminded me to have another look around your inspiring storage. I live in a small apartment, but even I am finding ideas to maximize a pantry’s usefulness. (My pantry is two bookcases I have in my dining area.) Just today I bought a Rubbermaid container with a locking lid to hold a 25lb bag of flour, since I now bake my own bread. Progress!
Good info. And i hadn’t thought about toothbrushes and toothpaste for my supplies. Thanks
Tim
Very informative and allows this to be done over a period of time. Should veggie seeds be included? What should not be included or has too short of a shelf life to be wasted on space?
FYI – when storing buckets of food do not place them directly on a cement floor. Through a piece of plywood or some 2x4s under them. The cement leaches into the contents of the bucket if left directly on the floor.
In one apartment we placed out bed on top of all of our buckets full of food. Worked great.