Arizona in the Saddle

Food Storage Basics
By Laura Owsley
Ahhh, March is here! I love the month
of March. I’ll be married 47 years
this month! I don’t know how that
happened as I don’t feel over 47 years old
myself! Quite an accomplishment if I do
say so! It took a lot of committment and
hard work, but we did it!! Marriage is very
different from gathering a supply of food,
but both take lots of commitment and
hard work. On that note, we’ll talk about
our goals for the month of March with our
food storage!
I like to gather tomato products and pasta
for the month of March. Keep an eye out
for sales on these items this month. It’s
always helpful to focus on a category of
food items to gather each month so you
spread the expense out over the year. It’s
easy to get overwhelmed if you try to buy
a bunch of food at one time. If you follow
these suggestions, you can gather food
throughout the year and your items will be
naturally rotated so they don’t lose their
shelf life.
See Food Storage Recipe on page 55!
I, myself, love it when I can gather a six
month supply of tomatoes and pasta, but
you can certainly gather a smaller amount.
Do whatever your family can afford and
have space for!
Here is the list of items I work on for my
family during March.
Week 1:15x8 oz. tomato sauce and 6x6
oz. tomato paste.
Week 2: 10x15 oz. canned tomatoes
and 2 jars of salsa.
Week 3: 5 lbs. dry pasta and 4 boxes of
macaroni and cheese.
Week 4: 12 pkg. Ramen noodles.
Tomato based products have a shorter
shelf life of 12 to 18 months, so it’s best
to buy regularly. Dry pasta lasts about
2-3 years if you buy it in bags or boxes
and keep it in sealed containers in a cool
pantry. The key is cool, dark and dry. Some
people love to can their own tomatoes and
make their sauce from scratch. Everyone is
different and that’s one thing I love about
food storage—everyone can gather the
perfect supply for their family! You don’t
have to get anything I suggest or someone
else suggests. You build a supply that
works for your family so they will eat it!
Food storage for you family, your way.
Remember to be charitable this month.
There’s always opportunities to give of
ourselves, just look around!! It doesn’t have
to be anything big or time consuming.
Smile at someone, ask a co-worker or
neighbor how they’re doing and then
listen. Take a plate of goodies or maybe
a dinner to someone. There are lots of
choices! Have a great month!
26 March 2015 AZintheSaddle.com