2 months

[TheCG]

Someone on another board I'm on is going to be in a place for about 2 months where he has running water and a full kitchen, but no way to get to the grocery store. I figured this would be a good place to get suggestions on what to bring. He's mostly vegetarian, eats some fish, milk, eggs, etc., so I didn't include much meat in this (and I wouldn't know how to store meat if there's not enough room in the freezer). I may actually try to buy some of what I suggested to have a stock for a few months myself. What would your suggestions/additions/critiques be (I know, I didn't include chocolate)?

 

I have a recipe for individual loaves of French bread that I need to try sometime. They take 1 cup of bread flour, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp rapid-rise yeast, and a tiny bit of olive oil (plus a bit of water) for 2 small loaves. Since I'm a bread fiend, I would probably make them every day or every other day. A 5-lb. bag of flour should have about 18 c. of flour in it (that's what my all-purpose flour says, the bread flour is in a canister, so I don't have the bag from it).

 

I'd probably have about 4 bags of flour, a box (or 2) of kosher salt, 2 jars of rapid-rise yeast, and 2 big bottles of olive oil.

 

I love tomato sauce - easy to vary and easy to make. I'd probably have about 25 cans of crushed tomatoes (and one or two of whole ones, just for variety). Dump in a sauce pan, add whatever spices you like, and you have spaghetti sauce, pizza sauce, chunky pasta sauce, etc. Plan to have pasta/rice/bread on hand to eat it with. Can also add random veggies.

 

 

One of my favorite foods is tunamac - pasta + drained tuna + cream of mushroom soup. I'd probably end up eating that at least once or twice a week, so 3-4 bags of whole wheat egg noodles (I like whole grains most of the time and can get 2-3 servings at least from each bag), 9-10 cans each tuna and cream of mushroom soup.

 

Veggies are yummy - I'd have cans of green beans, mushrooms, various kinds of beans, whatever struck my fancy. Probably plan about a can a day of various items.

 

I'd also throw in a couple cans of tomato paste - can make chili, use it in making the tomato sauces listed above, etc.

 

Depending on how often you're willing to eat fishies, I'd grab a bag of frozen tilapia at the grocery store. They take the flavor of other foods easily, and have the great advantage of being individually frozen and in individual plastic bags. I think my bag was $10 at the most (I think closer to 6) and had somewhere between 12 and 18 filets in it.

 

Various snacky stuff that can also be used in cooking:

- Hard cheese will keep longer than soft cheese. Parmesan is yummy (not the fake kind in the green can), grate it yourself.

 

- Nuts can be eaten plain, mixed with other food, or toasted in the oven (even with a little kick of cayenne..yum!)

 

- Peanut butter. It can make sandwiches, you can throw a little in with tomato sauces, you can make peanut sauce, etc.

 

- Rice

 

- Dried fruit

 

Spices: Salt (the kosher salt from the bread, believe me it's not going to use a whole box), a pepper grinder, garlic (go by Johnny Carino's - tell them you want to buy a thing of roasted garlic *drools*), an Italian mix, sugar (unless you're going to bake sweets or drink a lot of it, a bag or two should do you), cayenne, and cumin. Also - lemon juice, lime juice, soy sauce.

 

Make sure you have a good multi-vitamin.

 

Don't forget non-food necessities, like paper towels, TP, something to disinfect with. General meds like benadryl, disinfectant, whatever painkiller you like, and Aleve (yay for pain killers and muscle relaxers in one).

[Poohbear]

I'd suggest taking a couple of #10 cans or bulk size bags of dry soup mix. I've bought them at Sam's or Costco before. Broccoli and cheese, or potato are good vegetarian choices. Since they are dry mixes they'd be light to pack and would take up very little space in the cupboard. Add a garlic (or even buttermilk) biscuit and you've got a filling, hearty meal.

 

[westbrook]

this is where canning comes in handy.