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My Favorite Food Storage Books

Here are a list of books that I found to be the most helpful when living off food storage.  By far the hardest part was finding recipes that use only food storage items.  I have divided the list into books with recipes for long term storage (typically a 1 year supply), and recipes good for a 3 month supply which usually consists of store bought can goods and/or frozen items.

One Year Supply Recipes:

1. "The Everyday Gourmet Cooking with Long-Term Food Storage" by Shari Haag
  • This book had by far the most comprehensive collection of recipes.  I did find the author to be a bit too optimistic in her review of some of the recipes, but overall she has managed to publish a very large collection of workable recipes using long term food storage. 
2. "Dinner is in the Jar" by Kathy Clark  (also available at Amazon)
  • This book had an interesting concept where the author uses long term food storage items to put a complete dinner in a canning jar (or mylar bag).  The result is what you might call food storage "fast food".  Considering how much time and effort is required to cook from food storage only, a few jars with dinner ingredients ready to go can be a life saver.  Keep in mind that removing stored foods from their original container and putting them in the jars will shorten their expiration period so I would recommend this idea for food storage supplements, rather than an entire system.
3. "Country Beans" by Rita Bingham
  • Love - Love - Love this book!  Best education about beans you will ever get.  I had no idea how useful, versatile, and wonderful beans are.  They are absolutely an essential food storage item and this book will teach you all you need to know about making the best use of them.
4. "A Bite of Independence Through Self Sufficiency" by Marlynn Phipps and Jenny Phipps
  • This book is out of print and can be hard to find at a reasonable price.  If you get the chance to pick one up though, I highly recommend it.  This is by a lady who literally learned to live completely off the land.  It has lots of terrific recipes, including an unparalleled section on making wheat meat, but also contains other information you may someday need like, how to make butter, yogurt, butcher your own animals etc.  It was actually my favorite book while living off food storage.
5. "Mix a Meal Cookbook" by Deanna Bean & Lorna Shute
  • Besides having some good recipes, this book also helps you save a lot of time when using food storage by making all kinds of mixes in advance.  Think of it as the "Krusteaz" of food storage.  Mixes you make up and keep in your pantry that you can basically just add water to later when you need to cook up something quick.


3 Month Supply Recipes:

I confess that the 3 month supply has been a bigger challenge for me than a one year supply.  I just didn't have recipes that I make regularly but didn't require fresh produce or dairy.  Then two beautiful people published these books!  Now I have ample recipes to build up a robust 3 month supply.

1. "100-day Pantry: 100 Quick and Easy Gourmet Meals" Jan Jackson
  •  This entire book is full of nothing but recipes that contain only canned and dried goods.  It is perfect for your 3 month supply.  I have tried tons of recipes out of this book and my family liked many of them. 
2. "It's in the Bag a New Approach to Food Storage" Michelle & Trent Snow
  • This book also contains 100+ recipes containing only canned and dried goods.  This author has a unique approach that I have also decided to incorporate, although on smaller scale.  She keeps all the ingredients for one meal (including water for cooking) in one bag.  That way if she just grabs a bag she has a complete meal ready to go.  Imagine how invaluable that would be if you had to evacuate your home in an emergency?  *One side note - the author uses this system as her one year supply.  I really would not advocate that approach.  I think that long term staples like wheat, beans, etc are essential for our health on a long term basis; however, I love it for a 3 month supply.