It seems, when I look at the people that I am surrounded by and people on television, that they tend to have two situations that control them. I should say that there are two major issues that seem to be the largest problems. Hunger and illness. I consider the lack of sleep to be an illness when someone can not sleep even when there is an opportunity to do so. So, in my mind, why not avoid all of these situations?
Another thing that I consider when I am building my 'survivalist resort' is that most of the food items that I gather are foods that I buy on a regular basis. It is not wasted items. It is just 'extra' of what I stock. The extra cost is only a temporary one. If I were to be without income, I would be utilizing my stock and restock when the income returned. So, 'Resort' - No. 'Comfortable' - Yes!
I also consider that there are children involved when it comes to my case. The trauma that a child will suffer through some of the possible situations, could effect them for a life time. I have always said that if you practice some of these survival techniques when camping or picnicking, a child will accept them with ease. But we know that kids will pick up on the adult stress no matter how hard you attempt to hide it. So, we are back to making a huge attempt to keep adults and children alike, comfortable. A hungry human is not a happy human.
So here I have my next lists. The first one is a totally optional type list. Again, I find it necessary because of the children that could be involved with me. It's all about the snacks when it comes to the kids.
And some who are just big size kids. And I am not sticking to the healthy plan here. Chocolate is a must for some when it comes to relaxation.
Again - planning for 10 people for 30 days.
100 granola bars - make it a combination of crunchy type and the soft, fruit type. The crunchy kind can be removed from the box and preserved in a Food Saver bag; they will last for years. The fruit kind are different. I find that if you open the boxes and fill them til they are full, you can reduce the space taken. Then you can seal them up to prolong the life by quite a bit. Leave them in the box and stop the air removal just before it starts to squish the box. Other wise you will have crumbs instead of bars.
Right here, you may be thinking - 100 bars! That sounds like a lot. It is only 10 boxes. I not only have my stock, but I also have a few boxes on my shelf (that is another 30 bars) for the visiting kids.
40 small applesauce cups
40 small fruit cups
40 small jello cups
40 small pudding cups
40 small veggie cups - green beans are the best
40 small boxes of raisins and craisins
4 canned cheese. I think this stuff is totally gross but it could be nice to have at these times. It is an item that I take on vacation with my grand daughters (we do that often) and they find it entertaining and good. They spend time making faces on Ritz Crackers before eating them. They also use it with thin sliced ham, and not too bad on tortilla chips. They have a pretty good shelf life. Check cans before purchasing.
2 tubes or cans of frosting - this is one of the items that could be put on an 'entertainment' list. Kids will enjoy making their own fun art on small pancakes, graham crackers, etc. So, this is an optional item and geared toward the family with children.
2 packages of graham crackers - to go with the frosting above and again geared towards the kids. You can save these in a Food Saver bag by sucking the air out but stopping before they crumble assortment of dry fruit - I make separate, small portions, and use the good ole' Food Saver to preserve them. 40 portions would be nice.
hard candy - this can satisfy the hunger and even be soothing at times. This is especially important if you have anyone who is diabetic or has hypoglycemia. A tip - you will want to suck them into bags but don't put peppermint in with the fruit flavors. If you do, everything will taste like mint. Peppermint can sooth an upset stomach so do not shy away from that. I have about 300 assorted flavors and it takes up no space at all.
3 boxes of granola - this is an amazing item for many uses; not just a snack but to add to yogurt or cereal. Wonderful just as a snack all by itself. I remove the granola from the box and suck it into bags; this will last for years, but I will rotate it before that long. I cut the bags a little large so that I can refill them and reuse for the next bag of granola.
2 boxes of cereal - yeah - this is great with milk for breakfast but if you get some Cheerios's, Fruit Loops, Captain Crunch or Honey Smacks, you will be able to use the Food Saver to preserve. I take the bag of cereal out of the box, put a small slit in the inner bag and remove the air; stop the air removal just before the cereal crunches to crumbs. A hand full of cereal will go a long ways when trying to hold a kid or adult off till dinner is ready.
Nuts - these can go bad pretty fast if you don't preserve them. I get the individual bags when I see them on sale and stick them away. I also have a few jars of different kinds of nuts. It is not the easiest thing to do but I do have the entire jar in preserving bags. I think that will expand the shelf life to twice the original.
60 little bags of gummy candy or fruit snacks - again, this is not as much as it sounds. There are usually 12 packs to a box. If you find them around a holiday, you may find a bag of 50 - 100 tiny bags in one big bag. Bargain deal there. Again - you need to use your Food Saver to keep these fresh. They will last for years if stored in a cool, dry location.
Chocolate - and a good assortment of it. I have the Hershey Mini assortment, small bags of M&Ms (like you get at Halloween), Tootsie Rolls and a package of the assorted tiny candy bars. All of these are sorted out into Food Saver bags and should be good for years, as long as they are in a cool, dry area. I especially like the M&Ms; they are great as a reward for the kids who have completed chores or had a good behavior day.
Please be aware of anyone who may be around and allergic to nuts. If there is any possibility of having that person in your group, do not open the nut items. The last thing you want is a person having a bad reaction at a time like this.
Drinks are going to be so very important. Everyone will need to be well hydrated.
150 gallons of water - and that would be drinking water. This not only sounds like a lot, it is. I have a 30 gallon water heater and that is one of my major supplies of water. As soon as I know there is going to be a water shortage, I will have the burners turned off on my water heater to avoid evaporation. I have 60 gallons of water that is stored in 2 liter soda bottles. These bottles last longer than any other that is available at not cost. And they are sturdier than the gallon bottle that water comes in. I have these bottles lined up along the wall in my garage and are not in the way at all. Every Spring, I use these bottles to water my plants and then I refill them. No waste and fresh enough to use in an emergency. I drink distilled water so I keep about 20 gallons in stock daily. If you add it up, you will see that I am still short water. But, this is what I can easily store. I may add another 10 gallons in the 2 liter bottles, but after that I am not sure. I do have several gallons of other drinks in my daily stock.
I will have my bath tub filled for cleaning purposes. I do have a few small containers that catch rain water. I may have melting snow to help. This is an area that I have to work on. I believe I will do this with collected water outside. If I can keep it sealed, it will be fine for drinking.
Tang - I mentioned this in an earlier post. Tang is great for adding a bit of vitamins to your daily intake.
Gatorade - I have the packets of powdered. These will be a great additive. Also consider other powdered drink additives.
10 One liter bottles of Smart Water. This I use often and keep rotated. There are electrolytes so if you have someone not feeling well, this is a great water to have.
1 bottle of Pedialyte. Rotate this item. No better drink to get a person rehydrated.
20 bottles of flavored carbonated water. This is purely optional but I enjoy this drink and use it to mix with juices so I always have this in my rotating stock.
50 or more, small boxes or cans of juice. Again, this is optional but does contain some of the vitamins that you want on a daily basis. I have a combination of V-8 Juice, fruit juices and V8 Fusion. These are on my pantry shelf and used and rotated on a regular basis.
Coffee, tea, hot chocolate packets and that kind of drink I have already put on the breakfast list.
That is pretty much what I have stored, in these category. Your list will depend on your family and personal needs.
One big tip here -
I shop the discount stores for all my items. They seem to have the freshest of items. I also dig to the back of the shelf to get the items with the best expiration dates. Beware of paying too much when building your stock. A good example is applesauce. I love those cute little tubes of fruit for the little kids. When you are traveling they are great since they can handle them all by them selves if needed. But, there is a great cost difference. I compared them and found this - The four pack of applesauce has a total of 16 ounces, for $1.00 at the Dollar General store. The squeeze pouch of apple fruit was $1.25 for two tubes, with a total of 7 ounces, at the same store. So, tubes are cute but small cups are priced right.
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