Posted on 03/02/2011 4:25:06 PM PST by Red in Blue PA
Most weeks, you make a big grocery list and head to the store, prepared to buy loads of fresh food to make your family's meals. We often don't give a thought to stuff sitting in the kitchen cupboard or we automatically throw out anything that's been in there longer than we can remember.
But Janice Revell, co-founder of StillTasty.com, says "Look in your pantry and your cabinets and check whether the items really do need to go. You'll be shocked by what you really don't need to throw away."
So before you throw out that years-old sugar or replace that bottle of vanilla that's been gathering dust, consult this list of "forever foods." You may be surprised how many of your kitchen staples have a shelf life of decades — even after they've been opened.
(Excerpt) Read more at shine.yahoo.com ...
I wonder how long some other items wouls last.
Canned tomato sauce and paste
Pasta
Canned Salmon
Canned Tuna
Canned vegetables and fruit.
The expiration dates on canned salmon and tuna is usually 2 years, but I wonder how long it would really last in a dark, cool and dry place?
I have also wondered about how long pressure canned items would last. I grew almost 100 lbs of potatoes last year.
When I was a kid we used to feed the ducks at a local VA Beach lake out-of-date fallout shelter crackers and I’d eat those, they tasted pretty good too.
ping
Same here. Don’t think it harms the coffee. I bought decaf and caffeinated also back when it was cheap or with coupons. Those days are over.
I open one of each and combine equal amounts into another coffee can marked H&H. I fill a glass canning jar with some for everyday use and store that in the fridge.
Then all three containers go into the freezer. Cheaper then buying the stores H&H.
Lot of work but I think it’s worth it.
Have an upright freezer and we’re not big meat eaters so have room for lots of stuff, plus my bottom freezer on the fridge. We’ll be okay til they take our electric away.
Ping
I wonder what you could make if you used all the ingredients at once.
I know we ate a lot of C-rations in vietnam
that were put up in the 40s and they were
just as delicious as the day they were put up.
Except for the Ham n Limas and the scrambled eggs.
I always figured they grew the limas in Texas cause
they could only put three or four in a can with that
tiny piece of ham.
If you are prepping for a real “S H T F” scenario, you must think beyond your freezer.
We store it in the freezer as soon as we purchase it and the rice “brown” last well over a year.White rice last forever though they say but we don’t eat it.
Canned items generally last years - but may lose color and texture - although won’t hurt you. BUT, tomato based stuff is acidic, and does not keep as long and should be rotated out more often.
Tuna in cans should last just short of forever. Well - just bought 5 cans on sale for $4, and exp. of Oct 2014, add a couple more years easy.
Opened a jar of Skippy with exp. of 2005 - would have been fine, except they apparently use Canola (rapeseed) oil now, and it is basically a type of paint, and smells like it. Peanut oil must be too expensive or something.
Flour can be frozen for a few days to kill weevil eggs and other critters, but it must be well below 32F to do the trick - 20F sticks in my mind.
Most people know that spices don’t keep well. Most don’t, but some do. Ground cinnamon seems to keep fine for years. Ground mustard powder, Cardamom, Nutmeg, Chili Powder.
Sweet and sour rice.
What setting/time, please? I have a package that has become a rock. I had two like that and put one into the oven on a cookie sheet after heating to 250 and then turning the oven off. After an hour, I could at least break off chunks, which I then had to put in the food processor in order to get it granular. It was a hassle, so if there is an easier method, please share with detail.
Hi, Tet, hope you are well.
Same for Thailand. They were still good, but pretty filling. Lot of fat.
People actually throw away rice and flour that gets little creaturss in it! ... Once cooked in a recipe, the critters are extra protein don’tchaknow. But I wouldn’t use anything that mice have gotten into ... they pee wherever they go.
When I have a bag of sugar that’s gone hard, I break it up. First I wrap the paper-wrapped sugar package in one or two layers of plastic - typically plastic grocery bags. Once it’s wrapped, I drop it onto a concrete surface a few times until it breaks up into more manageable pieces. There will still be chunks. I filter the broken up sugar through a mesh strainer. The smaller pieces can usually be crushed easily between fingers once the big block has been bashed around a few times.
397 Pages! Good Job but will take a while to review.
“And a good way to store protein is in protein-drink powder. I’ve had some of it for eight or nine years, and it reconstitutes perfectly with water.”
You’re absolutely right. The stuff lasts forever.....opened or not. I’d put it near the top of my list.
Or birds?......
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