A One-Month Shelf-Stable Food Menu Your Family Will Love

(Psst: The FTC wants me to remind you that this website contains affiliate links. That means if you make a purchase from a link you click on, I might receive a small commission. This does not increase the price you'll pay for that item nor does it decrease the awesomeness of the item. ~ Daisy)

Author of The Blackout Book and the online course Bloom Where You’re Planted

Now that most of the country is practicing social isolation, people are turning more and more often to their pantries to make meals from shelf-stable ingredients.

Do you ever wonder what on earth you’d eat if you had to rely solely on the items in your pantry? How could you possibly make tasty meals from these items you have stashed away? Do you imagine a future filled with cans of Spaghetti-O’s and saltine crackers?

Trust me when I tell you, you can do much better than that. Here’s a menu that you can adjust to your family’s preferences.

A one-month menu of shelf-stable dinners

If you have fresh or frozen ingredients on hand, feel free to substitute them in for shelf-stable ones. If you’re a vegetarian, a lot of these meals can be converted by simply omitting the meat or replacing the meat with lentils or beans. Tweak the meals according to your family’s preferences and allergies or intolerances.

Menu: Week One

  • 5-Can Chili
  • Chili Pie
  • Tuna Noodle Casserole
  • Chicken Alfredo and Pasta
  • Udon Noodles in Peanut Sauce
  • Scalloped Potatoes with Ham
  • Mexican Pizza Pie

Menu: Week Two

  • Shepherd’s Pie
  • Vegetable Soup
  • Chicken and Dumplings
  • One-Pot Beans and Rice
  • Spaghetti
  • Bread and Gravy
  • Pantry Potato Soup

Menu: Week Three

  • Goulash
  • Vegetable Fried Rice
  • Chicken and Dressing
  • Jambalaya
  • Fry Bread Tacos
  • Split Pea Soup
  • Pasta Primavera

Menu Week Four

  • Pasta Fagioli
  • Chicken Pot Pie
  • Poor Man’s Stroganoff
  • Baked Beans with Ham and Sweet Potatoes
  • Baked Bean Chili
  • Southwestern Chicken and Rice
  • Corn Chowder

I like to save leftovers from dinner for the following day’s lunch. Shelf-stable breakfasts are pretty simple with things like powdered milk, dried fruit, and cereal or oatmeal. You can get all these recipes and a shopping list in my PDF book, The Stockpile Cafe. 

You can Name Your Price for this product. We want everyone to be able to afford it, and if you want to help out The Organic Prepper website, a few extra dollars is greatly appreciated.

Below, find one of my family’s favorite shelf-stable recipes.

Fry Bread Tacos

You can cook 1 pound of ground beef from your fridge or freezer, or substitute an extra can of beans for the beef crumbles for a vegetarian option.

Ingredients (Filling)

  • 1 cup of ground beef crumbles, rehydrated
  • 1 can of pinto beans, drained
  • 1 tsp cooking oil
  • 1 tbsp chili powder
  • 1 tbsp cumin
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • ¼ ketchup
  • Salt to taste

Directions for the filling

  1. Heat some cooking oil in a skillet, then add the beef crumbles and lightly brown them.
  2. Stir in the beans and seasonings and let it cook for about 10 minutes.
  3. Add the ketchup (I know it sounds weird but trust me) and cook for another 5 minutes.
  4. Put this aside while you make the fry bread.

Ingredients (Fry Bread)

  • 1 ½ cups of flour
  • 1 tsp of salt
  • 1 tbsp of shortening
  • ½ tbsp of baking powder
  • ¾ cup of water
  • Cooking oil or shortening for frying

Directions for the fry bread

  1. Mix all the ingredients together with half a cup of the water and knead until you have a nice soft dough.
  2. You may need to add extra water to get a nice dough.
  3. Let it rise on the counter for 15 minutes.
  4. Add cooking oil or shortening to a skillet and heat it up until it sizzles when you flick a drop of water on it.
  5. Then, pull off small pieces of dough, roll them into little balls, and then flatten them into circles.
  6. Drop them into the skillet and fry them for about 2-3 minutes per side.
  7. Use a slotted spoon to transfer them to a plate lined with a paper towel.

Assemble the tacos

  1. Scoop a spoonful of filling onto each piece of fry bread.
  2. Dress up your tacos with any fresh vegetables you might have, hot sauce, and salsa. You can break into your freeze-dried goods and add some reconstituted cheese or sour cream.

Fry bread is a fast and useful side-dish to serve with all sorts of soups and stews – you get all the goodness of homemade bread without having to wait for yeast bread to rise and bake.

Get all the recipes

If you’d like to get the PDF book with recipes for all the menu items listed above, as well as ideas for substitutions, a shopping list, and ideas for breakfasts and lunches, remember, you can name your price! I hope this helps you through any food fatigue you may be feeling while using your shelf-stable foods.

Click here to grab your copy!

I hope you enjoy these recipes made from shelf-stable pantry items. Many of them are family favorites that I make whether there’s a quarantine going on or not.

Enjoy your tacos!

Daisy Luther

Daisy Luther

Daisy Luther is a coffee-swigging, globe-trotting blogger. She is the founder and publisher of three websites.  1) The Organic Prepper, which is about current events, preparedness, self-reliance, and the pursuit of liberty on her website, 2)  The Frugalite, a website with thrifty tips and solutions to help people get a handle on their personal finances without feeling deprived, and 3) PreppersDailyNews.com, an aggregate site where you can find links to all the most important news for those who wish to be prepared. She is widely republished across alternative media and  Daisy is the best-selling author of 5 traditionally published books and runs a small digital publishing company with PDF guides, printables, and courses. You can find her on Facebook, Pinterest, Gab, MeWe, Parler, Instagram, and Twitter.

Leave a Reply

  • if I eat carbs, I have inflammatory pain. ketogenic diet has more or less mitigated this.

    so far, our grocery stores in Richmond Va have the food I like / need.

    let’s see where we are in a few months.

    thanks for the enlightenment – I got prepped weeks before the shutdown, based on knowledge gleaned here and elsewhere.

    • I do too. I have found, however, that if I have one meal of keto which is normally sardines (or another fatty fish) and broth for lunch, I can consume rice and veges/beans for dinner. I do that daily and I”ve been able to use staple pantry food this way. I haven’t had to leave for the store since January 2020. I’ve avoided the bog roll brawls.

      If I eat wheat of any kind or milk the inflammation returns in an hour.

  • We had a ham a couple weeks ago and froze the hock, so I cooked it up yesterday with some of my home-canned beans from last year. So far, pantry and freezer fare is going quite well. Thanks for the added inspiration!

  • A favorite comfort food of mine that uses pantry products(and fresh carrots if you have them) is split pea soup which you listed. Sometimes I add noodles, either packaged or thick chewy home-made ones. Yummm. I make a big pot and then warm it up for later meals.

  • Hi Daisy
    A while back you reviewed a large one burner propane stove that could be used for canning, cooking, etc. Do you still have the info from which it could be ordered? Lots of them on Amazon but I don’t know how good they are.
    Thanks,
    Jim

  • I love the one month menu idea but am wondering if you have a paper copy available to buy.
    I like paper back ups in case internet is down
    Thanks

    • You can copy and paste the article to your computer. I use either Wordpad, or Openoffice.
      Then you can print it. I do this frequently; and that is with a $30.00 printer.

  • Daisy, I purchased The Stockpile Cafe in early 2019, has the one you’re mentioned in this article been updated since then?

  • I see no way to choose my own price. I have multiple families I want to print a copy of A One-Month Shelf-Stable Menu your Family Will Love for and help… am I missing a code? They do not have computer/printer access, but do have a burner to cook. Please help?

    • Hi – whoops! A little glitch that’s been fixed! Give it another try and if it doesn’t work, let me know. 🙂

  • You Need More Than Food to Survive
    50-nonfood-stockpile-necessities

    In the event of a long-term disaster, there are non-food essentials that can be vital to your survival and well-being. Make certain you have these 50 non-food stockpile essentials. Sign up for your FREE report and get prepared.

    We respect your privacy.
    >
    Malcare WordPress Security