The Puzzling Plight of the Prepper’s Missing Pasta

(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)

I was gratified recently to learn that it isn’t just me who “loses” preps on occasion.  My pen pal CC mentioned that she had hidden away some noodles and was unable to locate them.  Previous to this, I had thought I was just particularly disorganized!

When we relocated, I decided that I was never going to misplace my preps again.  When packing up, I found food that I had forgotten I had, squirreled away in strange locations.

How you go about putting away your preps really depends on the storage space in your particular home.  If you don’t have a big storage room where you can keep everything in one place, you may also have resorted to stashing food in various places that food isn’t generally stored.  My cabin is very small, so organization is of the utmost importance.

I created a “map” of my preps that I printed out. I keep this inside a cupboard door in the kitchen so that I can easily refer to it when needed.  An additional benefit to this is that it allows you to keep track of what you have, along with expiration dates, if wanted.

I try to keep similar items together, for the sake of organization.  Think about the grocery store – it’s generally easy to find items because similar things are organized together.  You have a condiment aisle, as cereal aisle, etc.

The Map

This is an example of the way I do it – mileage may vary, depending on your preps and your house.

Kitchen Pantry:  Items currently in rotation live in the kitchen pantry.  When these items get low, I rotate in their replacements from the other location.

Kitchen shelves:  Home canned foods – these will be eaten within a year of preserving them, so I keep them handy.

Broom Closet:  I installed shelves in this closet to make it easier to find things.  Laundry supplies, cleaning supplies, dish soap.  Candles, lighters, extra solar lights, matches, lamp oil, batteries.  Tools, screws, nails and other small hardware.

Blanket Storage area in guest room sofa:  Beans.  Bags and bags and bags of beans that have been sealed into Mylar bags.

Armoire in guest room:  “Decorative” boxes (I glued attractive paper to the outside)  full of baking items like baking soda, baking powder, chocolate chips, etc.

Mudroom:  5 gallon water jugs

Laundry room closet:  buckets of bulk grains, floor to ceiling.  I wrote on the front of the buckets with a Sharpie for ease in finding the grain I’m looking for.

Laundry room shelf: Grocery store canned goods, vegetables and beans only

Living room bookcases:  There is a curtain running in front of the bottom shelf.  Behind the curtain are dozens of jugs of white vinegar, as well as balsamic vinegar, apple cider vinegar, and red wine vinegar.

Front hall closet:  Rubbermaid containers with pasta.

Linen closet : Grocery store canned meats (we never use these and they exist as a last resort), fruit, milk, and pie filling.  Medicines and first aid supplies.

Bedroom closets:  The back wall is lined with boxed goods like cereal, crackers, etc.  There is a cool bungee cord grid holding the boxes in place.

Under beds:  under-bed containers filled with dry pet food.

When coming home from a shopping trip, I always put the new supplies away in the correct spot, rotating the older items to the front.  Each week I “shop” the food storage and rotate needed items into the kitchen.  Since I’ve begun doing it this way, I have never run into the issue of having preps slip through the expiration date cracks, nor have I had to dig through anything to find a needed item!

Get organized!

Plan a day to get organized and take it step by step.

  • Pull all of your preps into one room.
  • Separate them into like items, as discussed above.
  • Clean out your nooks and crannies in which you stash away your items.
  • Make a map of where you plan to store each item
  • Put the food away, oldest at the front.

Depending on how detailed you want to be, your “map” can be constantly updated with the amounts of items you are putting away and taking for use in the kitchen.  If you plan to update like that, consider a dry-erase board hung on the inside of the pantry door.  Keeping your map on the computer is a great idea….unless the grid goes down.  It’s important to have a hard copy for that reason.

How do you keep your food storage organized?

 

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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 FacebookPinterest, Gab, MeWe, Parler, Instagram, and Twitter.

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  • You are such a good writer; smart, witty, I really enjoy you! I’ll just bet you’re another research junkie that likes to pull all that info together:)! Well–my story on missing preps. (Yeah…I’m very convicted that “organization” SHOULD rank high on prep skills!) Not only am I a prepper, I’m a picker and a crafter too. I make soaps, balms, grow herbs and lots of etc’s. My basement is a mosh pit of preps in recycled food grade buckets, vintage/antique finds that I resell, (and buy silver with, woot woot! A very profitable and sustainable hobby!) and all kinds of oils for soap making. Somewhere down there I am missing an unlabled? (Blush!) 5 gallon bucket of bagged assorted pasta!

  • Hi Daisy!! I just got the biggest chuckle when I recv’d your email!! You are just a “wealth of information!” What great ideas….love the MAP idea! I guess I will be taking a day and pulling everything out(after reading your blog)

    I do have a basement and that is where I keep anything that can take the cooler/damper conditions…..everything “dry” does occupy a closet,cupboard, under bed, in large purses, etc.etc….I love the idea of the bottom shelf of bookcase with the curtain, and gives me the idea to “curtain” a glass front antique (3 shelf) bookcase that I have in the living room……who would know if it were packed with dry goods…(may even put my egg noodles there…..if I ever find them) (: Thanx for this….U are my Hero!! Take care, CC.

  • I love this website, I have sent the URL to all of my “group”. great ideas and easy to read. I love the 25 thins the SHTF doesn’t care about.

    Michael

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