Managing supplies - especially those things we wouldn't normally use

[Takingtimeoff]

I’d really appreciate some advice about how to make sure I don’t end up with OOD food! Sorry if this ends up a bit ‘rambly’ – I don’t want to drip-feed😉

I’ve always liked to keep well-stocked cupboards and freezer, so as a family we could probably always have got by for a week or so in an emergency, although meals might end up being slightly odd combinations. This paid off well last year during the ‘Beast from the East’ when we were sent home from work and had a lovely long weekend of snowy walks to the pub rather than worrying about getting to the shops 😊

Now, though, I would like to become a little more organised about having supplies ‘just in case’. I’ve read quite a bit on here, looked at some of the lists that have been recommended and curiously and coincidentally come across lots of info in some novels I’ve been reading recently.

I’m not planning on going full-on cabin in the woods, 6 months supply of fuel mode, but I would like to build a supply of food that would last us a couple of weeks, or longer, in a emergency. I have a bit of space to store things and am lucky enough to be able to afford to purchase extra. My question is really how do I manage the stuff that I do buy?
I guess ideally that I stock up on food we normally eat; pasta, rice, flour etc are no problem as I shall just keep more in stock and rotate as I buy more. Some canned foods are fine too; soups, beans, tomatoes etc can all be used routinely.

My worry is about the foods that we would normally only eat fresh versions of; vegetables, milk and other dairy products, meat and fish. Although I can buy long life versions of all these foods, if there is no occasion to use them in an emergency, I can imagine them ending up going out of date. If I don't buy them our diet would be very restricted in an emergency...

So, how do you all manage to keep all of your supplies in date?

Put the oldest stuff to the front. Kind of like supermarkets do. Which is all very well to say because it's not always possible to do this.
I write best before dates in a sharpie on top of tins or at the side before I store them. Just so it's easier to see.

Yup, sharpie all the way, so you can see dates without having to pick and things and squint.

I started out with a nice "older things in front" system, but as time has gone on, things get shoved on where there's space, and my system's gone to shit. I need to reorganise... :(

I love the sharpie idea - thanks! I was squinting earlier looking for dates on some of the items I've put aside already and my storage space is a bit 'pile it up' at the moment...might prompt a thorough sort out which is long overdue.

Do you have any specific advice for those items which we might not normally use? E.g. UHT milk; we all prefer fresh and would only normally drink UHT if there is no fresh available - which of course is exactly what I'm preparing for! The ones I've bought only have a 5 month date on them. The same would go for any canned meats and some canned veg although I wouldn't need to replace those as often.

I figure we can either a. bite the bullet and use them every now and then or b. get rid of them (food bank probably). I suppose I just need to choose which works better for us unless I'm missing an ingenious way to use up less popular stuff.

Tinned stuff is pretty forgiving of long term storage. Best Before on tins is often far shorter than it should be.
Milk is more difficult- I prefer nut or oat milk to dairy for UHT stuff but it's the same dilemma. I'd generally be prepared to push the best before dates on milk but use them up in smoothies or whatever and replace them a bit more regularly.

I'm happy to broadly ignore BBE dates on tins. I would only let milk go a week or so over though at the most.

For things like uht milk i would use in cooking towards the end of the use by dates and replace. I think uht milk would be fine to make a white sauce for a lasagne for example, or use in porridge one morning.

Thank you! Those suggestions are perfect. We use a lot of milk 'as is' in cereals and for drinking so I was a bit blinkered by that and forgot about being able to use in it cooking / smoothies etc.

UHT milk makes good angel delight & custard.

One way of doing things is to build your store to a level that you are happy with and once you have achieved this start eating one "stores based meal" each week, and replace what you use. This keeps your stocks at a fairly constant level but ensures things get used up (and also ensures you actually like all of the things you can cook with the things you have in stock - if you don't like it, replace it with something else!)

I do keep a spreadsheet of what I have in stock along with use by dates. This means I can see at the start of each month what needs to be used up or donated . Bear in mind that food banks usually want food that has a few months of shelf life remaining.

Milk powder is an alternative to UHT for some things - it's fine in drinks and to make porridge. I then use it up in bread making and baking. It generally has a much longer shelf life than UHT, and takes up much less space too.

I have a “eating from” cupboard and a “store” cupboard so I only have one or two tins/boxes/bottles in “eating” and rest in the store and as I use them up from the eating cupboard I stock up from the store and add a note to my shopping list to replenish. I don’t bother writing dates with sharpie pens: as long as the tins aren’t damaged the contents is generally fine. Also I don’t buy stuff “just in case of a disaster” I buy stuff I use regularly so nothing gets wasted.

With UHT plant milk I keep them in the fridge and arrange them in a line with the shortest BBE on the left and move them along accordingly. They basically act as a shelf Also I only use UHT plant milk so I use it daily and it doesn’t go off before I get it used: the only time I get close to the BBE is if it’s something I’m experimenting in and haven’t had chance/inclination to try it yet (currently have a Good Hemp with a month left so want to get that used soon).

Try eating the stuff you are saving for an emergency: besides you don’t want to get to the apocalypse and discover that you can’t abide tinned ravioli and be stuck with 20 of the sodding things

Thank you all for your suggestions; they've given me great ideas - and a chuckle about the ravioli! And you are very correct ElyElyOy, I really don't want to end up with lots of things I detest.

When thinking about food that would store well I divided things into 3 groups - foods we would normally eat, food we wouldn't normally eat but wouldn't mind too much in an emergency and food we didn't like at all. The first group was quite small (because we use a lot of fresh and frozen) so I thought I'd better include plenty from the second group. The third group I discounted totally.

I like the 'stores based meal' idea Caropreps to help to maintain a regular turnover of the second group of foods and I think it will be good practice for if I had to rely on them for a couple of weeks for any reason.

Off now to find a sharpie and rearrange my shelves

One thing I have found useful are those little hanging baskets you hang of your kitchen unit shelves: it means I can put my biscuits in date order (left to right) and use them up that way. I could fit about 12 packets in there and it’s handy because it doesn’t take up any space and utilises the “dead space”. I also have one for packs of part-cooked baguettes (my new fave food!).