(update 11/9/16) Avoiding the Beans & Rice Trap - With Spices

[TWP]

Good article, multi-part, on keeping food boredom out of your life after "TEOTWAWKI".

Part 1) https://survivalblog.com/prepping-for-a-five-star-eotwawki-experience-part-1-by-t-h/

Part 2) https://survivalblog.com/prepping-for-a-five-star-eotwawki-experience-part-2-by-t-h/

As a food addict, the use of spices is a major factor in my plans.  I buy in bulk and keep spices in my prepper stocks.

This article has some (IMHO) greet recipes for making your own condiments and using home grown spices in ways I did not know...

If you like food, then do read this and if you suffer from food boredom, try some of these ideas.

Beans and Rice are an excellent part of prepper food stocks, so act now to include spices (both prepared and seeds) so you don't starve to death because you grow to hate Beans and Rice...

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Part 2 discusses the role of oils in our diet, both as a cooking element and a flavor enhancement.   There is useful mention of the reasons for using different oils, both lifetime and temperature tolerance.

Canned foods are addressed as both a nutrition source and a salt and flavoring source.  Spices are recommended to compliment various dishes.

Canned Fish is recommended, beyond the standard Tuna, in both water and oil pack.  Again, nutrition plus flavor are stressed.

The final recommendation is to include spices and spiced/oiled foods in your food stores, building slowly rather than  splurging all at once for a huge spice rack.  Spices have a reasonable storage life, particularly if keep cool and dry.  My bulk packs (8 - 20 ounce containers) are sealed and ready for storage in DARK areas.  You do no need to do any particular re-packaging unless you are buying in bushel bags or buying green spices which do need special repacking.

I hope this helps you become a better cook...

[WolfBrother]

There is a "Store What You Eat and Eat What You Store" philosophy many preppers follow.

There are arguments pro and con about it.  My 2 cents:

For the most part, I eat 3 to 6 meals a week using "prep food".  So 14 to 28 percent of the time I'm eating cooked or cold cereals, rice, beans, cornmeal, etc.
I have maybe 4 days of freeze dried, a month of MREs etc. as food stores.  The rest is canned, pickled, or dried.

Your "I have" spices post is spot on. 

There is a physical malady that can and does occur when people do a radical change in diet.  You need your body to be somewhat accustomed to what you're eating or you may suffer one, some or all of the following: lack of appetite, nausea, vomiting, upset stomach, FLATULENCE, abdominal cramps, constipation, and/or diarrhea.

When I was going thru my .mil medic training, during nutrition study a case from WWII was used.

One group of South Pacific/SE Asia folks were not doing well when sent for wound treatment.  Once it was figgered out that the guys were food shocking due to the bland hospital food and the spicy/fatty food they had eaten all their life AND having food they were used to substituted, they started doing REEL GUD.

So either have a lot of normal items for the transition and/or Store What You Eat and Eat What You Store.

[eeyore]

over the years I have gone back and forth on this, what I have done is increased my "normal" food stock over the "bens and rice".  But I have both, it is a lot cheaper of course to store the beans and rice, spices are a must.  If things go as planned I will transition from normal food to all garden food and grown food.  But in my life I seldom see things go as planned.  So it is nice to have the other as a fall back, or even something for the neighbors or to extend the food supply if the unexpected family show up.  In one of Jerry's stories (about earthquakes and Vegas) he talked about having mac and tuna on hand for unexpected peoples.

Thanks for the discussion, just my 2 cents