This summer, we got rice weevils in the pantry. I had to throw out an entire 25 lb. box of rice along with quite a few bags of beans.
I could have cried.
Then I had to take everything out of the pantry while we scrubbed and cleaned, and put all the legumes and grains in the freezer to kill any leftover eggs. It took three days to eradicate them.
I think I did cry after that.
So, I started looking into proper food storage.
Then, my budget cried.
You can package rice, corn, beans, and such for the long term (think, 10 years) using mylar bags, oxygen absorbers, and buckets. These are actually called SuperPails on a lot of preparedness websites. You can also can the items- even dry items. Or get a Foodsaver with a mason jar attachment, and vacuum pack your dry goods in mason jars.
Those methods are the gold standard, and what you should aspire to in your food storage.
But, what if you don’t anything extra to invest in food storage? My friends, do not let perfectionism keep you from preparing for unforseen events!
Keeping a stock of food on hand is important, y’all. You don’t want to be caught with an empty pantry when the Zombie Apocalypse hits. Plus, you’ll at least have food if there’s a layoff or accident that takes away your income.
It doesn’t do any good to spend the money on food to store, only to have it spoil or be eaten by pests, either. How to keep the bugs out, the nutrition in, and not spend a fortune?
Well, I have a duct-tape budget, not a gold standard budget. So I do the best I can, with an aim to improving things when I can. Something is better than nothing.
Enter my free food storage containers. Yes, in a pinch you can make your own pest-proof storage containers.
Please ignore the fact that Diet Cherry Dr. Pepper is not real food. In fact, it’s anti-food. But Hubs is a big boy and that’s what he drinks.
Two liter soda bottles make great storage containers. They’ll hold 4 pounds of most beans, and even more rice. The bottles are easy to come by, food grade, and free. You can use them to store and haul water, too.
Keep them in a dark closet or under the bed. Light degrades the nutrition in food, but keeping it in the dark helps preserve the vitamins. Also, don’t use milk jugs. Those will degrade after a few weeks, they are designed to break down. I left the label on the bottles to help keep as much light off the contents as possible.
(Under the bed? Well, yes. My goal is to have a 30 day food storage, and for 11 people, that’s a lot of beans, rice, oatmeal, popcorn, and, well, everything. My island cabinets are filled with food and overflow heads upstairs!)
Pour in your dry goods. Use a funnel. I use a chopstick to keep things flowing. Label the bottle with the date and contents. Squeeze the air out of the bottle as much as possible, then screw the cap on tightly.
Easy!
Linking up! ~ Large Families Store Food
Pennywise Platter at The Nourishing Gourmet
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Karen (1)
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What a great idea! By the way…I wish I could get my hands on some non diet cherry dr pepper!
This has happened to me a few times and it is so disheartening. Now, I do have buckets (bought and salvaged over time) and use oxygen absorbers but you are onto something here. I would add, though, to put your grains and beans in the freezer for a week before you put them into your containers to kill any pests or eggs that come home from the store. Also, once you take the grains out of the freezer, let them sit a few days to stop sweating or they will mold in the bottles. I just realized this one when I opened a gallon pickle jar of pinto beans that had molded.
That’s a great idea!!
I need to start doing this again, but my mother always kept insects out of her dry goods by putting a bay leaf in each container. She did this with flour, rice, beans, and sugar. Bay leaves grow wild where we lived, so she could do that for free. Now that I don’t live there anymore, I have my dad bring me bay leaves when he visits, but if I run out, I put a sprig of rosemary in instead. Geranium or tomato leaves would also work. It does absolutely nothing to the flavor.
Thyme will also work- I buy a big bag full of bayleaves in the Mexican import spice section, super cheap! Bay leaves worked for Colorado pantry bugs, but not for Houston bugs.
I’ve used glass jars for many years for rice and beans and cornmeal and even flour when my canister isn’t big enough to hold the whole bag. Quart mayonnaise jars are a great size to put in my cupboard because I don’t have a big pantry. I always keep the glass jars; don’t know how good the plastic ones would be.
And I’ve used bay leaves for years to prevent bugs in the flour canister. They really work.
My favorite free storage containers are the big glass peanut butter jars we get (sugar and corn syrup allergy means expensive, but all-natural peanut butter). Wiping down your food storage shelves with orange and mint oils will keep almost any common pests away, too.
I almost forgot. Although I’ve never tried it, I’ve heard that cloves and herbal tea bags can keep pests out too.