It’s so hard to remember to use food storage when it’s stored all over your house… or downstairs in the basement. I get it, our is there too. As a result, that’s why I’ve come up with 8 tips to teach you how to rotate your food storage.
Click here to get my 3 step strategy to building a food storage you’ll actually eat.
But first you may be asking why you need to rotate your food storage. Here are a few reasons why:
- prevents food from going bad
- family gets used to eating the food
- body adjusts to eating the food
- you get used to cooking with it
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How to rotate your food storage… 8 ideas
1. Move food from larger containers to smaller containers that fit in your pantry, or counter. That way you will see and use it often. On one hand, the bulk container of oil, honey, beans, oats will be cheaper, so that is what we buy. But, I found that I did not use them as much because they did not fit into my pantry. Therefore, when buying in bulk, have a small container in your pantry to refill.
Click here to get my 3 step strategy to building a food storage you’ll actually eat.
2. Use bins and buckets. For food items that don’t stack well, place them in bins. Then try to rotate your food between 2 bins. Once you empty one bin, you grab the other one. Then go to the store and refill the contents of the empty bin. Use this same method for buckets.
3. Use the First in first out (FIFO) method. When using a rotating can system, be sure to know where you will be putting the new stuff, and where you will be taking out from (especially if you have more than one row). We liked to add-in from the right and take-out from the left. Either way, make sure everyone in your family knows which side to put in and take from.
More Food Storage Tips
4. Date the cans yourself with the month/year. As a result, this makes it much easier to see if things get out of order, and is easier to read/find than the small use by dates.
5. Make a 1 week menu from FOOD STORAGE ITEMS ONLY . Then, use this menu plan once every month, or every other month to not only save yourself money but help you rotate food storage (this was a great tip from BePrepared). For example, here are some ideas of a menu for 4 months using the same meals.
Click here to get my 3 step strategy to building a food storage you’ll actually eat.
6. Cook with your food storage in your every day cooking. Some examples are:
- Grind wheat for homemade bread, pancakes, or even cookies!
- Make granola, or oatmeal bars with oats.
- Use powdered milk in MOST recipes calling for milk (a list of 22 powdered milk recipes)
- Substitute egg powder when you run out of eggs
- Eat dehydrated fruit for snacks
7. Keep a checklist and inventory sheet by all your shelves. Since this is right by your food storage, it allows you to quickly see if you are running low and what you need to stock up on.
8. Each time you grab some food from your storage, do a quick look for pests or bugs. Because a pest infestation can start small, but it can escalate quickly, you want to be sure to catch it when you first see it.
In conclusion
Rotating food storage overall can be really simple, the hardest thing is to remember to do it. So, when meal planning, adding planned meals from your food storage is the easiest way to help you remember to rotate it.
Click here to get my 3 step strategy to building a food storage you’ll actually eat.
How do you rotate your food storage? Comment below
Further Reading:
Long Term Food Storage Planning
Instant vs Non Instant Powdered Milk
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