Zombie Prep: Nine Foods that will last FOREVER.

[Silverhoof 2,839]

http://www.stilltasty.com/articles/view/35

 

When stored properly, these everyday items will last for years — sometimes decades — even after they’ve been opened. And they’ll lose very little, if any, of their original quality as time passes. So think twice before tossing one of these items. If you've been handling it correctly, chances are it's just fine.


1. HONEY
Pure honey is as durable as it is delicious; it keeps safe indefinitely. Honey may change color or crystallize over time, but that won't make it unsafe.
Keep it fresh: Store in a cool area and keep tightly closed. Revive crystallized honey by placing the opened jar in warm water and stirring until dissolved.

2. RICE
White, wild, arborio, jasmine and basmati rice all have an indefinite shelf life, when kept free from contaminants. The exception: brown rice. Thanks to its higher oil content, it won’t keep nearly as long.

Keep it fresh: Store in a cool, dry area. Once opened, place rice in a sealed airtight container or place original package in a resealable heavy-duty freezer bag. For added protection, store rice in the refrigerator or freezer.

3. SUGAR
White, brown or powdered — sugar never spoils because it doesn’t support bacterial growth. The real challenge is to prevent it from becoming rock-hard.
Keep it fresh: Keep sugar in a cool, dry area. To prevent sugar from hardening after opening, place it in an airtight container or cover the original package in a heavy-duty plastic bag and seal tightly.

4. HARD LIQUOR
Whipping up some penne alla vodka and a pitcher of cocktails? Distilled spirits —vodka, rum, whiskey, gin, tequila and the like — don’t spoil, even after opening. The taste and aroma may fade gradually, but it’ll take ages before you notice.
Keep it fresh: Store in cool, dark area, away from direct heat or sunlight. Keep bottle tightly closed when not in use.


5. MAPLE SYRUP
Pure maple syrup not only makes your pancakes special, it adds tremendous flavor to a whole range of dishes. Best of all, it keeps forever in the freezer.

Keep it fresh: Refrigerate after opening. For long-term storage, freeze maple syrup in airtight plastic containers.

6. PURE VANILLA EXTRACT
Yes, it’s more expensive than its imitation counterpart. But pure vanilla extract keeps forever, so you’ll never have to waste a drop.

Keep it fresh: Store in cool, dark cupboard and keep tightly closed when not in use.

7. DISTILLED WHITE VINEGAR
A reliable standby in everything from marinades to salad dressings, distilled white vinegar will remain virtually unchanged as the years pass by.
Keep it fresh: Store vinegar a cool, dark area and keep tightly capped after each use.

8. CORNSTARCH
A must-have for thickening sauces, gravies, and puddings. Cornstarch will keep indefinitely if it's kept dry and free from contaminants.

Keep it fresh: Store in cool, dry area; keep package tightly closed between uses.


9. SALT
From the basic table variety to fancier versions like kosher and sea, salt is a flavor enhancer that never spoils or goes stale.

Keep it fresh: Store in cool, dry area.

 

I was a little surprised at the rice. I know some people who are investing in barrels of wheat kernels.

Rice has an advantage over wheat. When you are cooking bread, its has a wonderful "Come and get it" smell that can travel for a mile.

--Cooking rice makes no such smell.

 

As the Walking Dead teaches us, the desperate living can be a lot more scary than the Walking Dead.

 

One of the things I do for fun and read up on the prepper websites. Some things make a lot of sense. Canned good have changed since the 50's. A can of food will generally outlast its expiration date by decades. Hormel chili has conducted taste tests on 14 year old chili...it was fine. Chemically there was no real loss of nutrition either. --if it is dented or bloated, don't touch it, use only perfect cans.

 

one thing you ought to know. Canned veggies last a long time too...BUT. Much of the nutriction leaches into the water its packed with. So in a survival situation, when you open a can of green beans, drink the water first, don't throw it out.

 

Also a second wise bit of info. Disasters tend to be local. When hurricane Sandy hit, the coastal infrastructure was trashed. People were going hungry because food couldn't get to the people,

BUT, If you were willing to walk 10 miles inland, everything was fine. you could buy food, access you bank account, get help. Lesson here is: Be willing to leave.

 

Zombies of course mess everything up.

 

OK, question for you: You're aware zombies are going to hit your area in a week or two, but no one else is listening. You have no more resources than you have now. you are you.

 

What would you do? shelter in place? Leave everyone behind and get out? If you had to leave where would you go? Is there even a place that you would head for?

 

Zombies freak my wife out. She's agreed to leave as long as she can take kitty with us. Our sanctuary is her uncle's house. Its a farm in northern Iowa. They like us, and have several rooms in back we could use (and they just laugh at the whole zombie survival thing). So we have a destination, a place to head for.  What about you?

Edited June 7, 2014 by Silverhoof

[Nulln 754]

Well I would hate to leave my house, since I have a fairly good sized garden to sustain me for a bit.  I guess I could hide in the attic and use the many many many weapons up there to kill zombies that made it into my house for when I needed to go pick food.  Zombies wouldn't last long here though.  Our temperatures get over 100 degrees all summer, so they'd dry up super fast.  If mummification didn't kill them, it'd at least immobilize them.  So I wouldn't worry too much.  lol

[Twilight Circuits 603]

I don't know if i'd stay to see the massacre happen and do everything i had within my power to prepare such as escape plans for my building (i live in a major downtown city) shoring up the doors and windows and doing everything i could to make a generator station that doesn't let out any noise and collect everything i'd need for a while. I'd pretend I was just minding my own business as I could do all this myself. If I chose to leave instead i'd just pretend i need a vacation and head to some remote area that i know i could live off of the land. i'm part native so it would really bother me. I just wouldn't tell anybody where it was.

[simba86 1,541]

I would finish fortifying the house and try to lay low and fight them off as they came.

we have several months worth of food and water so we could hold on for a while

rice will last a while with oxygen absorbers but not forever, same with MREs the vitamins and minerals break down over time giving it the nutritional value of cardboard

[Sunshower Raindrops 3,227]

I'd stay as close as possible to an military base, and when the attack happens be one of the first to be guarded by the military.

[Frith is Magick 1,471]

Freeze dried food is magic. My zombie plan: head for the hills. My family is into backpacking, so we have plenty of lightweight gear plus axes and a few other potential, if less than optimal, weapons (plus there are a few possible nearby locations to raid for supplies) and can go out to the mountains (which have wildlife and plant matter galore). If we can survive until winter (which is usually about 7 months long, even more up in the mountains), then the zombies will be immobilized (frozen solid), making for easy killin'. Spend summers in the mountain and winters in towns.

 

Back in high school I put some thought into devising combat methods for fighting zombies with small and improvised weapons (knives, rocks, everyday tools) as well as other elements of zombie survival (I originally meant to compile a guide, but only have a small collection of notes).

[Nulln 754]

Freeze dried food is magic. My zombie plan: head for the hills. My family is into backpacking, so we have plenty of lightweight gear plus axes and a few other potential, if less than optimal, weapons (plus there are a few possible nearby locations to raid for supplies) and can go out to the mountains (which have wildlife and plant matter galore). If we can survive until winter (which is usually about 7 months long, even more up in the mountains), then the zombies will be immobilized (frozen solid), making for easy killin'. Spend summers in the mountain and winters in towns.

 

Back in high school I put some thought into devising combat methods for fighting zombies with small and improvised weapons (knives, rocks, everyday tools) as well as other elements of zombie survival (I originally meant to compile a guide, but only have a small collection of notes).

here's you a guide.  i got this way back in high school because i was trying to impress my boyfriend at the time.  which i guess i really didn't have to impress him since we were already together.  rofl

but it's a pretty good read.  very interesting 

 

[Frith is Magick 1,471]

 

 

here's you a guide.  i got this way back in high school because i was trying to impress my boyfriend at the time.  which i guess i really didn't have to impress him since we were already together.  rofl but it's a pretty good read.  very interesting   

Read it. It is pretty good, but has some incomplete and conflicting information, but it is what inspired me to compile a guide. His other book, World War Z, was a good read. My "guide" went into combat methods with various methods, analyses of what makes a zombie a zombie and the implications. general survival, specialized info, basic combat, all sorts of fun stuff.

[simba86 1,541]

here's you a guide.  i got this way back in high school because i was trying to impress my boyfriend at the time.  which i guess i really didn't have to impress him since we were already together.  rofl

but it's a pretty good read.  very interesting 

 

I have that book also! pretty good book

[Arctic Night 884]

I'm sort of... well... I am a prepper.       

 

 

Of course, I usually plan for realistic things, but I can't say that I've never imagined a zombie apocalypse. 

 

In the situation you describe, I would probably bug in. (Prepper terminology for never leaving your house.) I live in a fairly populated area, but it has its advantages and there would be no real reason to leave. I might throw some foods in my oven to dehydrate them and I would fortify my house. 

 

I actually trust the military to handle a zombie outbreak, but I know that saying so might take the fun out of it so I'll just say that I'm prepared. 

here's you a guide.  i got this way back in high school because i was trying to impress my boyfriend at the time.  which i guess i really didn't have to impress him since we were already together.  rofl

but it's a pretty good read.  very interesting 

 

That was a good read. Being the nerd he is, Brooks came up with some good ideas. Although, his lack of faith in the reader's archery skills offends me.

[Sigma 768]

Honey stays fresh because it contains very little water, which makes bacteria shrivel up and die due to osmosis. If you add water to honey, then it becomes the exact opposite of fresh very quickly. Keep it in sealed containers and do not open the containers or add warm water to reverse crystalization until you plan on eating all of it.

 

Enjoy your flower sperm and bee spit.

Edited June 9, 2014 by Asterisk Propernoun

[Arctic Night 884]

 

Because dehydrators are too damn expensive.

[Rainboom Dash 1,055]

In a zombie attack I would probably hole up in my home and try to make it as zombie-proof as possible (staying quiet, keeping lights off, etc) because I don't really know where I would go. It would depend how many zombies are in my area.

[Nulln 754]

Honey stays fresh because it contains very little water, which makes bacteria shrivel up and die due to osmosis. If you add water to honey, then it becomes the exact opposite of fresh very quickly. Keep it in sealed containers and do not open the containers or add warm water to reverse crystalization until you plan on eating all of it.

 

Enjoy your flower sperm and bee spit.

Technically it's bee vomit.

[Johnnythebrony 5]

We'll it would hit the world pretty hard so must people who never really thought about the zombie apocalypse so I would drive to the nearest military base with my family or friends and gather as much as possible and then hit the supermarkets,then if I past by an antique store,I'm gonna look for a decent mlee weapon like a katana or an axe.Lastly I will set my base in a secured and fenced up area,accept survivals to join my crew,raid the surrounding area of supplies,set up solar panels,make an efficient farm and SURVIVE.

[Everleaf 541]

Well true  very true I got to say and at least we have (immortal) food XD

[Jon the VGNerd 842]

I would evacuate elsewhere, as the overall quantity of my food only lasts for weeks instead of days, hopefully find a reasonable place that's filled with HUGE quantities of food. 

[Fluttershyfan94 5,738]

I'm prepared, actually do not plan on leaving at all. Have been informing those who want to be informed to prepare for the apocalypse. I will take over a building in my town that's pretty much going to become my base. Know where I can get large quantities of guns and ammo. The building I'm talking about can store up to thousands but plan on not letting too many people in only those who I can't keep out. Already done research on how long food will last and plan on doing things differently then most people. In case of zombies as that way you're prepared for most other apocalyptic happenings. So instead of buying plenty of cans of food I'll scavenge and will most likely lead a small army to get supplies. Though, the difference is I'm ready so I'm assuming we would be able to get most of the food out of stores before others will completely empty them. Then the place I plan on staying at is near the ocean and we can get water from rooftops so it will be alright. The building is a fortress no zombies or people will get in without an invitation. Also plan on collecting guns and weapons but for now I'm just planning. Will mostly be killing zombies with a crowbar to spare the bullets.

[IcyHaze 593]

They're not exactly going to be a balanced diet, mate

[Silverhoof 2,839]

They're not exactly going to be a balanced diet, mate

You are right. It is not balanced. but its good to know that a staple like rice will last longer than you will.

Rice is a good replacement for bread. and it doesn't smell when you are cooking it. Its good for the short run. The hard part is finding good seeds to start your own farm.

[Sunshower Raindrops 3,227]

You are right. It is not balanced. but its good to know that a staple like rice will last longer than you will.

Rice is a good replacement for bread. and it doesn't smell when you are cooking it. Its good for the short run. The hard part is finding good seeds to start your own farm.

 

Rice is good, but I'm glad that you put honey on this list. Honey is such an amazing food, and practically immortal if stored right.

[simba86 1,541]

being prepared is a good idea anyway, whenever the water supply in WV got poisoned that one time "which is just like 30 minutes from me but i am in ohio"

people came through and bought up all the bottled water for miles around me, all the water was gone!

people have no idea how fast the stores can be cleaned out when a disater happenes, think hours

[Arctic Night 884]

They're not exactly going to be a balanced diet, mate

Probably not, but it's preferable to starvation.

[IcyHaze 593]

Probably not, but it's preferable to starvation.

 

You still need all your vitamins though. They're nice supplements, but what happens when all the rest of the stored food rots? UNless you've got a collection of animals or a farm, you're kinda fucked...

[True Rarity 1,239]

I'll have to remember this. But... is hard liquor all there is to drink? I'd much prefer water, if it's the only other option.