Thinking...

[jansman]

Getting back to Lil's original post,I think astock of rice ,oats,and dry beans would be good.Rice and beans,I sound like an American!Joking apart,these basics would keep you alive if supplemented with veg or foraged greens and a bit of meat or fish,trapped birds,snails,and a few stored spices.Anything is possible if you keep it simple.Most of the world lives on simple staple diets.One thing is for sure,you will not be eating three course meals shtf'

[diamond lil]

Yes, absolutely agree. I like things to stay simple and uncluttered. I started off on the premise of porridge for breakfasts; soup for lunches; some mix of meat & veg for dinner. Tea and bread and butter and jam. Sorted! TSHTF will not be a family picnic
But sometimes if you really really think about it too much, its like money. You can never have enough !

[Poledragon]

I went through my regular kitchen cupboards after reading the first few posts on here and managed to sketch out nearly two weeks of meals just from what was in there, not counting fridge, freezer or pantry! I was kind of impressed with myself, and it wasn't all pasta & sauce or beans on toast... Enough tinned stuff to make about four pies - including corned beef & potato, and steak & veg. Rice, curry, tins to make soup and stuff to pour over rice or pasta. Am trying to learn to love tinned potatoes - it's taking some doing.

But yeah, I agree that you're never going to feel prepared unless you have a cellar like the basement fall-out shelter in 'Blast from the Past'.

[Red Doe]

I went through tough times recently (still recovering in all senses so they still linger) in which I needed to rely on my prep store due to ill health and being self employed (no money coming in)
and what I found was that I hadn`t taken some things into account.
No matter how hungry you get, there`ll come a time when you just can`t face another bean or grain of rice, so vary the store as much as you can.
I needed more breakfast foods, so next time will lay in tins of beans/sausages/black pudding etc, differing cereals and so on.
Non food items such as toothpaste, bleach and sundries are important too and it`s heartening to know you have them. I used mine all up, so they are important.
Simple things like a pinch of herbs or spices can make all the difference to the same meal for the umpteenth time so store condiments and sauces.
So long as I have the clean water to do so, I tend to rinse tinned veg in it as they are normally high in salts and sugars.
I had bought in those ready mixes for scones and muffins and biscuits. I won`t do that again, they were ok in a pinch but really no substitute for my own home baking. So, false economy, much better to store flour, marge or butter and sugar to make my own, plus dried milk which can have lemon juice (concentrated) added to it to make `buttermilk` for those recipes that need it.
And, generally, we never have enough, as I found out.