We're on a pretty strict budget at the moment while we pay for the repair of the Range Rover and the purchase of the RV, but we are still setting aside a small bit for our food storage. This was partly why I got a surprise bread machine for my birthday... we go through about 4 loaves a week, and we hate the 99 cent bread from the store, and frankly I stink at bread. I can make some awesome whole wheat rolls but my adventures in sandwich bread are pretty sad (just search bread on this blog to see). What an amazing invention a bread machine is! And it's so worth it to get one that does 3 pound loaves.

Anyway, every time we go to Costco we buy extra stuff and put it in storage. Here's my Costco plan for 4 people and a baby:

Flour: two 50 pound bags
Corn Meal: 4 bags
Rice: two 50 pound bags
Pasta: 6 large bags

Vegetable oil: 16 large bottles
Shortening: 16 big containers
Mayonnaise: 8 large jars
Salad dressing: five 1 quart bottles
Peanut butter: 30 big jars

Honey: 10 big bottles
Sugar: eight 20 pound bags
Brown sugar: two 5 pound bags
Jam: 12 big jars
Powdered fruit drink: 12 big cans

Dry milk: 20 big bags
Baking powder: six 2-jar packs
Baking soda: 12 bulk packs
Yeast: 12 large vacuum-packed
Salt: ten 2 pound boxes
Vinegar - 3 gallons

Crushed tomatoes: 10 flats
Tomato paste: 12 flats
Canned fruit: 15 flats
Canned soup: 15 flats
#10 cans beans: 20 cans

Bleach: 5 gallons

When camping gear is in you may also find a heavy duty water purifier, which makes way more sense than storing water for the long term, unless you live in the desert. They also have good first aid kits, tea-tree oil, toilet paper, diapers, wipes and vitamins that also need to be stocked up.

By the way, I was trying to find a picture of Costco for this post and came across The Amazing Trips, which I though was already amazing because she has triplets, but no! THIS i why they are amazing! This was particularly inspiring because I had just recently balled my eyes out when I read the story about the little girl with cancer who wanted to see the movie Up (have your hankie ready and don't say I didn't warn you). I think it's time I started running.