It’s time to talk about protein. Protein is the building block of life. Whether we’re talking about a 3-month food storage or a long-term one year food storage, it’s important to have a good supply of protein-rich foods in your food storage.
Imagine if you were unable to go grocery shopping for two weeks or more. What proteins would you be able to serve your family? What if that extended to three months? Do you have enough proteins in your food storage to eat balanced meals for three months or more?
If you want a healthy balanced diet, you need to store food that is rich in protein. So let’s talk about how you can choose the best proteins for your food storage.
Meat
Ounce for ounce meat has the highest concentration of complete protein. Whether we’re serving soup, casseroles or main dishes, most of our meals typically start with meat.
But there are two drawbacks to having meat in every meal: The high cost of meat and it’s short shelf-life.
Meat is the probably the most versatile protein and so is usually the first source of protein we turn to. But it’s also the most expensive form of protein.
And the short shelf life of meat also presents a challenge. Even with a freezer filled with meat, it can only be stored for six to nine months before it starts losing flavor and nutrition. Poorly packaged meat can quickly suffer freezer burn, making it almost inedible.
However canned meat such as tuna, canned chicken and other seafood, have a shelf-life of two to five years. You can also add more variety by canning your own meats at home. Turkey goes on sale at Thanksgiving and hamburger goes on sale several times during the summer picnic season. Take advantage of those reduced prices and buy lots of extra. Then can it up for future meals.
Eggs and Dairy
Milk, cheese and eggs are all good sources of protein. Although less expensive that meat, dairy products typically have an even shorter shelf-life than meat.
Milk is good in the fridge for a couple weeks. Once opened, cheese can last two to five months. Eggs are bit longer-lived. They can last up to a month, perhaps even as long as six weeks.
However, properly stored, the shelf-life for powdered or dry milk can be as long as five years. So if you’re looking for a long-term storage option (six months or more) powdered milk is a good choice.
If you have a source of fresh, unwashed eggs, you can store them in a solution of water and lye—a process known as water glassing. Eggs preserved with this water glassing method can last a year or more.
Nuts
Peanut butter is rich in oils as well as protein, which is why it has a shelf life of 6-9 months. After nine months the oils start to oxidize and get rancid.
Like peanut butter, most nuts have a high-fat content, so they are only good for 6-9 months. But almonds are lower in fat and so can store up to year. But you can almost double that if you put nuts in a jar and vacuum seal the jar. And you can extend the shelf life to two years of most nuts if you store them in the freezer.
Legumes
Legumes (beans, lentils, dry peas) are a powerhouse of nutrition. I’ve written several posts on how great beans are and why you should have plenty. And it’s not just for End-of-the-World-type food storage. You should be using beans every week, maybe even two or three times week.
Beans are high in protein and fiber with plenty of minerals and other nutrients. Even better, beans are the cheapest form of protein, costing a mere
penny per gram of protein. Compare that to the 3¢/gram for tuna and milk or 7¢/gram for eggs and canned chicken breast. (See chart below.) So why wouldn’t you make beans a regular part of your weekly menu?
Grains
Grains such as wheat, corn, rice and barley don’t have as much protein as meat and dairy. But combined with legumes, they create a complete protein, that is protein with all the essential amino acids that are needed for cell repair and production.
And like beans, grains that are properly stored can last for years, as long as twenty years.
So if you have lots of legumes in storage, you might consider also storing grains. For the longest shelf-life, buy whole grains and grind the grain (like wheat or rye) or (in the case of corn), crack it just before you need to use it for cooking. Rice and barley are typically cooked whole.
Properly stored in an air-tight, water-tight container, pasta has a shelf-life of two years or more.
One last grain of note
Even though it’s a grain, quinoa deserves special attention. It has a much higher protein content than other grains. That’s why it gets a special place in my chart. It can store for about two years before noticeable loss of nutrition and flavor.
Put protein in your food storage
Now, armed with this information, start planning out how you will ensure that both your long-term and short term storage plans includes plenty of this essential nutrient.
And now to illustrate
I have a handy-dandy chart to illustrate all of this. Most of the protein information I got from Simply Prepared. She has a lot of great information on her site. You should check it out.
