Nutritious Food Staples for Disaster Prep

Just like many folks, I am becoming increasingly alarmed as the days go on with the health of our world. When we left for vacation two weeks ago, the Coronavirus wasn’t something that felt like a threat—when we returned to the States a few days ago, I quickly realized how much had changed as our Uber drive offered us hand sanitizer the moment we stepped in his car.

Up until today, I hadn’t really gone grocery shopping to shop in bulk—it wasn’t that I didn’t believe in the idea, but more so, I just didn’t know “when” the right time would be. Walking through the empty aisles of the supermarket today, it was clear that I was (very) late to the party.

Now that it’s clear to me that we are in a situation that warrants preparedness, I thought it may be helpful to compile a list of the nutritious staples that you should keep in your house/pantry/cabinets/fridge/freezer in addition to all the frozen meats, eggs, milk, bread, etc. that you likely already have.

Frozen fruits and veggies I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again—frozen fruits and vegetables carry just as much nutrition (if not more) than fresh. The reason being that with frozen fruit and veggies they are harvested and then immediately frozen, which retains nutrients unlike my fresh organic strawberries that have travelled from Mexico and along the journey, the nutrients have degraded. In light of the current corona situation, frozen fruits and vegetables will keep a lot longer than their fresh counterparts.
Canned beans, canned tuna, canned salmon All of these pack great sources of protein and with the fish, healthy fats. With tuna, I would opt for Skipjack (or “light” tuna) over Albacore as the former is lower in mercury.
Dried fruit and nuts Look for dried fruits without sulfites or added sugar and ideally, you want the nuts to be raw and not cooked in any oils, which can be damaging for heart health.
Oats They keep forever and are versatile in many breakfasts from overnight oats, oatmeal, oat muffins, etc.
Nutbutters Whether it’s peanut butter, almond butter, cashew butter, watermelon seed butter – these “butters” are filled with healthy fats and protein to help keep you fuller, longer.
Pastas Obviously a great dry good to have on hand. If you are late to the stockpiling party like I was, then your only pasta options may be the ones made from chickpea, red lentils or quinoa, which happen to have more protein and fiber, making them a good bed if you want to take it up a healthy notch.
Protein bars I don’t always love protein bars as I would prefer you get your nutrients from whole food sources; however, these shelf-stable bars would be great to stock up on as they last for a long time, can serve as meal replacements, and are a good extra source of nutrition for folks who are very active.
Brown rice, quinoa, millet, buckwheat These are great bulk items to have and paired with beans can make a complete meal. Brown rice is healthier than white rice as it offers more nutrients, including fiber.
Lentils A great plant-based source of protein that offers a slew of other nutrition benefits including fiber, iron, b vitamins, magnesium, zinc, potassium, to name a few….
Shelf-stable milk or milk alternatives …because fridge space is limited!
Olive oil, butter, ghee, avocado oil I like to keep these items in bulk because I want to make sure I have something to cook/flavor/season with.
Canned soup Canned soup is a great easy meal and with so many options out there, you won’t get bored. Watch out for the sodium content.
Broths Even better than canned soup is making your own. I like to keep cartons of vegetable and chicken broth on hand and heat that up with some lentils and frozen veggies for a super quick and easy soup.
Dark Chocolate. Over 70% cocoa content is a health food!
Pedialyte If you have the ingredients to make a homemade electrolyte solution, that is ideal, however, in times of emergencies, I recommend grabbing one or two bottles just in case someone gets sick and it’s not easy to run out to the store.
Cereal It’s cheap, it’s easy to store and it’s not the worst thing for you.
Coffee/tea I can’t imagine having to be quarantined and detox from caffeine because I forgot to buy it and the store ran out.
Yeast Of course you should buy bread (ideally sourdough or whole wheat) but I also recommend having things like yeast, flour, salt, and sugar on hand in case you run out and need to make your own.
Frozen pizza dough Pizza dough is another extremely cost-effective way to feed a large group of people (or just yourself!). Opt for a whole wheat dough and load it with lots of veggies for optimal nutrition.
Canned tomato sauce For the pizza and pasta!