I've been giving this a lot of thought lately. If you read most any prepping food storage list you get lots of carbs, some protein and a few fruits and veggies thrown in. As we've often discussed here it will keep you alive but probably not very healthy. As I've been reading through my seed catalogues and giving thought to what I will be planting next year I have an added criteria now - how many nutrients are in the food.
Green beans are yummy but has almost no calories and only a minimal amount of vitamins. http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2341/2
Kale has about the same amount of calories but a much higher percentage of vitamins and minerals. http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2461/2
So maybe I'll be planting more kale and less green beans. That is just an example.
As I began searching for information I came across some articles about some incredible superfoods.
aloe vera: http://www.naturalnews.com/021858_aloe_vera_gel.html >
spirulina: http://ic.steadyhealth.com/spirulina_nutrition_facts.html
chlorella: http://www.naturalways.com/chlorella-nutritional-analysis.htm
We've been using them ever since in smoothies. Unfortunately I can't grow them myself/
I'd love to find out the storage life of these items when properly packaged. The packages say about three years - not too bad I suppose.
Has anyone tried them? or know anything about the storage life?
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*´¨`•.¸¸Anita <>< *.•´¸¸¨`*
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Quack, Cluck, Moo, Hee-Haw, Meow and Baaaaaaa from Shalom Engedi Farm
http://adventures-in-country-living.blogspot.com/
you can grow spirulina at home
http://www.auroville.org/health/food/spirulina.htm
http://blondesearch.ru/play/UcNLM3utKkk/AlgaeLab%252C_grow_your_own_Spirulina.html
one of the women that I used to work with visited a camp that had containers that looked like hard sided kids pools where they were growing it.
That is a neat idea. I manage to grow slime in other places - this would slime with a purpose 😆
(`'•.¸(`'•.¸ ¸.•'´) ¸.•'´)
*´¨`•.¸¸Anita <>< *.•´¸¸¨`*
(¸.•'´(¸.•'´ `'•.¸)`' •.¸)
¸.•´
( `•.¸
`•.¸ )
¸.•)´
(.•´
Quack, Cluck, Moo, Hee-Haw, Meow and Baaaaaaa from Shalom Engedi Farm
http://adventures-in-country-living.blogspot.com/
Traditional dried seaweed sheets (nori) is very nutritional and I find they store well for a long time if kept in a dark, dry, cool place. They can be crumbled up and added to soups & other foods to boost the nutrition content and provide more flavour and fulfilment. In view of the Fukushima Nuclear Plant radiation issues I don't think I will be buying any more (or other oceanic foods or supplements) that come from that part of the world though!
My most important "nutrient dense" storage item is my sprouting seeds. I store approximately 15lbs of seed for sprouting each year, and rotate through it (we eat a lot of sprouts!).
I store about 10 lbs of alfalfa, and the rest is a variety of fenugreek, "sandwich booster" mix (broccoli, mustard seed, radish, etc), and mung beans. In addition, I also store about 30lbs of lentils, which sprout beautifully, or can be cooked as a pulse.
Sprouts are an important source of micronutrients throughout the winter, especially as I don't buy lettuce or fresh greens in the winter in Canada -- far too expensive! We have a sprout salad (about 3/4 cup of sprouts each with seeds, nuts, raisins, whatever I have to mix in, mixed in 🙂 ) every night with dinner, and I start a new batch of sprouts every day. They only take a few days, and this goes a long way to keeping us healthy.
Quills-sounds like you have a solid source for bulk seeds.Are they local? How are your bulk prices;let's say 30lb of lentils or 10 lbs of alfalfa? Do you know if your source ships to Alberta? The mix sounds like a great sandwich stuffer.What would let's say 20 lbs cost me?
http://sprouting.com/canstore/enter.html
Mumms sprouting seeds are reliable and their online prices where cheaper than me buying their sprouting seed local to me. Also orders over $25 you get free shipping.
I'm the lady you're stuck behind in the grocery store with the over loaded cart filled with cases of tuna, peanut butter, huge bags of rice and the weary looking husband