Wildman, have you thought about home canning? You could prepare the meals that your family enjoys now and can it up in mason jars for future use. Home canned foods will last a couple years at least when done properly. Low acid foods such as meat and veggies will require a pressure canner, but these are available online for reasonable prices. Since you would be storing what you already eat, rotate it out by using it in everyday cooking and just can up some more. An easy way to do this would be to make a batch of say, pasta sauce and then can some up. Most canners will hold 7 or 8 jars at a time, giving you a weeks worth of meals in one load. You can get creative wit this and prepare almost any kind of foods.

I am sure they change their mind about picky eating when that is all they have to eat!! 😛

An excellent question and topic for discussion. Pasta sauces are good. Get the ones in glass containers... nothing to corrode from the acid. Also have lots of spices,canned meats and fish. Ham, tuna and salmon readily come to mind. Rolled oats are also good and can be used in a multitude of ways. As well they take less energy to cook than some things. Home canning is great. You can get a large pressure canner at Cdn Tire for less than $150.00 and it has the capacity to do a reasonable number of jars at a time. With it you can preserve home dishes, all vegetables and meat. Nice to have if the power goes out and your freezer dies. Many people like freeze dried foods but the thing to keep in mind with them is that you need water to make them usable. I have a mix of dry and "wet"... think canned foods .... they will help to supply your need for fluids. Powdered milk is nice as well... so many options... One of the best ways to plan is by keeping track of what you normally eat and just get extra.

The best way to find out is to cook with your food supply. Make a list of everything the family likes- start collecting it and start cooking with it. Spend a bit more on luxury items like FD strawberries. There are some really great recipes online and on YouTube. I was watching some great ones for canning last night. I really encourage people to watch the recipes on YT and to use their pantry supplies NOW instead of later.

Hello, just wanted to pose the question, "Realistically what to store for Longterm Foods?". I have young children, 1 teen and 1 under teen, both of which are picky eaters at best. Rice is'nt a problem but these kids and my wife, are not eating beans. Myself I love beans and can mange eating many different foods as I have in my travels as a truck driver. I've been prepping for a short time less than a year. It is easy to store food that will last 20 plus years but if no one will eat it they're worthless. I'm thinking Potato flakes would be a good food for picky eaters and will store for a while in mylar bags with o2 absorbers. I've stored macaroni elbows as well.
Just something to think about. I could use a bit of insight on this matter.
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Here is a seminar given by Wendy Dewitt on how to decide what to store ...you plan it around the meals your family eats and loves now...there are 8 short you tube videos to watch...she teaches a system to how to store right down to the last TBSP of sugar so you have what you need and don't store what your family won't eat. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhGaTlwYs-s&feature=player_embedded