Food
What to keep in the pantry, how to buy in bulk without waste, and what to make with it when the power is out.
Pantry and bulk buying
Start with how much you need, then keep it fresh by eating it.
- What to Stock by Calories, No Fridge Needed
A simple way to work out how much shelf-stable food your household needs, using calories on the label and a daily target.
- Pantry Rotation Made Simple
Keep emergency food fresh by eating it. Official storage times, what best-before dates mean in the US and Canada, and a rotation routine.
- Cooking Without Power
Safe ways to eat and cook during an outage: cold meals, gas stove use, outdoor stoves, heating cans, and safe internal temperatures in both countries.
- Food Safety When the Fridge Fails
Official time and temperature rules for fridge and freezer food in an outage, with a keep or discard list by food type.
- 14 Days of No-Power Pantry Meals
Meal ideas for two weeks without power or refrigeration, mostly no-cook, with a shopping tally and tips for leftovers and water.
Shop the pantry
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Canned beans, tuna, chicken or stew
Canned chunk chicken breast, multi-pack
Fully cooked and ready to eat from the can; USDA FSIS lists canned meat and poultry at 2 to 5 years.
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Peanut butter or another nut or seed butter
Peanut butter, large jars, multi-pack
Ready-to-eat protein that needs no cooking or fridge before opening; check for peanut allergies in your household first.
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Rice, pasta or oats
Long-grain white rice, 20 lb (9 kg) bag
Plain white rice in a large bag; USDA FSIS lists rice and dried pasta at 2 years in a cool, dry place.
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Rice, pasta or oats
Old-fashioned rolled oats, large bag
Rolled oats can be soaked instead of cooked, as in the soaked oats recipe on this site.
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Rice, pasta or oats
Dried pasta, multi-pack
USDA FSIS lists dried pasta at 2 years in a cool, dry place.
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Manual can opener
OXO Good Grips Lock & Go Can Opener
A manual opener that works without power and has locking arms that hold the can while you turn.
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Camp stove, outdoor use only
Coleman Classic 2-Burner Propane Camp Stove
A two-burner propane stove for cooking through an outage; use it outdoors only, never indoors or in a garage, because it produces carbon monoxide.
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Recipes
Meals from shelf-stable food. See all recipes
Black Bean and Corn SaladA no-cook salad from three cans and a few spices. Ready in 10 minutes with no power, and it works as a meal or a side.
Pantry ChiliTwo kinds of beans, tomatoes, corn and chili spices, heated in one pot on an outdoor camp stove or barbecue burner.
No-Bake Peanut Butter Oat BitesOats, peanut butter and syrup rolled into bite-size balls. No oven, no power, and a job children can help with.
Chickpea or Tuna "Salad" WrapsMashed chickpeas or canned tuna with mustard and relish, rolled in shelf-stable tortillas. No mayonnaise and no fridge needed.
Grow your own
- A Balcony or Windowsill Vegetable Garden in Pots
Grow herbs, greens and tomatoes in containers: pot sizes, potting mix, sun hours, watering and feeding, from Oregon State University Extension.
Updated November 9, 2026
- 10 Easy Vegetables That Store Well Through Winter
Ten beginner-friendly vegetables that keep for months after harvest, with extension-service storage temperatures and how to find your frost dates.
Updated November 9, 2026
- How Much to Plant to Feed a Family
Feet of row per person for common vegetables, from University of Missouri Extension's planting table, scaled up for a household of four.
Updated November 9, 2026
- Planting Garlic in Fall for a Summer Harvest
When to plant garlic, how deep, how to mulch it for winter, and when to harvest and cure it, from extension services and a BC seed company.
Updated November 9, 2026
- Regrowing Vegetables from Kitchen Scraps: What Works
Which scraps regrow into real food, like green onions and celery, which only make greens or houseplants, and why store potatoes are a poor seed.
Updated November 9, 2026
- Root Cellar and Cold Storage for Squash, Potatoes and Apples
Keep potatoes, squash, apples and root crops for months without a fridge: temperatures, humidity, curing and where to store them in an ordinary house.
Updated November 9, 2026
- Seed Saving for Beginners: Why Open-Pollinated Seed Matters
What open-pollinated, heirloom and hybrid mean, the easiest seeds to save first, and how to dry and store them, from extension services.
Updated November 9, 2026
- Sprouts and Microgreens on the Counter in About 7 Days
Grow sprouts in a jar and microgreens in a tray with no garden, plus the food safety rules for sprouts from Health Canada, FDA and extension services.
Updated November 9, 2026