Beans and rice are great additions to your food storage. They are nutritious, delicious and inexpensive sources of protein and fiber. They are great to use in both short term storage and long term storage.
How many beans do I store?
60 lbs per person per year – is the recommended – but I used them so often, I could not make do with that small of an amount. This 60 lbs will provide about 1/4 cup of cooked beans per day and about 150 calories.
Beans can be stored in glass jars, buckets, #10 cans, mylar bags, or other air tight food storage containers, and when kept dry, they will last for years.
Eating one cup of beans every day means you should have 365 cups of beans, which is equal to 25 gallons of dried beans, or 5 5 gallon buckets. This amount would give you your 1/4 cup of beans per day if you were planning for four people. Ugh. That is not very much. Do the math if you want more than 1/4 cup per day. I know I do!
Some bean facts:
- 1 1/4 cups of cooked beans will provide the same number of calories as in a 3 oz steak and yet deliver 50% more usable protein, with NO cholesterol. Most beans contain at least 20% protein.
- Most beans are high in carbohydrates, which provide long-lasting energy. In addition, beans provide essential B vitamins, Iron, and they are one of the richest sources of fiber.
- Beans ground to a fine flour can be whisked into boiling water and seasonings to make an almost instant soup or thickener in only 3 minutes
- Bean flour can be used in any recipe calling for flour by replacing up to 25% of the wheat flour with any variety of bean flour
- Bean flour stores for up to 6 months on the shelf, 1 year under refrigeration, and is great to have on hand for “instant” soups, sauces, dips, sandwich fillings and gravies, and to add to almost everything you cook or bake
- Legumes and grains, eaten as much as 2 days apart will still combine properly as a complete protein, as the body extracts and stores the amino acids from the beans and combines them into proteins as a variety of foods are eaten
- Beans mixed with grains form a high quality complete protein that can be tolerated by people of all ages, even infants
- A pound of dry beans ground to a find flour measures approximately 5 cups
Rice is an extremely healthy food for a number of reasons. Rice is a complex carbohydrate, which means that it contains starch and fiber. Complex carbs are digest slowly, allowing the body to utilize the energy released over a longer period which is nutritionally efficient. Rice has low sodium content and contains useful quantities of potassium, the B vitamins, thiamin and niacin. An average portion of rice provides about 11% of the estimated average daily requirement of protein.
- There are about 12.5 cups of rice in a #10 sized can
- A #10 size can contains about 5.5 lbs of rice
- 1 cup of white rice weights 7 oz
- 1 six gallon bucket of rice contains 44 lbs
- 1 six gallon bucket of rice or 44 lbs contains 100 cups
- One serving of rice is approximately 1/4 cup dried rice
Use these numbers to determine how much rice your family should store for one year.
Example: A family of 6 eats rice twice a week using a total of 4 cups of dry rice per week. Eating 4 cups per week for 52 weeks, they would need to have 17 #10 cans – or – 1 six gallon bucket plus 9 #10 cans – this is equal to 30% of the recommended amount of grain to store for one adult per year.
Example 2: Plan for 2 oz of rice per person per day. A family of six would need to store 6 people x 2 x 365 = 4380 oz of rice which = 274 lbs of rice for one year. This is equal to: 6 six gallon buckets plus 2 #10 cans or 50 #10 cans
These numbers can be used for brown rice, with the exception that brown rice does not store as long as white rice. White is better for longer storage. Adjust it according to what you will eat and what you family will want.
Recipe: Berry Bean Blast – Serves 4
1 can Navy beans – drained and rinsed
1 1/2 cup orange juice
2 cups strawberries sliced
2 tbsp honey
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
6 – 8 ice cubes
Process all the ingredients except ice cubes in a blender until smooth. Add ice. Process until smooth. Serve in glasses. If you use frozen fruit instead, ice cubes will not be needed. You could also use frozen orange juice. You may need to add a bit of water to adjust the consistency. A very healthy way to serve smoothies to your family.
Happy and Healthy Prepping
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