Storing the "right kind" of food

I was changing my car battery yesterday and I noticed the cavity around my battery filled with rice, wheat, and D-con (rodent poison). Apparently the mice in our house have caught the vision of food storage! I've thought about this in regards to what we store. Are we storing the "right" kind of food for our family. We don't want to be like the poor mouse who was storing the very thing that was killing him. So, what is the "right" kind of food?
1. Food that your family eats. Don't store food that you have no intention of ever trying to incorporate into your diet - except of an emergency. If you suddenly try to eat only wheat and beans, your body will revolt and it may very well kill you. Your body would not be able to absorb the nutrients from these amazing foods unless you have incorporated them into your normal diet over a period of time. Now, this is not an excuse not to store these items - just a warning to make them a part of your diet now!

2. A balanced diet full of various nutrients. You have heard the saying, "Man cannot live on bread alone" - well this is true in more than just the spiritual meaning. You would not thrive and would be susceptible to various illnesses if your "emergency" diet lacked a variety of nutrients. Make sure you are storing those items that add color and nutrition to your diet. Also - it doesn't help much if you store wheat but none of the other ingredients for what you want to use the wheat for. Research recipes and make sure you have all of the ingredients.

3. Comfort foods. As I have written before, most likely the need to use your food storage will not come in the form of a major earthquake. It may be a prolonged illness in the family that makes getting to the store difficult, it may be employment issues that makes budgets extremely tight, it may come in the form of a drought halfway around the world that kills off a major crop and spirals the price of certain staples out of control. Whatever the cause, you will want to make your meal times a time of comfort and peace for your family. Store ingredients for a family favorite, desserts, or those foods that help in the time of illness. Having those types of things in your storehouse will take that stress away from an already stressful situation.

4. Rotate Foods. I've learned the hard way that chips, oils, shortenings, etc. don't store forever. Things can go rancid if they have any oil in them. (You will know this has happened when you open the bag of beloved chips and the smell of paint thinner over comes you.) Also, canned foods do have a shelf live and the product can begin eating through the cans after an extended period of time. If you can your own foods, make sure you have canned the foods correctly and that the date is labeled on the jar. Eat what you store - it is a pity to invest so much money into food just to have to throw it away from not using it.

Don't be like my poor mouse friend, storing up poison for his future. The beauty of your food storage is that it is yours. Make your storehouse full of the good food that your family loves!