A suburban mom’s honest guide to preserving food at home, saving money on groceries and actually feeling prepared.
If you’ve stood in the grocery store lately and had a mild freak out in aisle 7 or realized your berry budget for the week is absolutely insane… you’re not alone.
Grocery prices have been wild and unfortunately it doesn’t seem to be getting better any time soon. That’s exactly what pushed me to start building a real food storage at home.
Not a bunker.
Not a farm.
Just a practical, suburban pantry I actually rely on.
For me, it started during COVID when a neighbor showed me how she was water bath canning her zucchini relish. We made it together, and I remember feeling like, ” I got this” so I went and bought a canner but it sat in my basement for a few months until I finally got up the courage to use it.
A few seasons later and I was pressure canning, dehydrating, vacuum sealing and finally feeling like my family wasn’t one bad shopping trip away from being out of the things we actually eat.
You don’t need a lot of space, huge budget or any prior experience. You need just 4 main tools and I’ll share what they are and why they earn a place in my suburban kitchen.
The goal isn’t full self sufficiency. It’s having a well stocked pantry that keeps up with real life…and real grocery bills.
tool 1
The Canner: The Heart of Any Home Food Storage
If there’s one thing that changed how I think about food it’s my canners.
I do want to lead off and say that you do NOT need to grow all your own food to preserve. Yes, having an abundance of homegrown food helps but buying things on sales, getting items in bulk is a perfect reason to preserve.
Also, the price isn’t the only reason to preserve. There isn’t anything quite like home made food.
Popping the top on a jar of homemade applesauce is pure perfection!!
Canning lets you take food when its cheap or in abundance and turn it into shelf stable food that can live in your pantry for years.
This past winter we lost power for almost a week ( we did have a generator but it didn’t run the whole house) and let me tell you it was great knowing I had food to feed my family.
There are two types of Canners and they are not interchangeable.
A water bath canner is where everyone should start. It’s basically a large pot, with a metal rack on the bottom, to preserve food.
It preserves high acid foods ( that will be a post for another day this is just giving you an overview) and these would be: jams, jellies, pickles, salsas and tomato sauces. It’s super easy to use and very beginner friendly.
I’m going to stop you here and tell you as long as you are following proper canning recipes and times you do not need to worry about Botulism.
A pressure canner is the next variety and this is one that you will can low acid foods like beans, carrots, soups and meats.
I’ll tell you this took me almost 3 years to finally start using. I bought it on a whim one Black Friday and it sat in the box for months until I finally got the courage to start.
Again, as long as you follow tried and true recipes and cooking times you have nothing to worry about.
Two of my favorite things to pressure can is Chilli and Pulled Pork. Walking down to the basement and grabbing a jar of Chilli for a cold December night is pure perfection.
Between the two you can preserve almost anything you find at the farmers market or on sale at the grocery store.
Go to a farm and pick an abundance of Strawberries….turn it into jam.
At the grocery store find a cut of meat on a super discount can that right up!
Grab Chicken in bulk and can up soup or pieces to add to a meal at any time.
Now that’s how the grocery savings start to add up.
For water bath canning, a basic enamel canner with a rack is all you need to start.
For pressure canning, Presto and All American are the brands most use. Don’t forget a jar lifter and funnel- they make the whole process easier. My canning picks on Amazon ➡️https://amzn.to/47vhME0 ( an affiliate link)
Tool 2
The Food Dehydrator: Preserve Without Taking Up Shelf Space
Not everything needs to be canned and not everything needs to be frozen.
A dehydrator takes out the moisture from food, on a low and slow heat, which stops spoilage and keep keep the food shelf stable for months or even years if stored properly.
A huge bonus is that it takes up a lot less space than its original version.
I use mine mostly for herbs ( they are far superior than store bought versions), potatoes ( some of my favorite items to dehydrate) and fruits to dry into rings or fruit leather.
The dehydrator is an important piece for suburban food storage because you can store the food in zip lock bags or mason jars so its lightweight, compact and easy to use. You prep the food, load the trays, set the temperature, and it does its thing for about 8 hours.
For most home kitchens a mid range 6 tray dehydrator with a rear mounted fan is the perfect appliance.
Cosori and Excalibur are both great choices. My personal favorite is the Cosori. You want to also make sure there are lots of temperature adjustments since recipes will call for such a range of temperatures.
I’ve shared my two favorites and some simple accessories here ➡️Here
Tool 3
Silicone Storage Containers: The Smartest Way to Use you Freezer
Two years ago if you came into my kitchen and looked in my freezer and deep freezer you would have seen a lot of zip lock bags with random things, plastic containers with food inside and just overall disorganization.
Now you’ll see organized chaos ( because life happens)
Souper Cubes were a game changer for me. If I’m being honest I really don’t like cooking dinner every night and being able to just pull out a partial meal or a full meal out of the freezer ( that is homemade) and get dinner on the table in about 15 minutes is huge for me.
These little containers allowed me to prep food when I had time so I could store meals and food prep for times that I needed to make a quick meal. These trays let you freeze food in neat and labeled portions.
You fill them, freeze them, pop the cubes out and store them in labeled bags.
This results in a freezer that is organized, portioned and super easy to use.
I use them for homemade broths, soups, cookie doughs, cooked meats.
I make pesto in large batches, left over soups and really anything else i want to freeze in useable portions instead of large blocks.
For example I will double a batch of Chilli and then add the extra into 1 or 2 Cup portions, freeze and then vacuum seal the portions.
With a busy family I find its much easier for my kids to take a small portion out and reheat it then store leftovers in the fridge (where I often forget) to use.
For anyone trying to build a food storage around a busy family schedule this system is a game changer for the freezer side of things.
Souper Cubes come in 2 Tablespoon, Cookie dough portions, 1/4 C, 1/2 C, 1 C and 2 C sizes. I use the 1/2 C & 1 C most often.
What I love about the whole collection is that they are dishwasher safe, BPA free and super versatile….plus they come in so many fun colors! Browse Souper Cubes Here
Tool 4
The Vacuum Sealer: Protect Everything You’ve Already Done
Here’s the thing about building a food storage: you put time an money into it and the last thing you want is to open the freezer six months later and find freezer-burned meat or dried out vegetables that taste like cardboard.
That’s why a vacuum sealer truly is a must have.
Vacuum sealing remove air from the bag before sealing.
No air means no oxidation, no freezer burn and a significantly longer shelf life.
Properly sealed meat can last two to three years compared to 6 months in a zip lock bag.
When you’re buying in bulk you’re going to want to protect that savings. Dividing up the food into perfect portions is the best way to do that.
It also helps to keep the freezer organized.
If you’re using Souper Cubes to portion items they line up very easily in the freezer. Combine this with canning jars on the shelf and you now have a food storage set up that actually functions and doesn’t just look good for social media.
Vacuum sealer bags are also great for dehydrated foods. Sealed bags keep out moisture and extend the shelf life out beyond what an open container could do. It’s the final layer of protection in a system that works together.
Foodsaver is the most common choice for home use an their bags and rolls are easy to find and use. Myvacuum sealer picks on Amazon ➡️Here
How These Four Tools Work Together
What I love about this setup is that each tool covers a different category of food storage and together they are pretty much complete.
The Canner handles long term shelf storage.
The dehydrator handles dry goods without taking up fridge or freezer space.
The silicone containers make your freezer organized and usable.
The vacuum sealer protects everything and extends your freezer life sigificantly.
Of course, you don’t need to buy all four tools at once.
I started with just the water bath canner and that allowed me to make so much of my food shelf stable and then I built up from there.
But, if you’re serious about stocking your pantry and finding ways to offset the crazy prices at the grocery store these are the items you want to add to your kitchen.
Start small….make a small batch of jam. Dry one tray of herbs.
Vacuum seal and then freeze a large package of chicken.
That’s how this all starts…one small step at a time…until you look at your full pantry shelf and realize you did that!
You don’t have to do everything at once. You just have to start.
Questions? Just getting started and not sure where to begin?
Leave a comment! I love helping people figure out their first steps.
That’s exactly where I was a few years ago and I’m glad someone helped me through it.