It is important to ensure that your food storage has enough variety so that you won't get tired of eating the same thing. If you eat the same thing over and over it can hurt your appetite and put you in a very dangerous situation where you wouldn't even be hungry. One way to help avoid that is to keep a variety of spices in your food storage. Spices are a great way to add variety in your foods while still eating some of the same ingredients.
Spices are really cheap. At most supermarkets you can get a bottle of spices for around $1. Spices are a great way to add additional variety in your food storage. For example, you can use italian seasoning for spaghetti, or put some red pepper in your canned soup for an extra kick. Spices are cheap so there's no excuse to not make them an important part of your food storage.I would suggest getting all of the "basic" spices. Italian seasoning, lemon pepper, red pepper, seasoning salt, onion powder, garlic powder...ect. Stocked with just the basics you would be able to liven up any dish you prepare from your food storage. The purpose of storing food is so you can still eat good in the event of a disaster. With the proper spices on hand you can guarantee that your meals would be tastey and ensure that the family would want to eat the food.


A can opener is an essential kitchen gadget to keep around. For obvious reasons, they allow you to open cans easily. Regular can openers leave sharp edges and once opened the cannot be closed back. The contents of the can must be eaten before they go bad. Enter in the smooth edge can opener. The smooth edge can opener opens the can from the side, creating a smooth edge that isn't sharp, and creates a lid that can be added back onto the top of the can for a nearly perfect seal.
The Oxo Can Opener is a necessary item in your food storage. A lot of times you're not going to eat the whole can of food after you open it, so with a smooth edge opener you can put the lid back on the can and save the food for later. This works great if you purchased a large bulk can of something and need it to last a few days. Even with the lid back on and sealed the food won't last forever, make sure to eat it within the next few days as quick as possible. This is why it's good to purchase smaller portioned canned goods to lower the risk of having to throw out food. In a survival situation, throwing out food is a huge no-no.
Just because you live in an apartment doesn't mean all hope is lost. You can store and prepare with the best of them with a little knowledge. The first obvious disadvantage of living in an apartment is your inability to grow a garden. Many see gardening as a focal point of their preparedness plan. I like to say, "no garden, no problem!" Let other people garden for you. You can purchase tons of fresh, natural, and organic produce at your local farmers market. Now the main goal of having your survival garden is to can your harvest to add to your food storage.