Long-life and shelf-stable food is often able to be eaten with a minimum of preparation. For instance:
- Crackers and biscuits. They do not have an indefinite shelf-life but, as with some other things on our lists, we are not expecting to need to keep them for years; months, at worst. Once opened they should be kept in a sealed container.
- Nuts — with due consideration to any allergy issues. Mixed nuts, or nuts and raisins, can be a pleasant change.
- Cereals and porridge oats. Many pre-packaged cereals can be eaten without the addition of milk if needed. They can be bulky, though, so prefer muesli and similar if space is an issue — cereals of that type will give you more energy for less space.
- Cereal bars are great for quick energy but relatively expensive and can be quite sugary. Good to keep a box or two around though.
- Long-life fruit juice and/or milk if you have enough room. Powdered milk takes up less space but if you need or prefer non-dairy milks (soya, almond etc.) then you may find that they are not available in dried form, so long-life is your only option.
- Flour – obviously an ingredient rather than a ready-to-eat food, but if you are prepared to make your own dishes then you will almost certainly need flour. If you can keep more than one type — for instance, plain and wholemeal — then so much the better; if you can only spare the space for one, then buy strong plain flour if you are going to make bread, and ordinary plain flour otherwise. You can always add raising agents (if you have them — see the flavourings, oddments and drinks page) for recipes that require them, but using self-raising flour in recipes that don’t need it will work less well.