There’s a 30 lb. box of  Utah peaches sitting on my kitchen counter right now, and I haven’t decided what I’m going to do with them yet.  Should I freeze them?  Slice and dehydrate them?  Make peach jam or peach fruit leather?  Or just remain undecided until the whole batch rots?

One thing I’ve learned about food storage is the importance of having different forms of the same food.  If I carefully slice and freeze all these peaches, what happens if a storm knocks out our electricity for several days?  Do I really need that much peach jam when it isn’t my kids’ favorite?  Instead, how about dehydrating a few pounds, freezing several batches (perfect for making pies and cobblers), and making a few batches of fruit leather, a perfect snack for the kids.

If you have enough dried pinto beans to last until Armageddon, make a few batches of homemade refried beans and can them.  Cook a few batches with some bacon and seasonings, and can your own delicious Campfire Beans.  Here’s a bonus bean tip: different beans contain different nutrients.  Try mixing a couple of varieties in your recipes to get more nutritional bang for your buck.

One food.  Several forms.  It’s an easy way to add variety to your recipes and long term storage while hedging your bets against anything that might damage or destroy your stored food.

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