With so many devastating disasters occurring lately, it's important to get your family prepared for any emergency situation, especially the type that will leave you without access to food or water. If your emergency supplies already contain water and medical care items, you've got the beginnings of a good emergency preparation plan. However, you'll still need to go beyond that, especially if you want to be prepared for a disaster that might leave you cut off from basic needs for several weeks, or even months.

To help get you going on your emergency food storage, here are some items you should add as soon as possible.

Cornmeal

If you don't have cornmeal in your food storage, you need to add some. Cornmeal is something that can be used to create a wide variety of food including bread, muffins, cereal, and mush- which is served fried and topped with maple syrup. Cornmeal can be stored in resealable plastic freezer bags, or in heavy-duty storage bins. If you're going to remove the cornmeal from the original packaging for storage, you'll need to add a desiccant packet to each container. The desiccant packets will preserve the cornmeal and prevent moisture damage.

Basic Cooking Supplies

When it comes to an emergency situation, you'll need to be able to prepare basic meals. You and your family will survive the situation a little better if you have a way to make your emergency foods a little tastier.

Seasonings: You might not have thought of this, but when you're planning your emergency food storage, you'll need to add a generous supply of seasonings, such as salt, pepper, and cinnamon. Seasonings can go a long way to making even the most basic emergency food taste better. To add flavor to your breakfasts, be sure to add maple syrup to your list of emergency food storage items.

Baking Staples: Once you have your emergency bug-out site prepared, you'll need to be able to bake basic foods, such as breads. Your food storage should contain vegetable oils, baking soda, baking powder, and yeast.

Dried Pasta

Dried pasta is another food item that you should have in your emergency storage. Dried pasta is easy to store, has an extended shelf-life, and can be used in a variety of ways. One of the benefits of storing dried pasta is that it can be stored in its original container. However, if you'd prefer, you can also store bulk pasta in heavy-duty bins. To flavor your pasta, you should include packets of dried pasta sauces that can be re-hydrated with water.

Nonfat Dried Milk

When you're planning your emergency food storage, don't forget about your nonfat dried milk. Dried milk can be mixed using water, and once it's mixed, it can be used in any recipe that requires milk. This is beneficial if you're going to be using your cornmeal for an emergency breakfast cereal.

Don't wait for a disaster to happen. Taking preparations now will ensure that your family has food on hand should an emergency situation arise. The items described here will help you and your family get started on their emergency food storage.