10 Ethnic Grocery Items to Add to Your Disaster Food Stockpile

Pick up these items to add to your disaster food stockpile...

1. Nido (or other full fat dried milk product.  The usual dried milk product you find in most stores is dried non fat milk.  In a disaster you will want the added fat.).
2. Dried seaweed sheets (usually used for making sushi, the sheets can be torn up and added to soups and stews and are an excellent source of iodine).
3. Teff flour (often used in Ethiopian breads, this flour is an excellent source of calcium and is gluten free for those with gluten sensitivities).
4. Dried fish (dried fish products--which include everything from dried squid and anchovies to cuttlefish and herring--are an excellent source of protein).
5. Powdered soup base (found in the Asian food section, dried miso or dried hon dashi which is a fish stock are a great addition to your powdered soup mixes plus they last a long time in storage).
6. Dried fruit (expand your selection of "normal" dried fruit--like apples--with dried fruit from the international store which include dried banana chips, dried plums, dried mangoes, dried tamarind, etc).
7. Seasoning packets (while you are at the international grocery store don't forget to pick up some interesting and unusual seasoning packets to add some flair to your food.  Exotic spices found in the Asian, Indian, Mexican, and European grocery aisle can add distinctive flavor to your run of the mill beans and legumes).
8. Dried mushrooms (an excellent source of micro nutrients as well as a great way to jazz up soups and stews).
9. Dried sausage and salami (found in Asian and European markets, dried sausage and salami can be kept for long periods of time at room temperature).
10. Vitamin B12 (if, whether by choice or circumstance, you end up eating a vegan diet--meaning no animal products at all--you will need to supplement with vitamin B12, the only vitamin that can only be found in animal products).