🍎 3-Month Despensa

Arroz y granos

• White rice — 2 × 25 lb bags
• Fideos / pasta — 12 boxes
• Oats — 3 × 5 lb bags
• Flour (pan de agua) — 2 × 10 lb bags
• Galletas exportación — 10 boxes

Habichuelas y gandules

• Dry red kidney beans — 15 lbs
• Canned gandules — 30 cans
• Canned habichuelas — 20 cans

Sazón y sofrito base

• Adobo seasoning — 4 large jars
• Sazón packets — 60 packets
• Shelf-stable sofrito jars — 6 jars
• Garlic + onion powder — 2 large each
• Oregano + bay leaf — 1 each

Proteína enlatada y bacalao

• Bacalao (dried salt cod) — 10 lbs
• Canned corned beef — 20 cans
• Canned chicken — 15 cans
• Canned tuna — 15 cans
• Vienna sausage — 10 cans

Café, leche y dulce

• Ground coffee — 6 lbs
• Evaporated milk — 20 cans
• Powdered milk — 4 boxes
• Sugar — 10 lb bag

Aceite y condimentos

• Olive oil — 3 bottles
• Frying oil (for tostones) — 2 large jugs
• White vinegar — 2 bottles
• Salt — 5 lb bag

Viveres note: fresh plátano, yautía, yuca, and batata don't survive 3 months. Rotate fresh through the first 2–3 weeks, and stock harina de plátano (5 lbs) or canned yuca/ñame as the long-term stand-in.

Herramientas y almacenaje

• Manual can opener — 2
• Food-grade sealed buckets — 8 × 5 gal
• Oxygen absorbers (rice/beans) — 1 pack

Allergy, dietary & nutrition guidance

• Allergies: keep nut-free, dairy-free, and gluten-free swaps in mind — sunflower seed butter for peanut allergy, canned coconut/oat milk for dairy, rice-based staples for gluten.
• Infants: stage-appropriate jarred/pouched food is shelf-stable and unaffected by an outage. No honey before 12 months, even in an emergency.
• Elderly household members: lower-sodium canned options if hypertension is a factor, and softer textures if chewing or swallowing is difficult.
• Chronic conditions: for diabetes, favor a low-glycemic core (canned beans, vegetables) over carb-heavy staples as the default, not the backup.

What actually needs cooking vs. what doesn't

This matters more than the shopping list itself once the power's out.

Rule of thumb: if you can't confirm a way to heat it, don't count it in your first 72 hours.

Rotation & expiration tracking

• Use a FIFO shelf — First In, First Out. New purchases go to the back, older stock moves to the front.
• Keep a simple log: date in, expiration date, date rotated out.
• Check the pantry on the same 6-month cadence as your smoke detector batteries — an easy habit to stack onto one you already have.

Budget tiers — plan against a real number