What are some good foods to buy that last really long and taste good

Rice packets and tuna pouches last a long time and you can throw those together quick with some Sriracha. Quick and cheap meal

You could make a bunch of casserole or stew type dishes that freeze well and portion them out, like: lasagna, enchiladas, shepherd's/cottage pie, beef stew/pot roast, etc.

Do you have a freezer? I much prefer frozen fruits and vegetables to canned ones, and really, you can freeze meat, fish, fruits, and vegetables for quite awhile.

My go-to staple is pasta. I do everything from spaghetti, to macaroni and cheese, to the packaged pasta dinners in varying flavors. Buying boxed pasta and spaghetti sauce is cheap, lasts awhile, and doesn't require milk that will spoil fast.

Packaged or canned tuna or salmon are great as well.

Peanut butter is a good snack and can be pretty filling.

I love rice... I really LOVE rice!

Also buy beans in bulk, and learn how make beans from scratch... don't forget to soak the beans overnight!

As others said, batch cooking and freezing ahead. Buy the rice, pasta, beans, seasoning, etc. in bulk ahead of time and just get some fresh veg when you're ready to cook it. Unless you're buying fancy organic stuff, veggies are mostly pretty cheap. This is way healthier, more cost effective, and usually tastes better than buying pre-made stuff. Plus it saves you time and the daily stress of figuring out what to eat. Also cooking is fun, it's relaxing, you can put some music or a podcast on and get in the zone, and you feel like a chef.

:)

Try jasmine rice. It's delicious, smells great, and holds it's shape (especially if you rinse it first, and apparently you should always rinse your rice).

Also, there are a lot of cheap ways to make ramen more fun if that's your thing.

If you can, get a store discount card. I have a kroger one (well, my local version of kroger), I go online to their website and clip digital coupons onto it before I shop. Saves a lot of money, especially over time. And if you want you can plan your meals around what's on sale.

Dry rice lasts years

What kind of facilities do you have - have you got much freezer space?

When the food is flowing I batch cook for rainy days and then freeze portions. Curry, chilli, stew, casserole, soup, bolognese, fajita filling, pasta bake etc are all great. I also do a big load of mashed potatoes and freeze little portions to have as sides, and I'll do some sauces too. Get some bags of frozen veg to have as sides.

Obviously just choose whatever you like to eat and make a load of that. Make sure you label everything that you make or you won't know what the hell it is after a few weeks. Buy a load of freezer safe tupperware to put it in.

The reason I'm suggesting this is because it sounds like you prefer nice fresh food with lots of veg. You simply can't meet those needs with shelf stable store cupboard items. They will only ever be supplementary. You already know you should be buying a huge sack of rice and a load of spices. I wouldn't go too hard on all the processed dried stuff. It doesn't sound like you'll really want to eat much of it.

theres an endless bountya squirrel meat almost everywhere

yall just need a dingo and a pellet rifle

If you have a freezer then generally most meat and fish. Frozen vegetables although they aren't as good as fresh. You can also freeze down milk (I recommend using smaller containers and not the whole carton) and use it for sauces (I mostly use pocket sauce) as long as you dont need butter (or maybe you can freeze down that too) it should be long duration. If you dont have a freezer then I dont have as many suggestions, but saving pasta/rice and then some dried sauce you add water to maybe

Another thing I just love, and that keeps for ages... unopened cartons of tomato puree (not the concentrated paste you have to add water to, though). It's just tomato and nothing else, and I think it's sterilised or pasteurised in some cases. You need to add salt to make it taste decent, (and I would also add pepper, herbs and maybe a dash of oil too), but it's so much better health-wise than pre-made spaghetti bolognaise jar sauces, not to mention cheaper, and you pour it on just the same.

I love porridge oats! Those keep for ages, and you can make them with milk or water and add honey. They're very healthy too, and they really make you feel full for a long time. Also, long-life sterilized milk has a shelf-life of 6 to 9 months.

By the way, did you know you can freeze milk? My mum freezes pasteurised (not long-life) milk all the time. It makes it turn yellowish in colour, but that goes away when you defrost it and it tastes completely normal. Freezing bread works well, too. For as long as I can remember we've usually kept some bread, milk, meat and mixed veg in the freezer on standby for emergencies.

Frozen veg is the gold standard for me, provided it's good quality. Fresh onions, potatoes, garlic, pumpkins, squashes, apples and pears last a relatively long time as long as you don't cut them open, but I wouldn't give it longer than a month, except for the garlic. Dried deglet nour dates, peanuts and other nuts and seeds last for months though, and anything pickled or brined lasts months unopened. Bottled pure lemon juice and honey last months unopened (or even longer), and flour lasts a long time. What I like to do is make a 'water pancake' with flour and water, cook it and then add lemon and honey just like a normal pancake. You hardly notice the difference in taste. You need to pour the batter into to the pan thicker than pancake batter, add enough oil, and cook it for longer and on a higher heat. I often don't manage to turn them over or flip them, because they're too susceptible to cracking.

Alot of cheap things you can buy can actually be made really good with just a little prep.

Chef boayardee ravioli for example. Prior to cooking it, heat up some oil with basil and Italian seasoning, garlic / garlic salt, onions, etc.. whatever you want. Them add the ravioli. It's pretty damn good for like a dollar.

Most things you can look up online too to see how to improve them. So you can do alot with taste as far as non perishables go.

Maybe you could make some fish chowder.

Pickled vegetables, fruit preserves, smoked meats. Invest in a chicken and a cow.

Soylent. Like a buck 50 a meal. Huel is really good to but is a coin toss on if it'll give you the shits everytime you eat it