I hear you.

A fair bit of our "investing" has been in organic heirloom seeds, and we save seeds as well as get fruits and veg from our garden.

Having lived in Texas for 20+ years, black beans and rice represent good and inexpensive fare. I'm no "prepper," but we always have 4-5 20lb bags of rice and a couple of sacks of dried beans "in stock," as well a good stock of salt, sugar and coffee.