Normal food for 72 hour kits

 I prefer to buy normal food from the grocery store for my emergency food supply.  Ready-to-eat meals like this one last a couple of years, and are more convenient for me to buy than ordering MRE's ("Meals Ready to Eat").



(Note: "72 hour kit" is a term that is  going out of style.  After Hurricane Katrina, people have realized that you need to be able to take care of yourself for much longer than 3 days.)

Food advice for backpacking

A woman asked this question to my husband (who is an avid backpacker and camper):  

Where does your family normally buy the Mountain House meals for hiking?  If I do buy them from Emergency Essentials how long do their orders typically take to get here?  I want to make sure they arrive before the boys go on their 50-miler.

Answer from my husband:  I've never been a big fan of Mountain House.  It is pretty good food, but I prefer lower cost foods from the grocery store.  Not only is it less expensive, but I like the way that it tastes better.  And, I've had fewer problems re-hydrating the food.  MH tends to leave crunchy bits in the corners...

  You might look at Emergency Essential's web site to see what their delivery times are.  But if you ask for faster delivery, you lose the savings and might as well buy locally.

  I think WalMart carries some.  But, REI is going to have a larger selection.

If you want to explore the grocery store style, here are some things we like:

BREAKFAST

  Instant Oatmeal, 2 packets per person per breakfast.

  Hot Chocolate or Instant Spiced Apple Cider

I just boil water and pour it into my cups.

Then, if there is enough hot water left, I use that to wash the cups.

I really don't do much else for breakfast. I just change the flavors to break the monotony.

  We have taken Pop Tarts, too.  They taste good, but they are...

  - very high in calories without filling you up

  - quite heavy.

LUNCH

  This can be the hardest meal to think of.  I want food that allows me to eat when I'm hungry, and I won't have to stop and heat anything.

I tend to bring:

  Bagels & Cream Cheese

  Bagels 

These pack well and don't get too squished,

and are very filling.

 Cream Cheese 

Get the Cream Cheese in the little tub.

They have a bunch of different flavors.

I've never had a problem when I carry it 

deep in my pack away from the sun 

and the heat of my back.

  Trail mix

I make my own with:

  Cracklin' Oat Bran

  M&Ms

  Nuts (what ever variety you like)

Make sure the nuts are SALTED.

You need to replace the salt.

  Granola Bars

DINNER

Couscous.

  Just add boiling water and let it sit for 5 minutes.

There are a variety of flavors to choose from. My favorites are Parmesan or Pine Nut.

Uncle Ben's (or your favorite brand) Flavored Rice

These come in 5 and 25 minute cook times. Make sure you get the 5 minute time to save on fuel.

Ramen noodles.

  I like these better than the Cup O' Noodles because you don't have to carry the empty foam cup after.

Lipton Noodles

  These come in quite a few flavors and have pretty short cook times.

Mashed Potatoes

  Not Plain.

There are many flavored varieties like  

Herb & Garlic,  Loaded Baked Potato, etc.

NOTE: This can leave you wanting something to chew, too.

So, you might want to pair it with Beef Jerky, Summer Sausage, etc.

I always re-package all of the food in freezer bags.  I clip the name & directions from the box or bag

and drop them in with the food then throw away the boxes.

That way I know how much water to add & cook times and which flavor I'm going to eat.

This reduces the weight of all the packaging and if you have left overs, you can put them in the ziplocks. That reduces the smell of the trash bag you carry out.

This is more than you asked for, but I thought you might like to have some options.

(Note from Amy:  I thought his backpacking food choices would also work well for 72 hour kits, or for eating during a disaster when you have to cook without electricity.)

Buying "just add water" meals for food storage

FoodStorageMadeEasy.net is doing a whole series on how to buy food storage.  In the following post, they tell about the different types of food storage that are "already prepared meals", all you have to do is add water.  They have some great information.

http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net/2012/03/22/what-to-know-when-buying-just-add-water-meals/

Fats, Oils, Butter and Margarine Substitutes

In most food storage calculations, an adult needs at least 20 lbs. of fats/oils per year.  Some items store longer than others.  I wanted to point out some options.

If you have a major disaster, and don't have power for weeks, your butter and margarine will be used up or they will be spoiled.  So you need to have something in your longer term storage which can be used instead.

Here are some fats and oils to store in your long term food storage, which will keep longer than regular butter and margarine.


Vegetable oil.  This bottle was purchased in 2008, it is labelled "purchase by March 2009", and I am using it in July 2012.  I don't know how long you can store oil, but obviously four years is still okay.  Oil has a shorter storage life than shortening.

"Red Feather" brand canned butter from New Zealand.  Purchased in 2009.  I opened one can in 2011, and it was fabulous.  It was just regular butter in a can.  So I am choosing not to open any more for another couple of years.  I trust it will still be fine.   Note:  This was a little pricey when I bought it in 2009, and now I have heard it has gone up a lot more.  I will consider it a luxury item if and when I have to live off my food storage.

Crisco Baking Sticks. No refrigeration necessary.  These are cheaper than butter, but can be used in place of butter in cooking or baking.  It is not suggested to use these as a spread on toast, that doesn't taste good.  I bought these in 2011, and they are labelled "best if used by March 2013" so I guess they last longer than two years.  I have been using them, and they are still good.

(These come in packages of three one-cup sticks, so don't make the mistake I did of using one stick for one stick of butter.  That was exactly twice as much as I needed, since one stick of butter is 1/2 cup, not one cup.)

Crisco Shortening.  Wendy Dewitt, a food storage expert, says that Crisco will last ten years, and I am going to take her word for it.  Friends of mine have had bad luck with off brands of shortening going rancid sooner than that, so I am going to only store Crisco brand for my long term food storage.  If you want to be sure to have a one-year's supply of oil, and you are worried you won't rotate your oil fast enough, store extra cans of Crisco.  You can always melt it and use it instead of oil.

Bean Paste.  I learned from FoodStorageMadeEasy.net to pressure cook dry beans, then blend them up in the blender, and store the bean paste in the freezer.  You can use dark colored bean paste in dark colored baked goods (like chocolate cakes or cookies) and use light colored bean paste in light colored baked goods (like chocolate chip cookies or spice cake).  Just substitute equal parts of bean paste for the shortening or oil called for in the recipe.  (Note:  I have stored mine in 1 cup containers in the freezer, but wish I had stored them in 1/2 cup amounts instead.  1/2 cup of oil is what most of my recipes call for, so sometimes I have had to throw the rest away.)

Applesauce.  Before I learned about substituting bean paste, I learned to substitute applesauce for oils in baked goods.  I have a great pumpkin bread recipe, which called for 1/2 cup of oil.  Many years ago I quit using oil, and began using 1/2 cup of applesauce instead, and the pumpkin bread turns out fabulous.  I have been substituting applesauce in brownies and cakes for years.  (Note:  I have also discovered that dehydrated applesauce powder makes perfect applesauce.  So I have stored a lot of cans of applesauce powder to make the applesauce with.)

I'm sorry I don't have any butter powder or margarine powder, or I would tell you about those.  I am planning to buy some soon and start using them.