Emergency Food

[Big John! 2,062]

Has anyone used a company like this for food supply? www.mypatriotsupply.com

 

While I usually have quite a bit of food, I'd like to set some aside that I never have to deal with dates a such.

 

I know there are many ways to do it yourself. So if you have a favorite site (or your own info) for that, I'll take that info as well. There's just so much info out there, I figured I'd come to you guys to see what you do. Hopefully this will turn into a valuable thread.

[dayofruin 425]

Have you tried or looked into WiseFoods?

[ChileRelleno 7,071]

Wise Food Storage, Augason Farms and Mountain House send us Christmas cards.

 

We've taste tested their meals and quite a few others, in side by side comparisons.

This is one thing you you really want to before making any large orders. You'll find you like one retailer's meal over a similar one.

That and, you'll learn to achieve a more desirable consistency by adding more or less water/cooking times.

 

One area to be really picky about is meals with meat in them, damned near all are soy based.

Textured soy protein has a much longer shelf and stable shelf life compared to real meat.

But again, some are much better than others... Comparison taste test are a must.

............................................

 

We're really big into food/water storage and other prepping... Let me preach on it.

For food storage, MREs and FD meals are not the way to go.
These are camping/hiking or emergency meals, what you toss in your 72hr kits or Bug Out Bags.
Real food storage is real food, the foods you normally eat, kept in stock, regularly eaten from and rotated.
A lot of canned goods, mixes, boxed meals, beans-n-rice and breads.

Yeah, we've a lot of FD foods, but it pales next to the size of our real food storage.

[jerry52 893]

Wise food is a good company http://www.wisefoodstorage.com Al my freeze dried meats come from them, and then we have ordered the freeze dried meals by Mountain House and we get there 7 day boxes from http://www.nitro-pak.com/about-nitro-pak both are great .

I do not eat MREs' for the same reason my wifes father who was a ww2 vet will not eat spam.

 

The meat and meals taste great, easy to fix,easy to store and it has a 25 year shelf life. We have about 1 1/2 months of food.

Water should be part of your plan long and short periods. You can get a 66 gallon bladder that fits into a bath tub for about $25 and it works great.

 

As for grains like rice you can do that your self but they can be bought as well in10 lb containers

You can get butter in the can and this is the way to go.

 

Store what you like or what you will eat. history tells us people have died with food around that they would not eat. If you have done survival training its important to keep food and water running through you at a regular time. Food that constipates you need to be a concern

 

We love to watch the panic that goes on every hurricane season by last moment people.

And last but not least 12 gauge ammo for your S-12 for you know who.

 

You do need to have a plan that is a part of you life. That way you can build up you store little by little.

Some people plan for short problems like hurricanes others will plan for the God forbid times. both are correct.

 

Hope this helped

Good Luck

Edited March 24, 2013 by jerry52

[read_the_wall 614]

I've never bought from that site. Always used Nitropak or The ready store.

 

mountain house is almost ok to eat.

saratoga farms same.

 

I have to agree with chile,,,have a bunch of real food on hand.

we take canned food to the food bank before it reaches the expiration date so we can rotate and donate.

 

I do have a bunch......I mean a bunch of 25 yr shelf life food on hand. Good to know its there.

I hope I never have to live on it because it is just not very good.

 

Last thought

 

I always say that one persons emergency may be different than another persons,, with that thought, I have given #10 cans of food to people in need.

[jerry52 893]

That's the point some people like some food and do not like others. Set a plan in the home to store what you eat and stick with it.

One should act and never react. You made a good point

[avnate 335]

Wholesome meals will become comforting in crisis/stress situations and contributes to overall positive morale. If you have a chance to revive the art of canning I'd look into it as well.

 

The approach to food storage should be like an investment portfolio.... it's good to diversify in things that your know will work for you. So I won't go over a lot of what has already been brought up. Just focus on what works for you.

[Conscript 99]

IF you're not wiling to pack it yourself, the best value/product I have found is a place called Emergency Essentials (beprepared.com). I used them before I learned how to store food myself, and it's a great value. I recommend their dry grains superpails. It's about $1/lb, and they are sealed for storage in a food grade bucket with a sealed mylar bag inside. I used this as a model to make my own after I found a grain elevator around here.

 

Also see this previous thread (http://forum.saiga-12.com/index.php?/topic/85177-bobemergency-supplies/?view=findpost&p=860820), I have included pictures/details of my process to make the pails. PM me if you need any help, I've been doing this for a while and will help you get started.

[Dysfunctional 63]

As stated above some taste better than others or have other desireable/less-desireable properties. Things to consider once you select which brand(s) you want to stock is how long you want to prep for and what you are prepping against. If you are likely to have severe damamge to your home because of flood or hurricane you may want to consider an alternate storage site that will be less impacted. Also, varying shelf life for your items need to be monitored. Perishables aren't bad to take immediately after an emergency. They'll be good for a "morale boost" by eating something fresh and familiar plus they can be used as a currency to barter for other goods. Cool dark places make great root cellars for storage. Most "Best By" dates are how long it retains its full nutrional value and not necessarily its spoilage date. Some salted, cured and dehydrated meats can be stored for longer periods (longer than fresh that requires refridgeration). Many canned items will last a very long time as long as they are kept cool, away from light and not exposed to air. If it has mold or smells bad it is best discarded. Long term dehydrated and MRE meals have longer shelf life but taste varies. Plus, MREs are an average persons full day of caloric intake all in one meal. If you store your own grains repack them into food grade storage containers. Other plastic containers could leach chemicals into the foods. If you have cans, have several sturdy can openers. Cheap openers break. One nice thing about canned goods is they can be consumed from the can without cooking (most of them) if you need to remain covert and don't want to start a fire or have time to prepare a hot meal. So...test the diferent meals from different suppliers to find the ones you and your family like and are able to fix. Plan your immediate, short and long term storage plan. Rotate your oldest stock as you refresh whith newer. Practice cooking what you stock and how you will cook it. Also keep nutrional supplements (vitamins) and OTC medicines that you might need. Research long term storage and plans now and you'll be able to keep what you eat now for the long term instead of relying on MREs and dehydrated meats and such.

Edited March 24, 2013 by Dysfunctional

[Big John! 2,062]

Conscript: I searched and found that thread first and I plan on using info from that. I keep myself well stocked on canned food. But I thought getting some 25 year stuff that I don't have to rotate would be a good thing to add if I could find food that my S12 friends approve of.

 

Great info from all of you. Please keep it coming. I think there is some great info in this thread already. I agree with having food you like around. Even if it's only enough to supplement in the long term. Good for morale.

 

I plan on getting at least one of those water bladders. I have three tubs in this house and one would hold 2 of those.

[Conscript 99]

Your 25+ year storage foods are somewhat limited due to moisture content/oils/etc and they MUST be kept in airtight containers with oxygen absorbers. Examples of 25+ foods are the following DRIED foods: Wheat, Rice, corn, sugar, pinto beans, rolled oats, pasta, potato flakes, and dehydrated apple slices. Be EXTREMELY careful and pay attention to the moisture content, or you will have botulism poisoning.

[jwulf 179]

As far as water...get a hot tub (better if you have an option to have it in the house)... 400-550 gallons of water storage and you can enjoy it until you need to dump and refill with clean water for survival. That will get us through loading up and bugging out to the in-laws who live by the river...plenty of fresh food swimming and scurrying around... :-)

[Dysfunctional 63]

[Big John! 2,062]

Got that covered --> http://www.mypatriotsupply.com/Potassium_Iodate_Tablets_p/z_potassium.htm

[yakdung 2,926]

Find and locate an LDS cannery. Number #10 cans are the way to go if you have storage space. Seek them out it I believe it will be the most cost effective route to take.

Good luck,

 

 

 

[horatio 515]

don't really have much to add here other than in regards to regular canned food, my personal experience is that those expiration dates listed on cans are somewhat pessimistic. i came from a big family, and my dad would stock up on a ton of canned foods, and sometimes a few cans slipped through the rotation cracks. long story short, i've eaten canned food that was years past the expiration date and suffered no ill effects. i will admit sometimes it tasted a little bland, but its beat my other option, which was nothing. this is only in regards to cans that were stored in a cool dry place and had no dents or rust, etc.

 

i also remember reading a little blurb in the back of the paper about someone finding a 90+ year old can of food in the field museum ( big suprise, the label fell off) and they fed it to a goat. last i heard, the goat was fine. not sure how they dated the can, but i think you get my point. i'll poke around and see if i can find the article

[yakdung 2,926]

Consider this:

http://web.archive.org/web/20070509153848/http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/CONSUMER/CON00043.html

[Stansplace 414]

Water: Sawyer water filters, done.....

[Ronin38 2,117]

I just tried the Mountain House Chili Mac with Beef. Fixed it exactly according to the directions. It was not bad! I certainly won't mind finishing the 2nd half of it!

#1 Ingredient is Cooked Beef, so that's encouraging, at least. It had a good amount of beef, macaroni's and pinto beans, the sauce was okay and had a decent flavor. I have no complaints about the taste or texture of it. Definitely would not starve to death with this + water in-stock.

It was $8.50 at the Cabelas store, so about $4.00 per serving.

 

I'll be trying the Beef Stroganoff With Noodles. Ummm... has anyone ever made Beef Stroganoff without noodles?!

 

I should probably post an update later today or tomorrow about how I feel at that time, eh?

[devildogdakota 804]

Water: Sawyer water filters, done.....

+1^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

[yakdung 2,926]

I just tried the Mountain House Chili Mac with Beef. Fixed it exactly according to the directions. It was not bad! I certainly won't mind finishing the 2nd half of it!

#1 Ingredient is Cooked Beef, so that's encouraging, at least. It had a good amount of beef, macaroni's and pinto beans, the sauce was okay and had a decent flavor. I have no complaints about the taste or texture of it. Definitely would not starve to death with this + water in-stock.

It was $8.50 at the Cabelas store, so about $4.00 per serving.

 

I'll be trying the Beef Stroganoff With Noodles. Ummm... has anyone ever made Beef Stroganoff without noodles?!

 

I should probably post an update later today or tomorrow about how I feel at that time, eh?

I have a boat load of Mountain House pouch meals including ice cream stored in 5 gallon buckets with gamma seals. Should be able to carry us with supplements for about two months. I purchased the meals from Walmart in the camping section. Long term food storage I will be utilizing #10 pound cans. I got into the habit of checking the Mountain House inventory every time I visited Walmart. I will be seeking out an LDS cannery in the months ahead. Living in hurricane country makes you want to think ahead a little not to mention uncertain times on top of that.

[Conscript 99]

I just tried the Mountain House Chili Mac with Beef. Fixed it exactly according to the directions. It was not bad! I certainly won't mind finishing the 2nd half of it!

#1 Ingredient is Cooked Beef, so that's encouraging, at least. It had a good amount of beef, macaroni's and pinto beans, the sauce was okay and had a decent flavor. I have no complaints about the taste or texture of it. Definitely would not starve to death with this + water in-stock.

It was $8.50 at the Cabelas store, so about $4.00 per serving.

 

I'll be trying the Beef Stroganoff With Noodles. Ummm... has anyone ever made Beef Stroganoff without noodles?!

 

I should probably post an update later today or tomorrow about how I feel at that time, eh?

 

Have your tried their freeze dried icecream? It's...different. But not bad.

 

Also, I like to keep an old earplug container (you know the 10x10x10 or so ones) full of those vitamin gel boost packets, I can't think of the name off the top of my head, but they sell them at REI. They're pretty cheap and taste alright too.

[devildogdakota 804]

I have an Excaliber 9 tray dehydrater that I use to dry tons of fruits, veggies, and meats that are sealed up in several dozens of Mylar bags with oxygen absorbers, as well as different cereal grains. I've got tons of canned foods, but if I had to leave the homestead in a hurry, grabbing my totes that are filled up with the sealed Mylar bags of dehydrated foods weigh much, much less, and there is a whole lot more food, also none of the preservatives, and just about all of the vitamins are retained, unlike canned foods.

I figure most of my staple diet during SHTF/ TEOTWAWKI will be stews and soups. Just gotta rehydrate the sealed veggies and set up my traps for anything fish or animal to throw in the stew pot, as well as the beans and rice. Growing lots of herbs and spices and dehydrating them in bulk is also very important to add to the pot, as well as a having a few 5 gallon buckets of salt . I have a bunch of # 10 cans of powered butter and eggs. Extremely important to have plenty of fat in your diet.You WILL die a horrible death without enough fat in your diet! I also have a few cases of honey (which is the only food known to never go bad), and a one year supply for myself of Super Spectrum vitamins.

If you have a Foodsaver vaccuum sealer, there are some great tutorials on how to use them with Mylar bags. Don't use Foodsaver bags for long term dry food storage (unless for the freezer). I had a bunch of food I stored in them 6-7 years ago that I checked on two years ago, and they lost their seal.

The farms and farmers markets are the best places to find tons of fresh fruits and vegetables come late summer for the cheapest pricing, unless you are blessed to have a farm or big garden/ greenhouse. I

had many, many beer drinking adventures slicing up, blanching, and dehydrating all that food. I would also advise anyone with more than 4 members in their family to get 2 dehydraters, also a nice adjustable food slicer is a must, for consistant drying of the foods.

[Rhodes1968 1,638]

There are many reasons to go with regular canned foods and only one against them, weight.

 

First off most canned vegetables are packed in water, this is a good thing though it makes the can heavier.

Second, no real preparation required. Canned is cooked.

Third they just flat taste better.

etc

This leaves only grains to be considered. Freeze any grain (flour cornmeal rice oatmeal etc) for two days to kill any insects and eggs that may be present before storage.

Simple stuff aint it.

[Conscript 99]

I have an Excaliber 9 tray dehydrater that I use to dry tons of fruits, veggies, and meats that are sealed up in several dozens of Mylar bags with oxygen absorbers, as well as different cereal grains. I've got tons of canned foods, but if I had to leave the homestead in a hurry, grabbing my totes that are filled up with the sealed Mylar bags of dehydrated foods weigh much, much less, and there is a whole lot more food, also none of the preservatives, and just about all of the vitamins are retained, unlike canned foods.

I figure most of my staple diet during SHTF/ TEOTWAWKI will be stews and soups. Just gotta rehydrate the sealed veggies and set up my traps for anything fish or animal to throw in the stew pot, as well as the beans and rice. Growing lots of herbs and spices and dehydrating them in bulk is also very important to add to the pot, as well as a having a few 5 gallon buckets of salt . I have a bunch of # 10 cans of powered butter and eggs. Extremely important to have plenty of fat in your diet.You WILL die a horrible death without enough fat in your diet! I also have a few cases of honey (which is the only food known to never go bad), and a one year supply for myself of Super Spectrum vitamins.

If you have a Foodsaver vaccuum sealer, there are some great tutorials on how to use them with Mylar bags. Don't use Foodsaver bags for long term dry food storage (unless for the freezer). I had a bunch of food I stored in them 6-7 years ago that I checked on two years ago, and they lost their seal.

The farms and farmers markets are the best places to find tons of fresh fruits and vegetables come late summer for the cheapest pricing, unless you are blessed to have a farm or big garden/ greenhouse. I

had many, many beer drinking adventures slicing up, blanching, and dehydrating all that food. I would also advise anyone with more than 4 members in their family to get 2 dehydraters, also a nice adjustable food slicer is a must, for consistant drying of the foods.

 

Honey sure has gotten expensive in the last year or so hasn't it! I get the large containers from food workers supply stores.

 

Another cool thing about some grains such as red winter wheat berries, is you can "SUPERCHARGE" your vitamins by soaking them for a day and letting them sprout before eating them. You can get many many times the vitamins of the original wheat berry by doing this and it still tastes great!

[jerry52 893]

Cat tastes like chicken

 

 

 

[Big John! 2,062]

Great info guys. Jerry, Can you tell me what dog tastes like? If they are tasty, I can make mine part of my survival plan.

[yakdung 2,926]

I have an Excaliber 9 tray dehydrater that I use to dry tons of fruits, veggies, and meats that are sealed up in several dozens of Mylar bags with oxygen absorbers, as well as different cereal grains. I've got tons of canned foods, but if I had to leave the homestead in a hurry, grabbing my totes that are filled up with the sealed Mylar bags of dehydrated foods weigh much, much less, and there is a whole lot more food, also none of the preservatives, and just about all of the vitamins are retained, unlike canned foods.

I figure most of my staple diet during SHTF/ TEOTWAWKI will be stews and soups. Just gotta rehydrate the sealed veggies and set up my traps for anything fish or animal to throw in the stew pot, as well as the beans and rice. Growing lots of herbs and spices and dehydrating them in bulk is also very important to add to the pot, as well as a having a few 5 gallon buckets of salt . I have a bunch of # 10 cans of powered butter and eggs. Extremely important to have plenty of fat in your diet.You WILL die a horrible death without enough fat in your diet! I also have a few cases of honey (which is the only food known to never go bad), and a one year supply for myself of Super Spectrum vitamins.

If you have a Foodsaver vaccuum sealer, there are some great tutorials on how to use them with Mylar bags. Don't use Foodsaver bags for long term dry food storage (unless for the freezer). I had a bunch of food I stored in them 6-7 years ago that I checked on two years ago, and they lost their seal.

The farms and farmers markets are the best places to find tons of fresh fruits and vegetables come late summer for the cheapest pricing, unless you are blessed to have a farm or big garden/ greenhouse. I

had many, many beer drinking adventures slicing up, blanching, and dehydrating all that food. I would also advise anyone with more than 4 members in their family to get 2 dehydraters, also a nice adjustable food slicer is a must, for consistant drying of the foods.

I also have an Excalibur 9 tray dehydrator they are great.

[devildogdakota 804]

 

Honey sure has gotten expensive in the last year or so hasn't it! I get the large containers from food workers supply stores.

 

Another cool thing about some grains such as red winter wheat berries, is you can "SUPERCHARGE" your vitamins by soaking them for a day and letting them sprout before eating them. You can get many many times the vitamins of the original wheat berry by doing this and it still tastes great!

Yea, honey has gone through the roof. Smith's grocery store here has case lots deals 3-4 times a year for big bulk items. I picked up my cases of honey there, and the price was actually pretty good.

Sprouting grains, seeds, beans, and nuts is definately a "SUPERCHARGER"! I grow wheatgrass flats all summer and partially into fall, and drink my 3 ounce shot every morning. 1lb of wheatgrass is said to have well over 25lbs. in nutrition compared to all the vegetables in the spectrum. Good ole' sun powered chlorphyll.

[devildogdakota 804]

Another golden item to have is a Country Living grain mill. Built in USA. A little pricey, but having the ability to grind all your grains, (seeds, wheatberries, corn,rice, beans, oats, barley, ect...) is worth its weight in gold. I don't have one yet, but will this year. No electricity involved.They have a power bar handle attachment that turns everything to flour, as well as a large grooved pulley that you can hook up to a bicycle or a small motor. Breads, pancakes, muffins, crackers, ect... The possibilities are endless. They can be had for under $450.00.

Also, check out home made solar ovens.