Freeze-Dried Food

[1Admin]

The way we do our family's food storage is the bulk of it is bulk grains and legumes, then rounded out with dehydrated and freeze dried vegetables, fruits and some FD meats. MRE meat products round out the rest of the meat category as well.

IMO, the best way- and cheapest way- to build a well rounded supply is this way versus ALL freeze dried.

So in other words Bearman- think of the FD meats as part of a meal that would include rice, beans and maybe a dehydrated veggie like green beans, brocolli, etc.

[Bearman202]

I do think of the meat as the entree, and the side veggies. I am pre-diabetic, so I have to watch the carbs. The problem with things like MRE is that they get 56% of their calories from carbs. I have been looking at other options, and there doesn't seem to be many. Rice and wheat are almost completely carbs, so I have to be careful there. Potatoes are death in a bag for me. (I have a LOT of Irish in me, so basically I never met a potato I didn't like.) I know the rules will be relaxed considerably when food becomes scarce, but I'm trying to be mindful in advance. The idea was to find some entrees, (read: meat) that would provide enough calories. I don't think that's going to happen. Most of my veggies are in cans, and they've been working so far. I know, fresh is better, but I live alone and tend to fix food that's fast and easy, which usually doesn't include fresh veggies. I buy fresh veggies, and watch them spoil before I get around to them. I think when we get to the scrounging stage, I will be a lot more open to the options available.

The main point of the thread was to see if anyone here had found some prepared (FD or Dehydrated) food that would provide enough calories while remaining edible for a long time. Not may are pitching in, though.

One more quick question: Did you check on the biscuit powder? Is it just add water? If so, I will probably order some. Thanks.

[Bearman202]

I had a rude awakening tonight. I went to the Wise Foods bucket and grabbed a package of the Roast Chicken. I noticed that the majority of the bucket was taken up by the two packages of rice. The buckets came with 15 packages of freeze-dried meat. Each package contains 4 servings. Remember what I said earlier about the 1.7 oz package? Right. If you mix it with rice, the taste is excellent, although a bit dry. I dumped in a single serving size packet of soy sauce, and it got a little better. Basically, I'm thinking that my "60 servings" just got halved, if that. It would really depend on how much rice you make to mix with it, I think. Bottom line: If you're planning on living on this stuff out of the trunk of your car, you need to make additional plans. This is why we go ahead and open one, and try it. I would hate to think what my reaction would have been if I had been in the middle of the woods planning to live on this stuff for a month.

[Matt In Oklahoma]

I had a rude awakening tonight. I went to the Wise Foods bucket and grabbed a package of the Roast Chicken. I noticed that the majority of the bucket was taken up by the two packages of rice. The buckets came with 15 packages of freeze-dried meat. Each package contains 4 servings. Remember what I said earlier about the 1.7 oz package? Right. If you mix it with rice, the taste is excellent, although a bit dry. I dumped in a single serving size packet of soy sauce, and it got a little better. Basically, I'm thinking that my "60 servings" just got halved, if that. It would really depend on how much rice you make to mix with it, I think. Bottom line: If you're planning on living on this stuff out of the trunk of your car, you need to make additional plans. This is why we go ahead and open one, and try it. I would hate to think what my reaction would have been if I had been in the middle of the woods planning to live on this stuff for a month.

Plus 100!!!! Its good to hear real information because wayyyyy toooo many think they are GTG with their buckets/boxes and other packages and do not understand the prepack will keep you alive but not up and running doing hard work and I dont eat like a bird with 500 calories a day, salad and a diet water. This fella eats

[offgridinok]

So my question is.... say you open a can of powdered what-ever, use part of it, and drop the rest into a mylar bag with an oxy-absorber? Would it still have a long shelf life??

Each package says what the open shelf life is. If you vacum seal it you may get a little more life out of it. We have found once we open one we normally just use it all up and then buy a replacement for what we have used.