MREs: Are They Really as Gross as Their Reputation Says?

MREs — or Meals Ready to Eat — have developed a horrible reputation among the fighting men and women for whom they were invented.

Bestowed by service members with nicknames like “Meals Rarely Edible” and “Meals Rejected by Everyone,” these long-lasting military food rations are built to withstand a 1,250-foot parachute drop, but can they withstand their reputation as barely edible, tasteless bricks of calories — are MREs really as bad as everyone says?

Picture Credit- Captain Dave's Army Navy Supply on Ebay

Certainly Not a Home-Cooked Meal

The reality is that no soldier, sailor, airman or Marine will ever tell you that he or she has eaten an MRE that reminded him or her of home.

Stuffed with calories, vitamins and minerals, MREs are packed in extra-tough plastic pouches and designed to have a scary-long shelf life. They can be scarfed down cold or heated with an enclosed, water-activated flameless heater. They’re consumed during short breaks or while on the move. It’s the fastest fast food in the (Read More....)

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Stockpiling Food: How Much Is Enough?

There are many reasons to stock up on more food that you’ll need in the immediate future. Planning for a storm, preparing for an electrical outage or prepping for the end of the world all require extra food. Before you go out and get a club card at a big-bulk discount store, follow this guide for stockpiling food.

Picture Credit- Wise Food Storage 25 Year Shelf Life!!  EBAY- Outtagear

How Much? How Many? How Long?

The question of how much food is enough can essentially be answered with two questions: How many people will need to eat, and for what length of time? It is suggested that adults eat around 2,000 calories per day in a ratio of about 55 percent carbohydrates, 30 percent fat, and 15 percent protein.

So, if three adults want enough food for 10 days, you’ll need enough food for 60,000 calories in the appropriate proportions.

The Mighty Bean

Whole grains and dried legumes or beans not only offer more nutrition for your money than virtually a (Read More....)

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3 Critical Food Storage Items Often Overlooked

Many people understand the importance of having short and long-term food storage. Adequate food storage can protect you and your loved ones from financial crisis, unforeseen natural disasters, disease outbreaks, war time, road closures, economic instability, damaged crops and any number of unforeseen catastrophes which can shut off our food supply. However, there may be areas of your food storage that have been overlooked, leaving you and your loved ones susceptible. Here are three items you won’t want to be without.

Water

Running water seems so common place in our lives that it’s easy to take it for granted every time we turn on the faucet. Humans can survive up to a month without food; however, they can only survive three to seven days without water. Water supplies can become contaminated or even shut off completely for hours or days after a natural disaster.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) recommends storing at least 3 gallons of water per person in every household. This amount of water should be sufficient for an average person to survive for 3 days in the event that water sources become scarce or unavailable. In addition to drin (Read More....)

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No Food Storage Plan?: Give Wise Foods A Try

The following is a guest post by KGC that originally appeared on The Survivalist Blog.  (The sponsor has given us permission to also post it here....)  With so many choices of food storage products, I decided to give (Wise Food Storage) a shot because a trusted friend liked and recommended their products and Wise Food Storage boasts a 25-year shelf-life without having to rotate the food. I was skeptical at first, but up to the challenge. I ordered one of their 56-serving buckets and prepared two of the packets once I received it. I immediately noticed that the packets in the buckets differed from the outdoor meal bags. I believe that this is because the buckets are intended for long-term storage, whereas the outdoor meal packs are designed to promote ultralight backpacking. Fair enough!  I prepared the Stroganoff and Multi-Grain Cereal meals by boiling 4 cups of water for each packet, totaling 8 cups of water. When measuring the water into the pot, I measured in 8.25 cups to allow for evaporation loss.

Stroganoff

After bringing the water for the Stroganoff to a boil, I stirred in the contents from the package.

(Read More....)

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