[Kartographer]

Someone asked me about buy prepared food 'kits', my take is it's cheap and you can have a far better variety of food, by storing the 'makings' vs prepared foods.

[Kartographer]

Preppers’ PING!!

[Scrambler Bob]

More M4L. Prepping for L.

[yarddog]

I bought a Coleman meal where you just add hot water. It was horrible, I threw it out. Tried another dish thinking maybe I just got a bad one. It was horrible and I threw it out.

I next tried a Mountain House meal. Same thing just add water. It was delicious. Tried another and it too was delicious.

I just don’t understand how a company like Coleman could put out such a bad product. They have a good name, why make it worse?

If I get enough money I will but a bunch of the Mountain House products and also get a bunch of MREs.

[Blood of Tyrants]

Problem is if the power goes out, you may not have a way to prepare the food. Keep a good supply of canned soups and stews.

[Faith65]

Hi-
please add me to your ping list. Thanks

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

A few prepared meals are a good idea for short term emergencies. If you are spending the day clearing downed trees with the rest of your neighbors then you will not be interested in cooking. So your preps should include foods that are "dump and heat" and "eat from can".

You should also have food that is lightweight, high energy and requires minimal preparation. You might need to walk some distance for some reason.

In other words your preps should be heavy on basic regular food but there should be a few of the other types of food as well.

[greeneyes]

I too would rather have the makings than a bunch of dehydrated stuff that I don’t particularly like. I have alternative ways of cooking if the stove, oven, or microwave doesn’t work.

I also keep cans of stuff that can be opened and eaten with out cooking, like Tuna , Peanut Butter, Jerky, Pork and Beans, canned fruit, canned pie filling, lots of cheeses covered in wax, etc.

I do have a few of the soups from the grocery store that you just add hot water to, like the cups of ramien noodles, for example.

I can stock up much cheaper the way I am doing it, and have more variety, and ensure that I have stuff we all like.

[One Name]

Your advice and education efforts are outstanding!

We went thru this in the lead-up to Y2K and found some weak spots, but were never really tested.

Water, and the ability to cook/boil water with wood or whatever are mission-critical.

If you lack fuel to get off the place or run chainsaws you better have axes and cross-cut saws, etc.

I had a bunch of corn bagged to grind but mid-winter once I heard a strange noise in the middle of the night which turned out to be worms eating their way thru the corn.

Its always something messing your plan up!

[deoetdoctrinae]

With the resources we have available, I try to do some of each. FWIW, I just tried a couple of my older MRE’s in the last few days, and they were still fine. Long term stability is one of their strengths, although menu boredom can be a drawback. That’s why I try to keep a decent variety of “makings” in the pantry as well.

[raybbr]

Do have any links to a site that shows how to make a homemade Berkey water filtration system? Thanks

[Farnsworth]

Only the healthy will survive a collapse. Folks like me tied to necessary medications will be dead within a couple of weeks.

Darwin

[Nailbiter]

bflr

[Pajamajan]

bookmark

[Diana in Wisconsin]

BUMP for later. Thanks. Just wanna double-check my stash. ;)

[greeneyes]

Was taking inventory of cabinets next to the kitchen stove today. I was struck by something I saw, and remembered this list of “basics”.

Maple syrup. Not sure if they mean the “real stuff” or the stuff most people buy which is cheaper, and made with high fructose corn syrup, with some coloring and preservatives added.

Here’s a way to have your “maple” syrup for about 82 cents per 24 oz bottle (3 cups) a 50% discount. Buy a bottle of Mapleine. It costs $4.24 at Walmart and will make 24 pints of syrup(15 of the 24 oz bottles of syrup).

Add sugar to your stock pile. A four pound bag of sugar will make 3 bottles of the 24 oz syrup. You will have syrup that tastes great, and no need for preservatives or corn syrup.

Easy recipe: 1 cup sugar, 2 cups really hot water, and 1 tsp mapleine. I just stir it up and put it in a 1 quart mason jar and let it sit over night with the lid on. It’s usually all dissolved before morning.

This will cut your cost of syrup by half. I learned this technique from my granny as a kid, and I always kept a bottle of mapeleine on hand, in case we would run out and need a quick substitute for the kids french toast.

Mapleine lasts forever and a day. LOL It’s a long term prep item for sure. The bottle is about 2.5” x 5” x 1”. The space needed for the sugar and mapleine is less than what is needed for the syrup bottles, and stacks better in storage.

[JoeProBono]

[Hugin]

I came across this at the local dollar tree the other day. Seems they pasteurize it at 280 degrees then "can" it a juice type box. I hadn't seen milk packaged this way before, though it seems Nestle, Borden, etc. now make it also, but it costs more like $3 each by the case. So for a buck it's a bargain. Anyway, took some home, chilled it, and tried it out. I can't taste any difference from regular fresh milk, none of the funny taste of powdered milk. The "use by" date is about a year from now, I suspect it would still be good a lot longer. I'll have to stock up while it's cheap.