Tonight we were discussing our food plans. For our current location we need food for 2wks for 2 people @ 2k cals/PP p/day. We are aiming for the full meal packs. Which brands/manfs are a preferred source? We estimate $8-$10 meal. Is that realistic? If not, what is? Thanks.
Be more specific. Do you need to be able to pack it out or is this for a stationary cache. How long does the shelf life need to be? Are there any food allergies to deal with? Is this for emergency sustenance or does it need to taste good?
If you plan on being able to cook it then simple lightweight dry foods like beans and rice are great and have long shelf lives. Ideally get whole grain wild rice. Many people around the world subsist on mainly just beans and rice. You could augment them with salt and seasoning packets and a can of bacon or something. I’ve added a little peanut or almond butter to beans and rice for some extra fat and it’s pretty good if you don’t use too much. You can mix it up by adding different seasoning and types of beans but it will get boring after awhile. You can also add whole grains but the great thing about rice is the shelf life. Keep it dry and away from pests and it will last forever. If you want to you can figure out portions and vacuum seal them and make like an MRE that you have to cook. Another upside to the beans/rice plan is it’s really cheap. Raw nut/dried fruit mixture is also pretty lightweight and packable and a good snack in between bean and rice meals.
MRE’s are very convenient but heavy. It’s kind or hard to pack two weeks worth of them if that’s important to you.
Do you need to be able to pack it out or is this for a stationary cache.
Stationary
How long does the shelf life need to be?
3-5yrs
Are there any food allergies to deal with?
No food allergies
Is this for emergency sustenance or does it need to taste good?
Both.
The scenario in mind is up to 2wks w/o power due to (in all likelihood) a hurricane. We are renting a house in S.FL. For a weather event we plan to hunker down in place as we are out of state and 1. have no where to go and 2. geographically “smack dab in the middle”. We do not anticipate flooding at our location, I’ve also checked FEMAs site for flood plain map. We do have a propane grill outside and we have our Coleman camping grill as well. Will have several propane tanks on hand at all times. At this time we are planning for no generator - no electricity, no fridge. Essentially we will be camping in our house until services are restored.
This is not our collapse of society plan.
Ok, hope the details help a little more. Thanks.
MRE’s have there place . . . as does canned goods, freeze-dried foods, etc.
As for MREs I have had good luck with Menu C (when they have them) from . . .
You can get the real thing from these guys. Shipping is high because these are fairly heavy boxes, but these MREs are actual military MREs, just as issued.
Avoid Heater Meals, our unit had some for some reason, had to eat them for 3 days and it made MREs look and taste like 100 times better.
No real substance, no flavor, and instant bubble gut.
Check out the local gun shows for MREs. There are always several vendors selling for $50-60.00/case in my area.
Look at Augason Farms brand @ overstock.com decent prices, fair shipping and AF are great products.
We keep a 6 month supply of AF storage food and a case or two of MREs for quick grab and go meals.
Be very careful about buying the MREs you find at gun shows. There is no telling how old they are or how they have been stored prior to you getting them. Heat causes them to degrade faster than normal and even sitting at room temperature shortens the lifespan.
http://www.mreinfo.com/us/mre/mre-shelf-life.html
If it’s for survival situations, plan on the best possible foods in advance and buying new production from a reputable source can keep you from having problems.
I ate a MRE in the field a couple weeks ago with M&m’s that expired in '03… tasted just as shitty as any other MRE to me.
I don’t think the OP would be best served by buying up a bunch of MREs. They are expensive for what they are and have features the OP doesn’t need. They’re about $8 apiece and realistically they will consume two per day per person. For a two week supply that comes out to almost $500. Since they don’t need to pack it and will be able to boil water then beans/rice/canned foods would be a lot cheaper and probably more appetizing anyway. Hell the main meals in an MRE are basically Chef Boyardee which you can get for like a buck a can. They could just get a bunch of those and have basically what an MRE has. If they do need to pack it they could just take the dry goods and have a lighter weight food source than MREs.
If I were prepping two weeks worth of food for two people I would determine actual maintenance calorie requirements for each person and pre plan meals based on beans and rice with seasoning, a can of meat, a can of vegetables, and a tablespoon of natural peanut butter for each meal. I’d set up buckets with the proper proportions of each ingredient so that each bucket has all you need. I would add a silica gel pack, a role of toilet paper, some matches, some bar soap, cheap steel cutlery, salt/seasoning, instant coffee, and maybe some hard candy to the bucket. Hell if I was feeling crazy I might even put some Easy Cheese in there. I would seal the food inside the buckets with a vaccuum sealer and I would seal the lids onto the buckets with waterproof tape or silicone and label them the name of the person who it’s for, the date it was packed, and the contents. I would place the buckets someplace cool and dry and inspect them every so often.
Good thought Grand. We did have the same concern about purchasing MREs - where did they come from, what condition are they, etc. I figured with the knowledge pool here there would be options that have been vetted.
So glad to hear your input here. I was about to ask if an MRE would be the appropriate source for the needs we spec’d. And if they aren’t, what would the wiser options be? You gave some ideas that I much appreciate and will look into.
Having not had MREs but reading the stories of what they do to one’s digestive system, that aspect was lingering in my mind. Don’t want the situation being even more uncomfortable that it has to be, eh? :o
I appreciate the talk through on this yall. You’re bringing me info that I should have to make a good plan.
ETA: we have talked about keeping protein powder. What are yalls opinion on it? We normally have this stuff in the 5lb containers since we supplement for workouts. Would they be of benefit?
MRE’ can serve a purpose when isolated from a fuel source for cooking. Since you have a fuel source, there is so many options from regular grocery stores. There is a huge selection of vacuum packed and canned meat, vegetables, pasta, chili. And you can just rotate it back into your regular food as it gets near its use by date and replace. I’ll second MooseKnucles recommendation of MREDEPOT.com. They have a large selection of canned freeze dried products as well as ready to eat/heat canned foods. The MRE’s are same as GI but made for contractors so slightly diffferent menus.
I’m sorry to sound like a broken record but beans and rice together provide a complete source of protein. If you wanted to add some some canned meat to augment that then you’re doing even better. Protein powder is great and i use it every day but I’m not sure if any brands out there have as long a shelf life as you’re looking for. You can mitigate that by always stacking the item one or two deep and always consuming your oldest one first for perishables. It just takes a little more attention.
MRE’s are great to break down and throw in BOBs/go-bags/etc. as they do not need to be cooked and can be eaten on the go. There would be times when your on foot when you would not want to start a fire and boil water to cook dry and freeze-dried foods so as not to attract unwanted attention. That and or time restraints.
Way too much tacti-cool overthinking. 2 weeks? Hell, canned goods, Dinty Moore stew, Spam, Raman noodles, macaroni and cheese put in a plastic storage box from Wal-Mart and put in a closet will keep for years. I lived on that diet (and some beer and chips) for months after a divorce and minimum wage jobs. Almost anything tastes good if you are hungry enough! I’m done with living off the land and sleeping in a tent. Intend to die peacefully in my bed 
This, but at the same time, weight becomes a factor in all that. Which is why a balance of wet foods that don’t require preparation like MREs, packages of tuna, etc and dry foods that require preparation and water can be a good idea.
I have a two week supply that consists of the same stuff I take on my 3-5 day hiking trips.
Instant oatmeal packets. Lightweight, easy to make.
Trail mix and jerky
Instant mashed potatoes, dried milk and wild rice
Cans of spam
Raisins and Metamucil to help things along, and multivitamins to supplement lack of veggies.
My two week supply all fits nicely inside a 36" duffel and is enough for my family of 4. Won’t be the tastiest, but gets the job done. It’s basically what we eat when backpacking but our trips always reward us with plenty of trout.
Extra dog food bag goes in anther duffel.
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Thank yall for the good options. From the input here we decided to use a combination of the suggestions. The bulk of the supply will be based on the canned goods/pantry food supply, essentially extending our regular pantry supply a bit deeper. We are making sure there’s plenty of rice and beans too<coughcoughmkmckinleycough> 
Also we will purchase some MREs. While we will have a fuel source, we do not want to depend on it or have to use it every meal if we don’t want to. (But no illusions we might use it more than we may think right now). Over the last few weeks I’ve grabbed an extra of this or that on regular grocery shopping trips and the supply is starting to come along. Also the cost is easily absorbed by doing a little each time.
Pingdork, that menu is right up our alley. All things in our regular rotation so it will not be much of an interruption to our diet. Good call.
Thanks Shorts. I tried to keep my bug kit as simple as I could. I have duffles marked food, water, dog, ammo/gear, clothes, camp, winter wear. I think I’m well prepared for 2-3 weeks either bug in or out in a car.
We’d be SOL if we had to bug on foot or if it was a longer term thing. My prepping is primarily focused on natural disasters such as Mt Rainier popping it’s top. So many scenarios to stress about its mind boggling. I don’t think it’s possible to prepare for every contingency. So I made 2-3 weeks my primary obtainable goal. Anything more serious I’ll leave in God’s hands.
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Forgot to mention. I’m in process of creating a med supply bag. I was a medic 91-96. I am ashamed I haven’t got this prepped already. Although I have forgotten most everything I had learned from what seems like ancient history.
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