Given the state of affairs in the world, particularly here in Virginia, I have been thinking about having a few weeks to a month or so of emergency food on hand. I am thinking about the companies that offer the freeze dried meals that keep for an extended period of time. My problem is that my wife is gluten intolerant--she cannot eat wheat. You would be surprised how many food items contain wheat. If anyone has any experience with this I would appreciate your guidance.
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Emergency Food Stocks
- Thread starter Do-nothing
- Start date
There are gluten free freeze dried options out there if you look.
If you're only keeping a month supply then just stock up on what you normally eat out of the grocery store and rotate.
Edit: One brand at the link below. But for one month freeze dried is never going to taste as good as canned or frozen foods you can stock up on from the grocery store.
www.augasonfarms.com
If you're only keeping a month supply then just stock up on what you normally eat out of the grocery store and rotate.
Edit: One brand at the link below. But for one month freeze dried is never going to taste as good as canned or frozen foods you can stock up on from the grocery store.
Gluten-Free Emergency Food Storage | Augason Farms
www.augasonfarms.com
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Freeze dried should be used as a supplement to regular food. Canned goods come first. Stock up and rotate out (get things you regularly use). Don't forget dry goods... rice, beans, pasta, dried potatoes and etc. Sugar and honey will keep damn near forever if stored properly.
For freeze dried, pay attention to sodium and protein levels. You'll find a lot of the former and little of the latter. Freeze dried meat isn't too awful. But spam keeps better!
For freeze dried, pay attention to sodium and protein levels. You'll find a lot of the former and little of the latter. Freeze dried meat isn't too awful. But spam keeps better!
Thanks guys--keep-em coming. Yea, we are familiar with the salt/sugar additions to food. Gotta' add something when you take the flavor out. My wife has also developed age-related diabetes to the mix so we have to read all of the labels. Thanks again,
There is also the prospect of doing it yourself. IE 'canning' your own beef. It's actually easier than you think, and lasts a LONG time. It's especially economical when you can buy a 'side' or so from a local rancher. That's exactly how I've done it in the past.
Requires some studying and researching, but it IS more do-able than most think. Just as an example. (this way, you KNOW what is in there)
Requires some studying and researching, but it IS more do-able than most think. Just as an example. (this way, you KNOW what is in there)
I'm going to go opposite from what most will tell you, but it's based on decades of living prepared to eat.
Sit down first and work out what you buy each week and each month in groceries for your normal daily eating.
Then clear out some shelf space and set up your pantry so you can put oldest stuff in the back, newest it the front.
Then slowly (or in a big lot if you want), buy more of what you eat every day till you have a full month work of your normal shelf stable groceries in the pantry.
Then go to your frozen foods, stock up a month worth of all the frozen stuff / meat stuff that you normally eat, and if needed get a chest freezer. Have a plan to have a small generator that can run it and fuel to keep it going. On a closed chest freezer, you'll only need to run it a couple hours a day to keep it cold if you are doing it right.
THEN take an inventory of what you buy that is not shelf stable & not frozen, such as milk/eggs/dairy/vegetables and the like, then go get the "survival" freeze dried versions of all those and stock them.
Then make sure you have all your household cleaning supplies, toilet paper, bleach, hand dishwashing soap, garbage bags and all that good for a month at least.
Then stockpile a bunch of water bottles, or something that is not too hard to rotate thorough, at least enough for a week, a month if you can, then also get a bunch of good water filtration systems.
Make sure you have candles / torches / small solar panels / generator & plenty of batteries as is best for your specific situation along with enough medical supplies for basic things that come up.
That right there will put you better off than 95% of the population in the country today.
Then if you want to go from there, start working on long term food that is canned / freeze dried or such based on what you and your family actually currently eat every day.
These folks have some pretty good options for very specific single ingredient storage: https://www.thrivelife.com
My plan is to raid the people's homes who have taken the time to prepare. I know a few that will have plenty to take.
You are probably joking, but the not funny part is that there is a lot of people starting with the government going all the way down the list to the street thugs and homeless bums that actually have that idea as their primary idea, including those in between who spent all the money on guns and none on food.
In any real crisis, the first couple weeks will be spend killing looters / confiscators, then the surviving should get a lot easier.
Large bags of rice are cheap . Large bags of beans are cheap . #10 cans of mountain house ground beef and chicken .
Gluten free stuff we tried is expensive and....not the greatest. I couldn't even get gluten free samples from Mountain House.
We eat a lot of beans, rice, veggies and lean meats anyway so we just bought a bunch extra and dehydrated and canned chicken and beef and rotate it. We also keep rolled oats, powdered eggs, dried fruit, and honey, whisky, salt and pepper. If we had a complete loss of new food coming in we could make it 2 years pretty easy. The thing with storing bean and rice and such is that you have to eat that stuff regularly because if you consume a typical American diet 24/7 and then suddenly switch to eating dried beans, rice and dehydrated veggies you'll likely get serious diarrhea if yer guts are not used to that.
VooDoo
We eat a lot of beans, rice, veggies and lean meats anyway so we just bought a bunch extra and dehydrated and canned chicken and beef and rotate it. We also keep rolled oats, powdered eggs, dried fruit, and honey, whisky, salt and pepper. If we had a complete loss of new food coming in we could make it 2 years pretty easy. The thing with storing bean and rice and such is that you have to eat that stuff regularly because if you consume a typical American diet 24/7 and then suddenly switch to eating dried beans, rice and dehydrated veggies you'll likely get serious diarrhea if yer guts are not used to that.
VooDoo
All good comments above.
Rules # 1,2 and 3 of prepping: Do Not Advertise. Even with like minded people, hold your cards close to your chest.
Rules # 1,2 and 3 of prepping: Do Not Advertise. Even with like minded people, hold your cards close to your chest.
Always a good idea. More likely to have a member of the household lose a job than anything else.
We are not LDS but they have some good rules they abide by. We routinely purchase from the LDS food store near us. We use the food and replace as we go through it. It’s not everything but it will help you supplement along the way.
Here is a link: https://providentliving.churchofjesuschrist.org/self-reliance/home-storage-centers?lang=eng
Stock up on spices, sauces, rubs and seasonings. They Make vegans taste better. Otherwise they are bland and stringy.
Oh and rice, beans and pasta. They pair nicely with vegan.
Don’t forget a nice selection of reds. Cabs and Shiraz. Vegan is mostly a red meat.
Sirhr
Oh and rice, beans and pasta. They pair nicely with vegan.
Don’t forget a nice selection of reds. Cabs and Shiraz. Vegan is mostly a red meat.
Sirhr
I recently bought a 25# bag of rice and just as many dried beans for all of $60. Figured its cheap insurance. Unrelated about to buy a food dehydrator as I got back into backpacking. I can make my own 'freeze dried food' thats much better without gluten or crap chemicals for a fraction of the cost of what you pay at an outdoor store.
Thats funny- I told the wife today we have squirrels and dove galore to add to the beans and rice and despite being suburban at the moment, know the deer traffic 300 yards from the house if I really feel like it. I enjoy eating them all. Maybe I should stock up on jalepenos, cream cheese and bacon and happily live on dove poppers.
Food stocks are no different than a weapon.... You must pull it out and run it through it's paces for the "When ever". Soaked some dried black beans 2 days ago, over night. Took a good 1 1/2 hours of cooking with a lid on the pot to get them softened up.... Invest a weekend in turning off the power and surviving 2 days with what you have in stores... Have fire wood on hand...
Hobo
Hobo
Stove top pressure cookers are great for dried beans, don’t even have to soak overnight. Good for tough vegans too.
I like that idea of spending 2 days with the power off. That should give a good idea of what you need.
Wanted to thank everyone. Great information. As a youngster, my family canned everything but over time, got away from it. One problem that has immediately come to mind is a place to store everything. Food takes up space! My wife and I are going to sit down and map out a plan and begin to pull some things together. Again, thanks much.
Sounds like you two are headed in the right direction. If I may, a thought: Smaller, basic needs caches can be stored off-site in the event your main inventory is compromised. How far off-site is up to your discretion. For us, it's 60 miles.
I've been focusing on water storage lately. How often are you rotating your supply? We don't have basements in Houston and can't keep in the garage due to temps so use a spare walk-in shower for it. Hate throwing water away, but using to water the garden isn't practical due to location and I hate the thought of just running down the drain to refill. Plan has always been to filter/purify before consuming as necessary if we need to use it.
I would store as much water as possible. Rotate occasionally. Your "aged" stored water will still be better than drinking out of a ditch. Here is a site with some good info:
A Few Thoughts on Water Storage, by N.P. - SurvivalBlog.com
I’d like to discuss a few ideas about water storage and describe what I’ve decided to do in our situation. My background, since most of this is my opinion, is that I work as the chemist (meaning I manage the water treatment systems) in a large power plant, hold the highest drinking water license...
survivalblog.com
One thing to think about is if store shelf food goes away, what you have might be all you ever have. Knowing what you can make an eat in your A/O is critical to,.... long term,.... survival. Food/meds will be used as a weapon again, on day. One trick pony's will fall quickly if that happens again.
A few other things to think about are how are you going to,
Personal hygiene.
Potable Water.
Any meds (if required) an where is your medical coming from.
Information
Does your family have a plan if it all goes to shit, an you can't reach each other/them.
Who is providing security while you sleep.
Plus a host of other things, most take for granted now.
At what point do you supplement your stores with/from local renewable resources.
When an where will your garden be started.
Just a few things to think about.
Personal hygiene.
Potable Water.
Any meds (if required) an where is your medical coming from.
Information
Does your family have a plan if it all goes to shit, an you can't reach each other/them.
Who is providing security while you sleep.
Plus a host of other things, most take for granted now.
At what point do you supplement your stores with/from local renewable resources.
When an where will your garden be started.
Just a few things to think about.
I slept on your posting before replying. Although, I have thought long about these things.
All good things to consider... The priorities of the list are a MATRIX. A guy living on a house boat in fresh water never really consider's water. Those south of the Mason Dixon line can start a garden fairly easily. A green house should be considered in Northern locations. Security must be provided by someone you trust. You can teach an individual to shoot in a short time takes a while to built trust. Now is the time to take a long hard look at what Prescription meds are really needed. Exercise and altering to a different diet can eliminate the need for some of those meds. Over the counter vitamines and suppliments should be considered. Information will be the "Doubled Edge Sword". In a grid down situation there will be lot's of rumors and propaganda. If you are broad casting, that will compromise your location. The renewable resources will be scavenged by the hoards. Not something I am factoring in.
One factor that will certainly shift the Matrix = Location.... Probably a topic for a bit later.
Hobo
You can do a lot with powdered eggs
and
potatoes
and powdered milk
Amazon.com : Augason Farms 5-90158 Scrambled Egg Mix, 2 lbs, 4 oz. No. 10 Can : Sports & Outdoors
Amazon.com : Augason Farms 5-90158 Scrambled Egg Mix, 2 lbs, 4 oz. No. 10 Can : Sports & Outdoors
www.amazon.com
and
potatoes
Amazon.com : Augason Farms Dehydrated Potato Shreds 1 lb 7 oz No. 10 Can : Sports & Outdoors
Amazon.com : Augason Farms Dehydrated Potato Shreds 1 lb 7 oz No. 10 Can : Sports & Outdoors
www.amazon.com
and powdered milk
So we had a power outage a while back.
It’s amazing how quiet the world becomes.... except 3 neighbors have generac home generators.
In a disaster, they are too loud.
My stove is natural gas. It came with a kit to convert it to propane. The ability to fire up an espresso on my stove would be a boost to my caffeine addiction.
trying to do the same on an outdoor BBQ would not be as discrete.
3 days without water and food.... well you can’t be the neighborhood Denny’s.
Firing up the grill and or smoking ribs would bring a hoard of starving neighbors
buy sealing lids for homer buckets
add a sealed bag of rice into the bucket
Add an O2 absorber
seal it up
It’s amazing how quiet the world becomes.... except 3 neighbors have generac home generators.
In a disaster, they are too loud.
My stove is natural gas. It came with a kit to convert it to propane. The ability to fire up an espresso on my stove would be a boost to my caffeine addiction.
trying to do the same on an outdoor BBQ would not be as discrete.
3 days without water and food.... well you can’t be the neighborhood Denny’s.
Firing up the grill and or smoking ribs would bring a hoard of starving neighbors
buy sealing lids for homer buckets
add a sealed bag of rice into the bucket
Add an O2 absorber
seal it up
Bucket Companion 5 gal. Black Paint Bucket Lid LD5GRLBK006 - The Home Depot
Conclude a stunning addition to your living space with the selection of this affordably priced Bucket Companion and Screw Top Bucket Lid in Black.
www.homedepot.com
Screw on off lids
might be cheaper online
Place packing tape onto the bucket and write on the packing tape
when you change the contents, peel off the old label and repeat.
you can write contents and date on the label.
Look up CO2 sealing as well
some will drop a 1/4 pound of dry ice into the bucket and loosely screw on the lid.
once co2 has sublimated, tighten the lid. And critters are now in a container without oxygen and will die.
when you change the contents, peel off the old label and repeat.
The Home Depot 5 Gallon Orange Homer Bucket 05GLHD2 - The Home Depot
This Homer Bucket from The Home Depot is used to mix paint, wash your car and many other household or work-site tasks. Made of plastic material.
www.homedepot.com
you can write contents and date on the label.
Look up CO2 sealing as well
some will drop a 1/4 pound of dry ice into the bucket and loosely screw on the lid.
once co2 has sublimated, tighten the lid. And critters are now in a container without oxygen and will die.
