HELP? Should I focus on Protein for freeze-dried preps or not???

[shakytoad]

I don't have have a lot of money. Should I just focus on getting freeze dried meats with no frills and scratch up the greens by foraging and sprouting? Or should I go with complete meal plans like the Mt. House buy? I need to make a decision here.

I have been buying beans. I have been buying sardines ..


I imagine that when the SHTF my 3 children will be here with me..

I think there is sense in keeping some freeze dried stuff.


Thank you very much!

 

[The Flying Dutchman]

I don't have have a lot of money. Should I just focus on getting freeze dried meats with no frills and scratch up the greens by foraging and sprouting? Or should I go with complete meal plans like the Mt. House buy? I need to make a decision here.

I have been buying beans. I have been buying sardines ..


I imagine that when the SHTF my 3 children will be here with me..

I think there is sense in keeping some freeze dried stuff.


Thank you very much!

In a SHTF situation; you'll be STRESSED! IMHO - protien isn't the most needed part of a diet when one is stressed to the max. <b>Carbs.</b> would be better as the predominate/desired part of a stressed enviroment - diet...

 

[housemouse]

I am curious about why carbs might be more important than protein? What do those of us who are sensitive to carbs do? Both DH and I are insulin resistant.

 

[Dinghy]

Hi Shakytoad, I have been buying tuna and canning chicken. I also have a supply of peanut butter for protien. Almost everybody likes peanut butter! The sardines are probably good too. You can buy dried beef to make creamed chipped beef too. You could buy some canned spinach for greens. I mix it in when I make lasagne and nobody really knows it's in there! I also have sauerkraut. I'm dehydrating as many vegetables as I can also. I have broccoli and cabbage besides carrots, celery and parsnips. We aren't big meat eaters, so I'm focusing more on vegetables and fruit. I'm trying to make lots of applesauce and dehydrated apples. I don't know the nutritional values off hand, but I have several boxes of Velveeta cheese stored too. It keeps for a long time in a cool place and it's a comfort food for us.
The freeze dried stuff is so expensive, that I can't help thinking how much other stuff you could buy with that money. They are quick, easy to carry meals, but for me the cost outweighes the benefits. You'll have to think about whether you'll be staying at your house or trying to bug out. If you plan on leaving, the light weight freeze dried stuff would be good for you. There are so many decisions to make! For me, I just buy what I know they will all eat now.
Also, if you plan on foraging for something like dandelions, plan for that too. I would have extra vinegar or salad dressing to put on it and some bacon bits. Maybe even some taco sauce to help make it taste better.
Get some input from your kids too if you think they will be with you. See what they would be more likely to eat.
Good luck, I know it can be really overwhelming sometimes.

 

[data junkie]

In a shtf scenario, imho you need and crave more protein than you do in your normal daily diet, as you may be doing clean-up, doing chores by hand that machines used to do, like washing clothes and dishes, plus your body is compensating for the lack of AC. Perhaps you are gathering wood to burn, or water, and all this extra labor strains the muscles and they have to repair and maybe even build some you didn't know that you had.

Rice is cheap and stores well as a carb, and you can collect pine needles even from trees to steep into water for tea to prevent scurvy. But protein is hard to come by. The beans you have are a protein source, and served with rice is good. There are other cheap protein sources, like peanut butter or any nut. But meat and some cheap rice might be a welcomed addition. Perhaps some canned tomatoes, gravy or other things to mix into the rice.

 

[hitssquad]

Should I focus on Protein for freeze-dried preps or not? I don't have have a lot of money. Should I just focus on getting freeze dried meats with no frills and scratch up the greens by foraging and sprouting? Or should I go with complete meal plans like the Mt. House buy?

Freeze-dried foods are not for people on budgets. They are for people who have not made the jump to no-cook diets.

Protein comes dry in big bags, by the way:
store.honeyvillegrain.com/index.asp?PageAction=PRODSEARCH&txtSearch=whey&Page=1

 

[diamonds]

I agree with Dinghy and data junkie. I do my own preps. Few jars of large peanut butter. I am dehydrating as much as I can. Rice and beans in bulk. I feel that I can get 4 times the amount for my money by doing it this way.

I guess it comes down to what you are comfortable with.

 

[Safecastle]

Here's how I figure it, and it's perhaps over-simplified, but ...

Look at the number of servings in the Mountain House food--figure a double serving is good for a meal, but also plan some sort of simple additional dietary supplement to get you where you want to be calorie or carb-wise.

The current pricing on the 150-can package works out to be $2.33/meal if you figure double servings every meal.

How many $ per meal are you figuring now in your emergency foods?

Factor in the 30-year shelf life and not needing to keep purchasing new foods over time at ever-increasing prices, and your should realize that we are talking bargain here, not sacrifice. And yep, the clincher about Mountain House food is it is the food Americans already like to eat.

 

[summerthyme]

I agree with those asking "why freeze dried"? They have two things going for them.... they last a long time (but so do most conventional dried foods packaged properly)... and they are very convenient to prepare.

The expense factor is why I only have about 1 weeks worth of meals in freeze dried "camping food"... and that was the absolute last purchase I made, after years of prepping. They are great for the BOB's... but because of our limited budget, they sure weren't the first or second priority.

Look at other alternatives... canned meats (especially if you can put some up yourself), tuna, canned soups. Lots of dried veggies will make a HUGE difference in how appetizing the beans and rice are. Add some condiments, too.. a tsp of prepared mustard can change the entire flavor of a salad dressing, a marinade, or a casserole.

Most of the freeze dried foods end up costing a minimum of $2 per meal per person. Using beans and rice and my own canned meats, I can feed them for the entire day for less than that. That means.... 3X as long a time prepared for, for the same or less money.

*Dehydrated* foods aren't cheap, either, but they are at least half the price of freeze dried per serving. You might want to consider taking some of the money you would have spent and buying some dehydrated butter powder, cheese powder, etc... for protein and flavor and versatility.

If you gave me 100# each of beans and rice, some various seasoning mixes and a couple dozen cans of assorted meats... I could feed half the town for a month. The same money might- MIGHT- buy enough freeze dried food for my family for a month.

Summerthyme

edited to add.. JC, we must have posted at the same time. As I said above, I don't disagree with your figures.. but I can feed my entire family for the cost of ONE person's freeze dried meal. I'm almost to the point of being able to consider buying a few "treats" in freeze dried. And the extended shelf life is a nice "plus" if we all get lucky enough to not need any of our preps for 25 years! But for someone who is really on a budget, and who thinks TS is about THTF, they may get more peace of mind out of 6 months worth of basic preps than 1 or 2 months of high end gourmet freeze dried meals.

 

[hitssquad]

How many hundreds of thousands of dollars in interest are your preps costing you?

The current pricing on the 150-can package works out to be $2.33/meal if you figure double servings every meal. [...] Factor in the 30-year shelf life and not needing to keep purchasing new foods over time at ever-increasing prices, and your should realize that we are talking bargain here

Are you figuring $2.33 per man-day? At that rate, 30 years of food in advance is $25,531. At a 5% discount rate, the interest alone is $110,344.
moneychimp.com/calculator/compound_interest_calculator.htm

$4.66 per man-day would be $220,687.

$7 per man-day would be $331,031.

 

[summerthyme]

Ummmm.... who is storing 30 year's worth of food? I think the point in the "will store for 30 years" is that if you don't need them until, say, 2025... you won't have a pile of useless, rotted food.

For those who simply don't eat "prep style" normally- for whatever reason- that's not a bad reason to buy freeze dried.

BUT... it's always best to store food which you are accustomed to eating. Even if you can force plain beans and rice down... if your stomach and bowels aren't used to having beans more than 2x a year... you are going to live to regret this. Or.. maybe not!

If I had the room, cash, etc, to store as much as I thought necessary, I *might* consider storing up to 5 years worth. Simply because as a farmer, I've seen droughts, and then early frosts or diseases take consecutive crops. Sooner or later, you'll have to have a plan- and the resources- to begin providing for your food needs as well as other basics by growing and producing (or hunting and gathering).

Since we already produce most of what we eat, and many of our "preps" are simply home produced and canned food... I'm not too worried about that part. But in the event of a nuke, it might take 3-5 years to get the soil clean enough to feel somewhat safe in eating plants that grow in it.

Summerthyme

 

[prudentwatcher]

Well, there are lots of canned meats--tuna, ham, chicken, turkey, spam, crab, shrimp, roast beef, etc--that you can buy, rotate, replace and have on hand. I'm really surprised that no one mentioned canning your own meat. I got a pressure canner for under $75--small one that does 5 pints at a time. I got jars at Big Lots, extra lids at Save-A-Lot, and can hamburger and chicken breasts, both of which I buy when they are on sale. You can do a lot with canned hamburger and chicken and a good cookbook. Canning meat is not hard (I was surprised) and there are threads on it in the Homesteading sig. That initial investment on the pressure canner will pay off big over time.

 

[dreamseeer]

Have any of you considered getting a stash of "organic whey" for another protein source?

http://www.mercola.com/forms/whey_healthier.htm

 

[Mail Lady]

I'm stocking up on everything we eat right now as far as the canned goods go. I've also purchased freeze dried.

Canned vegetables and vegetable soups would be a good idea.

I think it's also important to have plenty of comfort foods. Chocolate, many varieties of jarred jams and jellies, as well as canned cake icing (chocolate and cream cheese!!! yum!)