Emergency Meal Kits

 

Last year we started to experiment with some thrifty emergency meal kit ideas.  Our thought was that these meal kits would be an excellent addition to our prepper pantry.  The criteria for us was that these meals needed to be easy to prepare, fairly lightweight and portable, nutritionally complete and inexpensive.  Most importantly they needed to be edible.

 

Mac & cheese with tuna

Not all of our meal kits were a hit, especially in the edible department.  We learned very quickly that all store brand boxes of mac & cheese are not created equal.  Some things we tried were super salty, while others lacked good flavor altogether.  This is a good reason to experiment beforehand.

Beef, gravy & rice with dehydrated vegetables
Instructions for cooking are included

What we did end up with is pretty good.  Yes, these kits do include some prepackaged foods, but in an emergency you may not have a lot of resources available so I feel it is much better to have this than nothing at all.

 

Once I put together some meal kits I placed all of the ingredients into a vacuum seal bag and sealed them.  Not only does this keep things fresh and shelf stable, but it also helps me stay organized.  I have a complete meal inside one bag.  In an emergency situation being organized well ahead of time is also very important.

 

A complete chicken pasta alfredo supper

All of the bags then went into another bag with handles so it is easy to grab and go should the need arise.  I'll be upgrading my current bag to either a reusable shopping bag or an extra backpack, but for now a paper shopping bag will suffice.  The point is to have it ready.

 

I currently have enough meals in the bag for a seventy two hour situation.  I'd like to ultimately have a thirty day emergency meal plan kit set up in a tote.  Not only do I think it would be a good idea, but a fun project to work on as well.

 

The makings for a stove top tuna casserole

The hope is not to need the kit, but one never knows when the power will go out, a water leak could occur in your home, a tree could fall on your roof, or you have to bug out for some reason such as a hurricane (not here in Idaho, obviously) or some other natural disaster.  My next door neighbor had a undetected water leak in her home which caused mold.  She was displaced for a month in a hotel until her home was properly repaired.

 

I used items straight from my pantry

To keep the kit fresh we plan to use these items and replace them when we do.  In addition to emergencies I also see the value in having them for travel or camping.  I wish now I'd had some of these put together when I traveled to Minnesota last fall.  They would have been really handy.

 

Nothing fancy, but it will fill you up and keep you going

My meal kits will be another piece to our prepper pantry and something I intend to continue working on.  As I get more of these done and put together I'll be sure to share with you.  I think it is a really good idea to have a few (or several) on hand.