30 Days of Survival - Day 14 - MRE's Buy or Make Some

Meals Ready to Eat or MRE's are field rations for our military. They are also what FEMA will drop off to civilians during a disaster to feed them.

They are high in protein and store for a relatively long time, but not as long as freeze dried food. I have some dated 1984. I would hesitate to eat an entree from them but the crackers, peanut butter (hard as a rock) drink mixes, desserts and snacks are all still good. The cheese has turned to green baby poop...ICK! But all in all it would still save my life if I was starving. I had a case and now am down to three left.

There are a wide variety of MRE's and MRE type meals available from dealers. You can check out ebay.com for good deals. But be careful of dates since this is where I got my case of old MRE's. My mistake can be your lesson.

Several companies have started manufacturing civilian MRE's  you should shop around, and be aware of what is actually in them. Try to go for the most calories for the buck.

You can make your own if you have the desire. Any shelf stable prepackaged food can be assembled into a ziplock bag and stored away. Be sure to write a date on the bag and rotate them out every year or two.

When choosing foods to put in try to keep with the high protein of the military MRE. This is calorie dense and higher protein means you will be relieving yourself less often.

Start with a canned meat like Spam, canned ham, tuna or sardines. Then add some cheese or peanut butter crackers, some mixed nuts or trail mix or dried fruit. You can also look for a sale on prepared meals or closeout items from diet plans...as long as they are shelf stable they can go in your meal.

I like to add an energy bar to the mix..my personal favorite is a Power Bar...not necessarily the taste but they give me good long lasting energy...from a taste standpoint you can beat a Cliff bar. Toss in anything else shelf stable that you will eat and get energy from.

Accessory packs  have gum, matches, toilet paper, salt, instant coffee sugar and creamer. Round up the ones you want in your MRE's and put them in.

Shoot for 2000+ calories in these meals and each one can last you a whole day.

MRE's can be a real stop gap food source to get you through a tough time.

Still clinging to my God and my guns,

Randy