MRE's at the commissary? (San Antonio, West: living in, safe, food)

[elnina]

Originally Posted by SA08

Hubby & I want to buy several MRE's to have on hand "just incase". I am certain I saw some for sale several mos. ago at one of the base commissaries but can't remember which one & I don't want to run from base to base.
Have any of you seen them at the comm.? If so, would you mind telling me which one(s)?

THANK YOU!

SA08: do you know something that we don't???

[FamilyTexas]

We ordered a three day supply of MRE's from this company: Emergency Essentials - Be Prepared Emergency Preparedness Food Storage...), for myself, husband, and kids for emergency. They also have dehydrated food/meals, but I don't believe the shelf life was quite as long.

We've ordered a few things through this company and have been pleased. They have some neat water storage systems in boxes that we have been happy with as well as some of the other emergency supplies for our kits.

GL! Good for you on being prepared.

[elnina]

"Anyone have any other ideas for long shelf life foods to keep on hand "just incase"? We are keeping lots of canned things, some of those heat & eat entrees & dried beef. I'm wondering if there are any places that may have freeze dried or that type thing in San Antonio?"

Not enough yet??
it scares me.....
Moderator cut: orphaned

[doss1]

All you really need is hard tack and some beef jerkey (oh, and water). That's what the civil war soldiers ate during the 1800s for months...should be ok, no?

[rd2007]

+1 for beef jerky. It's always good, tons of protein, little to no carbs, and does it ever expire? There's also honey, which eventually turns into something you can wear as a ring

there is also another JIC™ (just in case), that may come in handy. Just Google it. They sell them at Academy stores in SA.

[FamilyTexas]

You could also look into storing some beans, flour . . . staples like that if you cook from scratch much. You can store in buckets or have them canned in large cans that you open with a can opener. There are some neat lid options for buckets now that allow them to stay sealed but provide easy opening, they're called the Gamma lids: Emergency Essentials - Be Prepared Emergency Preparedness Food Storage. You would want to make sure you were using/rotating with time.

Look around on this site, they really have a lot of options. Unfortunately we really haven't seen much here in San Antonio that you can buy in person.

[majormadmax]

MREs are designed for field operation and are not only very high in calories, they have a tendency to cause people to "back up" (for want of a better term) if they aren't engaged in high activities while consuming them.

There are numerous alternatives out there that serve the same purpose ("emergency chow") that are better options. Any major camping store (Bass Pro, Cabela's) are good places to check but none of this stuff is cheap. There are also commercial items you can buy at any grocery store that will suffice, just do some research on the Internet and you'll find numerous web sites that cover this topic.

That said, I do have some leftover MREs we keep "just in case;" but that is because I got a few cases of them for free when I was still in uniform. I've had to survive on them several times during my career, but they are nothing I would eat when other alternatives are available!

Lastly, RD, we don't want to go down that road in this thread...

Cheers! M2

[SA08]

Thank you for all the great suggestions!
Elnina - I don't think that Bowie would like it if I go on a tangent about *why* I feel the need to have things on hand. The "PC" and a valid answer is, in San Antonio (TX in general) you never know when crazy weather may knock out power & thus supplies in our grocery stores. In Houston, after Ike it was a MESS & stores were wiped out (if they were even open).
I never thought about these things (or the financial/political situation of our country) much until I had kiddos. Now that it's not just me that I have to look out for, I'm very protective of my family & though I'm not putting a foil hat on just yet -- I am preparing for what my husband and I see as very possible issues that could come our way.

[mrsb057]

I know the army surplus places keep a pretty good stock of them. There is nothing wrong with having stuff saved for a SHTF scenario. My husband and I have a nice supply of emergency stuff. MREs have come a long way from what they used to be. You now get skittles and m&ms. They were high commodity items down range.. You can always make ranger pudding with some of the contents of the MRE. Receipe is listed just in case

To make Ranger Pudding all you need to do is combine the cocoa mix, sugar, instant coffee, and instant creamer into the cocoa package. Dry mix these ingredients and then add water for the desired consistency. It is incredibly delicious and with all the sugar and caffeine it gives a great boost.

[doss1]