A couple of months ago I started the below thread with emphasis on canned food meals for just two people:
http://www.ar15.com/archive/topic.html?b=10&f=17&t=675728


This time, I would like for you to share your ideas on how to feed 7-10 people (or more) on a budget and more importantly with non-perishable food (does not have to be canned).

I will get this thing started:


Spaghetti and Ravioli, should feed 5-7 people (pretty basic):


1. Chef Boyardee: In Tomato & Meat Sauce Beef Ravioli, 108 Oz        = $5.78 @ Walmart
1. LDS #10 cans of spaghetti bites, pieces approximately 1 inch long = $4.70 @ LDS (purchased in a case of six)
                                                                                                 Total = $10.48 or $1.49 per serving (7 people).


Chicken Alfredo pasta, should easily feed 7-10 people (might want more sauce, I posted what I had in the pantry.):





1. LDS #10 cans of spaghetti bites, pieces approximately 1 inch long = $4.70 @ LDS (purchased in a case of six)
2. #5 can Hearthstone Pulled Chicken 48oz, #5 can                             = $13.49 @ GFS
3. Great Value: Classic Alfredo Pasta Sauce, 16 oz                             =$2 x 2jars = $4 @ Walmart
4. Evaporated Milk, 12oz                                                                        =$3 @ Walmart
5. Bottle of dehydrated Chopped onion, 5oz                                         =$1 @ Any Store
                                                                                                     Total =  $26.19 or $2.61 per serving (10 people).

Beef Chili with Beans should feed 8-10 people:

Spaghetti Ravioli with Beef, should feed 12-15 people :



This meal would be layered like a lasagna, in disposable aluminum serving pans.



White rice, lima beans with pork and Yams on the side, should feed 7-10 people:

Canned pasta? Makes no sense whatsoever. Buy a pile of cheap spagetti pasta, seal it in mylar bags and that's that. Much cheaper and takes up less space.
Besides pasta, I'd go for lots of brown rice and lentils or beans. That's what you use to feed large groups of people on a tight budget.
Add some canned meats and vegetables here and there and youre good to go.
FerFAL

Become friends with a small resteraunt manager or owner.  Have him add a couple 5 gallon buckets of chicken and beef stock dry mix to his order. Thanksgiving is coming up, buy as many turkeys as you can the day after thanksging from your local grocery store.  Can the turkey in quart jars.  Get membership at Costco and buy as many 50 lbs bags of rice and dried beans as you .can.  Buy number ten cans of corn and green beans - they slide under most beds easily.  Ask resteraunt friend where he buys his pots and pans - go buy a couple large good quality stock pots.  Soup my friend is the answer to feeding large groups of people.
After your well stocked for a couple thousand gallons of soup start buying wheat berries and a mill.  Soup and fresh bread - yum.

I like your planning `ops.

This is a big reason for my stock of MRE Tray Packs. I figure in a SHTF scenario I can help feed my neighbors if they're in need (well, those that rise to the challenge and band together to help the neighborhood collective).

Soup

My idea is to use the 50 lb bags of white rice from Chinese  restraunt and soup base mix broccoli and cheese etc.
and make soup with fresh bread or pita's.  Much cheaper for the long run.  OP's meals would be nice for Sunday.

A favorite quick and easy meal of mine is a black bean soup - 1 can each of black beans, diced tomatoes, cream-style (or whole kernel) corn. Open cans, dump them into a pot, heat.

You can add Mexican spices (chili powder, cumin), or canned chilis. Even broken corn or tortilla chips in the bottom of the bowl before adding soup.

It multiples very, very easily.

You may want to rinse the beans for digestive reasons.

With a family of six your thread makes me smile a bit. This is the amount of food I have to put on the table every meal.

For food storage we do the same stuff everyone else does. We don't prep for WROL type events so I guess we don't have crazy amount of food but we do have more stoves etc than the average bear.

I have a couple case of chef boyardee ravioli. No water needed and you could eat it right out of the can if need be...

wise words....

Some of those canned meats look good!  Those are all from walmart?

Could be a cultural difference or just different preferences.  However, canned pasta (Chef Boyardee) does indeed make a LOT of sense when you look at what it gives you.  Yes, lots of salt, but that's most things that comes prepared in cans.  But look at the nutrients and such.  Protein, fat, calories, carbs, vitamins, etc.  You could actually live on 3-4 16oz. cans of it per day.  And that would be eating pretty well.  Plus you can open up a can and get to work.  I had to do this over the summer at work.  We didn't have a microwave so I opened the can and ate it cold.  Can't do that with dried pasta in mylar bags.

So again, nutrients, ready to eat, and lasts pretty much indefinitely....makes sense to me.  

Hell, I have 6-8 cases of it in the pantry.  The majority of our meals are ready to eat like that.

As for the cost, it's actually not cheaper to do the same thing stove-top.  Look at what the meat, sauce, pasta, and canning process would cost...wal-mart sells it for $.75/can.  I heard someone else had it for $.68/can the other week.  If I were to do that on my own...without the canning...it would be at least a buck or two.  

-Emt1581

We plan every meal around brown rice or beans, anything that we add such as smeat, can goods etc, is a flavor agent. IE one can of coked pasta may feed 2, add rice and corn bread and that meal feeds six, your getting the fill up from rice and corn bread, and I can feed more, course, Ill be eating FD  steak and eggs :) , hey , if your eating can pasta and corn bread at my BOL. you did not plan to well for a SHTF event

Ops, I have to ask...how does that meat taste?  I see chicken, pulled pork, taco beef....any good?  

I only ask because every canned meat I've ever had, aside from pre-cooked beef in soups, stews, and chef boyardee...tastes horrible.  Like a combination of tuna and chemicals.  

But if it's good I might give it a try and then stock it.

Thanks

-Emt1581

I can see a slight advantage. You will have to use your water supply to boil the pasta vs pre-cooked pasta that only requires you to open the can and eat it. Of course heating it would be preferred.

FIFY.

-Emt1581

Haha, yup!  I was actually editing that post while you were posting.

Just have a shit-ton of ramen noodles around, with water. Cheap, and effective...

in 2004 we had a 9 day power outage due to hurricane... to cut down on the hot water needed for cleanup, neighbors and I cooked a lot on a small tailgate type grill using skewers (kabobs and yakitori) in addition to burgers and hot dogs, as to not use any pots or pans to cook in... for heating canned complete meals, a shallow sided fish cooker pot... open the cans, place in the pot, add water to about 2/3 level of the cans, and heat the water... after eating from the cans, used the hot water bath  to clean utensils.... you need a pair of needle nose or multi tool to retrieve the cans...

Maybe a stupid question, but i've heard that high acid foods like canned tomatoes and pineapple will eat the can away from the inside and go bad after a few years. Wouldn't the high tomato paste content in the chef boyardee do the same thing?

I know that the pineapple and tomato cans I've seen have a white liner on the inside.  Not sure what that liner is made from but I'm guessing it helps prevent what you're talking about.

-Emt1581

True, but I think the vertical welded seam is still just exposed raw steel. I don't know about the chef boyardee cans.

I've had heard this and it was a concern for me as I love pineapple,but I recently ate 3 cans of pineapple that were 2yrs past the best by date and there was no issues with the cans inside or out and they tasted fresh..




it was dole brand crushed and pineapple rings



these were left intentionally to watch for problems,pineapple usually doesn't last that long in my house same with the chef boyardee pasta
 

In my high school chemistry class, we placed an empty coke can in some sort of acid, and it completely ate away the aluminum, leaving a white liner skeleton.

I had a can of whole peeled tomato burst on my pantry shelf, I think it was a year past the date on the can. I always thought to ignore the date but won't make that mistake again. I still have some cans past the date but I check to make sure they are sealed and I try to rotate more often.

I had to do a paper on soup for a nutrition class I took a while ago. I researched a number of articles and found that a soup or stew is a great way to stretch resources. I will second this...

To almost quote Niven and Pournelle, after the end of the world, boredom will not be a problem. Even culinary boredom.

Yes, which is why I would not use tomato based food for long term storage--aluminum is very susceptible to acid, but even iron will succumb eventually.

I have had old tomato based food eat through the can.





 

I'd love to load up on canned food, but we just don't eat it. We keep a small amount of a few things things like refried beans and tomato sauce. Since our kids moved out we have had to shift our preps around. We are going with more freeze dried ingredients since my wife scratch makes most of our meals.

Some good ideas, OP.

Five Gallon Buckets of Rice , Pasta , Wheat & Bread making  and a assortment of Beans ,  LOT OF 5 GALLON BUCKETS !!!!!!!

Then add hundreds , if not thousands of Canned and Packaged food stuffs to throw into the Rice , Pasta and Beans.
Then start a rotation plan on these packaged foodstuffs so you have no waste waiting for the day the shtf , it might be years

If you have not researched yet how much food a adult eats daily ,spend some time learning.
It is amazing how much we eat , and the more physical and stressed we are the more we HAVE to eat.
A adult male doing sun-up to sun-set physical labor must get feed well or shortly he will not have the energy and drive to do the work.
The larger the group and the longer time of the shtf event , the more food you need.

This is one of my duties for a large group.  And sometimes it just sucks

I

Not having to cook or even heat some stuff is a consideration.  However, you need to look at what you think you can do and play around and see what happens.



White rice or spaghetti noodles or macaroni noodles or some sort of item along these lines is something to use as a food stretcher.



One box of spaghetti or a couple cups of rice cooked up is left in the pot after you drain the water.  Water can be saved for something else depending on your needs, like making a stew for tomorrow or something maybe.



Rice tends to cook up and use all of its water, depends if I do it right or mess with it while it is doing its thing.  I micromanage my rice I guess.



Anyway, take that pot of spaghetti or rice or whatever and pour a large can of "creamy" or "hearty" soup over it.  You may even need to add some of that water you drained off back in depending on what all you toss in this main pot.



The pasta or rice is a stretcher in my book.



Same goes for beans.



And beans can be ground up and used to thicken up soups or stews or whatever and add in some protein.



I agree somewhat with finding a restaurant to order stuff for you, but you might want to go play at some of the restaurant places out there for everyone.



Sam's and cosco tend to have some big stuff to mess with.  Heck, just the #10 cans at food city or krogers or whatever grocery you use might give you some ideas.



I have a gfc, gordon food service, in the city I sometimes wander over to and I tend to bring back some stuff that needs divied up for me to keep it fresh for my usage as a single guy.  Buy a monster sized block of cheese or something and break it up when I get home and seal up the parts I won't use for a while.



Now cooking for this many people is something to learn as well.  A lot of fuel is easily wasted.



It is kind of hard for me to scale up thermos backpacking ideas for a single hiker and take it up to a way to cook easily for a dozen people.  Well, it is hard with what I have on hand.



Someone recently had a post about making an insulated box, I still wonder about the spray insulation used but I do know from reading about stuff around the world it is common to bring stuff to a boil and then pack it into an insulated something so it can keep the heat in and they can shut the fuel off.



I leave a slow cooker on all day.  They boil water in the morning and pack it and shut things down and use no more fuel all day.  I use electricity all day.  I am working on learning more and making a decision.



White rice keeps easily for long periods of time so I like it.  I have packed spaghetti before and it did fine, I just got to where I am fine with using rice instead of spaghetti when doing stuff.  



I don't really do plain old spaghetti or mac and cheese.  I wind up with a lot of pasta casarole stuff.



Anyway, this boils down to you need to see if one can or 4 cans is what you need to feed x number of people.



Since rice uses all its water if I leave it alone and pay a tiny bit of attention when making it, I think it would be rather easy to spoon out the rice first and then put some of the soup or whatever over it.



One thing to keep in mind is if you start off with the steel cans of ravioli and what not, let those folks keep em for using the next night when you put some rice and hearty soup in it for them to eat.



Just moving up to cooking this much stuff can strain some kitchens.  Pots need to be larger, weights of stuff get heavier, longer to boil water, blah blah blah.



In today's world I will add in how many more veggies get cut up as well, but in this thread it would just be more cans of canned veggies.



As for the tomato thing, I had some eat through the bottom of their can.  It was a slow leak I caught before long but it made a mess and was ruined food and not all that far past its date.  It had a plastic type coating and I just tossed it rather than sit down and see if the coating was inferior in those cans or not.  Had a half dozen cans I bought at same time I tossed.  All had issues, one was way worse than others but poking others showed problems coming.

Just to be clear, that is dry pasta....not cooked.

get a couple 50LB bags of white rice (cheap at a wholesale store)
get a couple #10 cans of TVP to add to the rice.

done for less than $150 and could probably feed 10 ppl for a month with proper rationing..

What are MRE Tray Rats? (Never heard of them)

Just so you know (and can double check your stockpile calorie count), 10 ppl @ about 3k calories per day is 900k to 1MILLION calories per month. If you are actually working, not just watching the clock all day, add another 25% or so.

 






 

just to be clear, the serving sizes will double or triple  for the people who are doing labor intensive jobs.  Plan accordingly for them.

Your spaghetti and ravioli is a big meal, more than a single serving. You'd be looking at 15 ounces of the ravioli alone, (7 people x 15 ounces = 105oz) plus the spaghetti. You could probably count on that being at least 1.5 servings per person. Better to plan too much than too little. nice job.


In the second picture I can see a #10 can of spaghetti bites is 3 lbs (48oz). That would mean each serving consists of 15oz ravioli, plus close to 7oz (dry) pasta. That is most certainly a lunch and left overs for dinner sized allotment.

While pre-made canned food has it's place, I try to stay away from it as much as possible.  

My son is on a sodium restricted diet due to a kidney problem.  That said, a lot of sodium is in those canned foods, so we try to buy and store ingredients for food.

A little flour, egg and water makes pasta.  Tomatoes grown in the garden and canned for sauce and some home canned beef and a little prep and bingo, home made ravoli.

Tomato products are the worst to store. On the wet pack side, they usually DON'T swell but will spew red crap all over after first pierced. On the dehydrated side I've seen the cans bulge just as pancake mix with baking powder will do over time.

#10 cans with baking POWDER as part of the ingredients are 2nd up.


I'm not talking about seeing these things happen in a few months. However the WET PACKED tomato sauces that blew were only a few years old. Not sure about chef yuck r d  and we don't store stuff like that.

Remember pastas are cheap but most are simple carbs. Can reek havoc on certain people. Ever ate some pasta and then immediately craved something sugary? Simple carbohydrates tend to do that.

6-8 people being feed means at least a couple dependents. At least a couple dependents means their will be people in the rotation to actually cook food- versus heating crap out of can. Obviously you have a fuel and water source or your food stocks would be largely irrelevant except for the short term. Think rice and beans, pack them correctly for long term storage and rotation and loss won't creep up on you as they tend to storing short term products like the wet pack cans.

"Convenience" foods do have their place in your preps, but not as the mainstay. Their is many a night we are working late around the homestead that we just boil up some water and we make some Mt. House.

A quart of CANNED venison, and cans of potatoes and mixed veggies would make a nice stew.

I was under the impression we were talking about a survival situation.
in which case:
you should expect to lose weight.
you should expect to take in no where near 3000 calories a day. (probably about 1/3-1/2 that).
you should expect rationing.

im by no means an expert, but in order to keep 3000 calories for each person every day, you'd need at least an entire garage filled to the brim with food.

I was under the impression that the OP was discussing these terms on a BUDGET.
not a situation where money and storage space were not a factor.

not to mention that a couple cases of TVP and rice can be relocated at the drop of a hat, not so with a 1M calorie food stash.

ETA:
Just about every stance on every subject can be punched full of holes, lets keep these discussions to a realistically logical standard.
in the "survival discussions" forum, we're talking about abstaining from death, not flourishing..

Survival situation or not.....

2 x 50 lb bags of white rice = 100 lbs = 200 cups x 735 cal/cup (dry) = 147,000 cal
2 x #10 cans of Beef flavored TVP @ 3,940 cal/can = 7,880 cal

147,000 cal + 7880 cal = 154,880 cal / 10 people = 15,488 cal / 30 days = 516 cal per day.

I don't think that will work, not for very long anyway.

As an example,

For beans and rice,
I always read that a general rule of thumb is to figure 30 lbs of rice and 15 lbs of beans per person per month.

so,
30 lbs rice x 10 people = 300 lbs   = 600 cups (dry) x 735 cal = 441,000 cal.
15 lbs pinto beans x 10 people - 150 lbs (dry) x 360 cal = 108,000 cal.

441,000 + 108,000 = 549,000 cal / 30 days = 18,300 cal / 10 people = 1,830 cal/day <---- that could be livable

so, 6 x 50 lb bags of white rice and 3 x 50lb bags of pinto beans

and a whole lot of water (and some beano )

Although many of us theorize that we will eat less during an event and loose weight. I don't think that is a good strategy to pre-plan for.  I don't want to add to an already stressful situation by forcing my family to diet.  Energy reserves will be needed.  I'd plan on a minimum of 2K calories for women and 3K calories for men, unless you are sheltering in place. In that case you could cut calories to probably 1300 and 1800 respectively.

Back to the topic- Good old chi mac is an excellent way to stretch a meal.  A large can of chili and your spaghetti bites is good.

You can make a surprisingly good chicken noodle soup using Campbells Cream of chicken soup as a base  Add canned chicken, spices, some fat is available,  and noodles.


It's not sexy, but peanut butter is one of the cheapest, most concentrated form of ready -to-eat-calories you can store. It has a 2-3 year shelf life.  My family goes through 1 large jar a month, so I store about 24 48 ounce jars. That is right at 200K calories in PB alone.   It doesn't go to waste, we rotate it.


Regardless most of your recipies appear to be "less than long term" storage foods, so be prepared to rotate and eat, or be prepared to throw it away some point in the future.

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