Hey all,

Curious if anyone here has made prepackaged emergency/outdoors meals. Something along the lines of rice, seasonings, dehydrated vegetables etc. We do have a dehydrator, a large garden to play with, a vac sealer, etc. Basic thoughts are to find or create a few recipes that will be shelf stable for a year or more, cheap to make, nutritious enough to sustain, and reasonably tasty. We already grow or harvest most of our own vegetables and meat, brew our own beverages, etc. This would be an additional layer of food security. Additionally, would be used as a ration for some of my more "off grid" activities as I always test and evaluate my systems so we are prepared when we need to use them. Think of these as a fancier, homemade version of hunger relief meals, ala "Feed my Starving Children."

Basic plan:
Buy grains in bulk
Dehydrate or buy vegetables in bulk.
Add spices
Package in vac sealed bags with amount of water to add and cook time labeled on bag.


I am willing to invest some time and experimentation into making this work. Once I figure out what works I'll be making as much as I will be able to use before it goes bad. Has anyone else done this and, if so, could you share any tips, recipes, etc? Any insights, resources, or wisdom are appreciated.

When I go backpacking I always take a meal made with dehydrated refried beans, minute rice, cheese, taco seasoning and fritos. It is actually really good. I'm sure you could dehydrate beans and rice at home and package it like you want. I might try it myself.

Not sure how to handle the fritos and cheese. I did find velveeta in foil packs that work pretty well. Last trip I found some in my supplies that were a couple of years past expiration but were still good. Have seen canned cheese also. I suppose you could make some corn tortillas and fry them up as chips. But I don't think they would store very long. Unopened bag of fritos or corn chips might last a while.

Here is the recipe. Skurka also has a few others that might work for you.

https://andrewskurka.com/backpacking-dinner-recipe-beans-rice-with-fritos-cheese/

Back when I was a broke college student and didn't have the extra funds for freeze dried I assembled my own.
I would take minute rice bags and cut a small hole. Drop in the seasonings and any dried veggies I could find.  A small can of chicken went with it.  All of this went into a zip lock.
I would cook the boil-in-bag first to avoid sticking to the bottom of the pot. Whisperlite stoves are horrible and simmering so it helped a lot for clean up.  The can of chicken went in last.
If I was doing something again today I would do the retort pack of chicken instead of a can.  They have to be lighter and save on pack out trash bulk.

This one has a lot of good information on meals in a jar, and such.

Dox

There are plenty of books and website with ideas for making your own backpacking meals.  I've got these and a couple of others:

Trail Food: Drying and Cooking Food for Backpacking and Paddling https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/0070344361/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The Dehydrator Cookbook for Outdoor Adventurers: Healthy, Delicious Recipes for Backpacking and Beyond
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1641525797?tag=arfcom00-20

Backcountry Eats: Making Great Dehydrated Meals for Backcountry Adventures https://www.amazon.com/dp/1525585444?tag=arfcom00-20

We dehydrate a ton of stuff as things come into season. Jerky is pretty easy to make too. Our dehydrator paid for itself a long time ago. I'm going to start pressure canning complete meals to....but only practical for glamping.  


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