Tag Archives: food

Guns? Sure. But food…ah, thats another story

Posted on by
24

Re-organizing my stuff, especially the long-term food, has me musing about the classic have vs. have-not conflict that we will see when the wheels fly off society…and that, to some degree, we are seeing now.

The apocalypse is going to come in several different flavors…civil war/disturbance, economic depression, huge natural disaster, pandemic, stray nukes…and it will, no doubt, at some point require that you be ready to maintain the safety and security of your loved ones and your home. But you know what happens far more often than the need to point a gun at someone? The need to eat.

I’m an old-school survivalist – being armed is right up there at the top of the list of things to be ready for. But I also have dang near thirtyfive years of being that old school survivalist behind me. In all that time, I have needed to eat far more times than I’ve needed to point a gun at someone. Not saying it wont happen…simply saying that, statistically, youll be more likely to be patting yourself on the back over your food stash than your gun and ammo stash.

In addition to keeping you from, y’know, dying, food has an excellent moral and motivational (Motivatory? Motivary?) effect – as the graphic on the MRE entree says: food is a force multiplier. Well-fed people are going to perform better than starving people. And starving people are desperate people who do desperate things..and doing desperate things is a great way to become someone who doesn’t need food at all…forever. So dont be a starving person who takes crazy risks out of desperation, and don’t be around starving people who are unpredictable and dangerous.

Having that resource of food also makes you a target. Truly desperate people…people who are cold, who are hungry, who are hopeless, who are watching their loved ones miss meals…are dangerous and unpredictable. Don’t be one of them and don’t let them know you’re there.

Right now we live in a world where people will literally kill you because they want your sneakers, think you cut them off in traffic, or simply want your cellphone. And thats in a world with 911, electricity, cops, and a somewhat-functioning society. Now imagine what it’ll be like when the only mechanism to keep the foot on the brake pedal of social chaos is whatever you’ve got in your holster or slung over your shoulder.

In a situation like that the person who can sit at home, safe and secure, and not have to venture out into the chaos looking for food and supplies has a tremendous advantage. Exponentially so if he’s there with his equally well-fed and well-armed family and friends.

It used to be that people first getting into preparedness/survivalism started off with a wild binge of gun and ammo buying, and everything that came after was done with far less rigor and enthusiasm. I have encountered quite a few people who had guns and ammo aplenty but put virtually no thought into food. A bunch of 2-liter pop bottles filled with rice and beans is better than starving…I guess. But you really should aspire for better than that.

And for the love of Crom, stock up on ‘regular’ food….the canned fruits, the jarred sauces and soups, the bags of pasta and rice, etc, etc. Expensive freeze drieds are awesome but when I suffer a small-scale EOTWAWKI like a job loss or 48-hour power failure, I’m going to be really reluctant to break into the $30 can of Mountain House Chicken and Rice and more likely to grab a $2 jar of spaghetti sauce and a $3 bag of pasta off the shelf.

Guns and radios and fuel and all the other sexy stuff is important, no doubt, but water and food are always going to get more use and demand than pretty much anything else you can store. It’s absolutely worth thinking about what youre stocking up on, how much of it you’re putting away, and how youre going to use it. Certainly thats where my mind is these days.

Shelf-stable at CostCo

Posted on by
20

Was up at CostCo the other day and saw this:

This is simply tetra-packed UHT milk. And…you can find UHT milk in the cooler at pretty much any supermarket. So, really, this isn’t necessarily a real find.

I have a love-hate relationship with milk – I hate it and love drinking anything else. Also, there are some questions I have about drinking cow milk. First off, I’m a human, not a cow. Would it not make more sense for me to drink the milk of my own species, which is by its nature, specifically designed for my particular organic makeup? And even then, once humans get past a certain age, milk doesnt provide the same benefits than what it provides when the human is newly minted and still developing. In short, I’m not a cow…how is drinking cow milk a good idea?

However….nothing is better on a bowl of cornflakes. Problem is, if I open a quart of milk there is no way I wind up using it all up before it goes bad. So, for me, the small bottles of UHT milk that last about six months in the fridge, unopened, make more sense.

Anyway, if you hate running out of milk, this is a possible way around that…buy a case, stick it in the fridge (or on a shelf) and youre covered. But…you could also just stroll down to WinCo, find the smaller bottles of UHT milk, stuff ’em in the back of your fridge, and have the same result as this stuff at CostCo.

But, still, its nice to see at CostCo.

Canned roast beef from 2014

Posted on by
14

On todays episode of ‘Will It Digest’ – an 11-year-old can of Kirkland Beef.

Not gonna lie, I was actually thinking of just dropping these at an animal shelter or homeless shelter (surprisingly interchangeable) and replacing it with some more recent stuff. But…this is a good chance for a little empirical data gathering, don’t you think?

I should have taken the pic before I opened the can. Didn’t plan ahead.

As always, it smelled exactly the way canned meat always smells – like cat food. Its hideous. But even recently made stuff smells like that. It’s just the nature of canned meats. As usual, once you put the heat to the meat the smell is replaced with a more appetizing smell. Figured I’d do a Green Pepper Beef sorta rice bowl. If youre curious: 1tbsp of hosin sauce and oyster sauce, 2 tbsp garlic, 1/4 cup soy sauce, 1/2 cup chicken stock, pinch of sugar, some red pepper flakes, sliced up pepper, sliced up onion. And make up some rice while youre at it.’

How was it? Delicious. I guess I’ll have a more definitive answer in about eight hours, but it seems just fine. I’m not surprised, most canned food will last a bloody long time. As long as the cans retain their integrity, and are stored in the classic ‘cool dry place’, they’ll last for decades. There are some caveats to that of course….highly acidic foods (tomatoes, pineapples, etc) will not last near that long, regardless of how well you store the cans. But low-acid stuff (which is what meat is) will keep quite a while.

I was reminded how darn good that Kirkland roast beef is last night. It really is an unsung hero of the long-term pantry. And, as shown above, a handy item for making a quick and hearty meal.

While I’m on the subject, a good question would be “Have I ever actually had any problems with canned food?” Actually, yes. I learned the hard way a long time ago that canned tomato products were best used up within a couple years and not much longer than that.

I had a can of enchilada sauce that, when I opened the can, was filled with nothing but water. Also had several cans of roasted red peppers start bulging in a disturbing manner. Those last two were from non-USA sources. I try to stick exclusively to US made/packaged foods when possible. Maybe the canned corned beef from Argentina is tasty but I trust the US food environment far more than I do something in South America….Upton Sinclair not withstanding.

Travel food II

Posted on by
12

I made a post a few days ago about the ‘just in case’ dining solution I carry with me in my checked luggage in case I get stuck having to overnight in the airport when I travel. It’s primary features are that it takes up as minimum an amount of space as possible, assumes electricity is available (for the immersion heater), and assumes water is available (for reconstituting the freezedrieds and making hot drinks). These last two are not a tall order, even in an airport that is ‘closed’ for the night. I have spent nights camped out next to an electrical outlet watching movies on my phone, using the airports wifi, wrapped in my woobie, and dining on whatever snackage I packed in my bag.

But what about where water isn’t guaranteed, and neither is electricity? I actually have a somewhat similar setup but it’s a bit more space-intensive.

We’re all familiar with the usual one-liter Nalgene bottles, right? The cool thing about them is that there are a lot of accessories out there designed specifically for their shape and profile…carry pouches, special lids, etc, etc. It’s a lot like the AR…there may be a better choice, but the ubiquity of the item and its tremendous third-party support make it a sensible choice. I must have a half dozen of the Nalgene bottles sitting in my kitchen. Theyre just handy. But…did you know that they make a larger version in that same general design envelope? It’s exactly like your regular Nalgene bottle except slightly longer to accommodate 50% more liquid. Still take the same lids, will still fit most open-top pouches, but gives you an extra margin of liquid for those thirsty days and long trips.

The regular Nalgene is 32 oz. The supersized one is 48 oz. Since the only dimensional difference between the two is overall length and the diameter is the same between the two, cups that are designed to nest over the bottom of the 32oz Nalgene will fit exactly the same on the bottom of the 48oz Nalgene. Convenient. Same for the mouth of the two bottles. Lids, caps, etc, are completely interchangeable.

Although Maxpedition makes the bottle holder I am currently using, other companies make a similar product. The important thing is that they have various attachment points to allow you to carry the whole thing either on a carry strap, MOLLE’d to your gear, or by other means. It’s also really important that it have some type of storage on it for the essentials. With enough MOLLE coverage you can add whatever pouch you like to it to hold your accessories.

48 oz Nalgene bottle carrier on left, 32 oz ("normal size") on right. Larger carrier gives slightly more onboard storage space.

48 oz Nalgene bottle carrier on left, 32 oz (“normal size”) on right.

This is the setup I take with me when I go hunting, fishing, or anywhere I figure I’ll have some kind of al fresco dining experience. It’s strictly for field cooking, although, obviously, water is water. The purpose of this setup is to give me everything I need to crack open some Mountain House, instant oatmeal, ramen, or any other ‘just add hot water’ meal. This is what has worked for me so far, what works for you is up to you to discover. My setup:

  • Maxpedition bottle holder – Keeps everything in one place, has plenty of carry and attachment options, and has a useful-sized accessory pouch for everything below.
  • Nalgene 48 oz. bottle – I hate having to filter water. I carry a LifeStraw in my bag, but for my out-n-about cooking needs a full 48oz of water is usually plenty. A small Sawyer filter would work but any filter is going to either need to be carried separately due to space concerns on the bottle holder. Alternatively, with enough MOLLE you can add a small pouch dedicated to your filter. Maybe.
  • Screwtop drink lid – I have these on all my Nalgene bottles. Makes drinking on the move much easier. High recommend.
  • Esbit Stove – Smaller and more compact than a small butane stove w/ cartridge. Tradeoff is that it doesn’t boil water as quick. But…it does work.
  • Esbit fuel tabs – Hard to have too many of these. They do double duty as emergency firestarters. I keep a handful in my hunting bag.
  • Titanium spork – Any spork or plastic utensil will do. I went the Gucci route because I’m a major gear queer and I like nice things. Get a cheaper plastic one and you’ll be fine. Also threw in the CRKT food tool because I had it laying around.
  • Firestarter – Matches and lighters are my first go-to, but this will light an Esbit tab if you know what youre doing.
  • Matches – Far easier to light pretty much anything with good matches than the other methods. Again, can’t really have too many. Keep ’em dry. We’ve talked about this.
  • Cooking cup – Titanium again. Beacuse. There are plenty of cheaper alternatives out there, but just make sure that your Nalgene bottle will nest inside it.

This is the setup I use for fishing, hunting, or just being afield. A small musette bag filled with freezedrieds, repackaged ramen, instant soup, instant oatmeal, cofffe/hotchoc/tea, and a small water filter would, used in conjunction with the above mentioned kit, make a huge difference in a crisis and not take up much room. In fact, in the back of my truck is a tall .50 can that has a setup almost exactly like that. It’s compact, durable, pretty complete, and can keep me fed for a good bit of time if I’m just sitting in my truck waiting for the snow plow. Might have to dig it out and take some pictures. But this is the setup I use for the ‘running around’ occasions. However, it does have some utility for a small ‘run out the door’ emergency setup if you have a small satchel of freeze drieds to go with it.

 

 

Article – Yes, You Can Cook Tinned Fish in Its Tin

Posted on by

Interesting article that addresses one of the issues about ‘cooking in cans’:

“The current debate often centers on the presence of BPA (bisphenol A) in can linings,” Motta says “At José Gourmet, our tins are BPA-NIA (BPA-Not Intentionally Added), meaning no BPA is deliberately included in the products.” He added that the industry is moving towards 100-percent BPA-free linings in compliance with EU regulations.

My takeaway is that it’s probably not a great idea to cook tinned fish directly in the tin for every meal, but in terms of health impact, it’s similar to microwaving food in a plastic container — an at-your-own-risk kind of activity that falls squarely in line with the improvisational spirit of using whatever’s handy to get the job done. With a better grasp of the science behind cooking in cans, I’m ready to embrace it in spirit if not exactly practice, heating the tinned fish separately and then adding it back to the can to serve.

It used to be a thing that you could cook heat your canned food, say, some Chef Boyardee for example, by putting the can in boiling water. When the food was heated all the way through you could open the can and eat. No muss, no fuss.

The change in this practice started a while back when cans were starting to incorporate plastic liners in them to help keep the cans from rusting and avoid flavor issues from the contents of the can reacting with metal….you can see this most notably in high-acid foods like tomatoes and pineapple which will eventually react with the can in a way that leaves a black ‘mold’ in the can.

This article seems to suggest that if there is an issue with the cans used these days, the negative impact is as minimal as the risk you get from microwaving your food in a plastic container.

I suppose that in a crisis, two or three days of canned ravioli heated in boiling water will do you far less damage than not eating at all, but I think I’m still inclined to just have a quality mess kit and a way to clean it. I am curious, however, about retort pouches. Obviously MRE’s are designed from the ground up to be heated in boiling water. But what about things like pouches of tuna and chicken from the supermarket? Just as boilable as MRE’s? Or are we back to worrying about plastic liners becoming part of our GI tract?

On the other hand, most foods that are canned are already cooked and simply need to be re-heated to be tasty. That doesn’t mean they can’t be eaten cold…just means they won’t be as enjoyable. And ‘not enjoyable’ beats starvation any day of the week.

Freezer redux

Posted on by

A few weeks back I received a little ‘cashback bonus’ check from CostCo. I’d been thinking that I would use it to pick up a second freezer for the basement. Of course, thats a pretty simplistic goal because nothing ever goes easy.

I figured I did not want two freezers on the same circuit. If their compressors both came on at the same time, it seemed like that would be a recipe for popping a fuse. The solution, assuming that I was right and that having two frezers on the same circuit was a problem, is to have each freezer on a different circuit. Well…yeah but.

When I moved into the house, it had an electric stove. I threw that thing away, had a gas line run to the kitchen, and put in a gas stove. So, I have a 220 circuit that is completely unused. Could I not have it made to run a 110 freezer? Short answer: with enough money anything is possible.

I asked several people and they all gave me some variation of ‘drop one leg off the 220 outlet and use that’. Look, maybe I could have done it with enough time on YouTube how-to videos, but then when I was done I’d have to call in a pro to unscrew whatever I screwed up. And when you screw up with electricity you either die or your house goes up in smoke. Why not just save a step and go straight to the pro?

So, gal at work has a husband who is an electrician. I shanghai’d him into coming by and looking at my ancient, ancient panel. He remarked it was older than him. And 75 amp service. He said the normal standard these days is 200 amp. But putting in a new panel would require all sortsa contortions to meet the rather annoying codes in this town.

What we wound up doing was running the 220 down into a new itty bitty subpanel and then running the new outlet offa that panel. Whatever, just get it done.

So, finally got my #2 freezer up and running. My plan is to use it as my ‘everyday’ freezer and use #1 as my ‘storage’ freezer. Y’know, rotate stuff outta freezer #1 into freezer #2 for use…that sorta thing. I like having the extra freezer space..not gonna deny it. I’m actually quite excited about getting to have a much better organized freezer space than what I have now.

So..thats the weekend right there. The wiring took a couple hours, cost me a few hundred bucks, but the real PITA was having to move 60 large ammo cans to the other side of the basement to make room for things. THAT was what really wiped me out.

But, hey, I’ve room for lots more bargain meats now.

Keystone Beef II

Posted on by

As you may recall, I earlier mentioned that my local WallyWorld had started carrying some Keystone meats. I’m not a huge fan of canned meats, but I’m even less a fan of going through any type of prolonged crisis having to forego meat.

I had tried the diced beef and found it quite good. Todays adventure is the ground beef. The biggest drawback I’ve heard regarding canned ground beef is that, since it is pressure cooked, the meat gets quite tender. So much so, in fact, that some people have mentioned the consistency of the ground beef as ‘mushy’…similar to the beef youd get at a Taco Bell.

One way to find out…..

I would definitely remove as much of the fat as possible before cooking. I went ahead and cooked it as-is out of the can and it created a lot of liquid.

I understand that in a survival situation ( a la ‘The Mandibles‘) you’d want that energy-rich fat, but it sure takes a while to cook off.

Consistency-wise I would not say it was ‘mushy’. It just wasnt firm and crumbly like most ground beef. What I did notice was that it had a much beefier flavor than normal ground beef. That can be good or bad depending on what youre planning on doing with this stuff, but for something like tacos (or taco sald) this would be a fine choice. Probably a go-to for sloppy joes as well. Didnt try it in a spaghetti sauce but the strong flavor might require you to adjust your seasoning in that particular entree.

For my needs, I’d combinethis with some salsa and cooked rice with maybe a lttle taco seasoning thrown in for a fast purely ‘storage food’ meal. Might also add some crushed tomatoes, peppers, onions, spices, rice, and go that route. Up to you, man…ground beef is just a sort of ‘basic building block’ to create a meal around. Sure, I can get protein from beans and rice just like the rest of the Third World, but why Third World it if you don’t have to?

As I’m sure someone will mention in comments, yes I know I can pressure can my own ground beef and save some money. Absolutely no doubt there….I have the skill and equipment. But there are times I prefer the resilience and durability of a can rather than the fragility of glass jars. Also, and this is a very -low-on-the-totem-pole consideration, if I ever need to trade or sell these to someone in Mad Max world the commercial product will be more attractive than the home-canned version.

 

Thanksgiving leftovers

Posted on by

Now is the time to hit the supermarkets for remaindered turkey and associated foods. I hit my local Albertsons and bought way too many of these lovely bacon-wrapped turkey breasts for 1/2 price:

I’ll head to the other two local stores tomorrow and Monday to catch the rest of them as they get marked down. Fortunately I have just barely enough freezer space to get these guys tucked away for later consumption. I’ve eaten turkey out of the deep freeze that was over five years old, so I have absolutely no doubt these guys will get used up at some point.

Is it a bit of work to trot around town hitting all the supermarkets looking for leftovers? Well, a bit….but to me it’s worth it. As a survivalist I try to have everything I need for whatever calamitous event I anticipate. But over the course of a year I wind up using my stove a heck of a lot more than I use my Glock. What I’m saying is, I eat every day…I don’t shoot looters every day. Thus, some emphasis on food is warranted.

What with Bidenflation, it’s a pretty good bet that next years groceries are gonna be more expensive than this years groceries. So…why not stock up? Buy that extra freezer too, ’cause it sure won’t be cheaper next year either.

Survivalism is more than just guns and camo, guys… you know that. The most likely TEOTWAWKIs will be the intimate personal ones….job loss, illness, blizzards, hurricanes, that sorta thing…and when those happen (and they most assuredly will) the odds are pretty good you’ll use a lot more food than you will ammo. Have both, of course, but be realistic: you eat far more often than you shoot.

So, go stock up while there’s bargains to be had.

Canned meats

Posted on by

I usually avoid being in WalMart on weekends (and especially at the end/beginning of the month…the EBT crowd is pretty sketch.) but I wanted to restock a few things. Specifically, I was looking for the smaller cans of Hormel corned beef hash. Found them, but what caught my eye was that also on the shelf were these:Keystone is a brand that you see fairly often in preparedness circles. Their reputation, as far as I can tell, is pretty good and I’d probably take them over any canned meats from other countries. But, I’d never seen them for sale locally. Being in #2.5 cans is a bonus over the smaller cans that I get from CostCo. The CostCo is $0.375 per ounce. This stuff comes out to, for the beef, is $0.32~ per ounce. A material savings if your going to be buying cases of this stuff. On the other hand, the price savings is irrelevant if you wouldn’t eat the stuff on a dare. So, it’ll be food experimentation time later this evening. I’m quite pleased with the CostCo Kirkland beef, so this stuff will have to be pretty good to make me switch from the Kirkland for beef. The ground beef, on the other hand, will be interesting because there is no CostCo version. My experience with packaged ground beef has been that its a bit mushy. I’ll take half a can of this, fry it up to remove moisture, and try it with spaghetti sauce. Other half I’ll do the same with but go to taco town with it.

Whats your experience been with this brand?

CostCo canned pork

Posted on by

A few years back I tried some of the canned pork from CostCo and was less than enthused. Was up there this weekend and saw a new brand there and figured it might be worth investigating.

I really have a love/hate relationship with canned meats. I love their utility, value, and logistical help. I just hate the way they smell. I have said it before and it’s true: all canned meat, when you open the container, smells like cat food.

Nonetheless, man does not live on canned chicken and canned beef alone. So I picked up a sleeve of these cans and will try them sometime during the week. Probably in a stir fry or some similar dish.

Of course, you can always can your own meat and save a few bucks but I rather like the compact package of a can like this. If I were going to store a fairly large quantity of canned meat, home canning would be my first choice since this stuff winds up running about $4.64/#. But for a grab-and-go sort of situation, it would certainly be more transportable than a large glass jar. 

Some rice, a can of this stuff, a jar of some type of sauce (Kung Pao, perhaps), some vegetables (canned or freeze dried), and a little sesame oil and you’ve really got something going on.

Anyway, when I crack one of these open I’ll report back and let you know whats what.