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Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Dehydrated Foods

In the past, a lot of people have asked us what we think of dehydrated foods and other "just add water" meals for food storage.

Well, thanks to Food Storage Depot, now we can tell you. Food Storage Depot offers a whole line of "gourmet" food storage, and they sent us two "just add water" meals to try out.
I tried the Teriyaki Turkey with Rice. All I had to do to prepare it was add boiling water and let it simmer for 10-12 minutes. It was made with brown rice (yum) and included dehydrated veggies and some nuts for a nice, subtle crunch.

This was insanely easy to prepare and made the whole house smell delicious. And I have to say, the taste did not disappoint. Abbie was over for lunch and she thought was a little too salty, but I really like salty foods and I thought was just right. Even my two-year-old liked it.

Above photo: Teriyaki Turkey with Rice, from Food Storage Depot.

Abbie made the other meal, which she'll tell us about now:
Abs: I made Food Storage Depot's Beef Stroganoff dinner for my family one night. It was very easy to prepare--just boil in water. So nice for a busy night.


It tasted like a good casserole. It obviously wasn't as good as a homemade version of beef stroganoff, but it was pretty good for the amount of work you put in.


Above photo: Beef Stroganoff from Food Storage Depot

It's definitely a great option for those who's time is more valuable than their money.

All in all, I will definitely consider adding a few dehydrated meals to my food storage. The only thing is, I will need to be sure to have enough water stored up to actually make these meals, just in case I do not have access to clean water.

I (Hannah) am also seriously considering adding one of these Food Storage Depot meals to my 72-hour kits. I will need to pack a couple of cups of extra water in order to make them, but it would be well worth it in my opinion. The Teriyaki Turkey with Rice was pretty hearty and I know I would be very happy to sit down to a meal like that in a disaster (actually, I was very happy to have a meal like that in my own home on a regular day). One thing Abbie did point out, though, was that it takes a lot of fuel to cook something for 10-12 minutes. That's a great point. Like most foods, however, I'm sure it would cook up just fine if, in an emergency, I add the food to boiling water then just take it off the heat and let it sit for a while. Sure, it would take a lot longer, but if fuel is a hot commodity (haha), it would be just fine.

Have you considered dehydrated foods in your food storage, or in your 72-hour kits? Tell us about it!

Want to learn more about Food Storage Depot? Click here to visit their website. You can buy food storage by the month, or even a whole year's worth at once.

8 comments:

ThrtnWmsFam said...

I would love to pack these types of foods in my food storage area or even in my BOB, but I have high blood pressure and can't have anywhere near the salt in most dried foods. My son doesn't like mixed foods, and Hubby feels like they remind him of being in the service. It's good to know that they can be tasty tho.

Vikki at http://www.survival-cooking.com

SarahJane said...

We added dehydrated foods to our 72 hour kits last weekend! I was all geared up to rotate the fruit snacks and oreo cookies for Conference weekend, and then I decided to look at some backpacking meals for a trip planned next summer. I discovered that the cost of the meals was about 2.5 times what I pay for 72 hour kits+work site kits. Since the backpacking meals say they last 7 years, I decided they were a better investment. I'm also putting in an order to Walton Feed for the Mountain House flameless heating kit.

Julene said...

I love to dehydrate my own food and make soups mixes with them. I dehydrate the food an put all the different veggies that I want in a mason jar and vacuum seal them with my food saver. It will last forever and it can be part of your 3 month supply. When I find great sales on fruits and veggies I stock up and dehydrate them. It saves me money.

TjV said...

Have you ever checked out any other dehydrated food companies? I found one that is all natural and many of their foods are also kosher. I get mine from www.genesis.myefoods.com
Thanks for your website and all the tips!

Unknown said...

Dehydrated foods do make a good complement to other types of food that you are storing. We use a food dehydrator on food from our garden. One of the important things to our family is to eat non-genetically modified food. So what ever dehydrated food company you take a look at you should ask if they use non-gmo foods. I found a good source at http://www.healthystoragefood.com. We have also added these foods to our 72 hour bug out bag as well as supplement our other long term food storage.

Anonymous said...

I dehydrate all of our leftover fresh veggies then store them to add to soups, sauces, etc. I also dehydrate fruits, which are a great alternative to sugary sweets. My family also enjoys homemade beef jerky. I haven't used commerically dehydrated meals yet.

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