Calories? I had quite an eye opener.

[Lindals]

I came across a site that suggest you put a weeks worth of meals in a bucket for a family of 4 and have it ready to share if neighbors needed. Having it ready will stop having to collect and assemble while they wait or something like that.

 

Well I thought what a good idea. I could have them ready for family as I have 8 older siblings (5 still have their spouses) and most are poorer than church mice. We are talking in their 70s.

 

Ok to the point of this message. I thought what a good idea, I could make these up and have them ready when the time is needed. Well I also began to pay serious attention to calories and wrote down how many each meal would supply. I have discovered I am way off on calories.

 

Meals were running around 900 calories a day for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I took a closer look at what I was putting in and realized the protein was mainly tuna or chicken. I need to add more protein that is for sure. So I put in peanut butter but am still very low.

 

Example: ( Oatmeal and a box of raisins (L) Ramen noodles with added vegetables (D) Tuna Helper Creamy Broccoli , 2 cans tuna added peas (Snacks) 28 g mixed nuts

 

What would you suggest for some of these meals? I really need to boost these up as it holds true for all my prepping meals.

 

Thanks for your help.

[Andrea]

First of all, remember that as we age, we need fewer calories so while 900 calories is low, I wouldn't try for more than 1,200-1,500 per person for day for people in their 70's. Also, these are emergency rations, so I wouldn't be too concerned with perfectly balanced meal plans. In each bucket, maybe include a snack size ziploc bag with a weeks worth of multi-vitamins?

Suggestions for other additions:

 

canned chili and soda crackers

chef-boy-r-dee products (ravioli, spaghetti, etc)

Hormel ready to eat meals (these are in plastic containers and are shelf stable)

dried apricots, prunes, banana chips

nuts - almonds, peanuts, cashews, etc

cereal bars

protein bars

any "meal" bar (Luna, cliff bars, etc)

hard candies like lifesavers or jolly ranchers

CHOCOLATE! (don't underestimate the moral boost of a fun size snickers bar!)

water flavor packets

 

baby wipes, candles & a lighter, flashlight w/batteries on the outside, plastic eating utensils, a few paper plates, and trash bags.

a flat of water for each person.

 

If it were me, I would "gift" these buckets to each person now. Seal the bucket and write on it "for emergency use only". In 6-9 months when your crackers/meal bars are about to go stale, rotate those items out for them. Or, give them a new bucket each Christmas and tell them to use the products in the old bucket and return it to you.

 

Hope this helps! By the way, I think this is a wonderful idea. I may do something like this for my family and neighbors.

[The WE2's]

I see lots of good advice coming your way! I'm a firm believer in the fiber one type bars (I've managed to stock up on about 20 cases or so), the powdered kegs of protein (I keep for shakes etc.) Don't forget rice and pasta dishes where you can puncture the bag, then tape the hole with black electrical tape, fold the top over and you can get about 15+ in a 5-gallon storage bucket. Sometimes you can find these meals on sale really cheap.

[Jeepers]

I don't have any suggestions but I do like your idea of having buckets made up like that.

 

AND, you have a lovely family!

[Lindals]

Thanks so much for your input, I was thinking 2000 calories a day because of stress. This makes it so much easier. Yes the canned items would be great. I never really gave chocolate a thought as I am not a lover of it. But you are right most people are.

 

Andrea those ideas are perfect and much easier. I love the prepackaged meal idea. Philbe I will be checking into those bars. They will need the fiber plus the snack. Jeepers Thanks for the nice words. We are very blessed to all still be here as I am the youngest of this bunch at 65 and the oldest is 78.

[Ambergris]

Canned squirt cheese

Ramen

[Andrea]

Lindals - you are very welcome. I think this is a great idea and I'm thinking about putting something like this together for my family, although I'll probably use copy paper boxes since they are plentiful and I can get them for free!

 

The ready-to-eat foods are not all that good for us, but in a true emergency situation, all of the foods I listed don't need to be heated or cooked, they can be eaten as is. But, that doesn't mean that some instant or regular rice couldn't be included as well. A can of beef stew and three cups of cooked rice could easily feed three people, where the can of stew by itself would only feed one. You might also want to include some pasta - it's cheap, filling, and like the rice, can help stretch some of the canned foods. For example, a can of chili mixed in with a lb. of cooked spaghetti stretches that can of chili much, much farther.

 

Also, don't get caught up in trying to provide every single calorie and nutritional need. Don't forget that most people do have a bit of extra food in the house - even if it's that specialty jar of pickled brussel sprouts that they received as a gift last Christmas! What you might want to consider is printing out some of the info found here:

http://www.ready.gov/

 

Give them their emergency kit with some of this information and stress to them the importance of having at least a weeks worth of medications stored up. You can even show them the pamphlet where the government supports this! (If they are dgi's, they won't think you're a crazy prepping lunatic if you provide government pamphlets!)

 

Oh, and I forgot to add jerky to the list! You already mentioned peanut butter, which is a great source of fat, protein, and calories. For longer term storage, you might consider some of the Mountain House freeze-dried pouches but honestly, they are pretty expensive compared with the canned and shelf stable foods I've already mentioned.

 

Again, great thread. Thanks for bringing this up. It's something we all might want to consider. As someone once said,"It's easier to feed your neighbors than to shoot them!" (Sorry, I can't remember who. It may have been Steven Harris on a Survival Podcast)