72 Hour Kits Revisited: Part 2 of 2

In Part 1 of 72 Hour Kits Revisited, we talked about supplies to have in your 72 Hour kit, along with some great reader tips to think about when building your kits. Today we’re talking about something we all LOVE….FOOD! We’ll also be talking about things to consider for special circumstances or situations like pets, kids, and babies.

We’ve been asked a couple of times for pre-made menus and each time we’ve gone to prepare them, we’ve stopped because we can’t please everyone 🙂 We decided the best way to help you plan the food for your kits was to do 2 things. The first is to give you a personal meal planner worksheet. The second is to give you a long list of foods people have suggested, then you can fully customize your plan. PLEASE – DON’T GET OVERWHELMED. – THIS POST IS LONG – WE KNOW, WE COMPILED IT! Just use it as a guide and press forward. Here we go:

This worksheet can help you get your thoughts down on paper. Print it out, fill it out with foods your family will eat, then you can place the menu plans in your 72 hour kits. It’s a good idea to place the menu plans in your kits so you don’t forget what you had planned to eat when the time comes.

There are a lot of different ways of eating out there! Some people want healthy, some want no cook meals, some want meals you don’t have to rotate, there’s allergies to consider and ages. We polled our readers and got some ideas. See which category, or categories you fall under and pick foods from there.

REGULAR FOOD OPTIONS:
-Granola bars (vacuum sealing them makes them last longer)
-Chocolate candy/chips
-Dried fruits/dehydrated fruits
-Tuna pouches (already packaged from store)
-Wheat crackers for the tuna
-Raw almonds
-Hot cocoa
-Fruit drink mix
-Raman noodles/cup a noodles
-Jerky (though salty will make you more thirsty)
-Pouches of soup mixes (potato, broccoli, chicken noodle) just add water
-Canned: spaghettios, raviolis, tuna, sardines (can be eaten cold) (figure I can put 1 can in each bag to supplement food rations, so nobody has to carry a -bunch of heavy cans (the cans have the pull tops so no need for can-opener – we’ve been told these can explode when you open them, so be careful)
-Peanut butter
-Small jar jelly
-Small container honey
-Banana chips (the potassium in them can help with muscle soreness if your are using muscles helping people in a disaster type situation)
-Protein powder
-Gatorade (you’ll need electrolytes)

MINIMAL ROTATION OPTIONS (MRE’S):
Emergency Food Bars (i.e 3600 calorie bars)
MRE Meals
MRE Meals can last up to 25 years – remember to store water and cooking fuel
-Beef stroganoff
-Spaghetti
-Lasagne
-Chili mac
-Breakfast skillet
-Chicken and rice
-Chicken ala king

“HEALTH’IER” OPTIONS:
-Instant oatmeal (none of those colored frankenmeal ones – just maple, cinnamon, or organic varieties)
-Foodsaver bag of 3 days’ worth of dehydrated apple chips (with an oxygen absorber to extend shelf life)
-Bush’s baked beans, 8 oz. pop top (This is used as a cooking vessel to heat other foods – wash and save this can after use.)
-Pouches of “squeezy fruit” baby food (Plum Organics, Ella’s Kitchen, or Happy Baby – found online, Target, or Babies/Toys R Us)
-Pouches of big kid squeezable applesauce
-Chunk light tuna in water (This fish contains much less mercury than the white or albacore.)
-2-3 foil packets of mayonnaise and relish (to make an impromptu tuna salad)
-Shelton’s Chili (Delicious and additive-free! Two kids can share a can.)
-Cascadian Farms kid size peanut butter chocolate chip granola bars
-Resealable bags of dried fruit or large raisin boxes
-Yummy Earth lollipops and/or a small bag of Surf Sweets gummies
-Lunchbox size packs of crackers such as Late July
-Laughing Cow cheese wedges (They do not require refrigeration.)
-Reverse osmosis filtered water, each with a small rock of Himalayan pink salt added in order to re-mineralize the water.
-Crystal Light Pure (sweetened with stevia and sugar, all natural flavors and colors)
-Packet of Emergen-C

GLUTEN FREE OPTIONS:
-Larabars
-Lundberg Rice Cakes
-GF Granola (like Bakery on Main)
-Beef Jerky
-Can of Chicken or Tuna
-Mary’s Gone Crackers
-Dinty Moore Beef Stew
-Hormel Chili
-Applesauce
-Canned Fruit
-Fruit Leather
-Fruit Roll-up or Fruit Snacks
-Raisins
-Boxes of Pacific Almond Milk
-Peanut or other Nut Butter
-Honey

VEGAN OPTIONS:
-Prepackaged precooked meals (like the Indian dishes that can be found in mylar bags in the ethnic foods aisle at the grocery)
-Cliff bars
-Lara bars
-Nut bars
-Vitamin B12 tablet
-Bar of vegan dark chocolate
-Peanut butter
-Nuts packaged in food saver bags
-Seeds packaged in food saver bags

NO COOK OPTIONS:
-Cereal bars
-Crackers
-Peanut butter
-Pudding cups
-Fruit cups
-Fruit roll-ups
-Cans of vegetables
-Pork and beans (can eat cold)
-Granola bars (vacuum sealing them makes them last longer)
-Chocolate candy/chips
-Dried fruits/dehydrated fruits
-Almonds

KID FRIENDLY FOODS:
-Tuna pouch
-Chicken pouch
-Canned peas, carrots
-Crackers
-Craisins, & other dried fruit
-Fruit snacks or other candy treat type things
-Cheerios in vac sealed bag
-Canned fruit (mixed, pears, peaches, apple sauce)
-Bottle & Single serving milk packets
-Granola bars
-Hormel complete meals – chicken & rice or turkey & mashed potatoes

CONSIDERATIONS FOR BABIES
-Instant formula
-Plenty of diapers or cloth diapers
-A travel package of wipes
-Pacifiers
-3 cotton/flannel wraps, and 2 muslin wraps.
-Baby food
-Washcloths
-Small comfort toy/s.
-Clothes – and plenty of them!
-Ziplock bags. These work great for storing used diapers or anything else that is dirty, or clean for that matter.
-Bulb nose syringe and saline
-Infant tylenol/motrin.
-Desatin or other diaper rash cream and travel-sized baby powder
-For detailed information on these items- visit this post

KID KITS: ITEMS
-Small Backpack or Bag
-Paper, Coloring Book
-Crayons, Pencils
-Travel Games- Candy Land, Chutes and Ladders, Checkers
-File Folder games
-Crossword book, Sudoku book
-Card games- Go Fish, Old Maid, UNO
-Books

CAT KIT (alter for other pets):
-1 gallon of water
-1 plastic gallon jug filled with dry food
-1 12 pack box of wet food packets
-1 small bag of treats
-Small litterbox
-Litter scoop
-Plastic gallon jug filled with kitty litter
-Small plastic trash bags for scooped waste disposal
-Towel
-Mini pet first aid kit
-Vaccination/vet records
-Color photo of cat
-Extra collar w/contact info
-Leash and harness

COOKING SUPPLIES
– Plastic utensils
– Paper plates
– Small cup
– Tin can for cooking
– Matches
– Can Opener (if needed)
– Fire starter packets
– Esbit stove and fuel pellets
– Stove in a Can
– Backpacking Stoves
– Sterno canned heat