We get asked about “just add water” meals a lot. Our normal philosophy is to teach a more traditional food storage approach of storing the basics and supplementing with fruits/veggies/meats/etc. However, we do recognize that there is a time and place for having quick easy meal options in your storage as well so we have done a lot of research on the options available. We did a whole post in our “Tax Refund Week” talking about things to consider when buying just add water meals.

People always try to pin us down on which company tastes the best because, hey, who wouldn’t want their food storage to be delicious if you had to live on it for a whole year? The truth is we’ve both tasted a lot of foods and we both have different opinions on what we like best, and so does everyone else! The best thing to do is try some food from each company before you commit to a big investment of it from any one place.

Emergency Essentials is having a great sale on Mountain House #10 Cans this month and they sent us out an entree to try. I chose the Sweet and Sour Pork because I haven’t tried any other entrees that have pork in them before. I made about half the can for my family for dinner one night. Here’s what I thought:

Pros:

• This meal tasted GOOD. My kids even ate it although their favorite part was the pineapple bits and they begged for more so I threw in a few extras out of the can.
• Mountain house meals do not require “cooking time”. So I boiled water, added the food, and let it sit for a few minutes. I like this because you can conserve fuel which can be very important in a long term emergency situation.
• The sweet and sour pork had real meat in it. I like that as I think it adds flavor, texture, and nutrition to a meal. It’s convenient that it is already included in this meal with all the flavorings.

Cons:

• Because the rice had been pre-cooked in order to allow it to not need to be “boiled” I felt like the texture was just a little off from regular rice.
• The shelf life once a can is opened is only one week. So now that I’ve tasted this variety I have to use up the can and not save it for my food storage. Maybe a better idea for “tasting” is to try some of the pouch entrees.
• Because these meals are pre-cooked, contain real freeze-dried meat, and come in #10 cans, they can be pricier than other food storage entrees.

If Mountain House meals meet your criteria for what you want to store, this will definitely be a good variety to try (especially since they are 25% off this month!) We polled our Facebook readers for some other of their favorites to give you even more “tested” varieties to try for your family. Check out some of their recommendations here. Some of the favorites so far are the lasagna, chili mac, and chicken salad. Feel free to share yours too!

-Jodi Weiss Schroeder
http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net