MRE's are a good addition to any survival bag. They have a good shelf life, up to 5 years under ideal conditions, they have gotten better as far as taste goes over the years (for the most part anyway), they are compact, and offer a good caloric intake. Unfortunatly they are fairly expensive, usually running $79.99-$99.99 for a case of twelve meals depending on where you look, and there is no way of knowing how they were stored or handled and therefore no way of knowing how much "life" they have left.
The price of MRE's and the "not knowing for sure" got me to thinking, "Why not make my own MRE's?" I looked into freeze drying my own meats,fruits, etc. and even a small freeze drying set up was cost prohibitive for me.
So I started looking at foods I eat on a regular basis and their shelf life and came up with a simple DIY MRE that costs between $2.99-$4.00 a meal, depending on what you choose to add, that's $ 38.88-$48 a case, about half of what regular MRE's cost, and a lot better tasting!
The price of MRE's and the "not knowing for sure" got me to thinking, "Why not make my own MRE's?" I looked into freeze drying my own meats,fruits, etc. and even a small freeze drying set up was cost prohibitive for me.
So I started looking at foods I eat on a regular basis and their shelf life and came up with a simple DIY MRE that costs between $2.99-$4.00 a meal, depending on what you choose to add, that's $ 38.88-$48 a case, about half of what regular MRE's cost, and a lot better tasting!
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I was able to pick up everything in the pictures for $35.85 at the local Wal-Mart. The Kool-Aid, tea mix, peanut butter, salt, creamer, and gum will make 50-60 DIY MRE's. I buy the microwave Complete meals by the dozen, they come in 9 different flavors and cost $1.75 (at least where I live in Colorado). We buy enough boxes of cocoa mix, crakers, and pop-tarts to make a dozen DIY MRE's every other week if need be. The buillon cubes and coffee come 24 to a package so you can get 12-24 DIY MRE's out of them before they need to be replaced.
The main "cost" to the DIY MRE is the Microwave Completes meal, the rest of the "ingerdients" average $.04 each per meal, less if you can buy them in bulk or on sale.
One of the great things about the Microwave Complete Meals is they can be eaten cold (like a regular MRE), heated with an MRE heater (if you have them), by placing them in hot water, or by emptying the package into a canteen cup or mess kit and heating over the fire.
The main "cost" to the DIY MRE is the Microwave Completes meal, the rest of the "ingerdients" average $.04 each per meal, less if you can buy them in bulk or on sale.
One of the great things about the Microwave Complete Meals is they can be eaten cold (like a regular MRE), heated with an MRE heater (if you have them), by placing them in hot water, or by emptying the package into a canteen cup or mess kit and heating over the fire.
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Not sure how shelf stable they are, but i've been known to forget and leave my lunch bag in the car overnight, in the Central Valley (California) summer heat. Still tasted okay, and i'm still alive!
Love this instructable, and the comments.
BTW- converted rice works well too. If you can't heat water, just soak it for an hour.
I've never used a Food saver at home, but I've used vacuum sealers extensively in my work. An important point is that the bags themselves have a lifespan. The cheapest bags will start to admit air in as little as a month or two. The best bags, with the longest lifespan & ability to preserve your food will be the most expensive, but the cost amortizes better. In the industry, at any rate, bags are rated by the months they retain their seal. Not sure if that is true of home-type vacuum sealer bags.
My point is I would avoid cheapo Chinese dollar store sealer bags, since there is a direct correlation between price and quality here. Foolish to go to the trouble of creating these nifty MREs and have the seal fail while in storage.
Kind of a big issue though:
- I've noticed that with your current set up you average about 1600 calories, which means if you're backpacking you'll need anywhere from 2-3 of these meals just to match the activity level. Also nutritionally these are pretty protein and fat deficient. Carbs are where the energy is but without protein to aid in tissue repair and fat to make things easier you won't (and shouldn't) be on these meals for long.
Possible solutions?
+I found at target they had these Archer Farms non-frozen microwave meals that were almost identical to the compleats meals only slightly more expensive ( got one on clearance for $1.52, normally 1.79). They have about 100 more calories and more protein than the meals in your list, taste varies on individual items lol.. Except that it's more expensive this jumped my "MRE" to 1700 calories and was a big protein increase.
+I was really trying to bump up the protein on this one, and I figured we already had coffee, tea and gatorade (used instead of kool-aid because of the potassium--again a price hike, but better quality drink mix and cheap in bulk). So I removed the cocoa mix and added instead the equivalent of 20 grams of chocolate protein powder instead. You can buy some really cheap stuff at costco or again at target, so your individual unit cost is pretty low, but the huge benefit is more protein.
So the difference here is about +150 extra calories, same carbs and about 30 more grams of protein.
My rough numbers of the before (for your mre as listed) is rounded to about 1600 calories 65 grams of fat, 230 grams of carbs (7.8 fiber, 100 sugar) 40g protein and about 10,000mg salt (kinda high, and that doesn't included the added salt packet, but backpacking you need the salt.. but probably only 6000mg of it).
Sorry to get all mathy for a second there, but balancing the meal with a good ratio of carbs/fat/protein is good for performance and overall meal satisfaction.
Any comments or tips from anyone about this or variations would be awesome! thanks again to the poster for making this awesome idea a reality!
1 - These things are bad for you, but I love those slim jim beef jerkey and cheese sticks.. the ones at gas stations that come with two sticks, beef and cheese. That would be another protein boost (and tons of fat) but the salt content of these things is off the charts.. also I could only find them for about $0.80 each so unless you buy them in bulk (which I haven't found a price on) they're not going to be worth it.
2 - Cheese. I keep toying with the idea of cheese. Spray cheese is disgusting, but if you need protein... lol no, still no. But I want to add cheese because it would really up the ante on different meal types and variations. Also I have no aversion to dairy, and others might, so this may not be an ideal solution to the protein problem, but its something i've been looking into. It's going to be tough to find a cheese that would work in this though with out refrigeration.
3 - Meat pouches. thinking of stuff like the tuna that comes in pouches (which is expensive), but with crackers this could be a really good protein kick. So I'll be doing research into prepackaged meat "pouches" and seeing what's out there and what the prices are.
4 - Dried raisins or other dried fruits. This is going to be straight carbs so a step in the wrong direction, but they come packed with some vitamins. My hope is balancing the vitamins with this. Also fruit has potassium in it so another plus.
5 - Sauce packets. I love soy sauce and hot sauce, and both tend to come in free packets from chinese and fast food places. Real MREs have mini tabasco bottles in them and I have to say they can save a bad meal or revitalize pallet fatigue (from eating the same stuff over and over). Also on a side note, instead of making a separate salt and pepper packet, you can get these guys for free from your local burger shop, just grab a few extra each time you go. That way you can save the extra bag/pouch and you don't have to buy salt or pepper. ;)
Handi-Snacks. You know those little packs with pasturized cheese and crackers? You can easily cut off the cheese portion if you don't want the crackers.
www.internet-grocer.net sells a canned chedder cheese than you can shred and melt call Bega. It's not the somewhat liguid substance you think of when you think "canned cheese", it's solid.It has been designed for places that don't have refrigeration. It's pricier at about $3.99 a can but you get about 6 servings in 7.5 oz.
www.theepicenter.com sells 1.5 oz. of cheese spread packets. Two kinds i think reg cheese and bacon cheese at $11.88 for a 12 pack, sadly they don't sell individuals.also they have lots of other MRE stuff.
You can always collect up those packets of parmesan cheese that often come with pizza or pasta orders, better than nothing!
Well, hope that helps out, maybe i'll post my own MRE recipe some time.
I have tried the "Air Cheese" thing by spraying into a vacume pouch and sealing right away. Unfortunatley it doesn't last that long. It goes rancid after about 3-4 weeks. Not sure if it has to do with it hitting the air when it comes out of the can or what but I have since dropped it from the meal.
I have tried to find the little Tabasco bottles to add to the meals but no luck yet. I got in touch with the Tabasco people directly and they do have them for sale, if you buy them in 2500 unit cases (which I can't afford).
I have allergies to fish so I have stayed away from the foil pack tuna, but I agree it is a good idea and have looked into finding other meats in foil packs that have a good shelf life. I will keep you updated on what I find.
I too love the little Slim Jim's! Lots of fatty, meaty goodness! Since first posting this Instructable I have started adding homemade jerkey to some of the meals. It is cheaper then the store bought stuff and once sealed has about a 24 month shelf life.The same with home dehydrated fruits. I personally have an aversion to bannana's but apple, peach, and pears are being dehydrated weekly to add to the meals.
I have begun to toy with using cheese wax to seal portions of cheese to add to the meals.I seal the cheese in the wax in portions for the meals and let them sit on the counter, in a dark cupboard, and the fridge. Once a week I taste test one of the wax sealed portions. The experiment is only about 6 weeks old but so far the only issues I have had are with Swiss cheese. It seems to go bad after about 3 weeks. Cheeder and Jack cheeses are still going strong, so we will see.
My daughter has kind of gotten in on helpping daddy with these and has begun to make a "trail mix" for addition to the meal that has nuts, dried furits, and M&M's. Tastey for sure and adds a quick snack to the meal.
I have begun using your suggestion and started grabbing a few extra salt and pepper packets from various fast foood joints and convience stores as well as "sauce packets". I have found a convience store that has chopped onions in small portion control packets and have also begun to grab an extra couple of those when I stop in for a hot dog and soda.
I will be posting an updated MRE Instructable in the next few weeks and I plan on incorporating many of your suggestions as experrimentaion plays out.
On a side note the original idea behind these meals was as a survival meal in case you found yourself stranded in the car on the side of the road in the middle of no where or stuck in a snow bank (likely wherre I live). If I can get the calories count up to at least 1900-2000 calories adding them to more then my BOB and car kit will be on the list.
Thanks again for the comments!
I gather from reading your reply that we are rather similar. I too hate banana (just can't stand the flavor, texture, etc) and we seem to have a lot of the same ideas.
The only cheese I've found that has survived a week for me is the prepackaged ones that come with the jerky (as I mentioned above), but then I'm also in a high heat area 105F avg daily. So I've been testing room temperature as well as high heat test. A lot of the meals survive and don't go bad even at temperature so I think you were spot on with the Compleats meals. Although I probably wouldn't recommend leaving the meal out in the heat very often. Eventually it's not going to be ok haha.
I really like your homemade jerky and dehydrated fruits idea. That'll add to the protein and nutrient count. I've been toying with the idea of making my own meals and packaging them. I'm guessing it will be cheaper than buying the meals, but I'm wondering how long it will survive before going bad and what I can do to make it last longer. This is a prelim thought process though so I'll have to do a ton of research. Maybe leading to an instructable of my own? :)
Your daughter's idea is great. Trail mix has an almost perfect blend of protein, fat, and complex and simple carbohydrates. That will add greatly to the meal. I already make my own before I go backpacking but I tend to just zip lock bag it (less time consuming than vacuum packing it), and I'm carrying it on hand to snack on while I hike. For an MRE though, it'd be a good add a pouch of this to a meal type or two just to bump the calories.
Side note: I bought a grab bag candy mix just to get things like tootsie rolls on the cheap. I'm not a big fan of candy, but it's nice to have a bit of sweets in your pack for desert :]
I saw there's another "MRE" meal on here but it's more like a ration pack because a lot of it requires water to make and consume the food items. but there was a decent point on the ramen noodles idea. You can eat ramen noodles dry (not very tasty). But adding them might actually add something else to the meals. But the drawbacks is that they're not very calorically dense, takes up space, and best when cooked. I'm still working around the ideas, but I'm looking for something with noodles or some kind of asian flavored meal idea. That way all the take out packages of soy sauce will come in handy haha.
I'll keep you posted on ideas and successful trial runs. I really love this idea tom, thanks for posting it!! And responding too! :)
Me, I just like having a "meal-ready-to-eat" while I am out camping, fishing, hiking, or whatever, when I don't have the time to cook or "prepare" a meal.
And, yes those MRE's are expensive and sometimes not as nutritious as you might think. They are generally meant as a "bridge" between hot meals.
Great idea, tomsweet65! Glad you gave us something to think about.
Regards
Tom
I'm showing my age here, but this dates back to pre-microwave tech when boil and bag meals were the simple "heat and eat" rage.
NATICK did a study, in 120 degrees the shelf life of MRE's is a few weeks, an uninsulated garage can get that hot in the summer time, the trunk of your car can get 140 degrees also.
I would recommend getting some gum with xylitol like the original mre has. That way you can prevent cavities in the field.
*This post was not paid for by the American Dental Association...but they probably would do something like this if they would have thought of it.
Maybe, if possible, work to separate the kool aid and similar into smaller individual serves, if they aren't already. Ideally one satchet equivalent for a canteen.
I spent 6/12 year in Australian Army and back then we got 2 X coffee and 2 X tea. We had the Sweetened Condensed Milk in a tube, as an option for you as well. But make it so there are provisions for 2 hot drinks. 1 morning, one evening. My thoughts.
Overall, a great ible ... but the comments in the pictures are a little hard to read.
Tom