[Metz]

When one is stocking up the larder should calories and value be taken into account more?

For example oil vs water packed tuna

Generic tang instead of Gatorade

Comparing the calories of canned spam vs oil packed tuna

Making noodles from scratch versus buying

Making dried vegetables instead of buying

Canning meats and buying the cheapest fattiest stuff you can find
(note gristle is not necessarily bad in meat, it can be cooked down to gelatin if you cook it long enough)

Rethinking ramen noodles. Are they really that much of a value for the calories you get?

Buying field corn and quick lime instead of corn meal or hominy

 

[MattB4]

When one is stocking up the larder should calories and value be taken into account more?

...

You will want to ensure you have a adequate amount of calories to suit your daily needs. It does you no good to stock foods that will not meat your daily requirement. Than there is the subject of adequate nutrition. You should get your calories from a reasonable mix of protiens, fats and carbohydrates. Along with this is fiber and vitamins that comes from leafy vegetables. Than there is the concept of quick energy foods that can get you over a quick need for a boost.

Buying that at a value will require a fair amount of thought and preparation. It is no value if your stored foods do not keep you healthy and active.

 

[eqgirl]

As we wish to survive my family tries to eat healthy and I do my best to stock those same foods. Eating ramen and processed food is not on the list. We do sometimes eat processed foods for quick meals but not on a regular basis.

My grandchildren know most anything found in the store in package can be made from scratch and are being taught to eat those things. They also can taste the difference between homemade bisquits from those in a can.

They help make oatmeal from scratch and know it doesn't have to come from a tear open package.

I see no reason to stock foods we don't eat that don't offer healthy nutrition.

Though we do store some canned type meals and convenience foods for short term emergency's. We sure don't have enough of those type foods for long term survival.

 

[ForestBeekeeper]

When one is stocking up the larder should calories and value be taken into account more?

For example oil vs water packed tuna

If you drink the oil, then yes.

... Generic tang instead of Gatorade

Both are crazy expensive, both have only a tiny level of 'nutrition' and are basically junk food.

... Comparing the calories of canned spam vs oil packed tuna

They are both kind of expensive.

... Making noodles from scratch versus buying

Sometimes you can buy noodles for cheaper than the price of the wheat.

... Making dried vegetables instead of buying

Growing your own is always cheaper.

... Canning meats and buying the cheapest fattiest stuff you can find
(note gristle is not necessarily bad in meat, it can be cooked down to gelatin if you cook it long enough)

You do not honestly need meat everyday.

... Rethinking ramen noodles. Are they really that much of a value for the calories you get?

ramen noodles are terrible in many contexts.

Basically no nutrition, lots of sodium and they are expensive.

... Buying field corn and quick lime instead of corn meal or hominy

Yes good idea.

 

[Skeptical]

Chef Boyardee is good survival stuff. It was developed for our troops in WW2. They stayed alive on it, so I think it would still work today.

 

[rgr]

what is the idea of quick lime with the corn wanna learn

 

[kev]

Between the two, nutrition is more important then calories.

You can eat 3,000 empty calories a day, but its not going to help with Scurvy and Pellagra.

Go read about the middle ages, people lived on beans, oats, fruit,,,,, very little fat, what we would consider a heart healthy diet. They got most of their calories from ale.

Then go read about the sailors who ate salted pork for months on end and died of Scurvy.

You "have" to have certain nutrients in your diet or you will die, its as simple as that. As for calories, you can get that from animal fat, beer, whiskey, sugar,,,,, a variety of sources.

 

[ForestBeekeeper]

The 'marketing' of our modern society has caused modern man to think that meat protein is a primary need for health. The same goes for cow milk.



We homeschooled our children, everywhere we lived we were always looking for museums and local features to go to and find things to learn. When we lived in Italy we were in the midst of a vast array of history. So there was much to learn [for me too]. The Roman Armies marched on a diet of primarily barley. Granted a dove or a field mouse might get roasted and eaten as a side 'treat', but even then those small portions of meat were not the daily norm.

'Rome' a TV Series that was aired 2005–2007; is a fantastic documentary of the Roman lifestyle.



You MUST have your vitamins and mineral needs covered!

Today our culture consumes massive amounts of empty calories, and we are plagued by a host of modern diseases that have never existed before.

We 'fortify' petroleum-based faux-food products so at least they take on some minimal nutritional value. Without those vitamins being fortified into them, they would simply be poison faux-food.



Take a look at: "The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil" produced in 2006. It is a documentary on how Cuba changed after going through their 'peak oil'. They lost petroleum imports, their economy collapsed. SHTF !

They had been eating a diet that exactly duplicated the US diet. They were totally dependent on petroleum for their economy. Their health scene and diseases pretty much matched the US scene.

Ten years later all our of modern diseases were gone. Completely wiped out from the island.



Calories are important. Protein is important. But balanced nutrition is of far greater importance.

Pick any vitamin, now imagine living without that one vitamin, you would die.

What about fiber? You would be dead.



Today I live in a region where the native peoples ate a local diet that had as it's primary food source, tree bark. The inner layer of tree bark from various tree species sustained the peoples here, between various seasonal harvests [fiddleheads, berries and fish].



It is a lot to wrap our minds around.

 

[MikeK]

To me, it's still best to buy what you prefer to eat. Just make sure that you buy enough of it to cover your calorie needs. Good meal planning can allow you to have tasty and nutritious meals, without forcing yourself to eat things you don't like, just because they have more calories.

 

[MikeK]

what is the idea of quick lime with the corn wanna learn

Google nixtamalization. Minimal benefits unless corn is the staple of your diet with little other variety. Fuel intensive too.

 

[Metz]

what is the idea of quick lime with the corn wanna learn

Quick lime is used to process feels corn to make it more edible.

Basically this, you sort and clean the dry corn you get for $10 a bag at the feed store or Walmart.

You boil the corn in water and quick lime for about 5 min. Basically bring to a boil for 5 min and turn off the heat. Let steep over night

In the morning the corn has been transformed into hominy.

Rinse the hominy, clean off the now separated indigestible husks

The vitamins and protein are liberated in the corn to be able to be more digested.

You can then use in posole Mexican corn soup, run it thru a hand meat grinder for tortillas and tamales or dry it and use it later as grits etc.

See Wikipedia nixtamalization

 

[Metz]

Corn can become a dietary staple if prepared via nixtamalization. Eat with beans, a jalapeño chile and some oil. You got a complete meal.

I just brought this up because I have seen so many YouTube videos lately of people who's pantry is stocked full of junk food and luxury items. Knorr meal in a pouch, instant Mac and cheese, etc.

Btw, i use the oil in the tuna. Crushed crackers mixed with tuna then fried in the oil the tuna came in.

 

[REM]

Comparing the calories of canned spam vs oil packed tuna

A good spread is good to have on all canned meats.

Have a look at sardines, mackerel and canned salmon to add variety.

I like these for the price and the content:

http://www.survivalistboards.com/showpost.php?p=3236197&postcount=1

 

[SavageSun 4x4]

If the PURPOSE of your stockage is to provide support for a SHTF scenario then you are going to want calorie dense food stuffs. You will be burning cals like gasoline and keeping the energy level is all important especially when you are limited to what you can carry with you (on back, car etc). So focus on hi protein, hi carb cal dense. Peanut butter is a good example.

 

[Monique]

As far as making stuff, also think about the value of your time. If it takes a lot of time, energy and water to make an item, would you be better off buying it? As for dehydrating, I've had good luck with dehydrating frozen vegetables, especially green beans and okra.

 

[aletoledo]

I think it would be silly to stock up on food that you don't eat on a daily basis. Can you imagine stocking up for a full year of supplies to learn that you can't palate it.

My goal is to stock the food we eat to the point that we won't even notice any interruption in the grocery stores. Maybe this is more expensive, but I think it will be made up for in reducing the stress of a crisis.

 

[Metz]

As far as making stuff, also think about the value of your time. If it takes a lot of time, energy and water to make an item, would you be better off buying it? As for dehydrating, I've had good luck with dehydrating frozen vegetables, especially green beans and okra.

The family has a vegetable farm to the north I learned yesterday. The brother in law was only growing rice but he just switched to vegetables cause it was more profitable. Looks like I got me a source of vegetables.

As far as labor doing the drying packaging, that's no problem. I can hire a helper for $7 a day to help the wife when needed. we also have 2 children and summer vacation coming in March.

 

[grandma]

My grandchildren know most anything found in the store in package can be made from scratch and are being taught to eat those things. They also can taste the difference between homemade bisquits from those in a can.

They help make oatmeal from scratch and know it doesn't have to come from a tear open package.

WAIT! Bisquits can come in a can??