Seven Days Worth Of Meals
You can make seven days’ worth of meals for survival very easily. If you start with seven days for each member of your family by bagging them in complete meals you are good to go. Now, let’s be honest here, none of us want processed food to eat for every meal.
But, just think how easy this would be if you looked in your pantry and saw seven bags filled with complete meals for each day ready to serve after a disaster or unforeseen emergency. Or, you can make 7 bags worth of breakfast meals, lunches, and dinners, thus making 21 bags.
Be sure and remember that water is the most important item you should have stored. I recommend four gallons per person per day, although the American Red Cross recommends only one gallon per day per person. You have heard me say this before, I disagree with that amount, but that’s just me. Here’s the link they talk about how much water they recommend: American Red Cross (page 7).
7 Meals For Survival
If you can start with just seven days it may not seem so overwhelming to be prepared with some almost ready-to-eat meals. I see a lot of stores right now with case lot sales. If you like green beans or corn buy a couple of cases. Canned tomatoes are great too.
Get a case of spaghetti sauce, but get the pasta to go with it. Make it a family affair and let everyone choose their favorite canned vegetables, canned fruit, canned meat, mayonnaise, and crackers. Throw in some popcorn because you can always pop some popcorn in a Dutch oven outside if you have charcoal stored in airtight containers.
Once you have seven days then add another seven days and before long you will have 30 days or more worth of food sitting in your pantry ready to serve after a disaster. Please remember a can opener. You will need to buy enough of the food items you decide to choose for your entire family. My husband Mark could eat a whole can of chili or Spaghettio’s for lunch or dinner, just saying.
I met a friend for lunch the other day and she mentioned one of her friends decided they would make 52 weeks of complete meals in bags, one week at a time. Every week they purchased a week’s worth of meals for the whole family. At the end of the 52 weeks, they started all over again. They did not buy #10 cans with food storage. They have a large family and decided this way to fit their budget a lot easier.
Here are a few of my ideas, and I’m sure you have some ideas I can add to the list. So let’s get started. Of course, if you make some of these mixes from scratch you will not need the mixes I have shown below. I do like the idea of grab-and-go meals, though.
We can eat everything out of a can (but we will need to boil the pasta), so I recommend when you can budget for it to purchase a butane stove like this one: Camp Chef Butane 1 Burner Stove with Camping Case
and extra fuel: 12 Butane Fuel GasOne Canisters for Portable Camping Stoves
You can boil your water if you had to with one of these stoves as well.
Breakfast Meals For Survival
Instant milk, cereal, muffin mixes, pancake mixes, canned fruit, canned juices or applesauce
Lunch Meals For Survival
Canned tuna, canned chicken, canned roast beef, mayonnaise, crackers (these would replace bread), canned vegetables, canned fruits, chips and salsa, and sardines (that’s for my husband).
Dinner Meals For Survival
Canned beef stew, canned chili, canned soups, crackers, spaghetti sauce, pasta, canned vegetables, canned fruits, Spaghettios, ravioli, canned potatoes, gravy in a jar, canned chicken
If at the end of the year you haven’t eaten the food, and if it hasn’t expired you can donate the food to your local food bank. Every city has people who could use that food, trust me, I know. The great thing is you will sleep at night knowing you have food and water for your family after a disaster or unforeseen emergency.
Final Word
May God bless you in your daily life to be self-reliant. Remember the government cannot take care of everyone in the short term. We must be able to take care of ourselves. We all see the newspaper and the TV reporters sharing what’s going on in the world. I must say, I’m more concerned than ever that people be prepared for whatever comes their way.
One of my biggest fears is that friends, neighbors, and family may think someone else will have the “stuff” they need should a disaster hit their street.
What are your thoughts on this? I have a neighbor that has vitamins for her food storage. Really? I have vitamins as well, but not to replace my food storage. I worry that my neighbors do not have water, I know many do not have any water stored. I know a small handful that does, and I’m so grateful for their diligence.
I get so many emails from different church leaders asking me how they can put the “fire” under their members. That’s a tough question. I don’t need anyone to put the fire under me. I don’t get it. I’m not sure who those who won’t get prepared think will help them when disaster strikes. We all need to plan ahead and be more self-reliant. Thank you for being prepared for the unexpected. May God bless this world. Linda
My favorite emergency items:
Prepare Your Family for Survival: How to Be Ready for Any Emergency or Disaster Situation
by Linda Loosli
Lodge Camp Dutch Oven, 6 Qt
Blue Can – Premium Emergency Drinking Water
Berkey GSPRT Generic 22-Ounce Water Filter Sports Bottle, 3-Pack
Copyright Image: Depositphotos_4615414_m-2015Bags
Great ideas. I also have a vegetarian so I purchase protein powder and flavored tvp .
Hi Karen, great tips on protein powder and TVP. Linda
I have boxed up 3 days worth of canned food for 2 adults…..5 times now. After reading this article I am going to toss in one of those tiny metal can openers (maybe clear tape it to the inside of the lid) and several packages of plastic utensils with napkins….the kind you can buy at Costco. I store a case of bottled water with each box too. This is just a very small part of our food and water storage but you never know when this is exactly what you or someone else might need. Thank you for all you write about. I appreciate it.
Hi Deborah, I am adding your comments to my post!! The paper products you and I have stored but not everyone thinks about them! Thank you! Linda
Hi Deborah,
After having a can opener malfunction while camping I decided to purchase several high quality manual can openers to add to my emergency supplies. I cannot imagine being in the midst of an emergency and having no can opener to open food for my hungry children.
We also store lots of paper products and plastic utensils (and trash bags for disposal). I love reading comments from others who are prepared – so many are not 🙁
Take care,
Kathy
HI Kathy, I have to have a few extra can openers as well! I’m glad to hear you are storing paper products and garbage bags! I love it! Linda
Nice to find this site. I am an 82-year-old grandmother living alone with my kitty, Grace. Joy, her sister, ran off about six years ago. I want to learn as much as I can. Thank you for sharing all of your information with us, and may God bless you.
Hi Marilyn, it’s so nice to hear from you. I love the name of your kitty! Being a grandmother is awesome, right!! Hugs! Linda
I have to ask—how often you rotate this food. Old crackers are awful! I’ve been working on my emergency preps this week and crackers are not part of it.
I considered doing a week or month at a time, but recently I have been finding great sales, so I’ve been buying can goods by the case. My husband gives me an extra $100 (occasionally $200 a month) to put towards our preps. We have no kids at home, but if the situation was bad we told them to come on home—so prepping is for more than just us two.
We have thought about it and have decided we will eat a heavier meal/dinner in the morning and something light/breakfast at night. If this is for survival, we feel a bigger meal is needed to get thru a days work and something lighter to sleep on. A bowl of soup or hot cereal (oats, cream of wheat, malt o meal) in your stomach on the way to bed might be nice.) Any thoughts?
Also, in planning your meals, what do you consider, if anything? Calories? Protein content? Nutrients?
Hi Kim, as far as rotating food I try to buy long term food that is freeze dried because it has a 20-25-year shelf life (under optimal conditions). I do buy canned goods because I feel we can eat them right out of the can if we had too. I do not store crackers either for more than six months because they will be stale. I am learning to make crackers because I want to teach my readers how to make them. My recipes are expanding. Some people are intimidated by making bread, I get it. I have also been blessed to teach classes in trade for some of my bread making tools. I grew up making bread so it’s easy for me. If people can make crackers they are a great substitute for bread. I try to only buy enough canned goods (check the dates) that I can use in one year. If they are getting close to being expired I take them to our local food banks for people who can eat them now. I do not buy food for calories. I know people talk about calories on containers, etc. Here’s the deal I don’t count calories today when cooking. In an emergency, I totally agree with you that we will need to fill the belly to give us strength and stamina. I try to store food that I eat every day. We will need protein, carbs, vegetables, fruits, etc. Therefore, I store those items. I store canned meats, vegetables, and fruits. I store small jars of mayo because then there will be little waste to use with canned meat on bread or crackers. Mayo will not last forever so I only buy enough that I can use according to the expiration dates. You are doing everything right. I applaud you for being prepared. I think we will be eating a lot of soup after a disaster. We can all make soup, right? May God bless you in your efforts! Hugs, Linda
I vacuum seal crackers and have eaten some 3years old that were still crispy.
Me again….Thanks for the feed back. You know, I never thought about making my own crackers! I have bought a flour tortilla mix and masa for corn tortillas, I will have to check your recipes for your crackers. Thanks again! ~~Kim
Hi Kim, you can make corn tortillas from scratch using masa corn flour. See if this link works for you. https://foodstoragemoms.com//2013/02/how-to-make-corn-tortillas/ I love making tortillas!
Linda ~
Appropriate article as we are experiencing heavy rain/wind right now where I live. We have had power outages due to the wind as well. I haven’t lost power but I have my butane stove and water ready for it if/when it happens to me.
A couple of things that I might add for your readers:
1) I have one month’s worth of canned meals ready for immediate emergency (IE) use. Canned meats, soups, veggies, fruits, etc. BUT, these are foods that I would eat on a regular basis. I rotate all of my IEs. I also have freeze dried foods for long term storage.
2) I keep my canned meals on the shelf and rotate, rotate, rotate. I understand donating to the food bank, BUT, I really cannot afford to do that on a regular basis. The food I store is part of my food budget. So, I rotate. I use my stored IEs and don’t let them get close to the “best by” date. When I use something from my preps, I put those items on my grocery list.
3) I think that it is very important to not only store food and water, but it is also critical to our mental health to store things to go along with the food and water: something to keep our minds busy like cards, books, bible, games, etc. Also, lighting is crucial to keep us sane! I made up Emergency Lighting kits: 100 hour candles, matches, and a little direction printout to share with some of my less prepared neighbors. I used a variety of containers: empty coffee “cans”; #10 and pantry cans, etc. I did not put any food in these – strictly for lighting purposes. NOTE: I shared one with my upstairs neighbor last night! We were experiencing high winds and the lights flickered several times but we did not lose power. She said she only had a couple of tea lights and a battery operated “tea light”. I advised her to get a couple of flashlights and batteries and handed her the Emergency Lighting kit. I think she appreciated my service to her.
One last thought ~ For those reading this post, rotate your preps. I prefer fresh meats/veggies/fruits but I do use my food storage on a regular basis. Rotating keeps things fresh. If you have a tight budget for food, rotating the preps does not tax your food budget.
Hi Leanne, great comment! I hope every reader reads this today or in the future. I totally agree with rotating. I would eat my cans of food as well. My budget is tight. But so many people will not eat processed food. I’ve been known to eat and I’m still alive. I LOVE fresh fruits and veggies for sure! Happy Holidays, Linda
Good article. I can see how it would be nice not to just go to your shelves, bins, etc., and your meals are already to eat or to prepare for cooking.
In my household we have to watch out for excessive salt, fat, carbohydrates, sugar and thus we choose healthier options, but canned foods or packaged dry foods are convenient and easy to manage. And there are a lot of acceptable and even good things available. And we have a propane stove, grill and Coleman camp stove.
Our step for preparedness is to dehydrate, smoke or dry (Jerky, meats) food or can it. I am partial to your ideas of dehydration and using vacuum sealed bags and the canning jar adapter. Besides I like the versatility of those processes and the equipment.
Hi Frank, I was thinking about the sodium, etc. in the cans as well. My fear is young couples who have very little extra money to get started with a food storage stash. We all have special diets and different budgets. I hope they start with one bag or two a week. Baby steps to storing food. You are awesome as always! Linda
I love your posts. I recently bought Swing away brand can openers from Amazon one for regular cans and a larger one that is meant for #10 cans. I also found pilot crackers in a can. They are supposed to have a 25 year shelf life. It scares me that so many people have lots of “things” but no food storage.
Hi C, it’s funny you would say this because I told my husband the same thing last night at a neighborhood party. The wonderful family had a beautiful home with spectacular Christmas decorations. I asked where they stored their food storage and water. They have 72 hours kits and two empty 55-gallon barrels that need to be filled with water. It scares me as well that people have so many “things” but very little food or water to take care of themselves. I just shake my head, there are no words. This is why I write and have great readers like you that keep me going. Happy Holidays, Linda