Emergency Eats

The Ontario government wants every household to put together an emergency preparedness kit, so we can see ourselves through the first three days of Armageddon. After three days they will swoop in and rescue us, but until then, we are on our own. In addition to a whistle and a deck of cards, they suggest that our emergency kits contain a sufficient supply of imperishable food.

Mountain House makes a variety of freeze dried meals that are ideally suited for storage in your bomb shelter. They come in pouches with a seven year shelf life and in cans with a 25 year shelf life. You simply add hot water, wait ten minutes and serve.

As a public service, my family and I sampled a couple of their freeze dried entrees at dinner one evening. We tried the spaghetti in meat sauce and the beef stew. They were as simple to make as had been claimed and, since I made them right in the pouches, there were no dishes to clean. Now we’re talking state of emergency convenience, but how about the taste?

My husband is a picky eater; as picky now as he was when he was five. At the top of the list of things he doesn’t like to eat, you will see in big bold letters, pasta and tomatoes. So, his opinion on the spaghetti and meat sauce doesn’t count. He did his best to swallow his portion without tasting it. On the other hand, my son and I love spaghetti; we’re connoisseurs. We liked it just fine. I would say that the spaghetti in meat sauce was better than anything out of a can and would be a tasty way to wait out the impending alien invasion.

The beef stew wasn’t such a winner. It’s better than starving to death, don’t get me wrong. I would sooner eat freeze dried beef stew than let the aliens win, but we won’t be adding it to our regular dinner rotation. The potatoes, carrots and beef were all cut into exactly uniform little cubes which caused our son to mistake the beef for dirty potatoes. He refused to try it. My husband tried it and then gave it to the dog. I ate it. It wasn’t great, but I ate it. I’m determined to survive the apocalypse and go on repopulate the Earth.

Mountain House entrees are easy to store and prepare. They are nutritionally valid, with lots of veggies, though a little high in sodium. We didn’t expect much from freeze dried rations, so I was pleasantly surprised that they were edible. Once you find the entrees you like, it is a convenient option for campers and backpackers and would certainly do the trick as a food supply to carry you through the end of days.