Saturday, November 10, 2012

BY #3: Edible, hot or cold--preferably hot

My BY today: Canned pasta

If I were adding anything to go along with this, it would be: Juice boxes. Depending on what kind of canned pasta you are talking about, when you add juice boxes, you might begin to feel that you are actually starting to fill some of the food groups. In my case, theoretically you would be providing meat and grains, since Beefaroni has both, plus tomato-ey sauce. Anyway, canned pasta would be filling, even if it would be less enjoyable without heat. You don't always have the choice when it comes to power availability in an emergency, but if you do have a way to heat it, all the better.

If you can, see what people you are responsible for prefer, and get that if you can afford it. Some brands are more expensive than others, and they do not all taste the same. In the case of canned pasta I definitely have a preferred brand, because I consider other brand(s?) I have tried to be too sweet for my taste. Sure, people should be grateful for whatever available in an emergency situation, but if you can get what you actually like beforehand, there is likely to be more comfort and less whining when you are actually in an emergency situation, especially if you end up having to eat your normally heated food cold. Annnnd, you might be one of the lucky ones whose "group of responsibility while in an emergency" prefers the 2/$1.00 cans, or whatever the least expensive deal is at this point. In a case like this, there is a question to answer--are you going for preference, if it is more expensive, quantity, so that you have more food to go around, or a mixture of the two?

As an aside, when it comes to macaroni and cheese, our family prefers a store brand that has been known to be on sale for 3/$1.00. Otherwise, if memory serves, it usually sells for around 2/$1.00. You may notice in the future that I won't put macaroni and cheese on my BY list, because it would require both water and heat to be edible. This series is focused on ready-to-eat can (or maybe jar) supplies. Macaroni and cheese is, however, at this point a great addition to food storage if you are preparing for an emergency of another sort, like job loss, rising food prices, trucking problems where store shelves go empty, or the like. Unfortunately, there are many reasons that emergencies arise. Fortunately, at this point, if people have the means, they can still store up, even if it's a little at a time.

How are your BYs going? (There might be some kind of pun in there somewhere... :)





6 comments:

ejemory said...

I spent an hour this morning putting away my recent purchases in my pantry area. It dawned on me that I do not need any canned goods at this time. So, I've decided that I will still play along, but it will make a nice donation for the food bank. I'm a blessed girl!

Marie said...

Ejemory--That's fantastic! I hope that everyone is already prepared, but thought I would do this until the end of the year for anyone who needs more ideas on foods to store that are literally ready to eat,and it's making me think of more ideas myself already... :)Even if no one else benefits, hopefully I'll have more variety in my emergency storage by the end of the year.
Your food bank is going to love you! I have actually thought that putting together a variety of canned foods might be a good Christmas present if people are thinking of others who might need a little help with preparation.
Thanks again so much for your comment--if you have any ideas for canned items that I don't mention, feel free to chime in... :)

ejemory said...

How about a canned ham that could be used to create an omelet or sliced up as a side or used along with potatoes and cheese for a yummy potato casserole?

Marie said...

Ejemory--This is excellent. Hope you don't mind if you I use this as my next BY! :) Thanks so much!

TM Frugal Gourmet said...

Mac and cheese comes in a can! Not sure if it is Franco or Chef-Boy-Ardee. And when hungry tastes great!

Marie said...

TM Frugal Gourmet--I will have to look for the mac and cheese in a can--it would likely be a hit around here! Thanks for the suggestion!