Home made MRE's??

**NewLeaf** · 03-11-2009, 03:50 PM

Does anyone have any recipes for home made Meals Ready to eat? I have a few dry soup recipes. Any other ideas? I would like to put some of these in my bug out bags.

**Contrary Housewife** · 03-12-2009, 03:23 PM

Cheese and cracker packages
powdered drink mixes
powdered milk
canned milk
small condiment bottles (I know those mini tabasco bottles can be had)
canned fruit
dried fruit
unopened jars of peanut butter and jelly
crackers or crisp breads
instant coffee
tea bags
salt and sugar packets
canned tuna/chicken/ham
instant rice or beans
granola bars

Don't forget napkins, plastic silverware, can opener, baggies for leftovers, wet wipes, empty bottles to mix drinks in....

If you do an internet search you can find real MRE's for sale as low as 99c each, or buy them by the case at a discount. There are also a lot of dried/preserved meal options for campers that are reputed to have better flavor and texture, and higher prices. But if you shop carefully you can put aside a collection of goodies for a reasonable cost.

**LastDragonfly** · 03-12-2009, 03:29 PM

I've got the tuna in the foil pouches as well as the chicken and spam in foil pouches.
Single serve coffee
nuts
dehydrated fruit
mini chocolate bars

**known2him5** · 03-12-2009, 05:43 PM

juice or water in pouches
granola bars, or energy bars
hard candy,gum
condiments
crackers
individual meat (spam, tuna, salmon, etc)
veggie chips in individual packets( they are new, but provide a complete serving of veggies in a serving of chips)

**Grainlady** · 03-13-2009, 11:42 AM

Lots of great ideas already given. Those are the kinds of things I keep in my 72-hour kit - foods that don't require heating or refrigeration. If you Google - homemade MRE's - you'll find all kinds of similar ideas.

**MomToTwoBoys** · 03-13-2009, 12:06 PM

You'll want to be careful with MREs because of a variety of things:

1) The shelf life of the items inside of the MRE is pretty much longer than most things you can buy in the supermarket.

2) A complete MRE's calorie count is in at least the 2k range.

3) You need to drink a lot of water with a real MRE. By a lot of water, that means you need to drink at least one 32oz canteen worth of water with each meal.

They're designed to provide a soldier with enough calories to help them get through things like long marches, patrols at night, etc. We ate them when I was in boot camp and while they're delicious, they're not meant to be eaten all of the time. If you don't drink enough water, you'll dehydrate.

You'd be better off getting an MRE kit in the cases on a military base or at an accredited military surplus store near a military base. I wouldn't buy them online at all.