Hot Cocoa Combo

Have you tried our Provident Pantry® delicious Hot Cocoa mix yet?  If not, you're missing out.

Rose from Indiana had this to say about our Hot Cocoa Mix:

 "Just got a tin of the My Choice Hot Cocoa and both hubby and I think it is great. I can tell there is a nice milky taste to the cocoa and not any artificial flavor to it either. Another brand of single packet mix from a national brand has such an off flavor to the chocolate to be disgusting. We will try the other flavors in this set for sure!"

And now, we are selling a combo of all of our delicious Hot Cocoa Flavors. This four can combo comes with one of each of the following:

• Milk Chocolate Hot Cocoa
• Mint Truffle Hot Cocoa
• Raspberry Hot Cocoa
• French Vanilla Hot Cocoa

So get some! And let us know which flavor is your favorite!

14 Tips #1: Learn What to Look For

Here at Emergency Essentials®, we really try to focus on educating our customers. Over 24 years of experience have taught us a lot of really good things about what to do (and what not to do) when it comes to food storage and emergency preparation. And we see it as our job to pass that on to you!

So here are what we are calling our "14 Tips for Food Storage Shopping". These are the questions you should ask, the facts to check, and the information you will need to make the best, most well informed purchase possible for you and your family.

Over the next few weeks we will be covering each one of these extensively. So read over them, and let us know in the comments what you think!

Today, lets talk about Tip #1: Learn what to look for.

Before you even walk out the door or go to a website to buy food storage, you should have some clear goals and a specific plan in mind. We will talk about these in more detail over the next few weeks, but here are a few things to consider when putting together your Food Storage Plan.

-Have a budget: Know exactly how much you can spend before you start shopping, and don't go over budget. This will help you stay focused on what you need, rather than being caught up in salesman's hype or the latest gimmick.

-Are you a hoarder or a rotater? Some families want to buy food that they will use everyday, make a part of their diet, and rotate through their pantries to keep things fresh. If this is you, you will need to know how to use these items and incorporate them into your cooking.

Some families, on the other hand, are looking for a long term food storage plan that requires less effort. They want to buy a box of food that will last a really long time, that will be really easy to prepare, and will feed their whole family for a year.

Both of these plans have their merits, and Emergency Essentials has options for both. Know before hand what type of food storage you are looking for will save you a lot of time and money at the store or online.

Consider your family. You will need to know how many people you will need to prepare for, their age, and their dietary needs. And since most food storage lasts at least 15-20 years, you will also need to consider how old they will be in 5, 10 or even 20 years from now. Do you have parents or relatives nearby that you may need to provide for? We highly recommend our "Food Storage Analyzer" to help you know exactly what your family needs. This tool will help you start on solid ground, so you can ask the right questions and make informed decisions when you get into the stores.

Over the next few days, check back as we talk about what questions to ask, and the kinds of answers you can expect.

What advice can you offer for people looking to start buying food storage? Any tips or tricks? Sound off in the comments.

Emergency Essentials' 14 Tips for Food Storage Shopping

Here at Emergency Essentials®, we really try to focus on educating our customers. Over 24 years of experience have taught us a lot of really good things about what to do, and what not to do, when it comes to food storage and emergency preparation. And we see it as our job to pass that on to you!

So here are what we are calling our "14 Tips for Food Storage Shopping". These are the questions you should ask, the facts to check, and the information you will need to make the best, most well informed purchase possible for you and your family.

Over the next few weeks we will be covering each one of these extensively. So read over them, and let us know in the comments what you think!


Emergency Essentials' 14 Tips for Food Storage Shopping


Printable Version
1. Learn what to look for. Don’t be intimidated. Ask questions. Don’t buy until you get the answers you want.
2. Think in terms of calories per person per day. High stress situations require more calories. Under normal circumstances, adults need 2000-2600 calories per day, more if very active. Children need 1500-1600 calories per day or more to maintain growth and energy¹. Be sure you can determine how many calories per person per day you are purchasing. If you are unable to determine the quantities in a kit, combo, or year supply, you may find yourself not having as much nourishment as you thought. For example, 2,000 calories per day for a month for one person is about 60,000 total calories; for a year, 730,000.
3. Look for nutritious calories, not empty calories. Try to get calories from as wide a variety of sources as possible. A lot of calories from sugar drinks or candy are far less healthy than from balanced meals.
4. Be informed about nutritional values. For example, how much daily nutritional value, on average, will you get in carbohydrates, protein, iron, or vitamins A or C? During times of stress or disease, nutritional values take on additional importance.
5. Do not rely entirely on number of servings. Not all servings are created equal. Servings per person can be misleading if it’s not clear what the serving size is or what is included. For example, a cup of orange drink, a cup of beef stroganoff, a tablespoon of butter, or a quarter teaspoon of salt all technically count as a "serving." Make sure you are comfortable with what your supplier means by "servings per person." Three servings per day could mean only 600 calories per day. Also, serving sizes for similar products are not necessarily consistent from one supplier to the next.
6. Be concerned about menu fatigue. Buying only a few menu options may be challenging to endure should you ever need to use your food over an extended period of time. The more variety you have, the more enjoyable your eating experiences will be and less shock it will cause to your body. Think through in your mind what it would be like to eat entirely from your food storage for a week, a month, six months, or longer and compare that to the variety you’ve enjoyed over the past week. Having a variety of grains, legumes, dairy, meats, fruits and vegetables plus a variety of seasonings on hand will go a long way toward expanding your meal options. Clearly, you should not sacrifice calories and nutrition for the sake of variety and yummy meals–after all, your first priority is to save lives—but for almost no additional cost, and with some forethought, you can have a dramatically more enjoyable and healthy food supply.
7. Be aware of weights and volumes. Gross or shipping weight includes the weight of the packaging materials. "Net weight" is only the weight of the food and the best measure of how much food the package contains. Knowing the net weight or volume of what you are buying makes it easier to comparison shop. For example, focus on dollars per ounce (weight) or dollars per gallon of like items when comparison shopping, just as you do when shopping at the grocery store. Remember that the equivalent quantity of food occupies more space if it’s freeze-dried than if it were dehydrated.
8. Know what kind of cook you are. Better yet, anticipate which kind of cooking you most want to do during an extended period of difficulty. If you like to cook or bake from scratch, you can save money by emphasizing basics like wheat, rice, legumes, milk, eggs, and individual types of dehydrated vegetables, fruits, and seasonings. This gives you the greatest flexibility for menu choices and is the best way to avoid menu fatigue. If you prefer just-add-water options, you can save time and heat resources using dehydrated or freeze-dried meals or entrées. If you want to heat and eat without adding water, MREs (Meals-Ready-to-Eat)—like what the military uses—may be the ticket. Most people settle on a combination of all of the above, due to the variety they allow, to save both money and time.
9. Scrutinize shipping and handling charges. Food storage orders can be quite heavy and shipping can be a major cost if you’re not careful. Some suppliers charge a flat fee, others charge according to the weight of the order. Take into account the entire cost, including shipping, when price comparing. A reasonable flat shipping charge presents an opportunity to add additional items to the order without incurring additional shipping costs.
10. Don’t just look at the price. Not all food storage companies are the same nor do they package and price their products the same. Products perpetually on sale may actually not be the best available price. Beware when price per net weight, calories per day, cans per case, number of complete meals, etc. are not determinable. This might be a situation where you are not getting the best value for your dollar.
11. Understand the pros and cons of the different kinds of packaging. The enemies of food that has been prepared and packaged for long term storage are heat, moisture, oxygen, and light. Protecting against heat depends 100% on where the product is stored, but the other three—moisture, light, and oxygen—are mostly controlled by the packaging. Make sure oxygen is removed from the container by either use of an oxygen absorber or by nitrogen flushing. For pails, which are not 100% air tight, make sure the product is sealed inside a metallized bag (a common brand is Mylar®), otherwise oxygen will leak back in. Certain freeze-dried foods kept in oxygen-free cans that are stored in a cool, dry environment can retain nutritive value for 25 years or more (see tip regarding shelf life).
12. Understand the differences between "freeze-dried" and "dehydrated" food—and be sure you’re not paying freeze-dried prices for dehydrated products. Technically, all freeze-dried food is dehydrated, but not all dehydrated food is freeze-dried. However, the term "dehydrated" usually refers to processes whereby most of the water has been removed naturally or by the application of heat. Whereas "freeze-dried" means the food is flash frozen and placed in a vacuum chamber and through a process called sublimation, the ice is changed to a gas and removed. Both types of food, freeze-dried and dehydrated, are important parts of a comprehensive food storage program. One is not necessarily better than the other. Depending on the food, one method may be better than the other for preserving the food for storing long-term. Dehydration is the best method to reduce moisture for many types of foods, such as grains, legumes, baking mixes, and some fruits and vegetables, especially carrots. Because heat is involved, adding water doesn’t necessarily return products to their original form and taste. The two main benefits of dehydrated food are it generally costs less per ounce than freeze-dried equivalents and more can fit into a can than if it were freeze-dried, sometimes several times more, requiring less storage space. On the other hand, freeze dried food retains much of its original size and shape with freeze-drying while dehydrating (heat or air dried) will cause the food to shrivel much like a raisin. Freeze-dried foods rehydrate more quickly than most dehydrated foods. When rehydrated, freeze-dried food is much like frozen food that has been thawed retaining most of its original appearance, taste, and nutritional value. Under the same conditions, freeze-dried foods generally store longer than dehydrated foods. The downside of the freeze drying process is that it is more complicated, making the food more expensive. Most just-add-water meals, with the exception of Mountain House’s freeze-dried entrées, contain a mixture of dehydrated and freeze-dried ingredients. When purchasing a year supply or other long-term combo, pay attention to how much is freeze-dried and how much is dehydrated. Generally, the greater the percentage of freeze-dried, the more expensive per net weight it will be.
13. Do not take promises of a 25-year shelf life at face value. Sweeping promises of a 25-year shelf life abound in the food storage industry. Of a truth, only certain foods in a narrow range of conditions have been tested. Wheat, rice, corn, and sugar have life-sustaining value in excess of 30 years; pinto beans, rolled oats, pasta, potato flakes, and apple slices have lasted as long as 30 years also; non-fat powdered milk and dehydrated carrots, 20 years. Additionally, independent university studies of Mountain House brand freeze-dried foods stored in airtight #10 cans—in "not always" ideal conditions—have a shelf life that exceeds 25 years. The same freeze-dried foods stored in pouches last only seven years². Because both storage conditions and packaging have dramatic effects on shelf life, promises of long shelf life must come with assumptions that the packaging is ideal (cans are best, metalized bags a distant second), and that the storage conditions are cool and dry. It is unknown whether untested foods may or may not be long lasting. The most common misuse of the promise of a 25-year shelf life is when a variety of meals and food items are bundled together, for example, such as in a "year supply." Many, if not most, of the items thus bundled are untested or may not be in ideal containers. Could they have a 25-year shelf life? Possibly. But it is not known. Unless they have turned rancid, they almost certainly will have life sustaining value (so don’t throw it away!), even though some diminishing of taste and nutrition may occur. Until multiple independent tests are undertaken, no one can say definitively, except as noted above, how much of the original taste and nutritional value will still remain after 25 years.
14. Know the facts about "year supplies" and large food storage "combos." These are usually described as providing all the food necessary for one or more persons or a family for a set amount of time, be it for a month, three months, six months, or a year. Such turn-key solutions can save you a lot of both time and money. If you are not careful, however, bundling food together can impede your ability to follow the other tips detailed above.

Questions to answer before buying a pre-designed year supply:

1. What are the total calories?
2. What are the total calories per person per day? (Should be 1500-2800, depending on needs.)
3. Do "empty" calories comprise a high percentage of total calories? (Empty calories are calories whose source has little or no nutritional value. For example, beware if crackers, sugar drinks, and desserts provide half the calories.)
4. How much cooking from scratch will be involved?
5. How much variety or flexibility in menu options is there?
6. How much is freeze-dried and how much is dehydrated? (Get more details if the answer is 100% freeze-dried because that would be unlikely and impractical.)
7. What is the daily average nutritional value? And if it’s deficient, what other food items would I need to adequately supplement this year supply or combo?
8. How is the food stored, or what containers does it come in?
9. What are the shipping & handling charges?

Using these tips as a guide in your food storage program will give you confidence and assurance that you have become prepared in a careful and provident way.

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notes
1. http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/Publications/DietaryGuidelines/2010/PolicyDoc/Chapter2.pdf, page 7
2. www.mountainhouse.com/shelf_lif.cfm
© Copyright 2012 Emergency Essentials

New Video: Cooking Chicken A La King

Watch Grant cook this delicious Chicken A La King, made only from food storage!

Grant is our in house cook here at Emergency Essentials. Just a regular Dad who taught himself how to cook dinner for his kids, he has been teaching people how to cook with food storage for over 3 years now. Grant takes great pride in the fact that every dish he cooks here at Emergency Essentials is made with 100% food storage, and they are all easy and delicious. For more of his videos and recipes, check out our YouTube Channel.

For those of you who want to try this at home, here is our recipe card!

What do you think? want to try it out? Let us know how it goes in the comments.

Guest Blog Post: Unique Cooking Method

Today we have a special guest blog post from Janna from North Dakota, who writes about thinking outside the box when it comes to cooking in a disaster or emergency.

Janna from North Dakota:

The method for cooking food in an emergency is always a matter of choice, especially when the power is out…barbeque grills, wood fires, camp stoves, etc. All have their pro’s, but also come with a big con….you’re going to have to go outside….or at the very least into the garage to safely vent your heat source. When you live in northern country where the winters get to be well below zero (before the wind chill) and the wind chills can freeze flesh in a matter of minutes, finding another option isn’t just a matter of convenience. I’m not ready to give up hot meals in an emergency; in fact, based on my experience of several years working in emergency management, I’ve come to believe that hot meals are an important part of maintaining good mental health in an emergency. The more “normal” we can make things for our families, the better we are all able to cope.

I found the solution in a very unexpected place. No, it wasn’t one of the online stores or websites, although they do have some excellent advice and supplies for emergencies. No, this solution came from on high…literally! While I was downstairs in our store room arranging a few items, a box of never-used wedding gifts fell from the top shelf. Luckily I caught it before it smashed to the floor, because as I opened it, I found the answer to my cooking dilemma…a fondue pot! We got married in 2005, during the height of the “new fondue revolution” and actually got 3 of them for our wedding. It seemed impractical at the time, but since then I’ve reconsidered. Really, what’s a fondue pot but a saucepan with its own heat source? PERFECT!!

Being in an emergency management occupation, I’ve been drilled in the “exercise every plan before it’s needed” school of thought, so I tried my new idea of using a fondue pot to make other non-fondue dishes. It works GREAT for pasta, pasta sauce, vegetables, and warming up soup and other canned food. Oatmeal and cream of wheat cook nicely too. I’ve even used it to heat water for hot chocolate. Basically, if it can be cooked in a saucepan, it can probably be cooked in a fondue pot in an emergency.

After some basic experimentation, I’ve learned a few very valuable lessons:

1. This one falls into the “duh” category, but is worth mentioning anyway. Make sure you get a fondue pot that is not electric. Find one that uses liquid (not gel) fuel and comes with its own small heater. (Almost all of them do.) Also make sure it has a way of adjusting the amount of heat. This usually means there are some holes on the side of the small heater that will allow you to control the amount of air flow.
2. Don’t buy “fondue fuel”. Cooking and kitchen specialty stores sell a small bottle of this for about $8 for a few ounces. Instead, go to your local hardware or home improvement store and get a can of denatured alcohol. It’s the exact same thing! This is why I recommend using the liquid fuel instead of the gel. The liquid “fondue fuel” is nothing more than 100% denatured alcohol. (It’s true- I read it on the label of several brands). You can buy a big can of denatured alcohol at a home improvement store for about $12 a gallon. They usually also have smaller quantities available too.
3. When shopping for a fondue pot, try to find one that has a lid. Usually the metal ones tend to have lids, and I’ve found that those lids are very handy when I’m cooking with an unfamiliar heat source. More than once, I’ve prevented spaghetti sauce from burping up, just because I had the lid in place.
4. Even though fondue pots are meant to be a cooking tool used at a table, remember that they are still a heat source and could be dangerous in the wrong hands. Keep small children away from the cooking area when using this form of cookware. Unless you and your family are very familiar with the whole fondue process, I really recommend that you not try to cook your food at the table, but use your pot as a cooking tool before the meal, just as you would normally use your stove.
5. Be sure to place your fondue pot on a heat-safe surface when cooking. Yes, they do have stands that elevate the heat source off of the table or counter-top, but extra caution is always a good idea when using heat sources. Also, be sure that there are no flammable objects in the near vicinity. Safety is key, as in any kind of cooking, but the advantage is that you are using a tool that was designed to cook food at the table.
6. If you decide to use a fondue pot to cook your food in an emergency, get one (or two) now and practice, practice, practice! Under stress, we humans tend to have more trouble thinking outside of the box and like to do things we are familiar with. That’s not a good time to start learning new skills. Find which of your family’s foods are amenable to this kind of cooking. Have fun experimenting with new recipes or adjusting favorite family recipes to allow them to be made in a fondue pot.

And now, if you’ll excuse me, I have 3 thank-you notes for wedding gifts that I feel like I should rewrite and send again- this time with a whole new appreciation for the lovely thoughtful gift. A fondue pot- thank you so much! I know just what to do with this.

February Group Items

The Group Program is a way for families, friends and neighbors to work together to obtain discounts on preparedness items. Group orders qualify for free shipping within the 48 contiguous states when the minimum purchased amounts are met. To learn more, Click Here.

We have some great items on Group Special this month. Check them out!

Freeze Dried Chopped Spinach
Spinach is a powerhouse vegetable that maintains much of its nutritive value so it is a healthy option when added to your favorite soups and stews. Great in lasagna, omelets and dips! Each can contains 6. oz.

Chopped Onions
Season your favorite meals with ease using read chopped onions. These conveniently chopped onions can be used in place of fresh onions in virtually any recipe. They are excellent in stir-fry, soup,, stew and even salsa. Each can contains 30 oz.

Freeze Dried Sweet Potato Dices
Add Variety, nutrition and vibrancy to your home storage with real sweet potato dices. Make homemade favorites or serve this as a flavorful side dish. Rehydrates in minutes. Each can contains 14 oz.

18-Hour Hand and Body Warmers
Protects skin from injury and frostbite. This hand warmers provides up to 18 hours of heat and is an essential for every emergency and first aid kit.

Which group item are you most anxious to try? Sound off in the comments

Guest Blog Post: Uprising in Egypt

I recently had the opportunity to correspond with a woman named Yosra. Yozra lives in Egypt, and had an amazing story to tell about the time she spent there during the civil unrest that occurred there a year ago. Her story of preparedness follows

Preparing for Arab Spring

by Yosra, Giza, Egypt

When the year 2000 was due to dawn, I prepared a pantry. I had shelves installed in an unused space under the steps. Little by little, I would purchase a couple of cans a week so that no one grocery bill would overwhelm our budget. As the Midwest winter winds blew, I felt comfort in knowing that if all the banks' computers crashed, we were safe.

Twelve years later, maybe it seems like we were foolish to be ready for new millennium chaos. However, I don't regret taking simple measures to safeguard my family's health and safety. We always gain peace in our lives when we plan for adversity. It doesn't mean we are pessimists; on the contrary it means we are very hopeful people who strive to survive hardships.

Last year, my resolve to keep on going was put to the challenge in a way which many had never envisioned. I lived through the "Arab Spring" in Egypt. I had come to Giza, home of the Great Pyramids, in order to be a kindergarten teacher at an American school here. Though the country proved to be a wonderful new home for us, there was uneven stability within the general population. Many had too much and way too many had none at all. When the population rose up against President Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule, Egypt started into a tailspin.

After the January 25 "Police Day" protest, I had a gut instinct to prepare a pantry once again. My husband and I went out shopping that Tuesday night. Because of our area, next to the Pyramids, shopping necessitates many trips to scattered stores. We bought cheese, butter, yogurt at the dairy. We walked on to the dry goods store and bought powdered milk, sugar, flour, cooking oil, soup bouillon, oatmeal, pasta, lentils, jam, gelatin, coffee, tea, and fruit drink mixes. The paper supply store had the toilet paper and the tissue. At the feed store we got some popcorn kernels. At the snack store, we loaded up on peanuts, dry-roasted seeds and lollipops. We went to the bakery and bought bread sticks, pretzels, crackers, toast and cookies.

This was a lot of money for us to spend suddenly. It hurt a little to see such an outlay of cash. Thankfully we had it on hand! There have been other times in our life when we would not have been able to buy so much.

While we were feeling cautious about the future, we seemed to be alone in our efforts. I asked around at work, and no one else felt the need to stock up. Realizing potential dangers exist might set you apart from other people. Being aware is more than just watching the news on TV. You have to tune into your intuitions.

Three days later everything changed abruptly for the nation. Three days. We had prepared in time while others had not. By that Friday, the Internet was shut down. All cell phone connections were cut. The banks were closed. The store shelves were empty. The bakeries were not able to meet demands. At a nearby prison, thousands of thugs had escaped and the streets had become unsafe. Shops all over the metro were looted. Downtown Cairo's biggest mall was burned to the ground. Curfews were then put in place. Army soldiers with tanks lined our local square. We were stuck.

Thankfully, we had enough supplies. That was one worry we didn't have. In a massively stressful nation-wide event, there is no way of knowing how you will react. Most everyone I've talked to since had at least one melt-down while locked up in their homes. Some had started to run out of supplies and felt fearful about what would happen next. We all had long stretches of time with little sleep and lots of praying.

Weeks passed. Eventually, life got going once again. After six weeks, I returned to school. Though it didn't feel "normal" any more, it was a kind of new normal which we had to get used to. A year later, we are still unsure of Friday protests and of what will happen on important dates. At those times, we stockpile once again.

As the anniversary of the first uprising looms, I'm sharing this with you. I have learned that preparing for a tough time is one of the most intelligent things you can do. It is not fatalistic but rather realistic. We see animals preparing for long winters, so why can't we admit that this is a biological need; a logical need. We still live in Egypt and inshahallah (God willing) we will remain in Egypt. We will continue to prepare for whatever happens.

The Great Utah Shake Out!

Utah is about to make history by holding its largest earthquake drill  ever! April 17th at 10:15 am MST will be the great Utah Shake Out! Over half a million people will be participating! Will you?

 From the Deseret News Classroom Connections, January 24, 2012-

"What if you had a ticking time bomb, and no idea how much time was left? What would you do? You [would] prepare for the blast.

Running from Idaho to Central Utah, the Wasatch Fault has lain nearly dormant for years. Over the past few centuries, it has caused little more than a geologic hiccup or two. But science tells us the Wasatch Fault is overdue for a major earthquake. The devastation from a Magnitude 7 earthquake in Salt Lake County would mean thousands of deaths, tens of thousands of injuries and catastrophic interruption of our lives. Water, electricity and natural gas could be cut off for days or weeks. Mother nature has given us time to prepare. The time is now."

This is an exciting opportunity for people in the Utah area to prepare. But if you're not in Utah, don't feel left out. You should join us too! Maybe it's an earthquake, a wildfire, hurricane, or tornado. Whatever your disaster of choice, April 17th is a great day to practice what you, your family, company, etc. will do when it strikes.

Click here for our Official Guide for the April Shake Out, and check back here often as we talk about ways to get your house and family ready, and keep you up-to-date on all Shake Out related news.