Dried Bulk Foods

I apologize for the departure from fibery goodness, but I thought this was a good topic, especially for those of us who are trying to help the environment by purchasing in bulk to decrease packaging materials.

In the name of being thrifty and also prepared for the future, I've decided to start purchasing freeze dried bulk foods from www.shelfreliance.com. Right now they are having a week of really great sales, so I decided there was no time like the present. They have a neat application on the website that will allow you to determine how much food you should store for your family in times of emergency, which is a great guideline. However, I think that their calorie estimate is a little low, so it would be best to add extras above and beyond their recommendations. The part of this that I love the most is that you can subtract or add foods that you hate or love. That feature allows me to delete all powdered dairy products, and add a lot more grains and beans. Then, the Q program will send you packages of food for a predetermined top cost per month until your emergency food storage is complete. For me, a non-dairy vegetarian, there is a big advantage to being able to omit foods from the plan, and a huge advantage in being able to pay for the plan over time instead of all at once.

I really am looking forward to buying TVP from them, because buying frozen vegetarian entrees at the store is usually cost prohibitive, and being able to buy larger volumes of TVP to store would save money and be easier to store. (Store bought veggie meals are typically refrigerated or frozen, flavored TVP mixes are dry). Another item that seems to be an excellent deal is the Veggie Pack which gives you 30 gallon cans of freeze dried fruits and veggies for approximately $13 a can. I figure that if I mix a tiny amount of veggies and spices with brown rice or noodles, it will replace any instant (and expensive!) prepackaged meals we eat for substantially less money.

I should be receiving my products in a week or so, and I'll post here to tell you about their quality when I get to try them for myself!