Tag: food

Food for Thought

For those old enough to remember Popeye the movie with Robin Williams, there is a song called Everything is Food. When we talk about EmComm, we spend a lot of time talking about radios, antennas, batteries and so forth; but rarely does food come up. When deploying to an EmComm event, you often do not know if there is any food available (or available to you). I have been deployed to places where there was an active kitchen preparing meals, to living off of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I will tell that as much as I like. good PB&J sandwich, after a few days it gets old. On that trip, on the way home we stopped at the first burger joint we found open and a cheese burger never tasted so good.

During the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, I spent 3 weeks in gulfport MS providing local and area comms. I was living off of 2 MRE’s a day donated by FEMA. MRE’s lose their flavor after about the first week. I’ve learned that you always bring food. ALWAYS! You never know what will or will not be there. When I am camping or on a deplyment, I want easy meals. I am usually busy doing other things to overly fuss about what to eat.

Back in my youth, I was an avid backpacker. Freeze dried foods were just coming out and they were expensive. I would mix and match them with store bought foods. I would eat instant oatmeal for breakfast along with a cup of instant coffee and maybe some Tang, lunch might be some granola bars and GORP (Good Ole Raisins and Peanuts), and supper might be one of those freeze dried meals. I only used my stove to heat water.

Today, I rarely buy MRE’s or Freeze dried foods. I bought a book Gorp, Glop and Glue Strew about 30 years ago. It’s a book about mountaineering foods that date back to pre dehydrated/freeze dried foods. These are the foods that conquered mountains. The foods are hardy, sturdy, and provide lots of calories. They are also quite filling. I like to make some of the mountain breads and fruit/energy bars. A little bit goes a long way and they do not require refrigeration. I can couple mountain bread with summer Sausage and cheese for the main course and then have some GORP for dessert. Drinks are usually coffee, tea, or some instant fruit mix.

The loaves are Apple Logan Bread and the wrapped bars are Mince Meat Cookies. I will get them all wrapped and then freeze them. They last almost indefinitely. Some deployments may require a conservation of energy because those resources may be limited. Having foods that require no on site preparation is a bonus that allows you to operate longer. Sometimes, the Calvary doesn’t arrive just in time. Along with these foods, you can add Summer Sausage, Beef Jerky, Beef Sticks or canned meats. In addition to meats, cheeses keep pretty well and Ghee does not require refrigeration. Crackers or Pilot Bread are a good addition, try to find crackers that won’t crumble from the rigors of the road.

An old Army trick was to mix a little cold water with Hot Chocolate mix to make a pudding and doing the same to coffee creamer makes a field expedient whipped cream. It may not taste good at home but in the field… In the field I eat to live. These foods taste good to me especially out in the great beyond. One piece of advice; whatever food you plan to use on a deployment, start eating it now. Eat it during a POTA activation, an ARES event, or anytime you may be away from home. Now is the time to make sure your system can handle the foods you plan to eat. Having your bowels in an uproar away from home and nice “facilities” can be a very miserable experience. Stay safe es 73 de Scott

Fast Foods for Fast Times

The phone rings at 0400 hrs local and your EmComm Leader is telling you it’s time to deploy to BFE Florida after a Cat 4 hurricane. But wait! I’m all out of Mountain House Freeze dried beef stroganoff; what will I eat!

There are plenty of off the shelf foods that are perfectly suited for living in the rough. Before I delve into the foods, let’s talk about calories. Sustainable intake or calorie intake that will not cause weight loss would be in the neighborhood of 2,000 to 3,000 calories a day. That could be one meal at Wendy’s. Of course calorie intake would have to go up as your activity increases but here is an example. I walk 4 miles most mornings at a sub 15 minute mile pace which is faster then most people walk. I burn about 105 calories a mile. To give context, my 4 mile walk is about equivalent to a Snickers Bar.

So what do you need to be self sustaining? There probably won’t be much power available so foods that store without refrigeration would be high on the list. One example is peanut butter or an equivalent. Two tablespoons of peanut butter is about 200 calories, couple that with a tortilla and you are up to about 300 calories or more. Two peanut butter/tortillas per meal and you have 1,800 calories per day. Crackers are a good source for calories. Five saltines are 70 calories and an MRE Cracker packages contains 2 crackers for 180 calories. Add some MRE Cheese Spread with Bacon and you are up to 300 calories. I am former Army and some of this is field “comfort” food.

Another favorite is GORP or Good Ole Raisins and Peanuts. this harkens back to my backpacking days. I often add chopped dates and M&M’s to it. Mandelbrot or Mandel Bread is another high calorie treat.

Before I move on to my list of deployment foods I want to discuss water.General Guidelines are 1 gallon per person, per day. That is a maintenance amount. Add in heat stress, washing (body clothes, utensils) and the number goes up. While in the Army we did a training exercise in the desert. It was over 100 degrees and we were performing strenuous activity. I was almost drinking a gallon of water an hour. Plan on 2 or more gallons of water per person, per day. Jerry can water often develops an after taste so something like Stur or Pur Aqua favoring helps.

Here is a list of foods I consider when getting ready for a deployment. I also use this list when camping and doing something like a POTA activation. Most everything on the list can be had at a grocery store and some like Walmart are open 24 hrs. One last word of advice before I present the list. Do not wait until you are in the field before trying some of these foods. One or more may not agree with you and your suffering may be compounded by poor “facilities”. Here is the list:

B&M Brown Bread
Pilot Bread
Peanut Butter
Jelly
WeetaBix (cereal)
Underwood Chicken Spread
Single Serving Spam
Saltine Crackers
MRE Cracker (Amazon)
MRE Cheese Spread (Amazon)
Flour Tortilla
Wasa Sourdough Crispbread
Foil packed chicken (usually by the tuna packets)
Fresh Fruit
Fruit Cups
Dried Fruit
Raisins
GORP
Granola bars
Ghee (clarified butter)
Instant Coffee
Instant Oatmeal
Ramen Noodles (single Serve)

Remember to include enough protein in your diet. I once did a supply run in south Florida after a hurricane and for 2 days I ate nothing but peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, I was ready for some meat. By the time I got back to civilization (with electricity), Even a fast-food burger sounded gourmet. A lot of this stuff keeps well so you can store some at the house. It’s also a lot cheaper. Stay safe and 73 – Scott