Lunch

Here we go with some more suggestions on what to take with you on your bug out. We covered breakfast a couple of entries ago so let's cover some items for lunch.

First of all let me say that lunch should be very light. It many times should be something that can be consumed on the go. If you are on a true bug out you may not want to take the time to stop and cook a meal. Having items in your pack that can be eaten on the run will be a blessing. Much of what I have is items I have prepared myself. First of all you should dehydrate as much fruit as you can to carry with you. I dehydrate apples, bananas, pineapple, tomatoes, peaches, pears and anything else that is in season that I can get. I dehydrate throughout the year so I wind up getting whatever is in season and keep it on hand. After I dehydrate one kind of fruit I like to put it into a quart Mason jar and seal it tight. After I have five or six different fruits on hand, I go out an purchase some mixed nuts. If I have a total of four quarts of fruit, I like to add one quart of mixed nuts. After I have them thoroughly mixed together, I then put them into individual vacuum bags of about one cup in each bag. This gives me twenty bags of vacuum sealed bags of the mixture, a supply of ten days for two people. Each year I use them on hunting and fishing trips and continue to rotate my stock by making more.

Pinole is another of my bug out lunch foods. This was a staple of the American Indian when they traveled. You need a pint of dry, sweet corn and you spread this on a cookie sheet. Place this cookie sheet in the oven at 350 degrees. This will parch the corn. When the corn is light brown, sprinkle two or three tablespoons of brown sugar evenly over the top and reheat until sugar begins to melt. Cool, place in home food grinder and grind. Put pinole in vacuum bags or in sip locks that are also sealed with wax. Pinole will last virtually forever and can be stored almost anywhere. You will probably want to make a half dozen batches of this.

Another thing I take along is Melba Toast. This is a hard dry bread product that you can vacuum seal and it will last a long, long time. It is great to munch on while you are hiking. Raisins are another thing that I take along, although I actually now prefer Craisins. These are cranberries that are dried and made like raisins. I sometimes put these in my fruit and nut mix but also carry some of each separately. These I usually carry in the little packets that they come in. This way I can just munch on them as I move.

There will be times that a hot meal is needed at lunch. For these times I carry Ramen Noodles and other items that all you need to add is hot water. Bullion cubes of both chicken and beef are always in my pack along with tea bags and instant coffee. Just having a cup of beef bullion soup along with one or two slices of Melba toast (I pack mine two to a vacuum bag) makes a pretty good lunch. The instant coffee is either in the individual packets or packed in a zip lock. I usually also take along a zip lock with some Tang orange juice powder in it. This is to kill the taste of water after purifying it, either by boiling or, preferably with purification tablets.

I have also used things like dried beef that comes in the small jars. I remove it from the jar and vacuum seal it in vacuum bags. This makes a nice treat from time to time. These are just a few of the things that you can get ready for your bug out pack. I talk about using them and taking them with me and I do. The reason I do this is that I use my hunting and fishing trips to check out different items for use. There are many more items that you can find right on your grocer's shelves. One thing I did not mention, which I have made, is pemmican. I will try to include the recipe either when I do the main meal menu or in another future entry.

Unless something comes up in the meantime that I feel is really important my next entry will be on items for the main meal of the day. I will then do one on what to put in your bug out pack besides just food. Until next time I hope you will check out my political blog and visit my web store.

http://www.therealamericanpolitics.blogspot.com

http://webstore.com/~knifeman

A Review

I know that last time I said that I would be doing a lunch MRE menu this time, but there is something that I thought was more important. I think it is time for each and every one of us to check our readiness. We all need to review where we stand as far as readiness goes. For instance, my food supply is now lower than I prefer it to be. The reason is that we are eating up some of the older supplies to rotate the stock and due to some financial difficulty, have not replaced all of it yet. One of the reasons that I am concerned about readiness right now is that I expect something to happen in 2012. No, I do not mean the end of the world according to the Mayan calendar. If that happened it would not matter what we had stored up. I am speaking about some political disaster taking place. Think about rioting, civil war, martial law and those type of things. With the election coming up and our first black resident of the White House up for re-election it is hard telling what will take place.

First look at your location. Are where you will most likely be out of harms way? If not, do you have a place to go? Do you have enough supplies at your getaway to keep you going long term. Do you have at least a year's food on hand and where you will be? Is your place, either where you are now if you are staying or, your getaway defensible? Are you ready to defend it at all cost, including shooting to kill if necessary? Are you able to hunt, fish and trap to obtain food if that becomes a necessity? Do you have a good supply of guns and ammo to take care of all eventualities? That means for hunting, self-defense and anything else that should come up, such as defending your area from wild-dog packs, etc. Do you have a complete medical kit and do you know how to handle medical emergencies? Do you understand some about the healing power of natural plants that grow in your area?

One of the things that not too many survivalists think about is the fact that they may have to take to the woods for a week or two. This is true even if they have what they consider a safe home or a safe getaway spot. Your spot may become hot for some unknown reason and you just need to leave for a short time for it to cool off. I keep a backpack packed with a two week supply of necessities. All I need to do is to grab it and go and I am good for a long time in the woods. The two week supply of food can be supplemented with hunting and fishing. My next entry will give both the homemade MREs for lunch and dinner. After that I will do at least one entry on what I believe should be in that two week pack. I will pretty much go by what I have in mine.

There are many other things that I could ask. Do you have a good supply of ammo? Are you well practiced with all of your weapons so that you will not need to hesitate? You should be so familiar with all of your weapons that the become part of you when needed. Do you know enough woods lore to survive if need be? Can you trap or snare animals and birds for food if needed?

There are many things to think of when thinking about survival. I could go on and as twice as many questions and give twice as many suggestions, but this should get you thinking. Step back and take a look at your complete survival plan. Does it need tweaking any place? Can it be improved? You want to improve your plan until you KNOW that you could survive in any given situation. Then, and only then are you ready. So take a look at where you are and I will be back soon with more information. Until then check out my political blog and my store.

http://www.therealamericanpolitics.blogspot.com

http://webstore.com/~knifeman