DYI MREs
MREs or Meals Ready to Eat are used universally as field rations in the world's militaries. These are meals that contain everything you need for a complete meal, including a drink, entrée, dessert,, hand wipes, napkins silverware, seasoning, condiments, toilet paper, and a flameless meal heater packet. They have a self life of 5 years.
You can purchase the the military version MREs, but they are about $12.00 per meal and are high in sugar, carbohydrates, and salt content.
It is much less expensive to make your own MRE which will allow you to put food items you prefer in the meal, and to account for dietary issues such as low salt, gluten-free, and dairy-free foods. They will not last for 5 years, but you can eat them prior to their expiration date.
When making MREs, please keep two things in mind:
The closest shelf-life of any item in the MRE will set the self-life of the entire MRE meal.
The daily calorie target should be:
1400 calories for children 4 - 8 years
1800 calories for children 9 - 13
2000 - 2400 calories for everyone 14 and older depending on activity level.
