good cheap survival food at your chinese grocer

instant ramen, dried seaweed, dehydrated veggies, 'lap cheong' or dried sausages. yummy. i also like instant mashed potatoes (Mr Mash etc). slurp.

most things will taste good if you know what spices to add to them. try especially Indian spices.
 
I'm by no means a nutritional expert here, but it'd seem to me that the dried foods would be good as suppliments to trapping, hunting and foraging, but would they contain all the necessary proteins, amino acids and other good stuff to be a main food supply? I don't suppose that in a short term situation that it'd make much difference, but what about a long term (over 2 weeks) event? Especially if you're having to expend considerable energy to travel or do the daily chores necessary to keep you warm or dry. Any thoughts on this?
 
longbow50 wrote: I'm by no means a nutritional expert here, but it'd seem to me that the dried foods would be good as suppliments to trapping, hunting and foraging, but would they contain all the necessary proteins, amino acids and other good stuff to be a main food supply? I don't suppose that in a short term situation that it'd make much difference, but what about a long term (over 2 weeks) event? Especially if you're having to expend considerable energy to travel or do the daily chores necessary to keep you warm or dry. Any thoughts on this?

My "alternate daughter" (long story) is a vegetarian, according to her studying up on the subject the combination of grains & beans have a complete compliment of the amino acids. Since she's been a vegetarian for about 15 years and ain't dead yet maybe she knows what she's talking about.:D
Gene
 
Longbow, Just a quick thought on getting proteins into the diet longer term: how about the protein powders that health stores and bodybuilder supplement vendors sell??

I'm thinking using that protein source plus multi-vitamin tablets as supplements to foraged plant matter, which would provide most of the food bulk. If a squirrel falls in the pot, I wouldn't turn down that protein source either, especially with some of Spyken's Indian spices added. ;)

Since tofu is supposedly a complete protein, is there such a thing as pulverized dried tofu? In miso soups, Japanese use aburagi (sp?) which is a slab of semi-dried fried tofu as near I can tell. So can tofu be dried more completely (in a food dehydrator maybe?) to remove ALL the water, then crumbled to make it easier to mix in other foods?
 
the cereals are jammed packed with nutrients.

I also pack Yerba mate, which is what South American cowboys take to give them vitamens and engery throughout their long days in the pampas (grasslands) rounding up wild horses.

It is better for you than coffee.


My thoughts when it comes to an immediate survival emergency, after clearing the immediate threat(s). Your next move should be taking in some nutirents quickly. Eating food is one of the most comforting secure things you can do for yourself. Even in the most harshest situations some warm bites of food nourishes your stomach and puts your mind at ease. Then you can see clearly the next move.

I beleive alot of people panic because they are overwhelmed with what do's, if you get your priorities straight you can remain calm and clear headed.

think Maslo's triangle!
 
I have vitamins in our kit too. I hadn't given any thought to a powdered protein suppliment. I used whey when working out on a regular basis. It might help, but like eating nothing but rabbits, protein alone will not keep us healthy. Adding vitamins and minerals will help. We need the fat too and many animals don't provide enough of it and most veggies don't supply what animal fat offers.

In my opinion, we can only carry so much and then in the event of a long term situation, we would have to turn to the natural sources of food that are available in the area that we end up in. I for one will be improving my gathering abilities for both food and medicinal plants, as well as other living things that will help me to balance out my diet for optimum health.
 
I would prefer to shop locally rather than mail order. Does anyone know of any oriental grocers between Boston and the Maine/NH border ? A websearch didn't produce satisfying results.

Mith.
 
Rokjok,
I was reading that quinoa is a complete protein. Been looking this stuff up as my hiking/camping bud is on a resticted diet due to health problems. Cooks at about the same speed as rice and easily absorbs flavors. Should work well w/ foraged and dehydrated veggies with those Indian spices :)

Diablero
 
I've found that instant noodles are difficult to carry because without a rigid container they get pulverized. Their volume-nutrition ratio isn't the greatest, although they ARE very comforting to have on a cold evening after a tiring day! I use up the noodles on their own at home and keep the differently flavoured soup packets for the bush. The soup powder is great for flavouring a pot of mixed rice, lentils and beans. The little foil packets fit into anything including an Altoids tin. You can carry MANY of them!!! Heh! (Bet they wouldn't be bad on the puffed corn stuff either.)

On the protein-over-the-medium-term question, soy protein bars are not very romantic but they do the job and are reasonably crushable. I am fond of tofu but the dried stuff isn't all that interesting without a kitchenful of other ingredients. When eaten on its own, it's usually the fresh/frozen forms of tofu that are used. Dried fish, beef, cuttlefish, squid and pork floss are all sources of protein. So are nuts(including peanut butter) and beans, which are good value for volume. If you eat your quota of protein in the form of nuts or soy bars as snacks through the day, you'll be fine just carbo-loading at dinnertime. The Hay diet has, after all, had its fans since the 1920s!

Lack of fresh fruit and vegetables worries me more than lack of protein. You can bring Vit C supplements but fibre's more difficult. For two weeks, I'd bring carrots and onions if I had the space. They do pretty well being squashed and kept without refrigeration.
 
Yep, fiber is important. We carry metamusil (sp) in our main vehicle B.O.B.

Fatty acids, complex carbohydrates, this and that. We're a complicated lot eh? Beans, brown rice, dried corn, foraging, trapping and hunting, along with vitamin and mineral suppliments would certainly go a long way to keeping this old boys body going.

I've said this before, but somewhere deep inside of our genetic code is our paleo ancestors diet and assuming that the food is available to us, we will eventually remember it. Or at least come close to duplicating it with lots of trial and error.

A little test for you all. Can you name a group of North American Indian people that were exclusively vegetarian in their diet?
 
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