# DIY - MRE's



## CrashTestRanch (Jul 14, 2010)

Anyone do DIY MRE's? If so, how?


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## wyld thang (Nov 16, 2005)

big bag of trail mix--nuts, dried fruit, peanut m&m's


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## radiofish (Mar 30, 2007)

Don't forget the accessory packet contents....

A small piece of single ply TP, mini bottle of tobasco pepper sauce, salt, pepper, long handled plastic spoon, petrified tootsie roll or other candy subsitute, freeze dried coffee + sugar and creamer, and maybe if you are lucky - a pack of paper matches.

With the way that MRE's are packaged, A can of spam, small jar of peanut butter, and some crackers - may be a home made version.

Otherwise I have the Military issued versions of MRE's, not the civilian SoPak that are sold most places.


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## CrashTestRanch (Jul 14, 2010)

wyld thang said:


> big bag of trail mix--nuts, dried fruit, peanut m&m's


possibly mix that all up, break down into single serve portions, then vac-seal?



radiofish said:


> Don't forget the accessory packet contents....
> 
> A small piece of single ply TP, mini bottle of tobasco pepper sauce, salt, pepper, long handled plastic spoon, petrified tootsie roll or other candy subsitute, freeze dried coffee + sugar and creamer, and maybe if you are lucky - a pack of paper matches.
> 
> ...


Was think about buying the 1 year kit from Thrive and breaking it all down into individual portions. SoPak and others are EXPENSIVE.


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## Mulish (Mar 24, 2005)

If you have a good dehydrator, it is a simple process. I made many simple to prepare, light weight measl for my youngest girl when she was hiking the AT. Cooked split dried peas, dehydrated, with some cooked dried carrots, add some boiling water, stir, let sit, voila, split pea soup. I hated split peas soup from a can, but made this way it is really tasty. If my daughter was not a vegan, I would have added some powdered ham base.

Pre cooked rice dehydrates very well also. Add some dried milk, a little butter powder, sugar and dried milk, and you have a decent rice pudding.

Hamburger rocks, tomato powder, some spices, precooked dehydrated pinto beans, and you have chili. If you pack all the ingredients into a good quality ziplock bag, you can just prop the bag up in a bowl, stir in the boiling water, close it, smush it up a bit, dump it into a bowl, and there is no need for a pot to be washed.

Pasta will work also, but will stick to the dehydrator trays. 

My daughter was thrilled with all the packaged meals I sent to her on the trail. Very little cost to me, all the veggies were out of the garden. She was the only hiker that regularly had good meal with no preseratives, and did not cost up to six dollars, unlike the commercially available meals for hikers.


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## unregistered29228 (Jan 9, 2008)

There are some good recipes for backpacking foods that would work like MREs if you have water - check out http://www.backpackingchef.com Our BOBs have PB&J in small plastic jars, crackers, ready to eat tuna pouches, granola bars, Clif bars, water bottles with small flavoring packets, etc. For short term survival issues, we plan not to have to cook anything.


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## wyld thang (Nov 16, 2005)

well thatn was interesting
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meal,_Ready-to-Eat

General contents may include:

Main course (entree) 
Side dish 
Dessert or snack (often commercial candy, fortified pastry, or HOOAH! Bar) 
crackers or bread 
Spread of cheese, peanut butter, or jelly 
Powdered beverage mix: fruit flavored drink, cocoa, instant coffee or tea, sport drink, or dairy shake. 
Utensils (usually just a plastic spoon) 
Flameless ration heater (FRH) 
Beverage mixing bag 
Accessory pack: 
Xylitol chewing gum 
Water-resistant matches 
Napkin / toilet paper 
Moist towelette 
Pack of matches 
Seasonings, including salt, pepper, sugar, creamer, and/or Tabasco sauce 

1200 calories

*****************
something to do when you make up your meals is calorie count, to make sure you can get enough, and that means having a basic idea of how many you are burning. a basic idea is about 1500/1800 for adult female/male for basal metabolism(keeping things running while you sleep, digesting, breathing etc), then on top of that is your calories burned through exertion, moving your body. you can google up calories burned charts for various activity.

basic nutrition, you need fat, protein and carbs. part of the point of an MRE is to not think about all those calculations at the time of use.

so, back to trail mix, which has fat, protein, carbs, is compact and hand to mouth, sure, portion out a 1000 cal bag, or figure how many calories in a handfull. throw in jerky. i like those extra doodads too.

dried soup mixes would be great too of course. if you were up on your foraging you could add greens, starches. norwegin/swedish fruit soup is yummy .


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## Cyngbaeld (May 20, 2004)

You can make a high protein snack with dry powdered milk, honey and peanut butter. Add raisins if you like. Just experiment with proportions and mix in a food processor. This can be shaped into bars and wrapped in plastic. Tastes pretty good too.


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## TroyT (Jun 24, 2008)

If you have access to a chamber type vacuum sealer you could use retort bags and put just about anything you want in your home made MRE. For those who don't know a retort bag can be used in place of a can or glass jar. 

So you put say beef stew in the retort bag, vacuum seal it, then pressure can it just like you would if the stew were in a jar. When it's done, add it to the balance of you home made MRE.


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## naturelover (Jun 6, 2006)

TroyT said:


> If you have access to a chamber type vacuum sealer you could use retort bags and put just about anything you want in your home made MRE. For those who don't know a retort bag can be used in place of a can or glass jar.
> 
> So you put say beef stew in the retort bag, vacuum seal it, then pressure can it just like you would if the stew were in a jar. When it's done, add it to the balance of you home made MRE.


I didn't know that's what those bags were called. I found more information about them, sounds rather interesting but apparently requires some rather pricey equipment, and some products can be stored in ambient or room temperature with a shelf life of only 18 months without the use of preservatives but even 18 months is not too bad. 

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:FJgpMqS7oasJ:www.foodingredientsfirst.com/Content/pdf/Retort%2520Pouch%2520Processing%2520edit.ppt+retort+bag+definition&cd=5&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=ca

.


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## TroyT (Jun 24, 2008)

naturelover said:


> I didn't know that's what those bags were called. I found more information about them, sounds rather interesting but apparently requires some rather pricey equipment, and some products can be stored in ambient or room temperature with a shelf life of only 18 months without the use of preservatives but even 18 months is not too bad.


Correct, the chamber type vacuum sealers that can handle retort bags do cost a bit - between 2k & 3k. The up side is that most vacuum sealers that can handle retort bags can also vacuum seal Mylar bags. Plus they can do liquids and other wet products. They are kind of fun to watch work.


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