Prudent Prepping: Food to Go

The dust has settled and the First 72 Hours have passed. Now we concentrate on what to do in, and how to plan for, the long term via Prudent Prepping.

In the search for things to take for lunch and items to add to my Get Home Bag, I always check both the discount grocery outlets as well as my favorite odd item source, Trader Joe's. These are what I found at TJ's. 

What This Is

This is a 10.5 oz. package of fully cooked, long grain brown rice in a package that, after opening, can be placed straight into a microwave. I have tried cooking it that way and found that a small amount of water needs to be added to soften the rice, as it is very chewy and dry without it. It tastes like proper brown rice, and I've used it as a base for vegetables, meat and fish in my weekly lunch menu. Also, when I'm too tired to cook much for dinner, the ease of grabbing a bag and microwaving it for 90 seconds is a nice change from a 10 minute wait for a potato.

There is no printed expiration date on the package, but I don't plan on keeping this in my bag longer than two months, especially as the weather starts to warm up. I have two packages in my GHB, where they will be an extender to the chicken and tuna already there, if there is the need to share what I've packed.

What These Are

These are 17 oz. boxes of liquid soup in what a supermarket clerk tells me are but two of at least six different flavors that have been on their store shelves over the last three months. I don't usually look at the soup aisle, but the last time I was there I went all the way to the end and found these two.

The boxes open in a novel (to me) fashion: you lift two tabs on the narrow sides of the box, squeeze the narrow corners together (marked in black at the top of box) then tear the box open along the dotted line. Pour, heat and serve! The boxes fit well into my 6 Pak cooler lunch box, leaving plenty of room for a bowl to heat it in, sandwich, water bottles, fruit and blue ice. Flavors for both soups were great, and there were a surprising amount of large chunks of chicken in the Chicken Corn Chowder. The Pinto and Poblano soup is pretty much what it sounds like: bean soup with mild Mexican spices. I plan on going back to purchase more of these, and see if there are any new ones on the shelf.

The expiration dates on the boxes say late summer 2016, and while they seem strong enough, I do not plan to put soup boxes into my GHB (I am not lucky. Really, really not lucky), so this is strictly a weekday lunch item for me.

The Takeaway

• I need to do more 'shopping' when I go to the store. I have potentially walked past perfect additions to my gear and never noticed. 

Recap

• 10.5 oz brown rice from Trader Joe's 
• 17 oz soup boxes, discount grocery outlet

Unfortunately, I lost the two receipts for the tested items. I will post a correction to the blog with accurate prices as soon as I can.

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If you have comments, suggestions or corrections, please post them so we all can learn. And remember, Some Is Always Better Than None!

NOTE: All items tested were purchased by me. No products have been loaned in exchange for a favorable review. Any items sent to me for T&E will be listed as such. Suck it Feds.