“All I have in the house is alcohol and Oreos.”
I can’t tell you how much I LOVED Dana’s comment from yesterdays update. Go HERE to read it. I’ll wait. Basically, it pretty much summed up WHY I decided to do this self imposed {and totally crazy} challenge.
On the very first day of this Living off a 30 Day Emergency Supply of Food series I wrote “What would it be like to have to use one of these kits in a real life scenario? What if you found yourself with no access to a grocery store, no access to Amazon.com – just you, some water and your box of emergency food?”
Like a lot of things in life, I jumped into this without putting much thought into it. I added beans and rice to the box yesterday, but that’s all I will be adding. Period.
I’m sticking to my guns… this is what I’ll be eating for the next 27 days. So no more suggesting I toss in suckers, or spices or chocolate… it’s only going to make this personal challenge of mine that much more difficult.
People keep commenting about my activity level. In reality, I don’t think I am that active. More active than a person who sits at a desk job all day? Yes. But active like stroller mom and her 4 hour a day walks? No. In fact I haven’t taken Lucy on one of our usual 1 hour long walks in about a week… and I don’t plan on doing any of those anytime soon either {the kids are taking her on her long walks instead}.
Maybe I’ll crash, maybe I won’t. Maybe I’ll have better skin at the end of this because of all the water I’m drinking, maybe I won’t. Maybe, just maybe, this will wake a few of us up and show what it would really be like to live off a basic food supply kit, some beans, a little rice and water. Maybe we need to fork over a few dollars more and BUY the bigger kit because we’ll need it if we don’t want to be uncomfortable. Maybe we won’t.
Maybe I’ll succeed. Maybe I won’t.
How boring would life be if we woke up and lived the same life every single day? If we didn’t stretch ourselves? Well, that’s just not me.
Breakfast – Strawberry Malt o Meal 220 calories
I could eat this everyday. I really do like it and I especially like the fact the cereal is sweetened.
During the morning hours I drank 2 cups of hot tea and 3 bottles of water.
Lunch – Pasta Primavera 380 calories
I LOVE this stuff!
Snack – Beans and Rice 320 calories
Never before in my entire life have I eaten beans and rice as a snack. And yet, a huge population of the world does. In fact they eat beans and rice 2 or 3 times a day.
Dinner – Southern Style Chicken and Rice Soup 230 calories
This was another dish I am in love with. It’s very simple and tasty. Lot’s of flavor.
Throughout the rest of the day I drank 6 bottles of water.
Total Calories Consumed on Day 3 – 1150
Total Beverages Consumed on Day 3– 2 cups of tea 9 bottles of water {I’m using this to drink out of}
The hardest part about day 3?
I made 5 dozen chocolate chip cookies for my peeps and didn’t eat a single one. Not even the broken one that was crying out to be put out of it’s misery. The cookies smelled so good and I wanted to rub them on my face. 😉
27 Days to go, and in it to win it.
~Mavis
More Posts
Living off a 30 Day Supply of Dehydrated Food
Living off a 30 Day Emergency Supply of Food – Day 1
Living off a 30 Day Emergency Supply of Food – Day 2
Robin says
You are a better woman than I, Mavis. There is no way after making 5 dozen chocolate chips cookies that I would not have eaten at least one! You go girl!
diane @smartmoneysimplelife says
Making cookies sounds like a cruel and unusual punishment to me!
It’s encouraging to learn that these prepped meals are tasty. Unfortunately, the company doesn’t appear to ship internationally. 🙁
Good luck with day 4!
Rita says
After hurricane Wilma we had exactly 5 gallons of water, for 2 people and a cat, each day, total….for washing, drinking, cooking, flushing, ….total….5 gallons a day. Now that’s survival.
Em says
Wow, I’ve been led to believe one gallon per person per day was supposed to be enough. Yikes! Of course I do plan for the dogs, but maybe not enough! (But they don’t need to flush, I do!)
Railgal says
Yes, you may need to flush but not necessarily after every urination. Save the water for the fecal matter.
Rosaleen says
Lady Will Power!
Mrs. Chow says
Well, after this, you will have a good idea of the extras you will need so you and your family don’t go nuts in case of emergency. For example, you will need a good supply of teas, plus water for drinking and making food. Maybe Doritos for Monkeyboy.
Mavis Butterfield says
I only drank one cup of tea today… and that was because I didn’t want to cut the caffeine cold turkey. Tomorrow I won’t have any because I just can’t stand drinking tea without milk and sugar. So some form of powdered milk and SUGAR will be in my new and improved kit that’s for sure.
jennifer says
The bowl your breakfast is in is not big. I still have mine from childhood. Good Luck on your quest!
Melissa Doroquez says
I do so love that your pup thinks she may get a bite. Um…not this month!
Mavis Butterfield says
That’s right puggles… not this month. 🙂
Lana says
A friend of ours who grew up in the low country of SC said that when he was a kid he would put cooked rice in his pocket before going out to play to snack on. Imagine telling our kids to do that! I am also wondering about rice showing up in the washing machine. Maybe his Mom was not on board with that snack option.
Deborah says
Not to stray off topic here, but I love that bowl your breakfast is in! Is that Beatrix Potter?
Mavis Butterfield says
Yes! 🙂
SilverIzzy says
Alright! I’m so glad you added the beans and rice in. High five!
For a quick survival tip (and I’m not saying you should do this, as you’ve already clearly stated you are adding nothing more, and that is completely fine, and I absolutely respect that); if you are having trouble getting enough calories in, you can add a tablespoon or two of olive oil to a serving of rice (or anything really). It’s an especially good trick if you are dealing with kids who are, well, starving. A single tablespoon of olive oil has 120 calories. My uncle used to work over in Africa and it’s something he taught me years ago. Just thought I’d pass it along.
Em says
Good tip, thanks for sharing!
Kristina says
I loved Dana’s comment! If you need to add to your reading list, I really enjoyed Jen Hatmaker’s book 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess
http://smile.amazon.com/7-Experimental-Mutiny-Against-Excess/dp/1433672960/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1433471705&sr=8-1&keywords=7+jen+hatmaker
I really enjoyed it, and it speaks to your current experiment. More power to you. I am looking forward to your continued experiment. (total technodork here: I hope the link for the book makes sense).
maria lewis says
I think you are doing great. Glad you added the rice and bean. It is good to hear how the food really tastes. Maria
Em says
10% done already!
Lisa B. says
Loose leaf tea would probably be more palatable than teabag tea without sugar and milk (although not as handy in an emergency situation if you were “on the go” or didn’t already have some stocked at home). I’d be sad without milk for my coffee in the morning, though. Good luck, I enjoy reading about this and it sounds like the emergency pack food choices are at least reasonably tasty and healthy. Lack of produce would be the worst part in a real emergency– bleh!
Pam says
My son is currently in the Army and he tells me the MREs that they see have packets of sugar and coffee creamer in them if there’s coffee or tea in them (which is almost 100% of the time). The meals they get are packaged as a complete meal though and I suspect yours are packed a bit differently. Anyway – just wanted you to know that there are MREs available that include the sugar and milk substitute that would make your tea drinkable again……..:)
Best of luck with the rest of the challenge!
CathyB says
Okay, I won’t try to change your mind. But I am wondering, how many servings total of fruits and vegetables have you consumed in the last 3 days? I would imagine that the strawberry portion of breakfast counted toward a partial serving if it had dried strawberries in it, or is it just strawberry flavoring? Does the pasta or soup have some dehydrated veges? That would be my fear in doing this, with the minimum recommendation being 5 servings a day, that it could cause some major health problems without some sort of added fruits of veges. Of course, I don’t know what is left in the kit, so it may address this problem with other yet-to-be-used items. If so you might want to watch the order you eat them in to spread out your veges. because so far it looks like you have eaten maybe a partial serving of fruits/veges total for all the days combined. You are smart, so I am sure you will figure it out. I just was wondering so that it could be accounted for in a real-life planning scenario. Of course, most of your readers probably have plenty of canned fruits and veges. in their pantries already to add as a supplement. Good luck! I am enjoying reading about your adventure. You have more willpower than I do!
leslie says
Hi there, chiming in as someone who has studied and practiced emergency living techniques for over 20 years. I am in no way an expert, as there is ALWAYS someone who knows more out there, but it’s been proven humans won’t eat unless they like their food. With that proven, Americans, especially, need to change our diet in case there is an emergency. This means learning to like beans, legumes, and a milder, blander diet, maybe a notch above a 3rd world country’s diet.
My daughter just spent 1.5 years in the Andies of Peru, eating only chicken, rice and potatoes. Rarely vegetables or fruit. None of that because north americans get diahrea. She did lose weight, but she said she felt healthier there and actually got used to a very routine and boring diet. Of course, she doesn’t want to eat chicken, rice, or potatoes for a while now that she’s back here in our ‘restaurant’ style of eating; but at least she knows she can live on a plain diet and survive, but it did take some getting used to with a lot of gastro issues along with it. So, if you are preparing for emergency, change your diet now!
Sharon says
My, you are a determined and stubborn woman. 🙂 I envy your self-control. There’s no way I would bake cookies and not have at least one.
Just wanted to let you know that I look forward every day to seeing how you are doing on this. It has also made me seriously start thinking about putting together an emergency kit (no, I haven’t done it yet — always mean to but it somehow never gets done).
Em says
Baby steps, Sharon! Each time you buy a canned item at the store, buy an extra to build up a reserve. Use the oldest you have first. Even an extra jar of peanut butter (if you’ll eat peanut butter) is a better than nothing. Don’t forget a non-electric can opener if you don’t have one.
Best of luck to all!
Em says
To follow up to my own post… I realize there are different scales of emergencies, and no one-size-fits-all. I want to say I’m proud of Mavis for inspiring us to be better prepared to take care of ourselves if it comes to that. And I think chocolate can be a part of that (for next time, Mavis!) 🙂