How to Make a Homemade MRE
An MRE is a complete meal and are used primarily for military personnel. Each MRE contains an entree, side dish, carbohydrate, dessert or candy, seasoning or sauce, utensils for eating, and a beverage. MRE's can be purchased by the general public, but are often somewhat expensive.
Gather the foods you wish to use in your MRE. Choose any foods you like, but do not use any foods which will require refrigeration or dairy products for their preparation. A typical MRE will contain items from all the basic food groups. If anything will require seasoning or eating utensils, include those as well. Most store-bought or military-provided MRE's contain roughly 1200 calories. Base your meals on your own nutritional needs.
If a food has water in it, it needs to be dehydrated for preservation.
The key to a good homemade MRE is following 5 rules when you stock it:
#1) Add things you already like, there is no sense in adding things you will not eat. This will also boost your spirit, remember that survival is 90% mental.
#2) Calories are your friend, you may only get one meal per day make it count. You can also split the items up and eat out of one pack all day.
#3) Pick food with nutritional value, snack cakes are tasty but a protein bar will bring you balanced energy and some even taste pretty good.
#4) Ready to eat foods like protein bars, jerky and dried fruit do not need to be cooked therefore if your situation does not allow for cooking you will still be able to eat.
#5) Packing a comfort item like a candy bar is ok but if your pack starts to look like a trick or treat sack you need to reevaluate rules 1-4.
Pack your homemade MRE’s with:
1- protein bar - granola - cereal bar
4oz- beef jerky (in zip top bag but not fully sealed)
1- pack of crackers (usually peanut butter filled)
1- single serving canned fruit
2- hot beverage mixes (cider, hot chocolate, tea, coffee)
1- pack of instant breakfast or protein powder
1- dehydrated soup mix (I like bear creek cheddar potato, it has good flavor and is enough to fill you up)
*bagged/canned tuna, chicken, spam, sardines....whatever meat you prefer....
*packaged instant rice or potatoes...
*instant crystal light drink mix.....
*tea bags....
*bullion cubes.....
*ramen noodles...
*single servings of salt, pepper, sweetener, or whatever your taste....
*instant oatmeal packets....
*dried fruit...
*trail mixes, nuts, raisins
Also pack a couple of multi-vitamins with each meal to guard against deficiency...
After you have your desired contents you need to check the use by dates, the last thing you want to do is stock it with food that will go rancid in no time. Write the use by date of the first item that will expire on the bag so it can be easily seen. Now all that is left is to fill your vacuum bags with your food and vacuum sealer to remove the air.
Follow the instructions included with the vacuum sealer to correctly seal all meals into individual packages. The vacuum sealer will remove all air from the dehydrated items and help to ensure a long shelf life for your MRE's. Puncture any pre-packaged items (crackers, ramen noodles, etc). This will prevent the packages from causing your final product to be bulky. After you have them made up you will want to store them out of a direct sunlight, a box works best for long term storage. Choose your foods wisely and you should end up w/a 3-5 yr. shelf life, when properly stored.
Consider how you plan on preparing your items once the MRE is opened. If you aren't going to have a way to heat it, you may want to consider using items that will taste fine cold or at room temperature.
An MRE is a complete meal and are used primarily for military personnel. Each MRE contains an entree, side dish, carbohydrate, dessert or candy, seasoning or sauce, utensils for eating, and a beverage. MRE's can be purchased by the general public, but are often somewhat expensive.
Gather the foods you wish to use in your MRE. Choose any foods you like, but do not use any foods which will require refrigeration or dairy products for their preparation. A typical MRE will contain items from all the basic food groups. If anything will require seasoning or eating utensils, include those as well. Most store-bought or military-provided MRE's contain roughly 1200 calories. Base your meals on your own nutritional needs.
If a food has water in it, it needs to be dehydrated for preservation.
The key to a good homemade MRE is following 5 rules when you stock it:
#1) Add things you already like, there is no sense in adding things you will not eat. This will also boost your spirit, remember that survival is 90% mental.
#2) Calories are your friend, you may only get one meal per day make it count. You can also split the items up and eat out of one pack all day.
#3) Pick food with nutritional value, snack cakes are tasty but a protein bar will bring you balanced energy and some even taste pretty good.
#4) Ready to eat foods like protein bars, jerky and dried fruit do not need to be cooked therefore if your situation does not allow for cooking you will still be able to eat.
#5) Packing a comfort item like a candy bar is ok but if your pack starts to look like a trick or treat sack you need to reevaluate rules 1-4.
Pack your homemade MRE’s with:
1- protein bar - granola - cereal bar
4oz- beef jerky (in zip top bag but not fully sealed)
1- pack of crackers (usually peanut butter filled)
1- single serving canned fruit
2- hot beverage mixes (cider, hot chocolate, tea, coffee)
1- pack of instant breakfast or protein powder
1- dehydrated soup mix (I like bear creek cheddar potato, it has good flavor and is enough to fill you up)
*bagged/canned tuna, chicken, spam, sardines....whatever meat you prefer....
*packaged instant rice or potatoes...
*instant crystal light drink mix.....
*tea bags....
*bullion cubes.....
*ramen noodles...
*single servings of salt, pepper, sweetener, or whatever your taste....
*instant oatmeal packets....
*dried fruit...
*trail mixes, nuts, raisins
Also pack a couple of multi-vitamins with each meal to guard against deficiency...
After you have your desired contents you need to check the use by dates, the last thing you want to do is stock it with food that will go rancid in no time. Write the use by date of the first item that will expire on the bag so it can be easily seen. Now all that is left is to fill your vacuum bags with your food and vacuum sealer to remove the air.
Follow the instructions included with the vacuum sealer to correctly seal all meals into individual packages. The vacuum sealer will remove all air from the dehydrated items and help to ensure a long shelf life for your MRE's. Puncture any pre-packaged items (crackers, ramen noodles, etc). This will prevent the packages from causing your final product to be bulky. After you have them made up you will want to store them out of a direct sunlight, a box works best for long term storage. Choose your foods wisely and you should end up w/a 3-5 yr. shelf life, when properly stored.
Consider how you plan on preparing your items once the MRE is opened. If you aren't going to have a way to heat it, you may want to consider using items that will taste fine cold or at room temperature.