The EssentiaList

by Catherine Haug, April 30, 2011

(photo of Trio Bar from MrsMays.com)

After learning from Lana Nelson about what sorts of things to include in a 96-hour (4-day) emergency food pack earlier this week, I decided to go shopping for my own. While her recommendations are fine for most people, I have special needs as a hypoglycemic (insulin resistant) person. This health issue (related to diabetes) requires a diet high in fat and fiber, and moderately high in protein, especially animal protein, to stabilize my blood sugar. And I need adequate magnesium for my heart.

I don’t want to stock things I would never eat in the absence of an emergency, so I spent more than Lana’s $20 pack. I tried to avoid products with added sugar, preservatives and artificial ingredients, which is very hard to do when dealing with packaged foods. And I tried to buy Organic when possible.

Here’s what my 4-day pack looks like (without the water and first aid kit):

Cat’s 4-Day Emergency Food Pack

Daily Menu (for one person)

I shopped at Harvest Foods in Bigfork and Withey’s in Kalispell for all of the items in my pack. You may get a better price than mine by shopping at stores like Costco and Walmart, but then you will not be supporting the local economy as well as when you shop at locally owned stores. See my post Buy Local Flathead for more.

Total 1635 calories; cost under $60 (doesn’t include bottled water).

• Breakfast: 1 Organic Pro Bar, 1 apple juice, 1 probiotic; 470 calories
• Snack: 1 Emergen-C, 1 Lärabar or Trio Bar; 245 calories
• Lunch: 4 rye crisps with salmon, sardines or chicken; 240 calories
• Snack: 1 package peanuts; 290 calories
• Dinner: 1 can soup, 3 Rye crisp, and 1 applesauce cup; 390 calories
• Before Bed: 1 Ionic fizz with 1 probiotic; 0 calories

My only regret: inability to keep a cultured dairy product such as raw cheese in the pack, as part of the daily breakfast.

Shopping List

For 1 Person

• 4 each Pro Bar (Peanut butter, grains seeds, fruit as main ingredients)
• 4 Lärabars (just nuts, seeds and fruits) or Trio Bars (nuts, seeds, fruits, unrefined sugar and sea salt)
• 4 Organic Peanut packs  (2 oz ea)
• 2 boxes Kavli Golden Rye Crisps (14 pieces/box)
• 1 single-serve pouch Albacore tuna
• 1 single-serve pouch Pink Salmon
• 1 can sardines with pop top (3.75 oz)
• 1 can white chicken in water with pop top (5 oz)
• 4 Organic canned soups (not condensed), with pop top (18.5 oz ea); Serve with 1 rye crisp
• 4 Organic, unsweetened applesauce cups (4 oz ea)
• 4 each 100% Apple Juice drink boxes (6.75 oz each), which I will dilute with water
• Life Savers (1 pack 5-Flavor, 1 pack Butter-Rum) [NOTE: these are not good for me, but they provide something to suck on. I’ll try not to use them.]
• 4 packets Emergen-C (for vitamins, minerals; must be mixed with water or apple juice
• 4 packets Ionic Fizz (for magnesium & other minerals; must be mixed with water or apple juice; best taken before bed
• 8 capsules probiotic (room-temperature stable); take 1 with water or juice for breakfast, and 1 with water or juice before bed

For my 2 cats:

• 8 cans high meat content cat food (6 oz each)
• 8 servings Veterinary Pea and Duck formula kibble scooped into a zip lock bag

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 3rd, 2011 at 10:15 am and is filed under Emergency Preparedness, Food-Nutrition-Health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.