# Dry meals in a jar. Good or ??



## lazydaisy67

So after a little thought, I kind of got interested in putting together dried meals in jars. Watched some videos and thought maybe I'd look into the cost of freeze dried ingredients for some breakfast meals. Dried spices and veggies I can do, including hash browns, but cheese powder, powdered eggs and freeze dried sausage...holy hannah they're expensive! After shopping for the cheapest of these three ingredients I could find, it ended up being $69.86 to make 24 breakfast meals. That's $2.91 for a scant breakfast for 6. I guess if I went to a restaurant it'd be more than that per person, but it stings a little to plunk it down all at once, I guess.

Anybody put together dried meals in jars? I'd love to get recipes, thoughts, etc. about it.


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## LincTex

Can you decrease the amount of freeze-dried ingredients and go with simple dehydrated ones instead? 

On some things (like veggies and potatoes) I don't think I could tell a difference between "freeze dried" and "dehydrated" in taste, but the cost difference is quite a bit.


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## Genevieve

I found the powdered cheeses at a Mennonite farm store. they had lots of dried foods in bulk also. Maybe you can check to see if there is something like that in your area. Check Amish and Mennonite stores. You might even find the dried eggs there. Dehydrated veggies and fruits would be much cheaper especially if you did it yourself.

You could always do the dry ingredients and then just add the "wet" I suppose although having some already to go would be handy for the ones in the family that don't know how to cook. Most people can boil water ( I hope) lol


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## myrtle55

I agree with the dehydrated way. I make my meals in jars with all stuff i have dried myself. Just this winter i did get powdered cheese and eggs, but many here dry their own. I dehydrate shredded cheddar and it works well for me. Good luck..my family loves the meals in jars. I dehydrate all the meats myself.


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## lazydaisy67

I have never tried to dehydrate meat! Cook it first or raw?

I've done pretty much all the other ingredients, the hash browns, the mushrooms, the green pepper and onion, so those are super economical. Those big three cheese, eggs and sausage are the culprits.

It just seems like such a good idea to have everything together. It's lightweight for storage and I don't have to wait until summer to can something.


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## gam46

I make other than breakfast meals in jars with my own dehydrated foods. Happen to have some dried eggs which were given to me and have decided to purchase cheese powder even though I have successfully dried my own. Sausage? Oh well, we seldom use it anyway, so will do without.


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## SouthCentralUS

The recipes online, in cookbooks and on Youtube make a HUGE amount of food. I put half the amount in the jars and in mylar bags and it is still about 4 meals for the 2 of us.

I plan to try cutting it in 1/4.


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## myrtle55

Lazydaisy..I cook meat first, then chop it into small pieces (small so they rehydrate faster ). Have done bulk sausage and burger, chicken,ham and beef. The meat requires longer times to rehydrate than anything else I have done. Just fyi


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## readytogo

Back in my army days we used plenty of can dry commodities mix with regular wet stuff; powder eggs/fresh eggs that kind of stuff but at home now and do to the high cost of prefabricate survival food and also the amount of chemicals involved on its production I did away from all of that, I like the basics is more simple and less chances of spoilage, I grow up without refrigeration on a country setting and our basic everyday commodities where salt,flour,sugar,lard,baking soda, powder milk, can milk, and yes we had fresh cow/goats milk and plenty of eggs but to get to the point here at home all my instant meals come fresh from my canings like sausages for breakfast or SOS or meatballs in pasta sauce I do find that the most important commodity to have is dry eggs and dry milk very versatile and useful because the rest can be easily made at home with a good dehydrator for fruits and vegetables and let’s be realistic in a emergency you will not be making gourmet meals anyway, is all about the survival.


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## lazydaisy67

Well...ahem. I spent almost the entire day looking at researching and generally finding out all about these dry meals. My brain must not be working correctly because I KNEW you could dehydrate meat....geesh. 

Price is a concern but I think I may try it with some pre-made ingredients just to see if it's as easy and convenient as they look and then go from there with making all my own ingredients. I hate to experiment with this kind of stuff unless I've at least tried to get you guys' opinions about it....


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## Genevieve

Look what I found!!! I was perusing pinterest this morning and found a link for 493 meals in a jar :2thumb:

http://www.savebiglivebetter.com/2013/04/472-easy-meals-in-a-jar-recipes.html

I've saved the website to my bookmarks and will definitely be checking the recipes out over the next few weeks.


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## LincTex

Genevieve said:


> Look what I found!!! I was perusing pinterest this morning and found a link for 493 meals in a jar :2thumb:
> http://www.savebiglivebetter.com/2013/04/472-easy-meals-in-a-jar-recipes.html
> .


Very cool!

What are your water sources? Do you have a plan to obtain untainted water for these meals?


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## weedygarden

lazydaisy67 said:


> Well...ahem. I spent almost the entire day looking at researching and generally finding out all about these dry meals. My brain must not be working correctly because I KNEW you could dehydrate meat....geesh.
> 
> Price is a concern but I think I may try it with some pre-made ingredients just to see if it's as easy and convenient as they look and then go from there with making all my own ingredients. I hate to experiment with this kind of stuff unless I've at least tried to get you guys' opinions about it....


A few years ago I saw someone who does a bit of a variation on Meals in a Jar. She makes meals in a gift bag. Instead of dehydrated meats, she used canned meats. Meals were assembled into gift bags.

If you can find gift bags on close out (I did one year for about a dime apiece), you could even color code them. I know that gift bags can be pricey, but creative people will find a way.

I like the idea of Meals in a Jar, but not all meals can fit or be put in a jar. For instance, if you did a Meal in a Bag, you could increase your options. For instance, if you did a spaghetti meal, you could include a jar of sauce, canned meat, spaghetti, parmesan cheese, a box of bread mix, if you use that.

Meals in a bag would also take up more shelf space, but ultimately, you could have a better idea of what meals you have and set some goals for ingredients for specific meals.


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## Genevieve

LincTex said:


> Very cool!
> 
> What are your water sources? Do you have a plan to obtain untainted water for these meals?


we have a berkey royal here at the house ( our water tastes like metal to me)
we also have a katadyn(sp?) hiker filter for travel
and life straws in our bags. I recently saw were they've come up with a life straw for families. have to check into that


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## lazydaisy67

The reason I guess I was looking into the dried stuff was because the shelf life can be up to 7 years if you're using the freeze dried or dehydrated meats. The pressure canned foods are really only meant to last a year or two on the shelf at the most. Not saying I would stop canning, but how cool would it be for everybody in the family to be able to heat up a quart of water and make a meal for 4 in 20 minutes? I don't know, just trying to make things as simple, space-saving and long lasting as possible.
I ordered some tomato powder and am going to try some basic spaghetti recipes when it gets here.


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## Enchant18

I make chili meals in a jar. The only thing I purchased was the FD meat. I made the quick cook beans and used all dehydrated vegetables. I started with Chef Tess recipe but customized it. It turned out well but I prefer chili in the canner.


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## LincTex

lazydaisy67 said:


> The pressure canned foods are really only meant to last a year or two on the shelf at the most. .


Where did you hear that from? 
I have eaten stuff that was pressure canned more than 2 years ago all the time.


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## weedygarden

LincTex said:


> Where did you hear that from?
> I have eaten stuff that was pressure canned more than 2 years ago all the time.


I think you are correct, but I think sometimes color, texture and flavor starts to change up. There is probably some that can be eaten years later, but the fresher the better


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## LincTex

weedygarden said:


> I think you are correct, but I think sometimes color, texture and flavor starts to change up. There is probably some that can be eaten years later, but the fresher the better


Meat - lasts a LONNG time!
Fruits - it depends, some do better than others
Veggies - most taste "ok" after a few years but the texture and color usually changes quite a lot.


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## gam46

My caution is to try these suggestions and, has been mentioned, on small scale. A recently posted recipe for Armenian Lentil Soup sounded OK to me. Using only about a cup of canned tomatoes the batch made six portions for us and neither of us cares for it. Too bad, because it would store well.


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## LincTex

gam46 said:


> My caution is to try these suggestions and, has been mentioned, on small scale. A recently posted recipe for Armenian Lentil Soup sounded OK to me. ....


I have never had a dish/soup/salad made with lentils that I cared for.

Sure, I ate it - because I was hungry. 
I'll eat a lot of stuff I don't like because I'm hungry.
But I may not enjoy eating it.


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## kappydell

You can also dehydrate your own cheese. Just grate it, lay it out on some paper towels in the dehydrator and dry away. The towels absorb the oil that it sheds while drying down.
When it is crispy, run it thru the blender and voila! cheese powder.


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## weedygarden

LincTex said:


> I have never had a dish/soup/salad made with lentils that I cared for.
> 
> Sure, I ate it - because I was hungry.
> I'll eat a lot of stuff I don't like because I'm hungry.
> But I may not enjoy eating it.


I have heard more than one person say exactly this. I on the other hand LOVE lentils and do not think I have ever had a dish made with them that I did not like.

There are a couple things about lentils. Like all legumes, they can be blah if not well seasoned. The last time I made them, a few days ago, I used a smoked ham hock. I cooked the ham hock for a while before I added the lentils. Lentils cook quickly, relative to other beans. I cooked the lentils with lots of onions and celery, along with turmeric, garlic, cumin, salt and pepper. I actually like lentils better if they are a little salty. Lentil stew, or soup is often served with a little vinegar, poured into it after it is put in the bowl.

If I were not in diet mode, I would have had some of this over basmati rice.

I would encourage you to try some in an Indian restaurant. The spices in Indian food make a huge difference.


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## lazydaisy67

So just an update. Purchased some powdered scrambled egg. Have made a couple of jars of egg, dried mushroom, some dried sausage and dried hashbrowns. I decided that before i went any further I had to try it so I made a jar for supper tonight. First, I have to say it was super simple to make. Second, it tasted wonderful!! My kids ate it up and asked for more. That's the true test for me. I'll probably keep going with it and see what all I can come up with.


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## LincTex

weedygarden said:


> I would encourage you to try some in an Indian restaurant. The spices in Indian food make a huge difference.


LOL! I'd starve to death if I lived in India! (figuratively)



lazydaisy67 said:


> So just an update. Second, it tasted wonderful!! My kids ate it up and asked for more. That's the true test for me.


That's great news! Thanks for the update!


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## SouthCentralUS

lazydaisy67 said:


> So just an update. Purchased some powdered scrambled egg. Have made a couple of jars of egg, dried mushroom, some dried sausage and dried hashbrowns. I decided that before i went any further I had to try it so I made a jar for supper tonight. First, I have to say it was super simple to make. Second, it tasted wonderful!! My kids ate it up and asked for more. That's the true test for me. I'll probably keep going with it and see what all I can come up with.


I would like to try this. Could you please give amounts and directions for preparing?


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## tsrwivey

weedygarden said:


> If you can find gift bags on close out (I did one year for about a dime apiece), you could even color code them. I know that gift bags can be pricey, but creative people will find a way.


Target has reusable gift bags in there dollar section. They're fabric & cute! Dr Seuss & Mickey Mouse, a few different ones of each.


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## lazydaisy67

I bought a #10 can of powdered scrambled eggs and a #10 can of cheese powder from Walmart. I dehydrated the mushrooms, spinach, onions, hashbrowns and sausage myself. So in the jar, I started with 1/3 cup of cheese powder, a sprinkle of garlic powder and a pinch of sea salt. Added 2/3 cup powdered egg. Then 1/3 cup dried sausage a little bit of spinach and mushrooms and finished the jar with the hashbrowns. I crunched them in there pretty good so they'd fit. To prepare I dumped out all the dry ingredients into a casserole dish, mixed with just shy of a quart of water and let it set for about 20 minutes, stirring every now and then and adding a little water when I thought it looked like it was soaking up. Then I baked at 350 for about 20 min, or until it got bubbly. I did watch to see if it would need more water and it did. Just added a little, stirred and put it back in the oven.
The eggs were the biggest shocker to me. They were VERY tasty! Since it was all together in a casserole, the hashbrowns kind of got lost in the mix, but they were fine and the sausage tasted like I had just cooked it on the stove. 
I also ordered a #10 can of tomato powder and 'fake' beef, which is tofu I guess. I threw it in some chili to see if it would be distinguishable from ground beef. Nobody said a word and they came back for 2nds so I'm going to put it in some jars with spaghetti. I bought it because it was $12 as opposed to $40 for real beef, but that's just because I'm super stingy, lol. I shopped around to find the cheapest of everything because I wasn't sure if it was going to taste ok.


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## LastOutlaw

LincTex said:


> Meat - lasts a LONNG time!
> Fruits - it depends, some do better than others
> Veggies - most taste "ok" after a few years but the texture and color usually changes quite a lot.


We dehydrate fruit and/or veggies then put it into mason jars for a couple weeks to check that it is dry enough. If we see any moisture we dry it more. Once it is dry enough that no moisture forms on the jar we will either add an o2 absorber to the jar or put it into mylar and add an 02 absorber.

We have tried and tried to dehydrate and store fresh pineapple. We can never get it into the jar.
That stuff is too good! we always eat it right then.
Try it!


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## Idaholady

Thanks for the website; I'm excited. Ever since I read your thread, I've been excited about doing Meals In Jars. I even purchase numerous books and have watched a few Youtube videos on meals in jars. So much to learn and do!

I'm getting my sister interested now too. So nice to be able to combine all dry things from the garden or from food storage and put it all in a jar. When hubby wants to know what's for dinner; I'll just send him to my pantry and let him pick out a jar! yippee. I plan to take the jars with me when I go camping as well.


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## SouthCentralUS

Genevieve said:


> we have a berkey royal here at the house ( our water tastes like metal to me)
> we also have a katadyn(sp?) hiker filter for travel
> and life straws in our bags. I recently saw were they've come up with a life straw for families. have to check into that


Genevieve, or anyone else who owns a Berkey - we are thinking about buying one. What do we need to buy as accessories?


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## lilmissy0740

We love our Berkey. Try to stay stocked up on new filters. We have had our Berkey for over 5 years and I just had to replace the washer in the spigot. So you could stock up on those also. I really can't think of any accessories you would need.


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## SouthCentralUS

The filters were one thing I was talking about. There is another thing that goes in that kills fluoridation I think. Do you have that also?

So you cannot clean the filters. That was another question I had.

Thanks.


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## LincTex

SouthCentralUS said:


> So you cannot clean the filters. That was another question I had..


You really shouldn't ever have to - if you are VERY cautious about filtering water the very best you can before it ever gets to the Berkey.


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