# Treats



## hillobeans (May 17, 2012)

Hey ya'll. As a father of two young boys, I've been thinking about putting away some goodies to make life a little more sunny for the kids in case some sort of shit hits the fan. Does anyone have any ideas for treats or snacks that have a long shelf life? I've heard hard candies are good, but the one bag I bought turned to jello after about eight months. 

I'm sorry if this has been covered- I did a half-assed search that only brought up political threads. Thanks.


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## cnsper (Sep 20, 2012)

*Twinkies!*

They last forever and you can use them to bribe LEO!

Hard candies last forever but I think more along the lines of jaw breakers, and candy cane types rather than worthers and jolly ranchers. They probably got too hot and melted.


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## hillobeans (May 17, 2012)

cnsper said:


> *Twinkies!*
> 
> They last forever


Nice. I shoulda thought of that, considering how many times I've seen "Die Hard".


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## kejmack (May 17, 2011)

Comfort food and treats are an important part of prepping. Makes a big difference from a psychological stand point. I have jello, puddings, candy, chocolate, etc.


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## hillobeans (May 17, 2012)

kejmack said:


> Comfort food and treats are an important part of prepping. Makes a big difference from a psychological stand point. I have jello, puddings, candy, chocolate, etc.


Any particular candy or chocolate? How long will chocolate last before it goes sproingy?


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## tsrwivey (Dec 31, 2010)

Chocolate syrup for making powdered milk better, Jello, cocoa powder(keeps forever), pudding mix, cake & brownie mixes, icing, lots of sugar, extracts like vanilla, lemon, peppermint. Freeze-dried fruit is very sweet.


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## hillobeans (May 17, 2012)

tsrwivey said:


> Chocolate syrup for making powdered milk better, Jello, cocoa powder(keeps forever), pudding mix, cake & brownie mixes, icing, lots of sugar, extracts like vanilla, lemon, peppermint. Freeze-dried fruit is very sweet.


Is freeze-dried fruit something you can just buy at a supermarket?


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## Ezmerelda (Oct 17, 2010)

tsrwivey said:


> Freeze-dried fruit is very sweet.


But don't wait until an event to introduce it to them. It's funny looking and picky eaters may have qualms about trying it even in good times. In bad times, it would probably be impossible to get them to even try it.


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## Lake Windsong (Nov 27, 2009)

hillobeans said:


> Is freeze-dried fruit something you can just buy at a supermarket?


Yes, around the trail mixes and raisins you will find dehydrated bananas and freeze dried apple dices. Apples are in the toddler food aisle too, Gerber makes small pouches of freeze dried apple dices. You can buy freeze dried fruits in pantry size and #10 cans from the emergency food brands. Mountain House sells the 'astronaut' freeze dried neopolitan ice cream and ice cream sandwiches (sometimes they are in the camping section at Walmart), also can find those in the other emergency food brands.

Good storage items for sweet recipes: cocoa powder, granulated sugar, powdered or canned butter, sweetened condensed milk, honey... grilled fruit with a honey drizzle is a good treat. The other items I mentioned are good for some basic sweet recipes.

Back to fruit, cereals like Special K use freeze dried berries, strawberries and blueberries, so you might be able to find those in a fruit mix at the grocery store also.


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## hillobeans (May 17, 2012)

Lake Windsong said:


> Yes, around the trail mixes and raisins you will find dehydrated bananas and freeze dried apple dices. Apples are in the toddler food aisle too, Gerber makes small pouches of freeze dried apple dices. You can buy freeze dried fruits in pantry size and #10 cans from the emergency food brands. Mountain House sells the 'astronaut' freeze dried neopolitan ice cream and ice cream sandwiches (sometimes they are in the camping section at Walmart), also can find those in the other emergency food brands.
> 
> Good storage items for sweet recipes: cocoa powder, granulated sugar, powdered or canned butter, sweetened condensed milk, honey... grilled fruit with a honey drizzle is a good treat. The other items I mentioned are good for some basic sweet recipes.
> 
> Back to fruit, cereals like Special K use freeze dried berries, strawberries and blueberries, so you might be able to find those in a fruit mix at the grocery store also.


Great info. Thanks!


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## Ezmerelda (Oct 17, 2010)

Kroger has a large selection of dried fruits - the display is usually near the health food section, but not always...

Even Wal-Mart carries dried fruit mixes on the same aisle as the drink mixes (margarita, daiquari, etc.)


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## Sentry18 (Aug 5, 2012)

> Twinkies! They last forever and you can use them to bribe LEO!


Hey now!!! You are not supposed to tell everyone. If I eat too many they lose their appeal and then the bribe stops working.

I recently purchased a case of Mountain House freeze dried ice cream bars. Their website said that have a shelf life of 7 years. Otherwise we also go for the hard candy and ingredients to make chocolate. I guess we also store honey, which I suppose would be a very sweet treat after going without sweetness for a while.


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## Bobbb (Jan 7, 2012)

Big tubs of honey and barrels of sugar will last forever. When treat time comes then make your own toffee or hard candy with that sugar. Buy chocolate bricks for they have a storage life of 2 years and more. Pack them away in a no-O2 environment and you extend life even longer. Until you need it you can always use the sugar and just rotate in new replenishment.

Buy or make flavor extracts. The alcohol base will help to really extend storage life. Store bought vanilla extract is good for about 5 years but I'm sure that if stored by an experienced prepper that the storage life could be extended much longer.


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## brownb (Jun 10, 2012)

I think chocolate would be a good bartering item too. My problem is unless I hide it where I can't find it, it wouldn't make it's shelf life. Probably wouldn't make it a week


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## cnsper (Sep 20, 2012)

Sentry18 said:


> Hey now!!! You are not supposed to tell everyone. If I eat too many they lose their appeal and then the bribe stops working..


I do have to admit that the Die Hard movie came to mind when I posted that... LOL


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## Rainy13 (Aug 5, 2011)

We have chocolate bars, snickers, anything chocolate stored. i love chocolate and i figure if we open it and it taste awful i will just try to melt it and put on a graham cracker or something...
oh and hot chocolate mix is good to have... heck if you can eat something sweet, you could drink it...


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## hillobeans (May 17, 2012)

Bobbb said:


> Big tubs of honey and barrels of sugar will last forever. When treat time comes then make your own toffee or hard candy with that sugar. Buy chocolate bricks for they have a storage life of 2 years and more. Pack them away in a no-O2 environment and you extend life even longer. Until you need it you can always use the sugar and just rotate in new replenishment.
> 
> Buy or make flavor extracts. The alcohol base will help to really extend storage life. Store bought vanilla extract is good for about 5 years but I'm sure that if stored by an experienced prepper that the storage life could be extended much longer.


Now to figure out how to make toffee.....


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## hillobeans (May 17, 2012)

Sentry18 said:


> Hey now!!! You are not supposed to tell everyone. If I eat too many they lose their appeal and then the bribe stops working.
> 
> I recently purchased a case of Mountain House freeze dried ice cream bars. Their website said that have a shelf life of 7 years. Otherwise we also go for the hard candy and ingredients to make chocolate. I guess we also store honey, which I suppose would be a very sweet treat after going without sweetness for a while.


Have you tried the MH ice cream bars? I wonder if they are worth ordering a case. I did buy a few of the Mountain House freeze-dried neopolitan ice creams, but haven't tasted em yet.


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## Bobbb (Jan 7, 2012)

hillobeans said:


> Now to figure out how to make toffee.....


Youtube is loaded with instructional videos.

Don't overlook caramels.

The point here is that the sugars will last forever in storage and if you can get a hold of fresh butter (for toffee and caramel) and cream (for caramels) then you can always have candy ready to go.

Sugar + butter is pretty simple.


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## BillS (May 30, 2011)

Unpopped popcorn and popcorn oil. 
Pringles canned potato chips last about a year.
Hot cocoa mix.
You could take canned pineapple rings and batter dip & deep fry them.

We got boxes of Hershey bars. They last at least 6 months based on the expiration date.


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## Sentry18 (Aug 5, 2012)

> Have you tried the MH ice cream bars?


No, we just took the chance. I remember going on a diet once where I avoided all sweets for like 2 months. The first thing I ate was a vanilla wafer, which I would not normally consider to be a very sweet treat. But after some time going without you would have thought it was a chocolate cake. Something tells me that if we get to a SHTF situation, any ice cream treat will taste good.


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## sailaway (Mar 12, 2009)

How about unpopped popcorn, store it in an air tight container with some oxygen obsorbers. Invest in a popper for over the camp fire. Maybe get Koolaid or lemonade mix for drinks.

Swiss Miss has a longer shelf life if they like hot chocolate.


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## ashley8072 (Apr 26, 2011)

Ooh, this is something that I've been working on for about a month. Luxury foods. Instead of just storing in original packaging, ive been vacuum sealing them, in either jars or bags. Candy. I love chocolate, and being able grab a treat from the pantry because of road conditions, or even just a late night binge, we've got them. Candy is sorted out into their kinds just in case we have a meltdown. Chocolate, hard unwrapped candy, gum, wrapped hard candy. Also for treats we have trail mix without candy with whole grain chips in it, wasabi peas, about 4 dif kinds of marshmallows (for s'mores, by themselves, or rice crispy treats), chocolate chips for baking or eating, coconut flakes, salted and unsalted peanuts, other variety of nuts, dried fruit including strawberries. The possibilities are endless. And always remember to hide the treats. Out of sight, out of mind. Just this evening, I took the rest of the cookies and put them in a jar and sealed them up. Stashed them behind some soup mixes. I've found that rationing out things like that makes them last longer and keeps from waste. I'll buy a large package of cookies, then vacuum seal them into bags of like 10. Normally if you open a newly purchased box of cookies, their eaten out of boredom by the kids. By rationing them, they go a long way. Last week I made s'mores kits, vacuumed sealed in mason jars. They included a Hershey bar, 6 large mallows, and 4 graham crackers. I had planned on giving them out as gifts for Christmas, but the idea slipped into my preps for a cold evening by the fireplace. I've also jarred animal crackers of dif kinds too. We've also invested in the campfire popcorn maker for camping or fireplace. I'm looking forward to using it camping this weekend.  Popcorn kernels are very inexpensive, and you can buy just about any kind of flavor to add to them.


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## hillobeans (May 17, 2012)

Bobbb said:


> Youtube is loaded with instructional videos.
> 
> Don't overlook caramels.
> 
> ...


lol, Nothing is simple for me in the kitchen. I burned my cornflakes last time I made breakfast.

I appreciate the input. I'll check out those videos.


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## hillobeans (May 17, 2012)

ashley8072 said:


> Ooh, this is something that I've been working on for about a month. Luxury foods. Instead of just storing in original packaging, ive been vacuum sealing them, in either jars or bags. Candy. I love chocolate, and being able grab a treat from the pantry because of road conditions, or even just a late night binge, we've got them. Candy is sorted out into their kinds just in case we have a meltdown. Chocolate, hard unwrapped candy, gum, wrapped hard candy. Also for treats we have trail mix without candy with whole grain chips in it, wasabi peas, about 4 dif kinds of marshmallows (for s'mores, by themselves, or rice crispy treats), chocolate chips for baking or eating, coconut flakes, salted and unsalted peanuts, other variety of nuts, dried fruit including strawberries. The possibilities are endless. And always remember to hide the treats. Out of sight, out of mind. Just this evening, I took the rest of the cookies and put them in a jar and sealed them up. Stashed them behind some soup mixes. I've found that rationing out things like that makes them last longer and keeps from waste. I'll buy a large package of cookies, then vacuum seal them into bags of like 10. Normally if you open a newly purchased box of cookies, their eaten out of boredom by the kids. By rationing them, they go a long way. Last week I made s'mores kits, vacuumed sealed in mason jars. They included a Hershey bar, 6 large mallows, and 4 graham crackers. I had planned on giving them out as gifts for Christmas, but the idea slipped into my preps for a cold evening by the fireplace. I've also jarred animal crackers of dif kinds too. We've also invested in the campfire popcorn maker for camping or fireplace. I'm looking forward to using it camping this weekend.  Popcorn kernels are very inexpensive, and you can buy just about any kind of flavor to add to them.


Damn, you've got your shizz together! Nice!


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## Wellrounded (Sep 25, 2011)

Bobbb said:


> Big tubs of honey and barrels of sugar will last forever. When treat time comes then make your own toffee or hard candy with that sugar. Buy chocolate bricks for they have a storage life of 2 years and more. Pack them away in a no-O2 environment and you extend life even longer. Until you need it you can always use the sugar and just rotate in new replenishment.
> 
> Buy or make flavor extracts. The alcohol base will help to really extend storage life. Store bought vanilla extract is good for about 5 years but I'm sure that if stored by an experienced prepper that the storage life could be extended much longer.


Making treats is a great skill to have. I made my first lollipops when I was 8 or so, sold them to all the kids in the street and made quite a decent profit (mostly because I stole everything out of Mums' pantry, lol). Haven't made much over the last few years but now I have grandkids I'll have to start again. 
Anyone that is thinking of candy making I'd grab a couple of candy thermometers, makes it much easier when you're learning.


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## mdprepper (Jan 22, 2010)

hillobeans said:


> Have you tried the MH ice cream bars? I wonder if they are worth ordering a case. I did buy a few of the Mountain House freeze-dried neopolitan ice creams, but haven't tasted em yet.


I have tried the MH ice cream sandwiches. They taste same as any ice cream sandwich, it was just strange to not have the cold sensation with the taste.


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## hillobeans (May 17, 2012)

mdprepper said:


> I have tried the MH ice cream sandwiches. They taste same as any ice cream sandwich, it was just strange to not have the cold sensation with the taste.


Great, thanks! I won't be shy about stocking up on a couple of cases then. My kids don't eat too much ice cream so they probably wouldn't know the difference anyway.


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## hillobeans (May 17, 2012)

Thanks everybody who chimed in with such great ideas!

Does anybody have any more suggestions for treats that are prepackaged that might have a decent shelf life (a year or two)?


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## NaeKid (Oct 17, 2008)

cnsper said:


> I do have to admit that the Die Hard movie came to mind when I posted that... LOL


When I read that I thought of ZombieLand ... :droolie:


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## cnsper (Sep 20, 2012)

You know LEO would not get the donut reputation if they did not do things like I saw as a kid. We were heading home and a cop went screaming by with lights on coming back from Mt Rainier and when we got to the next town about 5 miles away, he was in the coffee shop drinking coffee and eating a donut.


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## Jerry D Young (Jan 28, 2009)

Tootsie rolls keep well. Get a little hard after several years in storage, but still edible.

Horlick's Malt Tablets (chocolate flabor) (expensive but worth it) are a good treat as they are actually a nutritional supplement type item. Eaten one every little while they are good to keep the energy level up while hiking. Were a staple on the early 20th century arctic and antarctic expeditions.

Chicklets chewing gum, Butterscotch disks, Peppermint disks, Lifesavers Fruit flavors, Life savers butter rum

http://www.spiced.com/SPICED/SKU/horlicks/horlicks.html
http://www.groovycandies.com/pc/vie...bber&utm_medium=CSE&utm_term=405-product=1852
http://www.munchiessweetsandtreats.com/Life-Savers-Singles_p_462.html
http://www.candywarehouse.com/flavo...rum-life-savers-candy-singles-500-piece-case/

Just my opinion.


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## hillobeans (May 17, 2012)

Thanks Jerry! Great stuff!


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## AZSas (Oct 27, 2011)

This may sound strange for some but in my house things like pop tarts and kids cereal are shelf stable treats. Even when my kids were small they got those as occasional sweets instead of meals. When you're used to homemade, most store bought things seen to sweet. Even canned fruits and applesauce worked as sweets for my kids. I do always have baking cocoa, flour, sugar and all the rest of three basics on hand so we make whatever we're in the mood for usually.


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## hillobeans (May 17, 2012)

AZSas said:


> This may sound strange for some but in my house things like pop tarts and kids cereal are shelf stable treats. Even when my kids were small they got those as occasional sweets instead of meals. When you're used to homemade, most store bought things seen to sweet. Even canned fruits and applesauce worked as sweets for my kids. I do always have baking cocoa, flour, sugar and all the rest of three basics on hand so we make whatever we're in the mood for usually.


Thanks AZSas. I do have a pretty decent supply of Pop Tarts. Cereal is a great idea too.


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## Lake Windsong (Nov 27, 2009)

Google homemade pop tarts and you'll find some great recipes for them! I'd cut and paste a couple but I'm on my phone app. They are really good! And a good basic recipe to have when you need a treat but the stores are closed.


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## hillobeans (May 17, 2012)

Lake Windsong said:


> Google homemade pop tarts and you'll find some great recipes for them! I'd cut and paste a couple but I'm on my phone app. They are really good! And a good basic recipe to have when you need a treat but the stores are closed.


Cool. Will do, thanks!


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## The_Blob (Dec 24, 2008)

Any input I can offer would either be a variant of someone else said, or advice to look at OLD recipes for homemade treats.

add a little bit of sugar to popcorn BEFORE it pops, it becomes kettle corn

fruit rind candies (sugar soaked) are delicious and use something that is normally a waste product.

chocolate powder (quick?) and some oil mixed together and cooked (double boiler) until thick, then poured into molds

use a 'flavor injector' (LARGE syringe) to put jelly into doughnuts

FRUITCAKE (rum!) has a shelf life measured in eons

use crystallized honey instead of sugar (I wouldn't intentionally ruin good honey, tho  ) 

PS 
Twinkies DO have an expiration date (12-18 months)


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## hillobeans (May 17, 2012)

Yeah, I was afraid of that (the Twinkie thing). Still, 18 months isn't too shabby.

Thanks for all the other ideas, Blob. Any idea whether it's possible to make fruitcake actually taste good?


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## lanahi (Jun 22, 2009)

Brown sugar with a little water added to it and simmered on the stove so that it's all dissolved and has the right consistency makes great pancake SYRUP. You can even add maple flavoring. It tastes the same as store-bought pancake syrup.

A jar of cinnamon and sugar spice can go a long way to adding sweets to the diet. Even pie crust with it sprinkled on or sweet rice.


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## hillobeans (May 17, 2012)

Awesome lanahi! I've got a ton of pancake mix put away, so that could really come in handy. Thanks!


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## The_Blob (Dec 24, 2008)

hillobeans said:


> Awesome lanahi! I've got a ton of pancake mix put away, so that could really come in handy. Thanks!


You absolutely HAVE to seal it airtight with O2 absorber and/or an anti-fungal agent, pancake mix is a near-perfect nutrient culture for deadly molds...


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## The_Blob (Dec 24, 2008)

hillobeans said:


> Thanks for all the other ideas, Blob. Any idea whether it's possible to make fruitcake actually taste good?


I like fruitcake. :nuts: :rofl:

... but there's always MORE RUM! :rofl:


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## hillobeans (May 17, 2012)

The_Blob said:


> You absolutely HAVE to seal it airtight with O2 absorber and/or an anti-fungal agent, pancake mix is a near-perfect nutrient culture for deadly molds...


Thanks. It's prepackaged Auguson Farms mix, so fingers crossed.....


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