# Meals in a jar/in a pouch



## lazydaisy67 (Nov 24, 2011)

Ok, so a little slow on the uptake here  looking into meals in a jar. This sounded like a good idea until I start looking up the videos and websites and see that they're all using Thrive and Honeyville stuff as ingredients. Grrr....I don't have ANY of those because frankly, I have tried for a year to budget some of that into my week/month/year and I can't get it done. However, I am willing to make an additional sacrifice of some sort (firstborn, left arm, etc.) to be able to purchase some of these things to make into jar meals IF somebody can tell me/show me how cost effective it will turn out to be for me. I LOVE the idea of having meals ready to go as opposed to ginumbus bags of rice and beans sitting on shelves, but seriously I don't know if I can spend $14 per pound on sour cream and cheddar cheese powder!


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## Genevieve (Sep 21, 2009)

do you have a dehydrator? a vacuum sealer? if you don't maybe you could think about selling some things to get the money for them or ask for them for Christmas or birthday,etc.
Once you can dry your own foods you only need to go to the $ store and get bullion and such to make your own meals in jars by following their instructions but using your dried foods. All these meals in jars are convenience foods really. It just cuts down on the time it takes you to get a meal on the table. At least thats the way I look at it. I'm never really that busy to where I need them.


also you can get an app for the computer for kindle for free at amazon so if you peruse the free books you can catch them and down load to read. and there is a download to turn epub books into pdfs ( I think) so you can read them on your computer too. it's called calibre e-book management.
I'm sure theres a thread here on the board that has the link.

I get a bunch of books at smashwords and some are in different forms so it's great to have the calibre


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## HappyPreppers (Sep 12, 2014)

The thing is mason jars (your "cans") are expensive too, so don't commit to buying all that powdered cheese and sour cream until you can also invest in enough mason jars to make it worth your while. Also, test the recipe on your family before canning a whole case of whatever you make. Finally, it's important to note that opening a Thrive can diminishes its long-term shelf life (25-years). By re-canning it into one of your "home made" meals, it now has less than a 5-year shelf life.

Is that really what you want to do? It's fine if you plan on serving your "cans" for dinner on occasion. You might otherwise opt to buy a freeze dried meal in a #10 can, so you have your meals with the can included and it will last 25 years. Freeze dried meals fit compactly in mylar and bucket or in the #10 cans, and you won't risk breakage of glass.

-- Happy Preppers
We believe the happiest people on earth will be those who've prepared when the unthinkable happens.


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## lazydaisy67 (Nov 24, 2011)

Heck yeah I have a dehydrator and a vacuum sealer...whoo hoo! I don't have a dehydrator that has a temp gage on it though, it's just one of those plug in and it runs kind of thing. I have most of the ingredients except for the meat and the powdered stuff for sauces. I don't mind getting more jars since I can pick up a case here and there for around $10, but to plunk down $45 or more for a 2.5 lb can of freeze dried meat.....that just seems SO incredibly expensive to me. I get prep envy when I watch some of those videos on Youtube.


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## tsrwivey (Dec 31, 2010)

I don't use FD meat for my meals in a jar & am just now going to try adding the powdered butter, etc. You could make your own spice mixes, dessert mixes, homemade stuffing, etc. Instead of using FD meat or powdered butter, just add that in fresh. You've still saved yourself a lot of time later by doing all the gathering & measuring now. It's much easier to make cookies from scratch when all you have to do is dump the contents of a jar into the mixing bowl, add some milk, butter, & eggs then bake! The same principle applies to making meals. Either used meat you've canned or cooked then frozen. It's just as easy to cook 2 pounds of hamburger as it is to cook just one & it's just as easy to make up two meatloaves as it is one. It'll taste better than the FD anyways. You don't even have to buy the jars! Meals in a jar are a great way to use jars that are no longer suitable for canning because of a nick in the rim or to reuse those empty applesauce jars. 

There's no practical reason to be eating FD meat with any regularity. It is horribly expensive & I'd be willing to bet it's at best mediocre cuts of meat to start with. Take what you learn & make it work for your situation. By adding a few fresh, canned, or frozen ingredients to that meal in a jar, you'll be paying less than half the price of the FD version & Im sure it'll taste better. The folks on those videos probably sell the FD stuff.


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## Genevieve (Sep 21, 2009)

yea if you can find it a book called Make A Mix( old book) has all kinds of mixes to make from scratch. There is also some sites that have mixes to make like this one thats free ( which I would use :
http://www.budget101.com/frugal/mix-recipes-166/

I rarely watch those videos. And most recipes I read I try to work to my tastes and use substitutions all the time 

Check your library to see if they have the book. It's by Karine Eliason, Nevada Harwood and Madeline Westover

There is a newer version of the book but I found the old version at a thrift store and it works so .......


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## SouthCentralUS (Nov 11, 2012)

I have been dying to try the Meals in a Jar. I worked it into my Christmas budget. I took delivery today of the final ingredients I need to make them using my own dehydrated veggies. I can't wait to get started. The kids will be getting all home made items. My daughter will be thrilled because she travels in her work and has been wanting to take my canned food.


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## lazydaisy67 (Nov 24, 2011)

So if you put together cookie mix in a jar do you use the baking powder? Does that keep in there for a period of time? Do you use an O2 absorber or vacuum seal it or what?

I've made soup meals and canned them, that's easy. I guess I was just shocked when I started looking up the ingredients they were using. I've been researching almost all day and the cost just doesn't add up to being a economical thing to do. For me anyway.


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## Genevieve (Sep 21, 2009)

well, like I said it seems to me to be more of a time saver. it's all pre-measured and you just dump and go from there.

I would imagine if you're giving a cookie mix to someone else you'd give the directions and the baking powder would be added by them. I don't know since I don't fool with this type of thing.

wonder if theres a website or forum where you could ask that question? hmm....


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## faithmarie (Oct 18, 2008)

I make meals in a jar .. a lot of lentils and rice..


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## tsrwivey (Dec 31, 2010)

lazydaisy67 said:


> So if you put together cookie mix in a jar do you use the baking powder? Does that keep in there for a period of time? Do you use an O2 absorber or vacuum seal it or what?.


My family are chocolate chip cookie fans which just uses baking soda which I do add to the mix. The longest I've kept mine on the shelf is maybe six months. I don't use O2 absorbers (I'm afraid they'd make my sugar rock hard) & I don't vacuum seal. My meals in a jar type stuff are not so much a prep for me but a time saver (like freezer cooking).


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