Wise Foods

The kind folks over at Wise Foods sent me some free samples to review for you.
Neatly packaged to my door came a 2 serving cook in package sample of their outdoor meal Chicken Ala King and a 4 serving long term storage packet of Cheesy Lasagna.

The kids and I decided to try out the Chicken Ala King for lunch this week.
Here is how simple it is to make.
Step 1: Open Package and remove oxygen absorber
Step 2: Pour 2 cups of boiling water in.
Step 3: Re close pouch and let stand for 8-1 2minutes.
Step 4: Eat
What did you think kids?

They loved it!
I mean the really loved it.
It may have well as been chocolate chip cookies.
And we were not even camping of hungry during and emergency.
I imagine they would liked it more than chocolate chip cookies if that were the case.

Other than my children will eat it here is what I like about their company.

1. Prep- I can prepare the foods in the package with hot or cold water. This means all I need a way to get hot water and we are eating in under 12 minutes.

2. Retail- You can purchase their products online here. Or at several local retail shops. I love this option. I love being able to pick up food storage products while I shop for groceries.

3. Size and Weight- a one year supply for 1 adult weighs only 60 lbs. An entire years supply for our family of four would fit in about the space a washer and dryer takes up.

4. Cost- On average their foods cost about $2.00 a serving. This is pretty comparable especially when you consider the average calorie count of a meal is almost 250 calories.

5. Storage- Each meal comes packaged in a four serving pouch. Leaving the rest of the food still sealed up tight for long term storage. I always hate it when we open a #10 can and then have to have green beans with every dinner all week.


What I can see myself purchasing.

1. They have a 60 entree bucket. with these meals below included for $135. Three of these would fit in with our storage nicely.

• Stroganoff (8)
• Creamy Chicken Pasta (8)
• Cheesy Macaroni (8)
• Chicken Ala King (8)
• Chicken Teriyaki (8)
• Southwest Beans and Rice (8)
• Beef Teriyaki and Rice (8)
• Cheesy Lasagna (4)

I don't see us outfitting ourselves with an entire year supply of Wise Food pouches. But I think having some would be useful. I can see us using it in emergency after eating down the 3 month pantry and before we start digging into our #10 cans and wheat. I think they could be nice transitional meals between the gourmet 3 month pantry and the more long term food storage. Even then we would not eat it for every meal. Just dinner. Which is why I like the entree only packages.

2. 72 hour Emergency Meal Kit for $39

I would love three of these. One entire kit for the 72 hour kit and one entire kit for each car. I love the cook in the bag option. I could take out the mess kit in our 72 hour kid, which would free up a little space. Plus these seem some how more appropriate to eat than only soups and spaghettios.

What do you think?
Have you tried their products?
Have you seen them in a store near you?

Do you want to try them?
Go here for your free sample
Then come back and tell me what you think.

Also if you are looking for a group discount or perhaps a price break on shipping for an order you can talk to this guy.

Tony Smoot

Wise Foods Inc.
801-677-1077 office
435-730-2118 cell
tsmoot@wisecompanyus.com
www.wisefoodstorage.com

he may just be able to help you out.

Feeling Good

This is a picture of the 3 months supply pantry after case lot shopping, with some more that would not fit in a downstairs closet.


And I am feeling good....

I am actually still short a few cans of tuna and chicken, two jars of salsa and two jars of jam. But that should do it.

Here is the menu my family will be eating if we had to live off what was in our home for the next three months.

Day 1	Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner
	waffles	Soup	Rice
	syrup	crackers	Beans
	milk	Flavored Drink	Corn
Day 2	Cereal	Bread	Noodles
	milk	Peanut Butter	White Sauce
		Honey	Can Veggie
Day 3	Pancakes	Mac & Cheese	Chili
	syrup		Corn Bread
	milk
Day 4	Oatmeal/ cereal	Soup	Chicken
	hot cocoa	Crackers	Rice
	milk	Flavored Drink	Cream Soup
			can Veggies
Day 5	muffins	Bread	Spagettie
	canned fruit	Peanut Butter	Tomatoe Sauce
	milk	Jam	mashed potatoes
Day 6	Pancakes	Mac & Cheese	Rice
	syrup		Beans
			Corn
Day 7	Oatmeal	Bread	Chicken
	Hot cocoa	Tuna	Rice
		Mayo	Pineapple
			Teriyaki Sauce

Snacks Brownies, Cake, Chocolate Chip Cookies, Pudding, Popcorn and Jello

Repeated over and over again week after week.
That is how you can make planning a 3 month supply easy.
Find 7 meals for each mealtime your family likes to eat, figure out what you need for one meal, then multiply it by 13. You don't even have to find seven different meals. You will see that I repeat pancakes for breakfast, and sandwiches for lunch.

Thankfully we don't have to live off what is in our pantry, so they will be served these meals less frequently over the next 6 - 9 months instead.

But it does feel good to be all stocked up and complete again.

Case Lot Shopping List

Boy am I hoping to find the chance to go case lot shopping this week.

I checked out Smith's and Macey's. They have case lot sales at the same time (4/7/2010 for two weeks) AND even more importantly are withing 25 minutes from my house.

I checked out their circulars
Smith's here
Macey's here

These are for my area- but you can enter in your zip code and store info for a more personalized approach.


I have compiled this list.

Smith's
Canned mandarin oranges 24 for $8.00 or .33c a piece
Diced Tomatoes 24 for $ 12.00 or .50c a piece
Canned Kidney Beans 24 for $12.00 or .50c a piece
White Flour 10 lbs for $10.80
Canned Pears 24 for $16.32 or .68c a piece
Total $59.12

Macey's- Thank Macey's for bringing food storage supplies to the average shopper. And for often offereing their case lot prices on single items.
Cream of Chicken Soup 24 for $11.76 or .49c a piece
Canned Pineapple Chunks 24 for $18.72 or .78c a piece
Canned Black Beans 24 for $13.92 or .58c a piece
Bread and Muffin Mix 10 99c a piece
Laundry Detergent Powder 30 lbs for $5.88
Total $60.18

Plus a gal pal just agreed to split a few cases so our small families can have the variety we want. A great idea when you want to get the great prices but don't have the room or a very large demand.

They also have can rotation systems on sale for $19.88. If I am lucky maybe I can weasel a few of these in my cart without feeling too guilty.

You know I am looking forward to organizing it all the most. :)

Case Lot Janurary

Today Macey's, Harmon's and Smith's Grocery in Utah start their case lot sales. I try to stock up on canned goods during these sales- because I hate it when I want to get a can of corn or pears- our family favorites- and I have to spend more than 80 cents a can. Here are some links to their ads- see what your pantry could use and stock up. Their sales typically last two weeks however, it is first come first serve, and I have noticed that the second week of their sales they usually have run out of several items.

Smith's case lot sale ad. here
Macey's case lot sale ad. here
Harmon's case lot list. here
Harmon's even offers #10 cans of various long term storage items during this sale for $5.99 !

Video I like

Here is a video made my fellow emergency preparedness blogger preparedLDSfamily.blogspot.com that brought me to tears. Well that is mostly because media always makes me cry. Yes another self secret revealed, I usually tear up at one commercial per television show. Pathetic I know. Back to what is not pathetic. This great video on a 3 month supply. I just love when people show their food storage shelves. And if you are overwhelmed trying to start, this will surely motivate you in the right direction.