Low cost 72 hour meal plan...for 50 people

Our small community actually consists of two small unincorporated towns about 10 miles apart. We have a fire department, small library, post office and a cafe. The smaller town was evacuated a couple or so years ago because of a forest fire. Our town and surrounding ranchers provided meals and accommodations for many of the residents.

In addition to fires, floods are possible. We've also lost electricity for days due to snow storms. So, several of us have decided to chip in, according to FEMA recommendations, for a 72 hour meal kit that would cover about half the town, assuming that only some would be affected by any single 'disaster.'

We looked at several sources of mouse-proof packaged food and prices, and decided to go with #10 canned dehydrated or otherwise dry food.. We also threw in some treats to break the monotony, as each day's meals will be identical. The spread sheet is challenging to post, so I'll describe the meals. Not including a few of the monotony-busters, you'll need a total of 6 cases of food for 3 meals and a 'soup pot' for 50 for 3 days. The menu assumes limited water and that a propane or wood stove will be available. The menu also accounts for no electricity or refrigeration being available.

BREAKFAST:
Oatmeal with brown sugar (optional) (2 cans QUICK oatmeal, partial can sugar per day)
Coffee (possibly instant)
Vitamin beverage (orange from LDS or apple from Emergency Essentials)

LUNCH:
Refried beans and rice (2 cans each beans and rice per meal)
Strawberry slices (from freeze-dried) and Tea

DINNER:
Italian beef-a-roni (made from 1/3 can beef TVP, 2 cans macaroni and 1/4 can seasoned tomato powder per meal)
Flavored beverage
Pudding

SOUP POT:
Minestrone (from 2 cans Emergency Essentials vegetables for stew(2/3 can per day) and a little seasoned tomato powder, unserved rice, unserved beef-a-roni)


This will be available all day following first day lunch. Pot simmers on back of stove - remember, no refrigeration.  Its purpose is to warm cold bodies or fill growling tummies, as some people may not get enough during meals if portion control yields small portions. Others may arrive hungry between meals.

Some care will be needed to decide how to make the evening entree without discarding water. Start with less than recipes require to cook the pasta, then use some of the pasta water to reconstitute the tomato sauce from powder. 

So, there it is. Simple, nutritious EXCEPT fats. Adding some coconut oil for the oatmeal should help with that. A #10 can of dry milk is also recommended to improve flavor of coffee and oatmeal. Salt and sugar should also be in the larder.


The author gives permission to re-post this article provided credit or a link to FrugalPrep is included.