Today I learned....

i need to pack my backpacks with change of clothing and shoes and put them in my emergency closet! Tonight I learned that we don't want to rely on mre's as a food source in an emergency. Since we were supposed to be cooking without power, Ed decided we would crack open one of the many cases of mre's we have stored away. It was quite interesting, I chose spaghetti with meatballs, he chose bbq pork! When we opened them we discovered each packet contained the entree, a napkin, a mini bottle of tabasco sauce (which was a very strange color), a package labeled pound cake, a package labeled cracker, and a candy item, as well as matches, sugar, salt and coffee! My concern began to arise as I looked at the color of the tabasco sauce and asked Ed, how old are these? He laughed at me. Then I opened the pound cake and looked at the funny discolored patches on it and again asked Ed, how old are these? He laughed again. Then we heated the entrees in their nifty little heater envelopes, opened them, poured them onto the plates, and Ed said, I think I'll go see if there's a date on these. He came back laughing again, and informed me they are 22 years old!!!! We elected not to eat that meal and decided we will toss all those unopened cases of mre's in the trash for tomorrow's pickup! So, then we went to the case I bought last year to add to our 72 hour kit. Heated them up, everything was much fresher, but boy, the taste, couldn't even eat more than a few bites! But, I noticed that the package said that each meal is approx 1200 calories, so just a few bites is maybe all you need!! So, today we have learned two very valuable preparedness lessons and had a few laughs along the way! (I don't know how those serving in the military can survive on this stuff, let alone be expected to be the strongest military in the world!)