Long-term food storage meals that taste good – Valley Food Storage Review

Being a part of a emergency preparedness community has its advantages.  One of those advantages is that you can ask for advice, opinions, and/or feed-back to questions you have.  A fellow prepper recently ask me what emergency preparedness items would be a good gift for a non-prepper.  If I want to help someone get started prepping or just plant the seed of emergency preparedness I introduce them to long-term food storage meals.  Let’s face it, most people wouldn’t know what to do with a 25 lb bucket of flour.  Long-term food storage has come a long way over the years and exposing people to long-term food storage meals that taste good can be a great way to introduce emergency preparedness to family and friends.

Valley Food Storage asked me to do a product review in exchange for trying some of their long-term food storage meals.  These meals are similar to the boxed meals that you’d find at the grocery store.  The biggest difference is that they last up to 25 years because they are freeze dried, dehydrated, and packaged in high quality Mylar bags.  It’s been my experience that regular boxed food lasts 1 to 3 years (and yes I have experienced plenty of food gone bad).

A Little About Valley Food Storage

The company has been around for 10 years.  Like many other start-up companies, the founder wanted QUALITY food products that could not be found in the marketplace.  Valley Food Storage uses “natural food ingredients without any added preservatives, MSG’s, or GMO’s  and a nitrogen flushing process would help to ensure the shelf life up to 25 years.”   The company also offers Gluten-Free options.  There are many brands that offer cheaper options but I have learned to shop for value rather than for the cheapest thing I can find.  When looking at purchasing food there are a couple things I play close attention to: when I read the ingredients I want to be able to identify and pronounce every ingredient and I want my food to taste good (who wants to live out the end of civilization if the food tastes like tree bark?).  Valley delivers in both of these criteria.

Taste & Experience

The Irish Pub Style Cheddar Potato had a pleasant and creamy texture.  My husband and I both enjoyed it, the spicing and flavor were both really well done.  Perhaps the biggest surprise was how filling the soup was, my husband says that “soup is not a meal” and often after a bowl of soup immediately starts rooting around the kitchen seeking some carb to finish out the meal.  However, he told me that he was surprised and “uncomfortably full” after eating the Irish Pub Style Cheddar Potato.  It was easy to cook and looked appetizing after following the directions. The process from start to finish took a total of 20 minutes.  If you are new to dehydrated foods you may be surprised at how muted the aroma is, my experience is that it does not detract from the overall taste but if you want the family to come home to the smell of dinner cooking a dehydrated meal is not likely to deliver without adding additional spices and seasonings of your own. 

The Pasta Primavera had a wonderful Italian flavor and a yummy creamed sauce.  The spicing was perhaps a little heavy for my taste (8 out of 10). My husband, who prefers spicy food enjoyed the flavoring.  I added steak and carrot slices to make the meal heartier. The process from start to finish took a total of 30 minutes.  It was surprising to me that it looked better than most of the store boxed pasta I’ve used for dinner. Overall, it was a good meal.

Additional Notes

I would recommend Valley Food Storage as a good option for long-term food storage.  This product would not be ideal for a bug out bag because of the size of the pot required and because the packaging is bulky.

Be sure to check the serving size when comparing prices with other companies.  Valley Food Storage packages have various serving sizes.  The meals they sent me are 2 servings per package, whereas, many of the packages sold online are 5 servings per package.

If you are interested in learning more about Valley Food Storage click here:  https://valleyfoodstorage.com/about-us/

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