Just in Case (10 page)
Eggs and dairy products
Dehydrated foods have gone mainstream. You can now purchase full meals, not just from sporting goods and camping stores, but in your local market. In fact, many convenience foods like Rice-a-Roni, instant gravy, powdered milk, instant potatoes — anything, in fact, that says “just add water” — is usually a dehydrated food. Full meals can be planned around some of these rice, pasta, and potato products. Many can be quite expensive, but because they are so convenient — easy to store, requiring only boiling water to prepare, and with a shelf life of several years — they must be considered as part of every home storage system. Storage food companies also offer foods like cheese, eggs, butter, and sour cream in a dehydrated form.
Dehydrated foods are different from dried foods. Dried foods, such as raisins or dried apples, still have some moisture in them, while dehydrated foods have had nearly all the water removed from them. As a result, dehydrated foods are hard and brittle. Freezedried foods are flash frozen, and the ice crystals are removed in a vacuum chamber.
BEVERAGES
Many of the foods on this list would fit in the category of fun foods. Other than milk and juice, both of which supply essential calories and nutrition in an emergency, none is necessary, but they are often comfort foods and therefore important.
FUN FOODS