First, some good general sources of information on emergency preparedness:
ready.gov
fema.gov
Red Cross
A really neat preparedness and frugality blog.

I need two kits for my oldest. One to keep in his dorm room, and one to keep in his car.

My middle son is still at home, but should have a kit that will see him through his first year at college.

My youngest and I will just need a “conventional” 24 hour kit. So we will start there.

Every Kit will need:

Water: I ordered 5 water bottles with filters. They are good for 100 gallons.

1500 lbs. of wheat, rice, corn and other grains
300 lbs. of dried beans and other legumes
300 lbs. of sugar
50 qts of oil
40 lbs of salt
5 lbs of baking soda
5 lbs of baking powder
yeast

Home Storage price list from the LDS cannery
Home Storage information from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
LDS Home Storage centers worldwide

Package contents include:
Beef Teriyaki meal with heater
White rice
Crackers
Strawberry jam
Cheese and peanut butter crackers
Beverage powder (lemon-lime)
Charms candies
Accessory pack

Both Andrew and Stephen gave the beef teriyaki very high marks.

They both said the white rice was … white rice. Very bland and pretty unappetizing, but ok.

MRE Crackers. What to say about MRE crackers… If you have never had them, they are quite an experience. Dense. Tasteless. Stephen likes them. Andrew can take or leave them. I leave them. I will eat the strawberry jam off the spoon.

The peanut butter cheese crackers are the kind you can get at any store.

Package contents include:
Hearty Beef Stew Entree
Oatmeal Cookie
Toaster Pastry (strawberry)
Peanut Butter
Raisins
Beverage Mix (lemonade)
pepper, spoon, towelette, heater with salt water packet

Hearty Beef Stew Entree: Warmed it with the heater. Didn’t get very warm, but I may have done something wrong. Both Stephen and Andrew said the meal was ok, but bland. Andrew said it was like a bland can of hearty beef stew made by Campbell’s soup. I thought it had a funny taste (sort of lemony) and didn’t like. The boys finished it, so it couldn’t have been that bad.

Oatmeal Cookie: Hard as a rock and mega-delicious. Aside from not being “bakery” soft, this oatmeal cookie was a huge hit. Good size, very sweet, felt very much like a “treat”.

Toaster Pastry (strawberry): Similar to an unfrosted poptart. I don’t like poptarts at all, but this was ok.

General APack Notes:

The large plastic sleeve containing each “meal” is very easy to open (unlike military MREs).

The heater comes with its own water pack, which is a very nice feature.

The only seasoning included is a packet of pepper.

Make sure to pack a pair of scissors in every 72 hour kit

Afghanistan is very different than the other combat tours my hubby has done. He has been there almost a month and still does not have housing. He travels almost every day (Sundays he is in the office). Longer distances are primarily by air. When they are out checking on local camps/bases, it is by convoy.

Internet over there for personal use is $100 a month and is basically the speed of dial up. Of course, you need to have a room to have internet…so Hubby is still out of luck on that one. Still, the communications system between battlefield and home is so much better than it’s ever been before so I will not complain!

We have 4 Army Issues MRE’s to try.  Near as I can tell, they are from the 1999 pack date, so it’s probably time they do more than sit in a backpack.

Army MRE Menu listings by year

Today we will try Menu #3 which is Beef Teriyaki. We also have Menu #4 Ham Slice, Menu #5 which is Grilled Chicken and Menu #7 which is Chicken with Salsa.

Above is a really great informational website on MREs, where to buy them, what to look for, etc.

I have also ordered a case of APack MREs and a case of Sopakco MREs that we will also try.

1 pound bulk mild Italian sausage
1 1/4 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
4 slices bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 large onion, diced
1 tablespoon minced garlic
5 (13.75 ounce) cans chicken broth
6 potato, thinly sliced
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 bunch fresh spinach, tough stems removed

Pasta e Fagioli: Prep ~10mins, cook ~1 hour

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, quartered then halved
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 (29 ounce) can tomato sauce
5 1/2 cups water
1 tablespoon dried parsley
1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon salt
1 (15 ounce) can cannellini beans
1 (15 ounce) can navy beans
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 pound ditalini pasta

Amatriciana: Prep ~20 mins, cook ~20 mins

4 slices bacon, diced
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 (14.5 ounce) cans stewed tomatoes
1 pound linguine pasta, uncooked
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Orzo with Shrimp: Prep and Cook ~15 mins

• 8 ounces uncooked orzo pasta
• 3 tablespoons plus 1/2 teaspoon Filippo Berio Olive Oil, divided
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1-1/4 pounds raw small shrimp, shelled and deveined
• 1-1/2 medium tomatoes, chopped
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 2 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Lasagne: Prep ~60 mins, cook ~2 hours

1 pound sweet Italian sausage
3/4 pound lean ground beef
1/2 cup minced onion
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
2 (6.5 ounce) cans canned tomato sauce
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil leaves
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 tablespoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
12 lasagna noodles
16 ounces ricotta cheese
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 pound mozzarella cheese, sliced
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Cheesecake: Prep ~30 mins, cook day before

15 graham crackers, crushed
2 tablespoons butter, melted

4 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
1 1/2 cups white sugar
3/4 cup milk
4 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Fresh Bread: Prep evening before, bake in morning

3 cups bread flour (5 oz. whole wheat flour and 10 1/2 oz. white bread flour
1/4 tsp. instant yeast
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups purified or spring water

Carraba’s Knock-Off Bread Dip: Combine ingredients mid-day

1 Tbsp minced fresh basil
1 Tbsp minced fresh garlic
1 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp minced fresh rosemary
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper

1/2 tsp olive oil
1/8 tsp fresh lemon juice

Salad

Easy cookies for the kids who might not like cheesecake

Allrecipes.com and Breadtopia are two of my favorite sites!

Zuppa Tuscana
Pasta e Fagioli

Bread with dip

Salad

Cavatappi Amatriciana
Orzo Pasta with Shrimp
Lasagna

the BEST cheesecake ever!!!
Simple cookies for the kids who might not like cheesecake

1. Dining Room
2. Master Bathroom
3. My Dresser
4. Large bookcase in the living room
5. Laundry room

Dinner Party:

1. Go to IKEA and get a table.
2. Get table setting for 12  … a little more expensive than I thought.  I will stick with mismatched plates.  =)
3. Call Diana and set something up for after hubby flies

Self-Care:

1.  Get a haircut
2.  Finish a chapter in my Paralegal course

Boy Projects:

1. Redo the chore list
2. Take Steven out driving (try to set up a small, regular window)
3. Have a math day with Andrew

They were all under the impression that the schedule, while busy, allowed for some downtime … especially because they’d done a lot of the processing at the unit locally. Well, that is soooo not turning out to be the case! For my hubby, it doesn’t much matter, but some of the guys have young families and had planned on more contact with their families. Hubby did get skype up and running. It will be a nice way for the soldiers to keep in contact. (Internet access is about $30 for the week.)

The first time my hubby deployed to a war zone was during Desert Storm. The technology today is so different. Back then, we had snail mail and the “stand in line to make a 3 minute call” phone. Now the soldiers will get cell phones and internet in AOR. It’s expensive, but there’s not a lot to spend money on in a combat zone.

I may have to go down on Wednesday or Thursday to pick up some gear he doesn’t want to take with him. I don’t wanna! Now, the whole reason I started this blog was I could say things like that!!! Now, I want to do anything I can to support my hubby. And if he needs me to smile and drive down there and get his junk, then I can do that. But we had a nice, simple, emotionless goodbye this morning. I really don’t wanna have to have another one. He doesn’t even have enough free time for a cup of coffee. It is literally a “pop the trunk” sort of thing.

OK, so that was enough whining for now. We are at T-397.