Meals in a Jar Not a New Concept

Meals in a jarI did not invent this but I am taking full advantage of the concept.  Meals in a jar works like this.

  • You prepare meals ahead of time that fit into pint or quart jars that are either pressure canned or vacuum sealed.
  • When you are ready to eat the meal it is either an open, heat and eat type of meal (pressure canned) or an open, add hot water and eat type of meal (vacuumed sealed) or a combination of these.
  • In either method when it is time to eat there is either no cooking or very, very little cooking involved.

Meals in a jarUse a pressure canner to prepare fresh vegetables and meats that can be stored for up to 5 years.  Season these foods the way you want to eat them.  They will taste perfectly when they are opened.

Buy packaged meals in boxes or pouches and vacuum seal them to prepare later.  We buy ours on sale to reduce our costs per meal.  Add freeze dried or pressure canned protein to complete the meal when you are ready to eat.  You can easily feed 3 – 4 people using packaged meals in this manner.

Why This Method Works For Us

  1. MRE’s are survival food and not meant for long-term use.  We consider them to be emergency rations and not everyday meals.
  2. During a disaster we want some “comfort food”.  Meals that we eat on a regular basis.
  3. The kind of disasters we are planning for will have us sheltering in place.  This gives us the opportunity to store heavier items such as jars.
  4. We anticipate not having the ability to cook.  Preparing our meals now, while we have electricty, gas and water and then putting them back for long-term storage is the perfect way for us to prepare.

Multiple Resources Available

Since this concept is widely used there are several resources available to teach you how to prepare meals in a jar.  Google and YouTube are huge resources.  You can spend hours reading articles and websites and watch hours of video teaching you how to prepare meals in a jar.

Meals in a jarThere are books on the subject.  My favorite resource is by Stephanie Peterson called simply The Meals in a Jar Handbook.  In this book she explains the concept very well and has 300 gourmet meals that are stored in various size jars.  Click this link or the picture to be taken to Amazon.com to take a closer look at this great resource.

She proposes that you create gourmet meals that your family will want to eat on a regular basis and seal them in jars or pouches.  These gourmet meals turn into comfort food during a disaster.

She includes desserts and pastries in this book.  There is truly no shortage of ideas you will get from this great resource book.

She has several professionally produced videos that go with this book.  Both the book and her videos have resources for you to obtain all of the supplies needed to complete each meal.  She also has a blog that I use for additional resources on the topic.  Visit often for her latest recipes and comments from her followers.

Click here for some great recipes that we use in our daily meals and our long-term food storage.