Well, I went to the grocery store tonight. When I got there I noticed there was a lot of stuff on sale. Package of six ramen noodles for $2.00, Vienna Sausage, two cans for a dollar, SPAM, two 6 oz cans for three dollars, 10 cans of Campbell’s soup for $10.00, etc. Some were great deals, some were good deals, etc. I used it as an opportunity to stock up on a few items I needed and a few more items for my food storage… I may go back tomorrow and pick up more stuff for storage.
I also used this as an opportunity to pick up a couple cans of Vienna Sausage, SPAM, and more as a test if I can or should supplement my food preps with some of them. Now, I have never had Vienna Sausage in the past… Picked up a couple cans of spam and couple cans of vienna sausages to try out… Opened the can of vienna sausage or SPAM, that I know of. After dinner, I popped open a can of the Vienna sausage. They looked like little hot dogs. I followed the instructions, and took two out of the can and put them in the microwave for about a minute. While they were heating up, I looked at the nutritional value, or lack there of. Five (5) grams of protein per serving, 17% fat, and about 17% Cholesterol 400+/- mg of sodium per serving as well. For the record, three sausages are the recommended serving, and there were seven sausages per can.
As the two sausages emerged from the microwave, I let them cool for a moment. When I cut them with my fork, I noticed they had a sponge like consistency. I popped half a sausage in my mouth, and it tasted like a salty spongy hot dog. I looked at the can again, and noticed it said, packed in chicken broth, which was more like a syrupy chicken broth. I looked at this for a
second; ate the other sausage and a half, and decided, this is not food as we know it. Just cheap food. Smelled a little like cat food as well. Cheap. Two cans for a dollar. However, 5g of protein per serving, 17% fat, and high in cholesterol, as mentioned. I thought about how I could make it better, or how this might serve me in a survival situation… I could easily slice up the sausages, add more water to the very salty chicken broth, drop some vegetables in te water/broth, add the sausages, and boil until I have a nice hot soup. What I quickly realized is that you could easily just use this for energy. Protein is a little low, so if you had to mix it with real chicken or something else to help your core foods last a little longer or to make a slightly larger meal to serve another person you could do so. It may not be what you want, but the fat, and protein might help have more energy and keep you alive.
After some additional thought there are a myriad of other foods you can mix your vienna sausages with including:
- Ramen Noodles
- Soups
- Mac and Cheese
- Mashed Potatoes
- Eggs
- Casseroles
- Other Pastas
- Rice / Beans
- Mix with condiments such as Ketchup, Mustard, or BBQ Sauce
- etc…
While I have eaten vienna sausages in the past, they do not have a place in my pantry. We never heated them up but just ate them from the can. I always wiped mine off because I didn’t like the congealed whatever that is also in the can. LOL Unless my grandkids decide they like them at some point. I can eat them but they are not a favorite.
Spam I can handle if it is sliced thin and then fry until a little crispy on the outside.
Tami — they are certainly not going to become a “core” product in my food storage. I have yet to try the SPAM, but will probably do so prior to the weekend, just to get a flavor for it before I buy anymore…
We used to have them when I was a kid as picnic food. When we went on long trips, my mother would pack them as part of our lunch on the road, and we would eat them straight out of the can. So for me, they bring back memories of childhood vacations. I also have warmed them up with pork and beans and eaten them that way. No one else in my immediate family like them though, so we don’t have many of the cans in our preps.
I used to eat Vienna sausage. Then one day I read what was in them. That finished me off.
Had Vienna sausages as a kid but don’t care for them now. For canned meats I store corned beef, corned beef hash, and roast beef. For other high fat foods I keep peanut butter. For survival anything high fat is good.
Arsenius; When I was an older kid my grandpa graphically told us what was in baloney — couldn’t eat it for a couple years, but it’s ok sometimes.
Change of subject: WTF is up with having to watch a video to post a comment?
@Suburban Survivalist — Didn’t know it was going to make you (and I) watch a video for every phrase when I installed it. Sorry if it is inconvenient in any way…
Aso for peanut butter, I am right there with ya. One of my favorites, and always several jars being rotated in and out of storage…
I rinse them and add to a can of Bush Baked Beans, quick and easy meal.
I use to eat the bbq one’s on crackers. They are cheap and small and could help stretch food supplies. They would also be good in forever soup.
Just in case forever soup is when you keep soup cooking over the fire and add what ever you have to it, water, meat, veggies, mushrooms, ect.