Best Way To Cook My Food Storage

 

 

“Cooking my food storage is easy!”

When was the last time you uttered that phrase? Maybe never.

But did you know it could be different? Did you know you could order, prepare, and even eat food storage with ease?? Yeah, minds are being blown all over the place.

Seriously, buying and cooking your food storage from Hibernate is truly simple, and incredibly delicious, to boot! (No, it doesn’t taste like a boot.) Just imagine a world where all the terrible things you used to believe about food storage vanished...

7 Myths About Cooking With Food Storage

Listen, we’ve all encountered our fair share of crazy stories about food storage. But we’d like to set the stage for easy food storage by first setting the record about food storage straight. (You with us?)

1. I’ll never really need my food storage.

We sincerely hope you’re right! BUT...let’s cut to the chase—every single person in the world experienced a wild changeup in 2020, and we don’t think any of us expected it. That’s the thing about emergencies—they’re wildly unpredictable except for one thing: us. The people they affect are the one constant, and if we make preparation a given, we can be ready for anything, anytime. Especially when it comes to imperative basics like feeding our families.

2. Food storage won’t last as long as they say it will.

Well, it depends on a couple of factors really—a reliable source of pre-packaged food storage and YOU. Once the food has left where it was prepared (say, in the Hibernate warehouse right here in the U.S.) it is out of the manufacturer’s control. This means when we say it lasts up to 25 years, we really mean it! But you’ve got to do your part by storing your emergency food supply in a safe place free of heat or drastic temperature changes, too much light, water, or yucky pests. Which we think you’re totally capable of. (Pro Tip: Try up off the floor in a cool, dry basement or cellar!)

3. It doesn’t come out right when I cook my food storage.

If you’ve had unfortunate food storage cooking experiences in the past, we’re really sorry. No one needs that! But let us assure you that working with Hibernate is EASY from start to finish, and we’ve got plenty of tips on how to cook your emergency food supply below!

4. It never tastes like what they advertise.

Hibernate puts a big emphasis on creating and providing emergency food that doesn’t suck. Emergencies are bad enough without preparing a pasta dish that actually tastes like a soggy combination of cardboard and sadness. Don’t worry—our freeze-dried meals have been known to cause sibling rivalries (we can’t be held responsible), and we promise they taste like that we say they do. From fettuccine alfredo to cheesy broccoli rice, we’ve got winning dishes for everybody.

5. Eating the same thing over and over gets too boring.

Sure, routine is nice, but no one wants to eat the same thing every single day. That’s why our incredibly popular emergency food supply buckets—like our 2-week food supply—provide a ton of variety in flavor, texture, and nutritional value to satisfy everybody’s needs. And it’s not just dinner meals either. We’ve got you covered from morning til night with maple brown sugar oatmeal, chicken veggie soup, banana chips, vanilla pudding, and so much more!

5. If I get hungry enough, I’ll eat whatever is around.

Research has found that those who can maintain a lifestyle even resembling normalcy during a crisis not only survive, but thrive. So you don’t want to just bank on the fact that getting super hungry will motivate you to partake of whatever mystery cans are left in the pantry! A consistent diet is key to normalcy. (Pro Tip: Do your family a favor and tap into your Hibernate food storage every once in a while—in non-emergency mode—so kids and adults alike can find out which meals they enjoy most and you can stock up on everybody’s favorites!)

6. Food storage is too expensive.

Not many of us have a big reserve of cash to provide food for the next year all at once. But with emergency food storage, it’s okay to start small. Just start! We know plenty of people who have begun preparing with that ever-popular 2-week bucket, and then either purchased bigger supplies of emergency food storage for their families when they’ve saved a larger amount, or prefer to continually curate their food supply with additional smaller buckets of things like our freeze-dried fruits and veggies, buttermilk pancake mix, black bean burgers, and even whole powdered eggs! Just remember, this is providing food insurance for your family and the investment will absolutely be worth it. Particularly at Hibernate’s great price-per-serving rates and free shipping on orders over $150.

7. Food storage is too expensive.

Not many of us have a big reserve of cash to provide food for the next year all at once. But with emergency food storage, it’s okay to start small. Just start! We know plenty of people who have begun preparing with that ever-popular 2-week bucket, and then either purchased bigger supplies of emergency food storage for their families when they’ve saved a larger amount, or prefer to continually curate their food supply with additional smaller buckets of things like our freeze-dried fruits and veggies, buttermilk pancake mix, black bean burgers, and even whole powdered eggs! Just remember, this is providing food insurance for your family and the investment will absolutely be worth it. Particularly at Hibernate’s great price-per-serving rates and free shipping on orders over $150.

How To Cook Your Emergency Food Storage 

Cooking food storage is not as complex as people may think. In fact, if you want it to be, cooking your food storage is as simple as opening packets and adding hot water, and then letting it sit there. Really!

Cooking with Hibernate isn’t like cooking in the traditional sense. There is no elaborate prep work—no marinating for days in advance to ensure powerful flavor, no complicated recipes to study out, and no cutting up all the veggies your family wants so desperately! But if you need a reminder as to how simple it is to cook your food storage from Hibernate, feel free to bookmark this page or copy and paste this next little bit onto a flowery recipe card for future reference:

How To Cook My Food Storage

1. Check instructions on the individual meal or food packets as they’ll vary slightly depending on what you’re preparing.
2. Make sure you remove the oxygen absorber and throw it away prior to adding water.
3. Add water.
4. Eat.

Yeah, that’s it.

We cannot emphasize this enough: cooking your Hibernate food storage is easy! But if you’re still a little wary, we’ll get deeper into the rehydration process as well as how to really take your food storage to the next level.

Rehydrating Food Properly 

Before getting into rehydrating, let’s just review what exactly freeze-dried food storage is: food that has been frozen...and then dried! Yeah, complex—we know. But seriously, the great thing about freeze-drying and its process (that, yes, is actually a little more technical than the basics we described) is that these kinds of foods retain their nutritional value, last a lot longer than basic dehydrated foods, and are light-weight and easy to store. They’re also incredibly easy to rehydrate when it comes time to cook them.

The key to cooking with freeze-dried food is simply reintroducing enough water to the food to allow it to return to its intended texture. Typically that’s done with hot or boiling water since most of the meals are best eaten warm anyway. For instance, let’s walk through the process of rehydrating pasta—specifically, our own freeze-dried Mac & Cheese. The packaging contains a simple chart that breaks down ingredient amounts based on how much of the classically cheesy noodle dish you want to end up with. Following those recommendations, you’ll add your pasta and cheese powder to boiling water, cook over medium heat for 20 minutes, and then let sit for a couple of minutes before serving.

Now, if your emergency situation—or even late-night craving—means you don’t have access to hot water, you can prepare many meals or single foods like our freeze-dried beef dices, with cold water in a pinch. It will take about twice as long, but hey, some things are worth the wait.

And what if you don’t have extra water at all? One of our favorite rehydration tips is simply: don’t. Things like freeze-dried fruits and vegetables are great in their crunchy, flavor-packed state. They’re also the perfect way to easily add nutritional value and flavor to your other recipes. This brings us to…

Add Different Components To Create Your Favorite Recipes 

Whether you’re trying to recreate an old favorite or imagining a new must-eat dish, cooking with food storage from Hibernate is super simple. Almost any recipe can be made with freeze-dried ingredients! Here are a few of our favorite recipe mashups and mixups to try, as well as some mishaps to avoid when cooking your food storage.

• DO: Add freeze-dried peas and carrots to your favorite chicken noodle soup.
• DO: Add freeze-dried fruits and greens to a delicious smoothie.
• DO: Rehydrate some freeze-dried fruit to use over yogurt, pudding, creamy wheat, pancakes, or oatmeal.
• DO: Make your creamy potato soup a little extra with freeze-dried onion, corn, and peas.
• DO: Mix in some freeze-dried raspberries to a batch of white chocolate chip oatmeal cookies.
• DO: Add the tangy crunch of freeze-dried blueberries to any trail mix.
• DO: Use our freeze-dried black bean burger mix to add flavor, bulk, and nutrition to any meal.
• DO: Combine some freeze-dried strawberries with your morning protein shake.
• DO: Add freeze-dried broccoli to any pasta dish.
• DO: Bring in fresh ingredients to augment your freeze-dried meals.
• DO: Experiment with additional spices in pre-packaged meals to shake up flavor profiles.
• DON’T: Try adding banana chips to the spaghetti marinara. You will regret it.
• DON’T: Be afraid to try. Activate your “experimentation mindset” and have fun!

As you can see, pretty much everything is fair game when it comes to cooking your food storage your way. The key is making sure the outcome is something your family will enjoy while they get the nutrition and energy they need during an emergency. Our job is to make that as easy as possible for you.

Hibernate’s Innovative Way To Cook Food Storage 

If you’re still reading this, it’s probably safe to say that you’re in, right? You clearly see how important food storage is for you and your family and you’re ready to become a freeze-dried food-preparing ninja. (Although you’ve also just learned that that ninja status is pretty unnecessary based on how easy we make it for you.)

So, now what? Where do you go from here?

Well, let us continue to make it easy on you. Our customer favorites are the 2-week and 1-month food supplies, as well as the combined fruit and vegetable bucket. They all make a great foundation for your emergency food supply, with complete meals, additional fruit, and veggie nutrition, and contain extras like our low-fat milk alternative. The meals and foods found in these buckets are also great for combining and concocting your own family’s new favorite dishes, emergency or not.

The best part? They’re super simple to prepare and you never have to wonder or worry about how to cook your food storage again.

Stock up on your own easy-to-cook food storage and a hearty dose of peace of mind, courtesy of Hibernate, today!

 

More On Food Storage:

What Food Never Expires?

How Do You Store Your Emergency Food Supply

 Camping Food Ideas