"Can Size Me" - Robb's Journey, Day 3

[Robb]

I suppose I should explain. :D



Recently I was the lucky winner, at a county emergency preparedness meeting, of the door prize: three days' worth of "emergency" food for two people.

My first response was aha! Six days' worth for me!

My second:

Canned food, which is what this was, is often the cheapest in the supermarket. Move to "store" brands (again, which is what this was) and it gets cheaper. The catch? Well, it can't be all that good for you, can it?

Get it?!? CAN it? :rofl:

According to the woman who handed me my "door prize" in a bucket, the total cost was $30. For six days' worth of food. Not bad.

So I gave it a roll. :D

I'm now on my third day eating exclusively from my new "collection." I have several observations I'd like to share:

- I'm drinking an awful lot of water. I expect it's because of the high sodium content in the three dinners ("stew," "chili with beans," and a soup so far, looking forward to the "ravioli").

- My energy level seems normal.

- Prep time for dinner: about a minute slaving over a hot stove.

- Canned fruit = not so bad. The cheap brands seem to have more seeds and such than I remember from, for example, my memories of things like Mandarin oranges. Best eaten after being kept in the fridge.

- On the fridge: obviously I'm opening it maybe once a day. Presumably this will decrease energy consumption. If I wasn't particular about the fruit being cold, I wouldn't need the fridge at all.

- On energy: obviously every time I use the microwave, that savings gets negated and then some. Solution has been pot on the stove.

- Canned veggies = mostly terrible, few exceptions. It helps little that most of the kinds I have, I don't care for when fresh. But I'm eating them regardless.

- Apple juice! Yay! Only one little thing per day, but it was in the bucket and I find myself looking forward to it. All day.

- Store-brand V8-ish juice: Boo!

A few questions remain, like what's happening to my insides (not promising), and what the hell do I do with evaporated milk? Also, concerns about the mystery cubes in the value-brand "mixed fruit" can, but heck.

Anyhoo. Thought I'd share. Anyone else have canned food experience they would like to pass along?

I'll update as events warrant, or on Day Six. :hi:

[redwitch]

1. Sounds like the diet I was raised on!

Blue Lake Green beans, Minute rice, Campbell's soup, Schlitz beer...

Yummo!


Edited to add: I work at my local food pantry. One of the things it has taught me is that my diet is diverse and lots fresher than many folks. I am grateful for that but wish the food pantry had at least a freezer so that poorer neighbors weren't living on canned stuff at the end of the month. Too much fat and sodium, too little vitamins.

[panader0]

2. Cans yes. But not with food in them.

It's beer that sustains life. A little food here and there is ok, but it shouldn't interfere with the kind of nutrition that "makes you feel mellow."

[MercutioATC]

3. I believe the mystery cubes are pears (well, pieces of them, anyway).

Believe it or not, there's an industry standard for fruit cocktail:

http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:qA5Ov3PEMIEJ:www.codexalimentarius.net/download/standards/246/CXS_078e.pdf+canned+fruit+cocktail+ingredients&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us


oh, and you're still a dingbat

[uppityperson]

4. This is very interesting.

It would be interesting to see a list of everything you eat each day, not just dinner, but everything. Interesting.

[Robb]

6. Well, let's see

...Usually I don't eat breakfast anyhow, so I haven't been. I'm cheating by having coffee, but ya gets what ya pay for in this experiment. :D

Day 1:
- Canned pears mid-morning, soup at lunch w/V-8ish thing, beef stew for dinner, apple juice dessert.

Day 2:
- No breakfast, Mandarin oranges and soup for lunch, chili with beans for dinner, apple juice and second can oranges later on.

Day 3
- No breakfast, corned beef hash lunch, soup dinner, apple juice, can pineapples later.

Also tons of water throughout, quite thirsty. Perhaps I'll go with the beer suggestion for Day 4. :D

[Robb]

7. Oops, forgot:

Day 2 I had some canned corn, Day 3 some beets. :)

[Fox Mulder]

5. I lived on that diet in college.

I hated it.