I was home alone for four days so I made my favorite food and that is all I allowed myself to eat at mealtime. After the end of the second day, I preferred not to eat, then to eat that food again. By the third day, I was a little hungry but could only manage a few bites of the food. I think that by having beans and rice to hand out to neighbors will not keep them from going hungry or even keep them alive. They will tire of the food very fast and go looking for something else. Has anyone tried to eat the same meal for any extended lenght of time?

-- Carol (glear@usa.net), October 23, 1999

Answers

Beans and rice taste better with enchiladas.

-- arriba arriba (viva@taco.bell), October 23, 1999.

Perhaps your survival was not in question. In the Taiwan earthquake, a couple of guys survived by drinking their own urine.

-- Anonymous99 (Anonymous99@Anonymous99.xxx), October 23, 1999.

Sure, I spent 3 months among the natives in Micronesia (Truk). About all there was to eat was rice, bananas, fish and coconut. Oh yeah, soy sauce for salt. SPAM was the closest thing to red meat.

You get very bored of that kind of diet very quickly. I lost a LOT of weight and ended up feeling rather ambivilent about food in general. It was always a wonder to me how some of the natives could end up with such weight problems. Probably the coconut oil that they loved on everything that I found absolutely gross.

Before my ambivilence set in though, I was constantly on the lookout for someone taking a weekend trip to Guam that could bring back some fresh red meat. Scoring a T-Bone during week 4 was one of the highlights.

You're right.....lack of variety will drive some people to distraction. Some may lose their appetite altogether. If your rice, beans, wheat and corn are all laid in, don't forget to get some treats for yourself. Chocolate keeps pretty good.

-- JIT (Justintime@rightnow.net), October 23, 1999.

Ma'am, drop the chalupa, and back away!

MFU

-- Man From Uncle 1999 (mfu1999@hotmail.com), October 23, 1999.

Carol: Looking for advice? Here it is: VARIETY, VARIETY, VARIETY. This goes for pre- and post-Y2K. When we first started laying in food stores, in early 1998, we wanted to get busy on the basics, the staples. Then as time went on, we started focusing a little more on the other things: the frills. I have all KINDS of non-perishable foods now, even some things I have never tried (canned clams comes to mind). Go to www.y2kkitchen.com ----run, don't walk and print those recipes. They are amazingly good and all involve only non- perishable foods and all can be cooked in either a dutch oven, a lightweight stock pot or a skillet on whatever you are using to cook on (in our case, a big ol' camp stove and maybe the little or big charcoal grill). Just tonight for the first time I made something called corn fritters--nothing but flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt, baking powder and a can of cream style corn stirred into a batter, dropped in hot oil in my cast iron skillet and fried. MMmmmmm!!! I have never had these before, but they were quite a common item on the dinner table back in the day. MAN, are they good!

Yes, I too, almost gag at the sight of all of our beans and rice, but if you lay in enough of the "detail" food, it will seem different. Anything can get boring, but it is AMAZING what you will put up with if it comes to surviving or not, eh?

Oh, I also toasted pumpkin seeds for the first time on the range top in a skillet instead of in the oven--turned out the same.

-- Preparing (preparing@home.com), October 23, 1999.

In addition to rice, (which there are many varieties of... jasmine, basmati, short grain, long grain, wild...etc.) you can stock up on some couscous (which is really a type of pasta.... you bring water to a boil, add the couscous, remove from the heat, let it sit for a few minutes, and it's ready to eat. We usually steam some vegetables and add them to the couscous, as it's served. Or you can add the couscous (like 1/2 cup) to a pot of homemade soup, at the very end) or quinoa (a grain from South America that is really delicious! Only takes 14 minutes to cook.) or pearled barley.

All of these can be added to a pot of soup for variety, and to make them go farther, and all cook quickly.

And for a variety to beans, try red lentils. They only need to cook for about 20 minutes, and can be made into a caserole or soup. Also, they can be sprouted (I would use organic for this) and eaten raw in salads. (and since lettuce may not be possible in the winter, our "salads" may be a variety of sprouts...alfalfa, clover, radish, sunflower seed, mung bean, lentil, etc.)

Since fuel is an issue for us, we are trying to stock up as much food as we can that cooks quickly, and at the same time is real, whole food, as opposed to highly processed, preserved food.

Also, a family could stock up 20# (buy in bulk,,,it's cheaper) of 4 or 5 different types of pasta (spaghetti, radiatore, noodles, orzo, rigatoni for example...) there's dozens of shapes and sizes to choose from (beige or multi colored)and most of it only needs to cook for 8- l0 minutes. Then you can add pasta sauce, white sauce, vegetables, olive oil, beans, gravy, cream of mushroom soup, vinegar, or put it in home made soup.

Seasoning is the key! I have purchased a variety of herbs & spices (by the pound and stored them in glass quart jars) such as dried onions, garlic, vegetable broth powder, dried tomatoes, dried bell peppers, oregano, thyme, black pepper, cumin, cayenne, dried mushrooms, dried cheese powder, gravy mix, etc. etc.

I don't think that the point is just "staying alive", but also staying alive, with a healthy body and clear mind.

I'm not a very creative cook...but I try! Many of my ideas have come from the "Moosewood Cookbook" by Mollie Katzen. I checked it out from the library, and it has excellent recipes, and she often gives variations. And she encourages you to experiment "add l cup of this, but if you don't have it, then try this or that, or maybe this." (for example).

Bon appetit to all of us! We've worked so hard to set all this food back and I hope that this coming year, we can eat it to our good health and enjoy it! Margo

-- Margo (margos@bigisland.com), October 24, 1999.

Appearence, texture and smell are also important. If it looks boring, or feels mushy, or smells weird (or not at all) it could influence your perception of the food quality before it ever gets in your mouth. If you've ever eaten college dorm food, you know what I mean.

Uniformity of sizes, colors and textures ruins the percecption of food.

Seasoning is very important. A bowl of plain boiled navy beans can be vastly improved by adding chopped onion (or rehydrated onion) and sour cream (reconstituted powdered sour cream)--we ate a LOT of that at forestry camp. You can spice it up with Louisiana Red Sauce, any kind of hot peppers, liquid smoke, hickory smoke salt, BBQ sauce, bacon, bacon fat, bacon bits (added just before eating so they don't get soggy), steak sauce, even ketchup if you're desperate. We got very creative at forestry camp.

-- Sam Mcgee (weissacre@gwtc.net), October 24, 1999.

Go to the ethnic shelves in the grocery store. Get sauce and spice packets of every kind, some hot and spicy, some mild. Chinese, Japanese, Filpino, Mexican, Italian, you name it. Then get every gravy mix in the place - brown, white, pork, beef, turkey, etc. Get one each of every kind of hot sauce - Tabasco red and green, all that stuff. Get liquid smoke, barbeque sauces, marinades.

You can eat beans and rice for a long time with the right sauces.

-- bw (home@puget.sound), October 25, 1999.