Letter: Noodle Pack for Bug Out Bag at Costco

Dear SurvivalBlog,

First off, thanks for all you do. Your site is a great resource to “our community” of those awake and aware.

I wanted to share something I found at my local Costco. By the way, I don’t work for either Costco or Tasty Bite. I’m just offering up an idea for others. I’m always looking for multi-purpose food for storage and rotating through my kitchen. I found a product called “Tasty Bite Asian Noodles” in a multi-pack. I thought it would make a good food item for a bug out bag.

I have freeze dried backpacking meals and MRE’s but I could see this product being another option to add in.

Here are some of the features I liked:

  • Packed in a sealed waterproof bag
  • Cooks by boiling bag for 5 minutes
  • Very compact size (One 8.8 oz pack is supposed to be two servings. On the go it would be more likely for one person)
  • Eat out of the bag ability
  • No preservatives
  • Whole food ingredients! (there is nothing on the ingredient list I don’t recognize)
  • No MSG
  • GMO free
  • 500 calories per pack
  • It doesn’t matter to me but it might for others that it is Vegan & Kosher
  • Mine had a 2 year “Best By” date (2015)

We tried it as a side dish with dinner tonight. It was a lot sweeter than I excepted or like, but it was good. I especially like the peanuts in it. There is a lot of sodium in it, but I guess that wouldn’t be all that bad if you were out hiking all day working up a sweat. It will add some variety to my food preps.

I found out that you can purchase this item as well as many other meals-in-a-bag from their website. The cost for a 12-pack was $37.08 or $3.09 per pouch. I found it at my local Costco. Keep at it. Train smart. Stay safe. – C. from NC

JWR Replies: As I mentioned in the Rawles Gets You Ready Preparedness Course, shopping at Big Box stores like COSTCO can be one of the most time-efficient and cost-effective ways to stock up on staple foods. COSTCO keeps expanding their product line to include specialized long term storage foods in large #10 cans. Some or these are certified organic, and some are gluten free. But there are of course lots of bargain prices on rice, beans, sugar, flour, pancake mixes, and many other foods that are packed in sacks or boxes. (My preparedness course describes exactly how to re-package bulk foods to maximize their nutritive shelf life, and protect them from mice and insects.) Other new items–like the noodles that you mentioned–are not marketed to preppers but they certainly do have some utility for us!