Emergency Preparedness Month- Emergency Ration Bar Tasting

I bought little 72-hour kit starters from Emergency Essentials when Jay and I first moved here.  (I was still pregnant with The Frog, even) And they came with these Emergency food rations.  They're really a great idea- very compact, and just minimal calories, for an emergency, if you have to grab your kits and take off and you just don't want to worry about starving.  (There are 9 bars- breakfast, lunch, and dinner for 3 days.  Each bar has 400 calories.)

 When I went through our kits last fall to update the clothing for the kids, I happened to notice that these were set to expire this month (March 2013).  So, I put it in my calendar for us to, YES, try eating them in February, just to see how they were!  If I weren't nursing, I would have tried to live off it for 3 days, just to see... but I'm a bit sensitive about doing that for the babe.  I'm always worried my kids aren't getting enough since they're all so skinny.  Anyway, so instead of living off it for 3 days, I decided to serve it up for dinner.

my poor family puts up with me so well.

 Looks pretty good right?  Like a big butter cookie.
It's not.
I must say it wasn't terrible.  It had a strange lemony flavor about it.

 Our kits had these waters in them too, which also expire, so I thought, "what the heck?"

 Peach was the first to try the emergency ration.  After taking this bite, I asked her what she thought of it and she said, "good."  But then she didn't eat any more after that.

 It could be because she was too enthralled by drinking her water out of this box (and later squirting it all over the table.)  My poor kids are neglected and don't get juice boxes or capri suns at our house.  (Kids should eat their fruit, not drink it!  Don't deprive them of some good fiber!  Don't get me started talking about fiber...)

 Yes, the water boxes were the highlight of the evening...

I think The Frog actually liked his bar.  He almost ate the whole thing!  Jay was a good sport and ate what I served him (like he always does.  Thank you honey!  I think you are a big reason why our kids are not picky eaters...) but I had a hard time choking it down.  There was something about its flavor that reminded me of conversation hearts.  And those are gross!  (except the minty white ones :D)  My first few bites were hard to get down, but then I started getting used to it and it was tolerable.  But then I took a break to clean up the water mess Peach made, and when I started up eating it again, it was gross again and I had to re-get used to it.  It was weird.  I'm sure if I was starving, though, I wouldn't be too picky.  I think I may buy a different brand to have on hand for the next 5 years, just to compare.

We still have one unopened bar, so if anyone in the neighborhood would like it to try, let me know, you can have it :)