Wise is another company with high quality, generally great tasting meals: http://wisefoodstorage.com/

Np jac. I enjoy your posts. You are a very savvy prepper. We need more ladies like you.

The instant potatos come in pouches fairly compact saving time from measuring and repacking from the boxess and they come in flavors. Just add water gravy mix is nice in the field as well. I have recently discovered Knorr mini cubes. You crumble them into food. I found onion and chipotale. Btw we have Hormel completes here. Turking and dressing, roast beef and potatos with gravy, chicken breast etc. A retort bowl which can be heated in boiling water or eaten cold in the field. A former co-worker swears she has seenoodle dishes in retort packaging in various grocery stores. I'll watch for them and advise if they look edible.

I haven't tried Wise yet. I read a review they were too salty. That could have simply have been that reviewer though, doing his taste testing at home. In the field I like more salt.

Frankly, when you get hungry enough, it all tastes good.

Enertia Foods is another good food source that I've tried and liked.

I'm a big fan of freezer bag cooking and the associated website, lots of good ideas for ready made food and how to put together your own meals from different stuff - it can be quite inexpensive, quick to prepare, healthy and taste great. http://blog.trailcooking.com/

Really for me my favorite meal is when someone else has cooked it - I'll go filter water, prep tents, shovel away snow and do other chores if someone else takes charge of the cooking. If I'm hiking with my friend Kirby we tend to eat late, as neither of us fancies ourselves as a cook.

I kind of enjoy cooking, mostly because the inevitable consequence of cooking is eating, my true passion. I rather enjoy baking, the only one in my family to do so, again primarily because it usually results in banana nut bread, food of the gods.

You mention dehydrated and FD foods mostly for emergencies. I think you need to be thoughtful here. Both those foods require water to prepare, something that well might be in short supply. The main advantage of D/FD foods is light weight, a critical factor if you are backpacking or bugging out for long distances on foot and reasonably decent water is readily available along the route. In desert conditions, it is often just as sensible to carry canned or retort packaged foods containing water to supplement the gallon of two of H2O you are already packing. Apple sauce is one of my favorites for these situations, along with a beef stew and the like - a very high percentage of water. Often you can prepare a cheap supermarket meal like mac and cheese with adjustments to the cooking - use half the amount of water, bring to a boil and let the pot sit in a cozy for five minutes, and eat - cheap, light, and nutritious.