One of the recent comments on one of my postings, from Madmax808 (thanks!), mentioned stocking up on Spam-the canned meat kind, which got me thinking about it so I picked up a couple of cans that were on sale.
For anyone who has never tried Spam, it is a canned meat by Hormel, made of pork shoulder and ham. It looks like a pink brick when you first take it out of the can. A lot of people hate it, but there are a great number of fans out there. My parents actually introduced me to Spam. Since they were kids during World War II, they grew up eating Spam as a special treat. Meat was scarce back then so having a little meat, even from a can, was a good thing. My Mom made me Spam and cheese sandwiches with mayonnaise on white bread up until high school when I got too “grown up” to bring Mom’s lunches to school.
When our family visited Hawaii a few years ago, we found fast food places like McDonald’s actually served Spam, egg and rice for breakfast. Not sure if they still do, but we tried it and it was pretty good.
Here is the quick recipe: Slice Spam into thin slices. Fry in a bit of oil until browned and sprinkle sugar on top. Serve with scrambled eggs and white rice. Or, make a breakfast sandwich with Spam, a fried egg and American cheese between two pieces of sliced bread.
There are lots more ways to cook Spam, but these are my favorites.
This is not a paid endorsement and I have no connection to Hormel. I am always on the lookout for inexpensive foods with have a good shelf life that the family likes. I think Spam is a worthy addition to the larder, as it is actually pretty tasty if you cook it the right way.
totally agree. I highly recommend the hickory smoked spam!! slice it thin and fry it-it tastes just like bacon!! we take it camping and have subscribed through amazon.com to a 6 pack of it a month. Winds up about 2.76 a can + free shipping, much cheaper than the $4 at the store/ can. Spicy Spam is also great, but I’d stay away from the stuff mixed with bacon-not good, go hickory instead!
Haven’t tried the hickory spam, we only have the original one in our area. May have to order from Amazon 🙂
I can’t do Spam. I had a little last week, probably the first I had in a decade, that little bit will do me for another decade or so. I do like canned smoked herring and (definitely an acquired taste) and canned chicken breasts can be made into a passible chicken salad.
My parents were farm kids when WII started so they had plenty of fresh food around, but things like new shoes and clothes were scarce.
We keep canned chicken in the pantry as well; I may have to try smoked herring so I know what it tastes like.
Hey guys, found your site from SHTF Plan. Got a question. It’s bad out there, but when is the real sh@% going to hit, where we all see rioting in the streets, tent cities everywhere with laid off cops keeping them in line, perhaps living there along with everyone else? people following folks home from atm’s to get the cash you just withdrew? I would just like it to get here so we can get past it and start rebuilding. I am tired of waiting for the shoe to hit.
If a SHTF event were to happen, it would be bad… No one knows if this is a slow decline or whether it will happen all at once. It’s the uncertainty that is worrisome. We prepare to feel more secure about the uncertain future. Thanks for the comment!
Have a couple of cans of Spam, but like the DAK canned hams better and they have more meat for the buck. Have you noticed how “both” have been going up in price? YOW!
Costco has a house brand canned roast beef – it is really yummy using premium top and bottom round beef – beware, sometimes the house brand is out and they substitute another brand and it isn’t as good. Theirs comes four 12 oz cans for about $11 bucks.
Like the canned chicken breast, the roast beef is really compact so you are surprised at just how much meat is there.
For those not Costco members, you can have stuff shipped and no member card is needed and some stuff is free shipping. They also have lots of emergency dehydrated foods and stuff – including Mountain House.
I forgot about Dak canned ham and canned roast beef! My parents are members of Costco and they keep a stock of them. I will check online. Thanks for mentioning!
I actually store a lot of tuna, turkey, chicken in cans. Spam just seems too processed for me, although it may last longer than the other three I have mentioned. I find that when talking to other preppers, they do not load up on the proteins the way they should. Now, the upside of spam, is that I think it has a lot of fat in it, and in the field, you need those fats for energy, so you may be on to something that I am not. I notice that a lot of the MREs and MRE main meals I buy for camping and hiking have a lot of fat in them as well…
Spam does have a high fat content; not the healthiest food around, I admit, but good in an emergency. Those MREs do have a high fat content and high in calories, likely so you will have more calories to burn for hiking and such. I don’t think I have seen canned turkey around the stores out here.
I was surprised to find it too… It should be in the same area as the tuna and canned chicken if you can find it.
Yes, spam & rice with ketchup on top! This stuff is good. McDonald’s here is awesome 🙂
Another thing we like here is Vienna sausage. A box of 18 cans goes for 7 bucks. Try this: Buttered bread, then add 2 sauted sausages in middle of bread & eat like a hot dog.
Saute the spam with teriyaki sauce (soy sauce and sugar if u wanna do it how we do it)… this with white rice is pretty close to high-fiving God 🙂
Dip (pre-sauted teriyaki spam) in egg-yolk and dredge in Panko (asian bread crumbs) … deep-fry ’em! Not too long, light golden brown is ok.
Slice a can of spam into thin rectangles … chop each slice of spam width-wise (1/2″ x 3″ segments). Saute spam pieces, julienned onions until browned. Add chopped/shredded cabbage amd white rice. Saute with teriyaki (not too much) and a couple shakes of Lee&Perrins steak sauce until it’s all good. Eat!
Another thing we eat here (old schoolish now) is Top Ramen saimen… Make it like normal but throw away the water & add ONLY half of the powder-packet to the noodles as you saute it with margarine and some frozen mixed vegetables.
Rice and brown gravy is my old time swim-team treat.
Creamed tuna on rice (peak oil easiest prep!) … Rice, Tuna, Cream of Mushroom soup, Wesson oil. 3 cans tuna sauted with light oil + 2 cans soup sauted. Add up to one can water depnding how thick/light you want it. Top a bowl of rice with this and you will be happy during peak oil…
With an “a/c anywhere” belkin inverter in the car, it will do it all if you have a small ghetto-style rice cooker! Tuna lasts for years, it’s weird but i like it.
Act Locally:
Preparing (help who you know), Shopping (help your brother before the other), Food security (100 mile diet; 5 mile or backyard is better), Small and modular is Better than Big and centralized (solar&wind/compost-making toilet/backyard-food&canning produce/greywater&rainwater-harvesting = smarter/efficient/cheaper/sane/respectful of nature)
These sound like great easy recipes Madmax808 and I have all this stuff now-ramen noodles, spam, tuna and vienna sausage. I even have panko crumbs mostly used for fried chicken so Spam dredged in panko is a new one for me, will have to try it! Thanks for all these great ideas.