This blog post may contain an affiliate ad banner and/or text link. If one clicks/taps on one of these links and then makes a purchase, I sometimes receive a small commission. Please patronize our advertisers. I performed this product review over the period 06/24-26/2024. These products were sent to me free of charge.
The purpose of this review is to sample and evaluate the free products sent to me from Valley Food Storage. I will give a brief history of the company, prepare, eat and give my opinion of these products and tell you how to get free samples of this product.
Valley Food Storage is located in Akron, OH. They were founded in 2018 and are owned by Adam Kern. Their mission is to produce high quality freeze dried and/or dehydrated foods that can be stored for long periods of time. Their primary customers are those that want to store foods in case of natural or man made disasters as well as for religious reasons. Their secondary customers are outdoors persons like myself. Their products can also be used for RV, tent and car camping as well as backpacking. The company lists a twenty-five year shelf life on most of their products.
The sampler pack that I received contained five single servings of the following products: Maple & Brown Sugar Outmeal, Strawberry Oatmeal, Irish Pub Cheddar Soup, Pasta A La King and White Bean & Lime Chili. Here we go:
Strawberry Oatmeal– This was the first product that I made. Since we are having record heat in the mid atlantic states this week I opted to make these products at home. The oatmeal was easy to make. The instructions weren’t clear though. They said to bring 1 cup of water to a boil and then add 1/3 cup of mix and let it boil for 3-5 minutes. But the amount of product that I received was not 1/3 of a cup. And only one cup of water didn’t seem like enough. So I used two cups of water. I had to strain everything at the end. The product tasted good. The oats were natural and unprocessed. And there were small chunks of strawberries in the product. There wasn’t much of it to eat. So I added some strawberry jam to further enhance the product. Five minutes is a long time to boil oatmeal on the trail so I don’t think that this product would be applicable in a backpacking situation.
Maple & Brown Sugar Oatmeal– I could tell that this was a slow seller as the packaging looked older and the good till date was a year sooner. Anyway, I made it according to the directions: 1 cup of water, 1/3 of a cup of oatmeal, boil for a minute, than simmer for 3-5 minutes. This one came out watery. I had some Torani French Toast syrup laying around so I added it to the finished product. It tasted good. When ordering this type of food, it pays to add spices to it as well as a protein such as canned or dehydrated sausage to liven it up. This one tasted OK.
Irish Pub Cheddar Soup– Wow! This one was fantastic. I measured the amount of dry soup before I cooked it. It was slightly more than 1/3 of a cup. I was concerned that the small 3/4 of a cup of water called for was not enough. So I increased it to one cup. I brought the dry soup and water to a boil, then stirred it occasionally. I reduced the burner to warm, small burner. However, after about 4 minutes, the soup started to stick to the bottom of the pan. I was worried that it would burn. So I pulled it at between 4 and 5 minutes. The soup tasted great. I could see myself having this product in an Irish Pub along with a pint. Anyway, I tried the soup and, like I said, Wow! The only issue was that since I didn’t let the soup cook for 15-20 minutes, the corn and red/green peppers were a bit crunchy. I would think that if I had a full size serving along with more water, this product would have cooked successfully. Now, 15-20 minutes is a long time to cook something on the trail. So I would probably only utilize this product at home or where I had a large amount of propane or an open fire. Again, this soup was fantastic!
Pasta A La King– Now this package made a decent amount of food. I cooked it as per the instructions and it turned out fine. I did add some crackers and some pepper to supplement the product. This one was OK but tasted a lot like other freeze dried meals that I have eaten. I had a thought this morning. This product would be great for people that are homebound or recovering from an operation or injury. Just stock up on this stuff, add water and you have a meal.
White Bean & Lime Chili– This is the last product that I tested. It was easy to make. 1 cup of water and entire contents. Boil for 2 minutes, simmer for 3-5 minutes. The beans in this chili looked like the beans one finds in Pork & Beans purchased at a store. I added some shreaded cheese. Tasted good. The lime flavoring adds a slight tart to the chili, which I thought enhanced the taste. Very good. This one actually filled me up.
OK, here’s how to get your free sample of food from Valley Food Storage. Click/tap on this link:
once on the site do a search for “free sample”. Click/tap on the result that says “Speak with our Product Expert”. You then call the phone number on the screen. More than likely, you’ll get Jordan’s voicemail. Leave your name/number and a brief message. Jordan will text you asking for your shipping information. Return the text with that info and you should receive your samples within five days.
In closing, I would like to thank Valley Food Storage for this free sample of their product. The food tasted good and was of good quality. I will order some for a future adventure trip.
Mike C
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