Wise Foods is a company that specializes in ready-made food storage meals (with emphasis on the storage). These freeze-dried / dehydrated meals are packaged in an airtight NITROGEN PACKED Mylar pouch, and only require adding water and then waiting 10 – 12 minutes to prepare. (This makes these meals ideal for backpackers.) The company states that these meals can be stored for up to 25 years.

Wise Foods offers a variety of meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner. They offer meals (in pouches) that serve 4 adults as well as a specialty line of Outdoor Meals which makes 2 jumbo servings. These meals can be bought in bulk so that an emergency shelter can be stocked, or some of the Gourmet Outdoor Meals can be bought individually.

However, Wise Foods is giving everyone the chance to try before they buy, by offering free samples. Simply go to their website and click on the “Try a free sample” tab in the top corner on their home page. (Or, just go here.)

I filled out the form a little over a week ago and within a few days I received a single bag of the Cheesy Lasagna (as seen in the picture above). There was also a brochure in with my free sample for Wise Foods. I also received an email from them in which the owner simply inquired as to how many I had in my family and what my food storage / goals were.

I have not been able to try out the meal yet, and will probably not get to until the weekend after next (I want to try it out while on the trail rather than at home). Before I go though I plan on repackaging the meal into 2 separate bags since 4 servings will be a bit much, especially for just me.

As for the details, the package is in an off-white packaging with the Wise Foods logo on the top and then Cheesy Lasagna underneath. There is also a description: “Pasta with Parmesan and Romano cheese, tomato sauce, onions and spices.” Below this is the serving size, 4. The net weight of the package is listed also on the front at 9.6 oz, however on my scales I get 9.9 oz.

On the back, the directions state to “Bring 4 cups of water to a boil, add contents of the package into boiling water and stir. Turn off heat, cover and let stand for 12 minutes stirring occasionally.” After this is the nutritional ingredients.

The directions on the back contradict the directions on the web site, since on the site they say to add the water to the bag. Maybe these directions are for certain meals, and not this one. I would find it hard to believe that 4 cups of water would fit inside this pouch anyway.