In the cold months of winter, surviving means you must keep warm. Your body generates heat as it digests the foods you eat, and certain foods will help you keep warmer than others. In the winter, it is especially important to eat foods that are high in energy--or calories. To get the most out of these calories, you should eat foods that have lots of fats and proteins for your body to store. Pemmican, sardines and hot chocolate are all good survival foods for winter.
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Pemmican is a traditional survival food invented by the Native Americans. Pemmican recipes vary, but the food basically consists of dried meat and fat, combined with berries. Pemmican is compact and extremely calorie-dense and can be stored for long periods of time.
Pemmican is an excellent source of energy for winter survival. Pemmican has been used by Native American Indians in traditional cooking for hundreds of years to weather cold North American winters. It is a mix of dried meats and fruits held together with fat.
The University of Minnesota has reprinted a pemmican recipe from the North American Voyageur Council Newsletter. This recipes calls for dried meat from dear, moose, caribou or beef and the dried fruits currents, dates, apricots and apples. You grind all of these dried ingredients up and mix them with hot rendered beef fat, and combine it with nuts and honey. This recipe says you can eat your pemmican for years.
Another winter survival food packs a high concentration of fats and proteins just like pemmican. Sardines are an alternate source of energy to heat your body for the winter. They are portable because they come packed tightly together in cans.
There are different varieties of sardines, according to Stealth Survival, which recommends stocking up on sardines canned in oil. These will give you as much fat as possible, which can be stored by your body when you need to generate more energy. Sardines also come canned in mustard or water, for winter survivors who want variety.
Hot chocolate is a popular winter drink for both people cozying up around a fire inside, and those camping outdoors in the snow. To make hot chocolate, you only need two simple ingredients, milk and chocolate. Both of these ingredients are beneficial for surviving the winter. Milk is high in protein and can be high in fat. The creamier the milk, the more fat it contains.
If you are buying milk from the store, buy whole milk, not skim milk. You can use milk from animals, coconuts or nuts to gain the fat and protein benefits they contain. You can also freeze milk for easy winter storage, according to an article in "Time" magazine.
Combine milk with chocolate for a delicious flavor, and even more winter health benefits. Chocolate is also high in fat for your body to use to make heat. It is also high in nutrients such as sugars--which will give you energy--and antioxidants--which will help protect your body from disease. Heat your milk over a stove top or a fire and melt in chocolate to taste.