OP,

I've been in my preps room this New Year's Eve trying to sort, organize, and figure out THE perfect system. In short, there isn't one. Each product has its own set of pros and cons.

Here's what I've come up with:

I have a multi-tiered system where Level 1 doesn't require cooking at all. This is a stash of Pop Tarts, granola bars, etc., that have a long shelf life (although not exactly long term like 20 years). Level 2 is items like Mountain House and Chef Boy-Ardi that require MINIMUM cooking. The Mountain House only requires boiling water, which doesn't take much time or fuel. An MSR pocket rocket stove can boil 2 cups of water in a couple of minutes (alcohol fuel). Technically, the Chef Boy-Ardi doesn't need cooking.....just heating. I have a Sterno stove and Sterno fuel for that. You can eat it cold if you have to.

Mountain House pros = Light weight; easy to cook
Mountain House cons = Expensive

Canned food pros = Cheap; variety; you can rotate through your stash
Canned food cons = Heavy; tomato based products won't last long in cans

My Level 3 is truly long term storage. Rice, beans, pastas, oatmeal, pancake mix, etc., in mylar bags. I got the mylar bags and oxygen absorbers on Amazon, and it's not that hard to package the food. I used my hair straightening iron to seal the bags, and it worked perfectly! LOL.

I also have Thrive #10 can food storage for a no-kidding SHTF scenario.

Hope this helps. :)

Happy New Year!