MRE's : the spice of life living in the post apocalypse


piddy3825

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I got kinda curious as to what makes up a Canadian Meal Ready to Eat.  You bonus on these items when you scale the summit, so what is in these things providing you with all the calories you need so survive?  The meals are precooked and can therefore be safely consumed either heated or unheated. Under ideal circumstances the entrees are generally consumed heated.  Based on the 2005 standard Canadian military forces meal pack load out available there were six different breakfast, lunch and dinner options. 

Entrees consisted of the following recipes: Ham steak with mustard sauce, Scalloped potatoes and ham, Sausage and hash browns, Beans and wieners in tomato sauce, Breakfast sausages, Omelette with mushroom sauce, Gemelli pasta and vegetables in tomato sauce, Chili con carne, Gong Bao chicken, Beef and vegetable stew, Rotini with pepperoni and tomato sauce, Chicken à la king, Swiss steak with Spanish sauce, Veal cutlet with mustard sauce, Meatballs in flavoured sauce, Indian chicken breast, Minestrone stew, Cannelloni with meat and tomato sauce, Pork chow mein, Beef Bourguignon, Meatloaf with onion sauce, Macaroni and Cheese.

Fruits and desserts consisted of the following options: Peaches, Fruit cocktail, Pears, Pineapple tidbits, Raspberry applesauce, Strawberry applesauce, Cherries, Sliced apples, Apple sauce, Blueberries and a Baked maple dessert.

Beverages consisted of the following options:  assorted Coffee flavors, Tea,  assorted Hot Chocolates, assorted Herbal teas, Peach, Lemon, Lime, Orange and pineapple, Mango, Strawberry, Grape and Watermelon.  Just add water...

Soups were also available: Cream of mushroom, Chicken noodle soup, Cream of tomato soup and Cream of leek.

Miscellaneous sundries : Assorted cookies and Crackers, Instant plain mashed potatoes, Mexican rice, Vegetable rice, Bread, Assorted chocolate bars, Jam, peanut butter and marmalade, Instant dressing mix, Strawberry pudding and Banana pudding.

Condiments packs included sugar, coffee whitener, ketchup, salt, pepper, towelette, matches, paper towel, toothpick, chewing gum, tabasco) and a spoon were provided in each meal.

Wow, that sounds delicious, making me hungry just reading all the recipes.  after a couple of weeks on an all venison or moose meat diet, yeah a bowl of pasta sounds great!

 

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That omelete with mushroom sauce is making me cringe.  About 10 years ago the US had a veggie omelet MRE that was not-so-lovingly dubbed the Vomelet, because when you tore open that foil pack it really looked like someone already ate it.  If you dump the entire salt packet on it, it almost became palatable.  And I mean I guess it beats starvation, maybe.   I'm not sure.  It's a really close call....starvation, or Vomelet.  Flip a coin.

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2 hours ago, ajb1978 said:

That omelete with mushroom sauce is making me cringe.  About 10 years ago the US had a veggie omelet MRE that was not-so-lovingly dubbed the Vomelet, because when you tore open that foil pack it really looked like someone already ate it.  If you dump the entire salt packet on it, it almost became palatable.  And I mean I guess it beats starvation, maybe.   I'm not sure.  It's a really close call....starvation, or Vomelet.  Flip a coin.

For me it was the old 1990's Chicken & Rice. 

Sounds fairly safe, right? 

If you love the taste of coriander, it is. You never think about how changes in altitude might affect you tastebuds, until you are there, and it does. Mountains of Peru, caving and backpacking, 1997. MRE's packed, Chicken & Rice was what we chose for dinner at our first basecamp. Apparently the altitude made all of our tastebuds super sensitive to the seasonings in the entree. We all had to choke it down, and fight to keep it down. Except Barb. Our resident ovo-lacto vegetarian.  She was eating boiled eggs and cheese with the sherpas. The only one of us who was not sick for the entire night, tasting coriander for the next 3 days, no matter what we ate or drank to get rid of the taste. 

 

It was a learning experience, lol!

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Guest Jeffery Simpson

You're all living much more adventurous lives than me! The closest I've ever been to an MRE, or a situation that required an MRE, was playing The Long Dark.

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1 hour ago, Jeffery Simpson said:

You're all living much more adventurous lives than me! The closest I've ever been to an MRE, or a situation that required an MRE, was playing The Long Dark.

You can always order some online!  I mean TLD inspired me to try canned sardines.  (And they ain't called "Last Resort" for nothing...)

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Guest Jeffery Simpson
48 minutes ago, ajb1978 said:

You can always order some online!  I mean TLD inspired me to try canned sardines.  (And they ain't called "Last Resort" for nothing...)

Ha ha. I just spent a bunch of money on a backpack. I think that if I bought an MRE right now my wife would be quite annoyed with me.

Tinned sardines, however, they're not that bad.

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4 hours ago, Jeffery Simpson said:

You're all living much more adventurous lives than me! The closest I've ever been to an MRE, or a situation that required an MRE, was playing The Long Dark.

Be thankful. MREs or IMPs were calories, but not usually very tasty ones. Just indestructible, and easy to pack small.
But, like ajb said, they are available online, and at most military surplus stores. And they stock up the shelves in a real like bunker, really nicely. 
Just skip any that are labeled "Veggie *anything*" or have coriander as an ingredient.  :coffee::peaches:¬¬ 

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Living in the barracks you aren't given your food allowance so you are on meal card instead. Working mid shift while on meal card we were given a choice of variety box lunchs (box nasties) or a mre, i took the mre 2-3 times a week simply because it was more filling and except for the vomlet, i generally didn't think they were that bad.

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53 minutes ago, ThePancakeLady said:

Just skip any that are labeled "Veggie *anything*" or have coriander as an ingredient.  :coffee::peaches:¬¬ 

Indeed.  Anything tomato-based or beef-based is usually pretty good.  Spaghetti, ravioli, beef stew, beef brisket, those are the good ones.  And for creativity, the jalapeno beef patty wins top score.  You basically make yourself a makeshift cheeseburger out of tortillas, a beef patty, and cheese spread.

3 hours ago, Jeffery Simpson said:

Tinned sardines, however, they're not that bad.

I have found that if I mix it in with hot mustard, they're pretty good.  In other words, completely mask the flavor of the sardines with mustard lol

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12 hours ago, Jeffery Simpson said:

You're all living much more adventurous lives than me! The closest I've ever been to an MRE, or a situation that required an MRE, was playing The Long Dark.

Next time you have a few minutes, check out the Crazy Russian Hacker on YouTube. 

Although his accent is think, he does some funny unboxing and taste testing videos of MRE's from countries all over the world.  Sometimes the menu sounds so appealing, but then there are some funny combinations that will leave you scratching your head or at least be thankful you aren't enlisted in the country's army. lol

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