MREs

MREs are sometimes called Meals Rejected by Ethopian by soldiers, OK that is not very politically correct but you could see how someone might think a a starving African wouldn’t want to eat it if that is all you had to eat for two weeks straight. Some of you have had them on a limited basis and like them, I do too, just in limited quantities and not on a regular basis. Most MREs come with a main entrée; Meatloaf with Gravy, Jambalya, Chicken Fajita, Beef Stew, among others (there are 24 or 30 different variety’s I can’t remember exactly) then there are the sides, and each entrée comes with different sides, there is wheat snack bread, crackers (they are kind of like saltines on steroids), peanut butter, jam (strawberry and apple varieties) cheese (regular, bacon and jalapeño varieties) applesauce (raspberry and regular) raisins, cranberries, pretzels, pound cake (carrot, spice, lemon, poppyseed) you don’t always get all of the listed sides, it is kind of mix and match, some entrees come with some while others even more different ones. Each entrée though always comes with the same sides so sometimes it is as much about the sides you get in a meal as it is the entrée itself. I’m a big fan of the cheese. The jam always seems to come with the crackers and not the snack bread and is good but it tends drip through the holes in the cracker and get your hands all sticky. Also included are matches, toilet paper, wet nap, gum, Tabasco sauce or crushed red pepper, or some other type seasoning and finally a water activated entrée heater. The above pictures kind of show the evolution of the MRE from bag to finished meal, ready to eat, contents of the bag in this case a Meatloaf and Gravy entrée and mashed potatoes with mint chocolate chip cookies for desert.

For this posting I’ve arranged all of the contents of the MRE on a cardboard tray and warmed it in a microwave this makes the meal look fairly appetizing. You can do that when you are in a static position, but this not what the MRE is designed for. It is designed for eating on the go. When on the go you stop just long enough to put the entrée in the water activated heater put them both back into the cardboard box the entrée came in and wait for it to heat up. While waiting you will munch on the sides that come with it and then you will remove the entrée from the heater slit the pouch open and then eat the entrée right out of the pouch.