# MRE/Rations



## 275ANGER! (Jun 28, 2009)

Alright ladies and gents I came across Rapids post on rations and did not want to steal the thunder of the Orish thread. What do you like? What have you tried? and Recipes?  I can smell the MRE shits already 



Rapid said:


> I've never looked at US SOF rations, and for that matter I wonder if there's a difference between conventional and SOF rations in the US? French SOF rations are quite different to the conventional ones, in that they have a lot more stuff in them, especially for taking in calories/energy. I've still got some energy bars around which say "bar commando", and those always made me laugh because I figured that's the last thing you'd want advertised on your equipment.



There is something called a MCW/LRP ration, never had one or seen one.  Some of the LRS guys on the board might have.  Some of the MREs also came with a chocolate power bar that wasn't so bad, you could taste the fiber. I am not sure if it is the same power bar in the MRE but there is a power bar called the "Hooah Bar" that came in Apple-Cinnamon and Chocolate if my memory served me correctly; it was a tasty treat during Ranger School, first time I had one.



Meatloaf and mashpotatoes mixed together into a thick consistency with cayenne pepper for a little kick, it was a good meal that sticks to ribs.  "Ranger Pudding" - Cocao mixed with cream powder and water, never did the coffee or crackers thing.


----------



## Paddlefoot (Jun 28, 2009)

I saw some guys in the desert that were packing the Arctic MRE, and I heard it was pretty good. 

Couldn't convince them to give me on to find out. Anything would have been better than the standard issue MRE.


----------



## JJOIFVET (Jun 28, 2009)

Paddlefoot said:


> I saw some guys in the desert that were packing the Arctic MRE, and I heard it was pretty good.
> 
> Couldn't convince them to give me on to find out. Anything would have been better than the standard issue MRE.



I used to have a shit load of cases of those. They were good.


----------



## Boondocksaint375 (Jun 28, 2009)

Yeah, they definitely are stingy on the trail mix.  The portions in the white bagged mres are much larger.


----------



## G-Man222 (Jun 28, 2009)

Cocoa powder (hot chocolate mix, even the coffee mix's with that nutty flavor in it too) mix it with MRE crackers crumbled into dust.

pour the instant mix in, and just enough water to make it sort-of liquified.

That pudding tastes good!!!

Or take the Chicken Noodle (because there is hardly any broth at all in it...) pour it into a container, mix the veggie spegghetti stuff (no clue WTF it is, it's like a vegatarian noodle mix, kinda tastes like lasagna) and mix them together. and than pour in a LITTLE tabaso sauce. 

Add just a little water, and than pour in some pepper.

That's also really good.

I've had several MREs during my younger years. I love 'em!!! XD

Or take the M&Ms out of the MRE, (some come with M&Ms, some come with fruit cakes, etc.) and add it to said pudding mix above. crumble into dust some fruit cake, or whatever kind of cake-like desert another person has.

mix it all together. and than take that, and form two small bricks. 

Vwala, chocolate cake (with a hint of coffee if you added that) with chocolate m&ms and a small crunch. 

You have to find a way to cook the chocolate bricks... Personally, I've found those packets that heat up with water added to them to work pretty well... if you finished your main course thing. just put the brick in there after rinsing it out some, and put the chocolate cake mix into it. it'll cook up. dry up some. and it reminds you more of an actual browny (no kidding) with m&ms in it than anything else...

When I was younger, I used to find all sorts of ways to use an MRE.


----------



## Boondocksaint375 (Jun 28, 2009)

G-Man222 said:


> Cocoa powder (hot chocolate mix, even the coffee mix's with that nutty flavor in it too) mix it with MRE crackers crumbled into dust.
> 
> pour the instant mix in, and just enough water to make it sort-of liquified.
> 
> ...



During your younger years? How old are you?   

PS.  MREs suck.


----------



## G-Man222 (Jun 28, 2009)

Boondocksaint375 said:


> During your younger years? How old are you?
> 
> PS.  MREs suck.



19 

When I was 12-17. I'd always do everything I could to get a hold of an MRE or sets of MREs and play around with different things in 'em. (Find things to make with 'em...)

Cooking used to be a huge hobby of mine growing up. (contributer of why I gained considerable weight when I was much younger)


----------



## AMRUSMCR (Jun 28, 2009)

Boondocksaint375 said:


> PS. MREs suck.


 
Take that back!!!!!!


----------



## Pete S (Jun 28, 2009)

For some reason we had arctic MRE's later in OIF I.
They were only good if you had a stove, didn't have heaters.


----------



## w45vaa (Jun 28, 2009)

The Rasberry soup in the arctic MRE's were the best thing I ever had in the field.

That being said, I liked the "old" meatballs in BBq sauce, Beef slices in BBq sauce,and "current ones, my fav's are Chicken breast, The country Captain Chicken (hell,all chicken isn't bad), and of course, sphagetti.

HATE the ham and eggs,jambalaya and mexican ones.

There used to be (in the good old days) a actual "MRE Cookbook" from the people who made the tobasco sauce. I heard they are worth quite a bit now-dont know why


----------



## Viper1 (Jun 29, 2009)

I almost saw someone burst into tears when they dropped their vanilla pound cake in the rain soaked mud in Dahlonega.  Funny how something that tastes not so great can become a 5-star meal when you're hungry.


----------



## 275ANGER! (Jun 29, 2009)

Speaking of raspberry that raspberry applesauce is pretty good.  Redhots? WTF were this people thinking.  How about the charms myth (It will rain), some people used to take that shit too serious. I was the buddy fucker that ate them.



Boondocksaint375 said:


> PS.  MREs suck.


Admit it bro, you locked yourself in your room and ate a whole box after Ranger School.


----------



## 104TN (Jun 29, 2009)

Jambalaya and Country Captain Chicken were probably my two favorite MREs. 

For individual items I liked that cheese spread in a bag on those big-ass soft crackers and the pound cake that probably actually weighed a pound. (Both made for a hearty BM.)


----------



## HeloMedic1171 (Jun 29, 2009)

Beef Stew.  tastes JUST like Dinty Moore.  and the chicken fajita, chicken breast, and chicken cavatelli are good.  there's another chicken one that's good, but it tastes like tuna, can't remember the name though.  I'll think of it when I'mnot thinking about it I'm sure.  the only one i really don't like is the stupid veggie omelet and the chili w/beans.  I fuckin LOVE chili mac and the spaghetti one.  yum.  as for the different cooking "recipes".... when the fuck did you guys have that much time?  anywhere I've been where MREs was a necssity, you barely had time to scarf whatever it was you were eating while it was cold!  "heating it up" consisted of placing the meal pouches on the hot-ass hood of a vehicle.


----------



## HeloMedic1171 (Jun 29, 2009)

CHICKEN TETRAZINI.  tastes like tuna.  good though. :)


----------



## racing_kitty (Jun 29, 2009)

I'll second the chicken tetrazzini.  Especially if I've somehow managed to get a hold of some jalapeno cheese spread to add into it right when it gets hot.  That's some fine dinin' right there.  I'd also add the cheese spread to the spaghetti and the ravioli.  Lemon poppy seed pound cake, or the elusive pumpkin spice cake made my day when I could find them.  When MRE's started coming with the milkshakes, I was a little leery of it at first, but after several months out in the suck for OIF I, I developed a taste for the strawberry shakes myself (even though I wouldn't be able to shit for a couple of days afterwards).  

I was never so happy in my life when the "Country Captain Cat-shit....err, I mean Chicken" MRE was discontinued.  Speaking of, there's a story about Country Captain Cat-shit T-rations that I should share one of these days (if I haven't posted it already somewhere else on the board).  But I digress.

I can't remember everything I used to do with the brown bag lunches, because it's been a while since I've had to eat them.  A little ingenuity and hot sauce went a looooong way.


----------



## Viper1 (Jun 29, 2009)

Chicken tet blows....

Chicken Cavetelli...now there's a gourmet meal :)

And Sloppy Joe... score +1 for the hungry man!


----------



## HeloMedic1171 (Jun 29, 2009)

racing_kitty said:


> A little ingenuity and hot sauce went a looooong way.



and some tony chachere's, Jack Daniel's BBQ sauce, and some Tapatio Hot sauce.  omg. essentials.


----------



## Paddlefoot (Jun 29, 2009)

Boondocksaint375 said:


> PS.  MREs suck.



No shit. Seriously. :doh::eek:

What was funny was that the MRE I spent 3 years trying to avoid, Corned Beef Hash, turned out to be the one I liked the most.

Of course, that might have been a function of not having gotten anything to eat in the previous 30 hours. I just asked one of our MPs to grab me one, and that's what he gave me.

I'll bet if he'd given me the pork patty, or those nasty frankfurters, one of those would have turned into my favorite.

And the chicken cacciatore T-Rat was actually pretty good.


----------



## Viper1 (Jun 29, 2009)

I remember Boneless Pork Chop, Ham Slice, and Beef Frankfurters being particularly awful.


----------



## Paddlefoot (Jun 29, 2009)

Has anybody out there sampled the First Strike Ration?

According to all I've heard, the FSR isn't supposed to be consumed more than 3 days straight, compared to the recommended 21 days for regular MREs.

Which means all the Joes out there are going to be tearing their GI tracts apart, when they wind up having to eat this as their sole dietary source for weeks on end.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Strike_Ration

http://www.mreinfo.com/us/fsr/first-strike-ration.html


----------



## 275ANGER! (Jun 29, 2009)

I was just checking out an MRE site and the Italians get a alcohol ration!!!


> Two of the seven Italian ration modules (B and F) contain an item called "Cordiale/bevanda alcolica", or Cordial/alcoholic beverage. This is a 3 cl "shot" of a brandy-like liquor in a plastic bottle. The specification for this particular ration item say it must be no less than 70 proof (40°) alcohol and "Its appearance should be clear, pale yellow amber, with a pleasing smell and taste."



View attachment 8027

http://www.mreinfo.com/


----------



## American-n-NZ (Jun 29, 2009)

I just say Thanks for the Tabasco!


----------



## Viper1 (Jun 29, 2009)

My dad said they used to have Chesterfields, Pall Malls, or Luckies in the old rations in the '60s.  Can anyone confirm?


----------



## Pete S (Jun 30, 2009)

275ANGER! said:


> I was just checking out an MRE site and the Italians get a alcohol ration!!!
> 
> 
> View attachment 8027
> ...



I think the US is the only country that doesn't.


----------



## SpitfireV (Jun 30, 2009)

New Zealand and Australia don't either, to my knowledge. I wouldn't be surprised if the Soviets have a 40 ounce vodka bottle in theirs.


----------



## Mac_NZ (Jun 30, 2009)

The French get a little mini jerry of wine, their rations are awesome for a break from your own.  Pates, interesting meat choices like tuna salad and pork and green beans, they also come with a small white flag in case of contact during your meal 

Sorry couldn't resist.


----------



## Rapid (Jun 30, 2009)

I don't think you get the wine anymore. You used to, and there even used to be a pack of cigarettes! They had to stop that because they said it was promoting people in taking up smoking, lol. I still have some rations if anyone is curious and wants to pay for the postage.


----------



## HoosierAnnie (Jun 30, 2009)

Viper1 said:


> My dad said they used to have Chesterfields, Pall Malls, or Luckies in the old rations in the '60s.  Can anyone confirm?



Can confirm   http://www.usarmymodels.com/ARTICLES/Rations/krations.html

http://www.qmfound.com/army_rations_historical_background.htm


----------



## Centermass (Jun 30, 2009)

Mac_NZ said:


> The French get a little mini jerry of wine, their rations are awesome for a break from your own.  Pates, interesting meat choices like tuna salad and pork and green beans, they also come with a small white flag in case of contact during your meal
> 
> Sorry couldn't resist.



LMAO........

They also open both the beer and wine taps in their Mess Hall for lunch and dinner. Nothing like going through French Jump School with a nice little BAC flowing through your veins.......;) 

As for the cigs, I remember still getting the cigs in C-Rats. Wasn't a normal occurrence, but some of the old accessory packets still made their way in. Always a great bartering tool for something else.....like Beef and Shrapnel (the meal that you looked at and it looked back at you) mechanically separated chicken, dead Duke Bars and the dreaded Chili Con Carne LRRPs. Crack a few teeth on those damn beans that never softened. 

And finally, the infamous Chocolate Nut Roll. Throw 3 of them into a stream, wait a few minutes for them to balloon up and use them to get across dry as a fly. 

Ya'll have no idea how far rations have come since the Flintstones.....


----------



## Rapid (Jun 30, 2009)

Centermass said:


> They also open both the beer and wine taps in their Mess Hall for lunch and dinner. Nothing like going through French Jump School with a nice little BAC flowing through your veins.......;)



Gotta admit, you ate well at our Jump School (Pau), didn't you? 

The only thing they're missing at Pau are the soda/pop dispensers you have back at regiment. Drinking water with your meals got old pretty quickly... you get enough of that while you're in the field, so I expect a bit more out of my meal when eating in a "civilized" place, haha. Though they do have orange juice every morning and that's pretty nice.

Edit: so US chili con carne sucks? That's a shame because the chili con carne menu in France is one of the moust sought after rations. You'll shit twice as bad as you normally do when eating MREs for a week, but it tastes fucking GOOD.


----------



## HeloMedic1171 (Jun 30, 2009)

the old old old chili con carne is bad, the newer chili rations are ok.  just be careful how much hot shit you add, it responds well to red chili powder and hot sauce and it's easy to over do it - scorching your colon and burning your anus in the process


----------



## Paddlefoot (Jun 30, 2009)

Viper1 said:


> My dad said they used to have Chesterfields, Pall Malls, or Luckies in the old rations in the '60s.  Can anyone confirm?



Yea, each C-Rat came with a little pack of 4 cigarettes. Somebody mentioned that when he came into the Army in the 80s and they were still eating the Cs, before MREs came out, the cigarettes would practically disintegrate when you touched them, they were so old.



Rapid said:


> Edit: so US chili con carne sucks? That's a shame because the chili con carne menu in France is one of the moust sought after rations. You'll shit twice as bad as you normally do when eating MREs for a week, but it tastes fucking GOOD.



And if you eat MREs for a long enough period, you won't even have to shit at all.


----------



## Mac_NZ (Jun 30, 2009)

Rapid said:


> I don't think you get the wine anymore.



Please don't tell me I tried to get drunk of salad dressing...  Little green containers with VIN on them, we stole a dozen and a bag of French loaves of some French Air Force blokes who smelt really nice and didn't watch their food, shared it with the 2nd Coy blokes.





Centermass said:


> They also open both the beer and wine taps in their Mess Hall for lunch and dinner. Nothing like going through French Jump School with a nice little BAC flowing through your veins.......;)



Only got to the Officers mess once in Plum, had a 3 Kronenberg limit put on us before 1630 though.  The bloody Aussies showed up after that and they closed the mess down due to the numbers.



Rapid said:


> The only thing they're missing at Pau are the soda/pop dispensers you have back at regiment. Drinking water with your meals got old pretty quickly...
> 
> Edit: so US chili con carne sucks? That's a shame because the chili con carne menu in France is one of the moust sought after rations. You'll shit twice as bad as you normally do when eating MREs for a week, but it tastes fucking GOOD.



Yes the Chilli Con Carne was very nice, the Happy Cow was good to (tinned cheese) but what is up with the metric shit ton of crackers.  The little cookers are handy, I still have one. 

The coffee we had in the mornings was good but we had these HUGE cups to drink it out of at Plum, almost a bucket you had to get two hands and a firm grasp on the thing.


----------



## Poccington (Jun 30, 2009)

Mac_NZ said:


> Please don't tell me I tried to get drunk of salad dressing...



LOL!


I wish our rat packs had alcohol in them


----------



## Crusader74 (Jun 30, 2009)

Poccington said:


> LOL!
> 
> 
> I wish our rat packs had alcohol in them




LOL, that would bring a whole new meaning to "brewing up"!!


----------



## Rapid (Jun 30, 2009)

Paddlefoot said:


> And if you eat MREs for a long enough period, you won't even have to shit at all.



Yeah, though I never got that. I know some people who could literally go without shitting for a whole week, but not me. I just had to crap at least once per week whilst out in the field.



			
				Mac_NZ said:
			
		

> Please don't tell me I tried to get drunk of salad dressing... Little green containers with VIN on them, we stole a dozen and a bag of French loaves of some French Air Force blokes who smelt really nice and didn't watch their food, shared it with the 2nd Coy blokes.



Heh, well either they didn't come from field rations, or they came from a batch of older field rations. AFAIK you won't find any alcohol in the new field rations.



			
				Mac_NZ said:
			
		

> but what is up with the metric shit ton of crackers.



Damn right. They're pretty horrible. Very hard and not much flavor. At least you can use the crackers in lieu of a spoon/fork if you (for some reason) don't have any. Of course the new crackers are much better. Chocolate for the sweet ones, and nicely salted for the plain ones. And they're actually edible.


----------



## Paddlefoot (Jun 30, 2009)

For all you folks down under, a question:

Do your rations include vegemite?


----------



## Mac_NZ (Jun 30, 2009)

Paddlefoot said:


> For all you folks down under, a question:
> 
> Do your rations include vegemite?



They sure do, its labelled as yeast extract in a tear open sachet.  It used to come in a tube.  We get a big fuck off tube of condensed milk for brewing to.


----------



## Pete S (Jun 30, 2009)

Paddlefoot said:


> For all you folks down under, a question:
> 
> Do your rations include vegemite?



It does in AU as well.
Came in a tube.

Had AU rations instead of MRE's when we trained down there.
The sweetened butter milk in a tube was magical.


----------



## Nasty (Jul 1, 2009)

I shouldn't admit to this, but during DS/DS we gave all of our Pork Patties to Saudi troops.


----------



## HeloMedic1171 (Jul 1, 2009)

it's ok.  I don't think it was pork anyway, I'm leaning towards rat or dog, meself.


----------



## racing_kitty (Jul 2, 2009)

I certainly wouldn't wish the "Four Fingers Of Death" upon anyone.  That's another one I'm glad to see gone from the roster.


----------

