Peggy brought an MRE to school yesterday. An MRE is a Meal Ready to Eat. The military uses it for the soldier-on-the-go. The one Peggy had was a beef pot roast. It was in a giant pouch. When she opened it, out came all kinds of drab brown packages. There were crackers and peanut butter, there was a “ranger bar” (which was an energy bar)… but the name I liked the most in the whole package was “Osmotic Cranberries”. My quick searches say that means dried cranberries with sugar added.
There were also many fun condiments. The best one was a tiny Tobasco:
The main course could be warmed by putting it in a pouch with some granules that got really hot when wet. You sprinkle some water on them, then let the package sit for a while. We did it wrong, but there were still some vapors that came out. It was cool.
We ended up microwaving the pot roast because it took too long to get warm. It was actually not that bad.
Mmmmm…. I’d eat that, even without any salt or Tabasco, just for the cool technology! What do you think those little pellets are? Gravel from h-e-double hockey sticks?
Kidney stones passed by Demons?
Amazingly, I bet that was the first thing that popped into your mind. Effortless wit.
It doesn’t look too bad. I’d try it. With salt. No tobasco.
Were those little chocolate bars part of the MRE? I’d eat those first… 😉
Was there any poundcake in there? That stuff’s the best. Let me know if you want to try any other meals. We have a ton of MREs that Tony has hoarded.
Who’s Tony if you don’t mind me asking? Do you have a relative in the military or someone who makes/assembles the MREs?
Tony is my husband, a Captain (almost…he’ll be pinned tomorrow) in the Marine Corps. We were stationed in Camp Lejeune, NC until this May. Now we’re back in NE, where he is an officer recruiter for the next 3 years. Beth is a close friend of mine, thus the connection to the websites. Is that too much information? 🙂
Hey, we’re almost like family—I know it’s different branches, but we’re all on the same team to me!
Congratulations almost Captain Tony & Jill too!!
Gee—tomorrow is extra special for 2 people now!!
(my son is just starting his military career … any words of wisdom from Tony?)
“Join the Marine Corps.” -Tony 🙂 He’s supposed to say that, though. He’s a recruiter.
I thought it looked like crap … lit-tra-lly! But surprisingly, it tasted ok.
The cool part was how HOT it got!! That bag could cause serious burns I’m sure! Brad was to afraid to test that part of it … but I wasn’t.
Consider, also, the situation the soldier is in when the meal gets eaten. It probably looks GREAT – hunger is the best condiment.
“hunger is the best condiment” – Amen, sister! This needs to be stitched and framed, if you ask me. Hunger makes everything taste better – hubby’s overcooked shells for mac and cheese, for example….
I’ve heard that this condiment sometimes works well with little ones who are given nothing else until they eat the Veggie du jour you’ve prepared for them and the rest of the clan. And, sometimes, I hear, they just scream, cry, and thrash about anyway until the adults cave in. But in theory this is indeed the best condiment.
I’ve never had any problems using the magnesium heaters for a MRE, other than maybe being heated unevenly. Sometimes they get too hot.
“There were still some vapors that came out” – oh, that’s what that was yesterday! And here I had been blaming a sixth grade boy for that interesting aroma. My bad.