What is with these knew MREs? No coffee? Not mini bottles of Tabasco with your spaghetti? WTF?

These things suck. But hey, they do have chocolat/hazelnut drink mix.

Yeah, these things suck.

And no beans and mutherfuckers.

I've noticed that only every other accessory packet has coffee, creamer, sugar, and matches. Gone are the days of Tabasco sauce, but some meals have dry pepper seasoning packets in the new products. I miss the hot chocolate for making canteen cup mocha; but can see why they include electrolyte and protein drink mixes.

I still crave the spaghetti and chili macaroni most. And instead of crushed sugar cookies or squished pound cake a nice slice of fruit cake now and again (back in the early MRE days, we got a lot of fruit cake) would be a treat (for me, at least).

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back in the early MRE days, we got a lot of fruit cake

I got a lot of pound cake back in the day; many guys were eager to trade their pound cake for that small pack of cigarettes.

C rations...canned peaches and canned pound cake. Mixed in the canteen cup. Pure bliss.

Ham and Eggs Chopped...not so much.

God, those beans were nasty!

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Originally posted by Johnny 3eagles:
C rations...canned peaches and canned pound cake. Mixed in the canteen cup. Pure bliss.

Ham and Eggs Chopped...not so much.

Yes, that was the dream combo. BTW I was the one guy who liked the Ham and eggs.

Lock N Load

Michael
USMC Ret

Got rid of the mini-glass bottle of Tabasco for weight.
Coffee was eliminated as most troops favor energy drinks over the dark stuff.

My favorite was the dehydrated pork patty

Heat up some ramen and that patty, dose it with Tabasco and it's quite a treat. I liked it by itself too, dry, like crunchy jerky


Would sometimes treat myself to a "Ranger Cookie" cooking the creamer and sugar together with a lighter

I thought I read recently that they are bringing the tiny bottles of Tabasco sauce back, the reason given was that they could not find a manufacturer to make them or enough of them or some such thing but they worked it out and it will be in the tiny bottle again instead of the little ketchup packet type packaging.

One note. If you had the freeze dried strawberries, you should not rehydrate them with Pepsi.

Not an MRE story but still a cute one. My grandfather was fighting in Europe in WW2. My grandmother worked in a canning factory and she filled a big can of peas with brandy and sent it to grandpa. Turns out grandpa didn’t like peas and traded it away to another GI. Not sure what he got in return but I doubt it was worth it.

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Ham and Eggs Chopped...not so much.

Or the ham and lima beans - always just threw that away; couldn't stomach the stuff.

Never had the pleasure of the new MRE"s or even the original MRE"s...Only had the C ration. ... Always opened the case upside so what you grabbed was what you got. No picking and chooseinng....Spread the wealth around.... Today I still carry my 1st P38 can opener on my daily key ring that I acquired in August 1968 during boot camp... And still works just as good as it did from day one. ... but you had to make sure to poke a pressure hole in the can while heating the contents especially if placing the cans on running generator engine blocks /// idleing vehicle blocks /// etc.. If not then when the can exploded the can contents were splattered all over the area with a not so nice burnt smell.....or submerging the C ration cans in the hot water garbage cans at the mess tent....Oh the memories..................... drill sgt.

I want me some chicken a'la king dammit! And Tabasco...and coffee.

^^The chicken ala king in the MRE lineup was pretty good. It's gone. We got beef goulash instead.

Existing at the same time as C-Rations, during Vietnam, were LRRP meals. They were prior to the MRE meals. Each meal required water, preferably hot water. Please explain to me how, while on a Recon patrol you were supposed to expend your limited amount of water and BUILD A FREAKING FIRE to heat the water. There was no way in Hell that you could re-hydrate the beans in the chili.

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Originally posted by 229DAK:

quote:

back in the early MRE days, we got a lot of fruit cake

I got a lot of pound cake back in the day; many guys were eager to trade their pound cake for that small pack of cigarettes.

Back when it was C-Rations, I was very popular as I always got the menthol cigarettes.

My dad used to bring home C rats when he went to the field at Ft. Hood.

I was one of the guinea pigs that got to try out MRE's when they came out. Constipation was the order of the day.

Only thing I can really remember about them were the freeze dried strawberries, use to mix a pack of creamer and sugar with them. On REFORGER I used to always trade them with the Dutch soldiers, they always had these shoeboxes which were full of groceries from Holland. Good Stuff.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: fischtown7,

All of the MRE’s I had were better when heated if you could find a heater. I do not recall likening nay of them. I do remember the hot dogs that came in a bunch of clear gel. I used to save the Tabasco and give it to my daughter, she collected “mini’s”. She may still have some of those.