MRE recipes

[Ikarus1]

I know there are some of you that have some recipes for making this stuff more palatable besides the obvious salt/pepper/hotsauce included. I have heard various recipes for 'Ranger pudding' 'Ranger cookie' etc.

I can search the interwebs (already have..) but like to see if there are some varieties out there that CFFers would share.

 

[Long_Hunter]

The older meals you could get very creative with, especially with the dehydrated items, but you are challenged with many of the newer entrees since they are so flipping designer. I don't even know what all the current main menu items are anymore.

Old school strawberry shortcake...take the dehydrated strawberries, add the coffee creamer and sugar packets, crush the crackers and stir them in and enjoy...was better if you had extra creamers and sugar packets. Could do the same with the dehydrated peaches, but you got peach cobbler instead...

Bar, cookie, chocolate covered...cover it with the peanut butter...that was a version of Ranger Cookie. Also taking the cocoa powder, add some water to the packet, add coffee creamer and sugar packets...I used to save sugar for this, 5 or six packets I would dump in there for the "perceived" energy, wala, Ranger pudding...a variance was, again, add crushed crackers and you had Ranger Chocolate Cake

Warm the spaghetti main meal and cheese spread...dump the cheese in the spaghetti, crush the crackers and stir in the hot sauce (or not), sorta like spaghettios with crushed crackers .

Most times it wasn't as much about making it taste good or really being a creative ass, but simply camouflaging as much as you can to make it edible...hot sauce does that for damn near everything.

Mostly I was always just crushing crackers and mixing them into whatever the entrée was...you couldn't eat those damn things by themselves cause they suck every ounce of moisture from your mouth, your throat, your gut, you get the picture...used to have cracker challenge to see who could eat the most of those damn things without any water...we actually let a dumbass cherry choke a little on those one time. I also cooked a lot of raman in my canteen cup and added (you guessed it) crushed crackers and however much of the main meal I could fit in the cup, plus hot sauce...food of the gods.

 

[Chuckman]

The older meals you could get very creative with, especially with the dehydrated items, but you are challenged with many of the newer entrees since they are so flipping designer. I don't even know what all the current main menu items are anymore.

Old school strawberry shortcake...take the dehydrated strawberries, add the coffee creamer and sugar packets, crush the crackers and stir them in and enjoy...was better if you had extra creamers and sugar packets. Could do the same with the dehydrated peaches, but you got peach cobbler instead...

Bar, cookie, chocolate covered...cover it with the peanut butter...that was a version of Ranger Cookie. Also taking the cocoa powder, add some water to the packet, add coffee creamer and sugar packets...I used to save sugar for this, 5 or six packets I would dump in there for the "perceived" energy, wala, Ranger pudding...a variance was, again, add crushed crackers and you had Ranger Chocolate Cake

Warm the spaghetti main meal and cheese spread...dump the cheese in the spaghetti, crush the crackers and stir in the hot sauce (or not), sorta like spaghettios with crushed crackers .

Most times it wasn't as much about making it taste good or really being a creative ass, but simply camouflaging as much as you can to make it edible...hot sauce does that for damn near everything.

Mostly I was always just crushing crackers and mixing them into whatever the entrée was...you couldn't eat those damn things by themselves cause they suck every ounce of moisture from your mouth, your throat, your gut, you get the picture...used to have cracker challenge to see who could eat the most of those damn things without any water...we actually let a dumbass cherry choke a little on those one time. I also cooked a lot of raman in my canteen cup and added (you guessed it) crushed crackers and however much of the main meal I could fit in the cup, plus hot sauce...food of the gods.

Yup. Did some of these.

Mix cocoa with the coffee for a mocha.

Add cocoa and half the coffee with the pound cake, add creamer and sugar, you get tiramisu.

But I don't recall many dehydrated items with the MREs. Now, speaking of dehydrated, the old-school LRRPs were awesome. Very good.

 

[Long_Hunter]

But I don't recall many dehydrated items with the MREs. Now, speaking of dehydrated, the old-school LRRPs were awesome. Very good.

Original menu...all fruit was dehydrated, along with the pork patty and beef patty...those two alone I always enjoyed...take either one, crumble up in a canteen cup of raman, add crushed crackers, the baked beans from the frankfurters meal, add a healthy big splash of tobasco...food of the gods.

Yes, the LRRPS were great, but man those things would fill you up.

 

[Chuckman]

Original menu...all fruit was dehydrated, along with the pork patty and beef patty...those two alone I always enjoyed...take either one, crumble up in a canteen cup of raman, add crushed crackers, the baked beans from the frankfurters meal, add a healthy big splash of tobasco...food of the gods.

Yes, the LRRPS were great, but man those things would fill you up.

I still don't remember the gen 1 MRE with dehydrated stuff. Not calling you out, I just don't remember is all. I still have a few MREs floating around and I am toying with opening one. I figured odds are 25/75 I don't get sick.

Yeah, those LRRPs were tasty but would definitely bloat you. Calorically dense, too.

 

[Long_Hunter]

I still don't remember the gen 1 MRE with dehydrated stuff. Not calling you out, I just don't remember is all. I still have a few MREs floating around and I am toying with opening one. I figured odds are 25/75 I don't get sick.

Yeah, those LRRPs were tasty but would definitely bloat you. Calorically dense, too.

No worries...I sometimes feel like I all I did was be sleep deprived, eat MREs and dig foxholes for a living in the 80s.

All the major menu (entrée) items are listed here on this site, but not the little stuff. The beef and pork patties were dehydrated. Ham slice was always, always my favorite...you could eat it anytime, anywhere, hot or cold.

https://www.mreinfo.com/mres/mre-menus/

 

[Chuckman]

No worries...I sometimes feel like I all I did was be sleep deprived, eat MREs and dig foxholes for a living in the 80s.

All the major menu (entrée) items are listed here on this site, but not the little stuff. The beef and pork patties were dehydrated. Ham slice was always, always my favorite...you could eat it anytime, anywhere, hot or cold.

https://www.mreinfo.com/mres/mre-menus/

That is a great link. I was partial to beef stew and beans and motherf*****s (beans and franks). Chicken a la king, oh my God it was horrible. I would starve before I ate one. My fave was beef enchilada, and that was about the last generation I had (2005/6).

 

[Hammer12b]

The original MREs Frankfurters, Dehydrated beef patty, dehydrated pork patty (hockey puck), Ham slices ( these were excellent!) Omlett with ham, Chicken a la King (puke in a pouch), BBQ beef

 

[Combat Diver]

Had C Rats, MREs since 83 to present, (dark brown to tan bags) LRPPs, T Rats, Winter Rats (white bag), STRIKE rations (MRE++). Have always passed on the yellow culture MREs and the Vegan meals in the MRE cases have been tasty just lacking meat. As stated current rations change yearly with 2-4 menus out of 24. New MRE's are designer and not much is needed to improve the ration like the first generation in the early 80s. Used to get creative with the C Rats also by making icing with the creamer/sugar/canteen cap of water for the cakes. Or taking the same mix, place it in the aluminum foil from the John Wayne bar (Toffee) and place in coals for a sugar cookie.

CD

 

[Flashpoint]

Sorry slightly OT but how long would you guys typically keep MREs? I had a case that got to be 10 years old kept in my basement, the freshness indicator was just starting to turn and about a third of it was not worth eating. None of the heaters worked either. I've got two cases now that are approaching 10 years but they've been kept in the house, guess it's time to choke them down & restock.

BTW I don't consider these as standard SHTF rations. I keep them in case I have to travel on foot.

 

[Chuckman]

Had C Rats, MREs since 83 to present, (dark brown to tan bags) LRPPs, T Rats, Winter Rats (white bag), STRIKE rations (MRE++). Have always passed on the yellow culture MREs and the Vegan meals in the MRE cases have been tasty just lacking meat. As stated current rations change yearly with 2-4 menus out of 24. New MRE's are designer and not much is needed to improve the ration like the first generation in the early 80s. Used to get creative with the C Rats also by making icing with the creamer/sugar/canteen cap of water for the cakes. Or taking the same mix, place it in the aluminum foil from the John Wayne bar (Toffee) and place in coals for a sugar cookie.

CD

C rats were before my time, but my neighbor growing up, my mentor when my dad died, was retired Army/SF, he had them by the case. He would take me and his son camping and would bring them. I liked them; but then, I didn't have to eat them every day. The winter rats are dense man, I could eat like half of one before I was full and tired of eating.