introduction to military life

So for almost 3 years now we've had MRE's (meals ready-to-eat) stored as part of our hurricane survival kits. In case you've never heard of them, essentially they are prepackaged meals typically used in combat zones or other places where prepared food would not be available. The box had a date of 12/09 on it, so I figured it would expire while it were in storage this summer/fall so we might as well give them away rather than store them. Al suggested that Tyler might get a kick out of seeing an MRE, and I've always been curious, so we opened one up. Tyler picked beef ravioli and Al did go ahead and warm it (only water is needed for this process). We ate the rest of the items just as they would out "in the field", but we put the ravioli on a plate just to cool it off for Tyler. Overall it was a hit. I was surprised that they tasted decent. And they can pack quite a bit into that little pouch. Ours contained the following: beef ravioli, pears (or "flat pears" as Tyler called them, because they were in a flat pouch), crackers, cheese spread, drink mix (like gatorade), brownie, 2 pieces of gum, the cutest little container of Tabasco sauce I've ever seen, serving of coffee, creamer, salt, pepper, napkin, spoon, matches, and a wet wipe!




BTW, I've since learned that an MRE really just doesn't expire, so we're gonna hold onto them. I'd rather have an MRE in a pinch than have nothing at all!