The Gas Station MRE challenge

[AlephZero]

Weetabix in a bottle sounds intriguing! Good?

They were pretty nice, but I can't find 'em anymore in my small town supermarkets   

[magentus]

They were pretty nice, but I can't find 'em anymore in my small town supermarkets   

Damn! Are they like fortified milk drinks then?

[eamo]

OK pics to follow when I get my laptop going . . .
At about 0100 was hungry as only just finished work so had a protein bar - they're nice but dry and woke up thirsty.
Breakfast was oats and honey and I didn't like it 20g of honey was too much found it very sweet and rich. Not a fan of porridge anyway but hunger makes great sauce and I scoffed it all washed down with water and aeropress coffee and an oaty flapjack

[comis]

Chow Day 1652



I felt like I just had lunch 5 minutes ago, and now we are already at snack time.  The amount of food I packed in my GSMRE was insane, especially I haven't been working out(for the longest time, lazy, I know).  However, it won't be much of a challenge if it is easy...so onwards with the crazy all-you-can-eat mission.

Afternoon coffee with snacks, the shrimp cracker and maltesers, love these two as snacks...I probably could munch on them all day everyday.

[Sos24]

Did you have to melt the ice cream in mouth to make it taste like 'real' ice cream?  I have the Napoleon from Mountain House, and that's what I always do.

The “melt” in the mouth is the best way to get the ice cream flavor on both.

Chow Day 1652

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I felt like I just had lunch 5 minutes ago, and now we are already at snack time.  The amount of food I packed in my GSMRE was insane, especially I haven't been working out(for the longest time, lazy, I know).  However, it won't be much of a challenge if it is easy...so onwards with the crazy all-you-can-eat mission.

Afternoon coffee with snacks, the shrimp cracker and maltesers, love these two as snacks...I probably could munch on them all day everyday.

Snacks you love are always nice.

[Adam5]

Great start so far everyone! 

Unable to handle a big meal until 10.30/111.00 am I went with a couple of nut bars with chocolate - Decadent as Steve1989 would say.

Tea with creamer is, to be honest, a chore. Probably tastes like heaven when you're up to your knees in mud, dodging bombs and mortar fire, but sat in the relative comfort of the U Boat, it just tastes wrong.

The National drink should contain real, full fat milk, so that's what I'm looking forward to getting back to on the morrow.

Also, if the crew knew I had special food on board, they would have my head. If you don't hear back from me at any time in the next 24 hours, consider me headless.

Be very quiet while opening the food packages... and know where the shovel is at all times!

[Sos24]

I tried the Bulleit Bourbon at a tasting a couple of years ago and I didn't care for it. I thought it was a little too peppery and had more back of the throat burn than I care for.

I like Bulleit, but it is not as some as some.  Then again, it doesn’t have as much burn as the Tarnished Truth that I’ve been drinking lately.  I kinda like the burn, especially if feeling congested, helps clear you up.

[Sos24]

Great start so far everyone! 

Unable to handle a big meal until 10.30/111.00 am I went with a couple of nut bars with chocolate - Decadent as Steve1989 would say.

Tea with creamer is, to be honest, a chore. Probably tastes like heaven when you're up to your knees in mud, dodging bombs and mortar fire, but sat in the relative comfort of the U Boat, it just tastes wrong.

The National drink should contain real, full fat milk, so that's what I'm looking forward to getting back to on the morrow.

Also, if the crew knew I had special food on board, they would have my head. If you don't hear back from me at any time in the next 24 hours, consider me headless.

I like Kind bars, but have never had chocolate ones.  I might have to find some of those.

[Sos24]

Chow day 03:30
I cracked open the 1 gallon Ziploc bag for the first snack of the day, a chocolate Glucerna snack shake before bed.  140 calories, 7g protein, 3 g fiber. Having one before bed is good for maintaining one's blood sugar so it won't be too high or too low in the morning.  It was pretty good, but they are much better when they are served cold.

Doing the healthy before bed snack is smart.  Definitely better for you.

[Sos24]

It'l work    At first it might seem cumbersome but when you see what it can do and how versatile it is you will be glad of it, my small pack is i think 9 litres and it fits there no problem with the rest of my stuff, doesn't rattle either which is a plus, just remember all our lives we spent time shielding stoves from the wind, this is the opposite, point the vents to the wind and you will be drinking your tea in a couple of minutes 

Breakfast

Coffee with fruit biscuit thing which was actually ok and a couple of nut things that are a bit boring but i have a feeling i will be glad of them later, Pikkupuukko from Wood Jewel was the knife of choice, i love this little knife but i might have gnaw on the bone handle parts later if my food runs out 

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Good variety to that breakfast.

[AlephZero]

Damn! Are they like fortified milk drinks then?

Well, chocolate milk drinks, I guess, with quite a bit fiber I think

[ReamerPunch]

1900 - Dinner
Tuna
Sardines
Cheese crisps (aka Cheese chips)
Chocolate
Coke zero

Tuna. I did not like tuna as a kid. Then I suddenly started buying tons of it. This flavour is as basic as it gets, but still tasty. Maybe a little salty, but it is 0g carbs.
Sardines were a nice addition. The strong smell might scare away a few people, but if you like fish, these are wonderful. I'll keep buying them along with tuna. The bones are really soft, so I only removed the spines. This brand and flavour is also 0g carbs.
The cheese crisps taste really strong, like a very rude parmesan. 24 grams is too much. Eating just one piece is like a slap from an mma fighter. And marginally more enjoyable.
Chocolate. Still good. Helped take the impertinent combination of fish and cheese-crisp breath.
And some coca cola to cleanse my pallet. Quite a hefty addition to the MRE, a little bulky, a little heavy, but worth it, after all this food. I could not find any MRE-esque beverage packets.

[Adam5]

CIAO CHOW DAY 06:15



As I do every work day, I am sitting at the desk and eating breakfast. I prefer cinnamon apple fruit bars, but the strawberry variety I found at the gas station are okay.

The Kind Healthy Grains bar was tasty and full of oatey goodness!

The cashews taste as if they have sitting on a shelf for quite a while, but they are edible and will help slow the absorption of the carbs I have consumed.

I use to buy this drink mix during hard times. I have tried other flavors sold at Walmart and did not care for them at all. But this one has just enough acidity to make it palatable.

[magentus]

It's great seeing all the different items y'all have brought to the table.

[AlephZero]

Chow day, 13:50 lunch



Knorr Pasta Bolognese Pot, Wasa Sandwich and some raisins

[magentus]

That sandwich looks good 

Lunch time. Sweet chilli cup-a-noodles - these are delicious and I'll quite often have them at work if I'm on a late shift and have forgotten to bring any food.

The biscuits are honey and milk - quite tasty with a cup of tea, but 2 packs are too much - will save the second pack for later.

Was a bit tentative with the Baby Bels but Nix's brave experiment put my mind at ease somewhat. The worst thing about the cheese is in the unwrapping - they make so much noise I thought the crew would wake up and as they can only be opened one-handed I had to settle for having the Discipline Shovel close too instead of in-hand.

[AlephZero]

They are definitely nice...



The pack contains two of these.

[ReamerPunch]

2100 - Snack
Salami (second stick)

I wanted to finish everything, and the salami is just 15 grams, so I had it. Salty, greasy, whatever.
I can still smell the cheese crisps on my breath.



And so, I have consumed all edibles, except one packet of pepper and two packets of salt. 

[ReamerPunch]

I am very pleased with my MRE. Mostly. Having started a keto diet for May, and since we had to actually eat our MREs, I had to adjust a few things. We had a minimum of 2400 Kcal, which is ok for an MRE but a little high for a weight-loss diet. Thankfully, I was able to achieve the caloric goal while staying at low carb levels. 

As an MRE, it did quite well. Not too heavy, not that bulky, good shelf life, good assortment of items, low carbs. A little too artificial, but that's a little unavoidable. And putting it together was tons of fun!

The biggest advantage apart from being a keto MRE, is that it requires no cooking. Everything can be eaten straight out of its can/pack with the exception of the coffee and tea of course.Eating was quite enjoyable. Understandable, considering I packed it myself, for myself. Nonetheless, I was looking forward to everything, throughout the day, except for the almonds anyway.

The tastiest components were the peanut butter cups, no contest. 
They are absolutely mindblowingly tasty. 1g of carbs, less than 1g of sugar, no bad polyols; only erythritol, the good one. They even come in tiny paper cups and feature a cardboard tray, to protect them. Outstanding.
I also enjoyed the sardines. Nice little can, a good amount of food, soft, tasty, not salty, and they have a shelf life of three years. Quite a nice emergency food.

Looking back at everything, I could have included a small sheet of tin foil, or maybe a ziplock bag or something, to pack any leftovers for later. I did not eat all the cheese at once, so it had to stay in its original foil, which barely survived the first unpacking.
I do not think I would make any big changes. I had already taken out the pork rinds, due to excessive bulk and weak packaging. I would have liked to have added a small packet of olives, or dried tomatoes, or pickles, so that I could have some vegetables. Sadly, all these go downhill compared to fresh produce, more so than dried meat. And I did not find any small packets anyway. I had a 125g packet of dried to-mah-toes, but it had an insane amount of carbs, so it was removed.

I do not think I would recommend my MRE. 
Sure, there are some tasty items, the shelf life of everything is good, nothing was that expensive, the total weight was good (3.5 lbs/1584g), and the components are all well-packaged, able to withstand some abuse in a bag. The thing is, this was assembled specifically to comply with my weight-loss diet while fulfilling the parameters of this challenge. There are not enough carbs to fuel an arduous day-long activity, like trekking, climbing, survival training, etc. Even for a keto MRE, it is still a little high in calories for a single day. Understandable, since weight-loss and MRE don't really mix. At least, at 20g of carbs, it will not kick you out of ketosis, and there are some nice treats you can enjoy regardless.

Summing up, this was a great experience. It was tremendous fun scouting for components and assembling the set. It also exposed me to a variety of low-carb snacks I was unaware of, so it made my diet not only bearable, but enjoyable as well. I had been thinking of giving up on the diet from the very first day, and this challenge helped prevent that. I've lost 8kg so far.

If we ever do it again I am in. And hopefully it won't have to be a weight-loss entry for me.

[McStitchy]

We had those Weetabix in a bottle thingies here too for some time couple years ago, but then they just vanished... I kinda liked 'em 

Looking good, bro! 

I liked it too 

[McStitchy]

Great start so far everyone! 

Unable to handle a big meal until 10.30/111.00 am I went with a couple of nut bars with chocolate - Decadent as Steve1989 would say.

Tea with creamer is, to be honest, a chore. Probably tastes like heaven when you're up to your knees in mud, dodging bombs and mortar fire, but sat in the relative comfort of the U Boat, it just tastes wrong.

The National drink should contain real, full fat milk, so that's what I'm looking forward to getting back to on the morrow.

Also, if the crew knew I had special food on board, they would have my head. If you don't hear back from me at any time in the next 24 hours, consider me headless.

   ...that's the Captains tray? Fancy 

Weetabix in a bottle sounds intriguing! Good?

It was rather enjoyable 

[McStitchy]

Chow day - no lunch yet :-/
Waiting in the car for our daughter to finish shopping     ...good I took the Veggy Jerky with me. I'm surprised, they're really good 

[comis]

Chow Day 1942



https://imgur.com/72u6hb3


I had been having too much food thru out the day, so dinner is a little later than usual.

The self heating pad within the Tomato hotpot soup is a real nice touch.  I filmed the whole making-of process, and if you look carefully, you would see a stream of hot air coming from the top of the lid.  The meal is 'cooked' and ready to eat in just 15min, pretty impressive stuff.  I wish I would have something like this as a constant emergency food supply, except those ingredients are pretty fresh(real meat/veggie etc), and the package is only good for 3 months of storage IIRC.  The portion is ok for a meal, slightly on the light side if you are really hungry.

The can of corn and blackbean sea eel reminded me much of my car camping trips, where I usually went out for long hikes during the day around the campground, and return camp for a hot meal of freeze dried and canned food.  Finally finished my Pocari Sweat drink by dinner, but I only manage to finish 1 pack of it today(since I was exercising and had no need for large amount of water/electrolytes).  The sport drink is literally packed with calories(really high sugar content, ~280kcal per packet)  and pretty close to 1 liter of coke in calories.

I still have a few snacks left in the food bag, so I gonna wrap up later tonight when I try finishing those.

[Adam5]

09:00
Snack time



Peanutbutter M&Ms (1 serving; bag contains 3 servings) - Delicious!

 Slim Jim & Cheese - spicy, greasy, strong flavors. Hope it does not give indigestion.

[Alan K.]

Chow Day 08:30
Breakfast of butter flavored instant grits, a cup of Earl Grey tea, and half a packet of lemon flavored Propel drink mix which I added to my tea, I had taken out one of my chocolate, peanut butter zone bars in case I needed more, but after the bowl of instant grits I was too disgusted to eat anything else pretty full.  I can't say how many calories were in the grits because that info is not printed on the individual packets. I used half a packet of Propel lemon flavor crystals so that's 5 calories.  Not sure if the tea by itself even counts.

[ReamerPunch]

2330
I am still burping the essence of the cheese crisps. Hopefully it will not haunt me for much longer.

[Nix]

I can still smell the cheese crisps on my breath.

 

[Nix]

Just catching up on awl the feasting whilst I was asleep.  Great stuff, guys!

I think I may have to go back and take notes on what worked and what didn't, but the variety is outstanding!   

[Nix]

Chow Day 07:13 ( accessory packet ):


The GSMRE has been packed away long enough that I forgot what some of the components were.....so I still had a little sense of surprise. Step one was to investigate the accessory packet and reassess my options....





Let's get that spread out....





Clockwise from the empty, but for three (3) paper towels:

• Extra plastic bag ( Presumably for trash or emergency chamber pot if stuck in foxhole. )
• Small baggie with matches, Tabascos sachets (2!), Sriracha sachets (2!), salt/pepper/sugar sachets.
• Chapstick, cinnamon flavored ( I think this was meant to be a cold weather ration? )
• Gerber Spork.  ( So nice to find they included a spork and not just a spoon. But, more on this particular spork later..... )
• Toothbrush and toothpaste ( finally! )
• Scouring pad in storage bag
• Cleaning wipes ( Don't leave the FOB without them! )
• Energy gum in the center. ( Some specialized rations started including caffeinated gum. Had to be careful to avoid chewing too much too often, but not a bad idea. )

Well, well, this is the accessory packet from my dreams. I'm sure it could be improved upon, but I finally feel I've got a decent accessory packet in an MRE. ( Does come at a bit of a weight cost, however. )

[Alan K.]

Chow Day 10:30
Mid-morning snack.  I've just had the chocolate, peanut butter Zone bar that I didn't have with breakfast.  That's 220 calories, 14g protein, 1g fiber, 24g carbohydrates.