Contributing Authors: neuroparadox (NPX), ramalamalongdong (RLLD).

INTRO BY RLLD

I used to be in the army.  Yup, it’s true, a long time ago I wore the uniform that demanded respect, admiration, and shit ass meals.  The vacuum packaged meals were made to eat anytime and anywhere, so long as you had… well, considering you didn’t need bullshit like “water” or “a pot”, you really needed nothing.  Just remember not to lose your tactical spork though; that part is crucial.

Your expectations of these meals, understandably, should be about as low as your expectations for an Alberta NHL team’s playoff run.  The army is all about health and fitness and keeping you going for as long as possible, so until they develop the Mobile Military McDonald’s or MMM™, you’re stuck with this shit.

Today, thanks to the glorious blessing that is the internet we have acquired a handful of M.R.E’s to prepare, taste and report back to you, our adoring fan (Hi Mom!)

You ungrateful bastards better appreciate this.  So if ever you have to partake in this taste bud odyssey yourselves, you’ll hopefully have a better understanding of which one sucks less.

To begin, NPX and I shall offer you our expectations going into this food version of Jackass.  Right after we finish a few WMV’s and give each other a few BJ’s… That stands for BaJa’s people!  SHOTS OF BAJA ROSA!

EXPECTATIONS

RLLD :    I’ve been down this road before so my expectations aren’t very high.  I’m not sure if these are Yankee fuck rations, or Canadian one’s.  I am pretty sure that they’re American, even though I couldn’t find any McDonald’s fries in the packing or ketchup.
Last time I had one of these though I am pretty sure we boiled it on our portable hot plate things.  I remember it being “Salisbury steak” and cutting it with my spoon.  Of course as memory serves me,  we were one step away from boiling a sock and eating that.  Luckily… it didn’t come to that, even though I’ve never eaten a sock I can’t say which would be worse.

NPX:      I’ve never had military food before, unless you count KFC which is technically made by a Colonel.  And the only combat training I have received was from the Star Wars Kid videos.  Regardless, I have high hopes for these meals.  I mean, how bad can they be? *Thunder Crashes Outside*

MRE # 1: SPICY PENNE PASTA VEGETARIAN

Contains: Peanut Butter, Crackers, Drink, Raisins, Penne Pasta, Dessert, Gum, Matches, Moist Towelette.

Peanut Butter and Crackers:
RLLD: Fucking gross.  From the odd-coloured Peanut butter to the petrified wood crackers, I’ve never had less fun eating.  I wasn’t a huge fan of the ol’ nutty butty going into this, so maybe I am just biased.  You definitely need a beverage to wash this down with.  I recommend gasoline.   By the way, one of the ingredients was something called “Rapeseed” so that brings this rating up a point.
RATING:   “Rapeseed is the new name for my sperm.”

NPX: The crackers alone were not a good start and tasted like a stale newspaper that was used as a spray guard for someone rust-proofing their car.  The peanut butter tasted somewhat like it should except left my mouth so dry I thought I was going to shrivel up like the guy at the end of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
RATING:  “You have chosen…poorly.”

Orange Flavoured No Fruit Juice:
RLLD: Even Al Bundy wouldn’t be happy to find on this on his dinner table.  I can’t tell which the bigger enemy would be.  This shit, or Al Qaeda.  What a way to ruin 12 ounces of water.  *Adds 6 ounces of Vodka* Thish ishn’t mush betterrr!
RATING: Without Alcohol, “I think it gave me diabetes.”
RATING: With Alcohol,        “I can’t tell if I threw up from being drunk, or poisoned.”

NPX: The packet of no-fruit fruit drink contains enough mystery powder to be a guest star on CSI.  Ignoring paradoxical title of the drink , when added to water the liquid seemed to lack any flavor.  That is until the after-taste, which left me feeling like I had just enjoyed a cup of medical waste tea.  But, as with any other foul-tasting beverage (I’m looking at you, Mountain Dew), just add ice and booze and all will be forgiven.
RATING: Without Alcohol,  “A cross between an orange, a tangerine and donkey compost.”
RATING: With Alcohol,        “EVERYBODY DANCE NOW!”

Raisins, Osmotic:
RLLD: FUUUUUUUCK!  It’s like the worst day of my life… in my mouth.  Is this what they use to torture prisoners?  No, I am pretty sure the juice is what they use to execute serial killers.  It’s going to take a piledriver to keep this down my throat.  If you covered these in chocolate, you’d have chocolate-covered shit.  I don’t think I’ll ever enjoy food again…
RATING:   “I’d rather pull my foreskin over my head than eat these ever again.”

NPX: OMFG! The smell…sweet baby Jesus.  Military surgeons must use the odor from this packet to cure Coma patients.  These “raisins” are the primary cause of Hulk turning green and smashing things.  Apparently military grade raisins are not sun-dried, but slowly curdled in Rosie O’Donnell’s colon.  Osmotic must mean “LOL I can’t believe you just ate that!” The same grapes are used to make Arbor Mist and turpentine.  I would rather swallow a bullet than another one of these fruit abortions.  Even the picture I took of the raisins didn’t turn out.
RATING:  “I’d rather eat my underwear after curry night at Jeffrey Dahmer’s place.”

Penne Pasta with Vegetable Crumbles in Spicy Tomato Sauce:
RLLD: It’s not fair rating anything after that last episode.  How I could not rate this breath of fresh air anything less than a 7 out of 5 on the “not another raisin scale?”  It didn’t taste like raisins, or a marathons runners ball sack, so this was a welcome alternative.  I suppose not tasting like raisins isn’t so much a means to rate this all that high considering I could have replicated the flavor given some hot water, and bits of cardboard.
RATING:  “It’s the same consistency as a brain from someone on Jersey Shore.”

NPX: If I ate this and a bowl of sawdust mixed with soy milk I am 60% positive that I would give the edge in flavour to the Penne.  It is blander that a female trying to do comedy and must be what Chef Boyardee’s diarrhea tastes like.  It wasn’t bad, but it is far from being edible in non-combative situations.  I only consider this fit for dogs to eat, and that’s just because I fucking hate dogs.
RATING: “At least it doesn’t have raisins in it.”

Spice Pound Cake:
RLLD: Someone spelled “Desert” wrong on the packing.
RATING: “I think it drank my water!”

NPX: Yay dessert!  Finally something that is potentially good.  Though the fact that there is a ‘Do Not Eat’ packet resting on top doesn’t bode well.  *takes bite*  WATER!  For the love of L. Ron, someone give me water!  I think they made this moisture void out of the reject crackers from earlier and sprinkled it random spices like nutmeg, baby powder, rapeseed and whatever Marvin the Martian used to dehydrate all those monsters.
RATING:  “They could have used this to soak up that whole Katrina mess.”

Bonus: Gum
RLLD/NPX: What the fuuuuuck?  Who packed these MRE’s?  IRAQ?!  I thought gum was supposed to make your breath better…  I’m pretty sure this is what they give the soldier who is bleeding out in the battlefield to end his suffering.  Either that, or those taint-flavored raisins.  After the gum we had to eat the matches to get the taste out of our mouths.
RATING:  “It’s like that hard chunk of toothpaste on the end of the roll after you lose the cap.”

MRE # 2: BEEF PATTY

Contains: Pretzels, Drink, Wheat Bread, “hamburger”, BBQ & Cheese Sauces, Pasta, Gum, Matches, Moist Towelette.

Beverage Base Raspberry:
RLLD: If hate were a liquid, this would be it. It’s like I chilled some transmission fluid and poured it into a glass.  This shit would kill a cockroach.  Wait… uh oh.
RATING:  “I wish we weren’t out of Vodka.”

NPX: Notice the dim light in the background of the cup?  That is actually a “holy-fuck-that’s-bright” flashlight set to full, blinding power and it barely shines through.  This must be for getting soldiers used to the idea of drinking the blood of their enemies.
RATING:  “Tastes better with the last of the Vodka.”

Nacho Cheese Pretzels:
NPX: Other than smelling like an old ski boot and looking like rabbit shit, these aren’t completely inedible! Not bad.
RATING: “Finally something that doesn’t taste like armpit!”

RLLD: These taste like armpit!  Salt seasoned, deep-fried sand filled with nacho cheese.  Compared to the raisins it’s like Aphrodite spat in my mouth.
RATING:  “I’d buy these if they were made by Dorito’s.”

Beef Patty with BBQ sauce on Wheat Snack Bread topped by Cheese Spread with Bacon:

RLLD: This one just pissed me off!  Now I know bacon and I didn’t detect a hint of it in whatever this shit was.  But I didn’t taste the devil’s dick either so I can’t really complain. This conCOCKtion still wasn’t anything to write home about. Yes, it wasn’t that bad, but it was like the medal they give the Special Olympic athletes who finish an event without pissing their paints.  The bread reminded me of that pound cake, minus 75% of the sugar.  I’m trying to be funny but for some reason my skin is feeling really clammy all of a sudden…
RATING:  “After this, I am never going to eat a food that’s heated by a ¼ ounce of water and mystery powder again.”

NPX: Well it smells like the exact in-between of dog food and athlete’s foot.  Despite the bread being harder than Chinese algebra, the meat making me sweat like a homo eating a hot-dog and the cheese spread looking like it had already been eaten once before…it didn’t make me want to throw up.  Still better than Arby’s, but not as good as Fancy Feast.
RATING:   “My stomach hurts…Remember that scene from Alien?”

Mexican Style Mac and Cheese:
NPX: I have never had what appears to be Mac & Cheese Au Jus before.  While having the consistency of slug snot and not tasting anything like cheese, I can safely report that this tasted slightly better than the spoon.   There seem to be an abundance of chilli peppers in the mix, maybe as a tactic to fry your taste buds before they have to be subjected to the wet-cardboard favoured macaroni.  The only thing Mexican about this dish is the way that it working it’s way through my bowels like Speedy Gonzalez.
RATING: “I found another use for the moist towelette…”

RLLD: I wanna know what flavor it was they added to make everything brown?  Did my roommate cook this?  This is going to pass through me quicker than a bunch of banditos crossing the border.
RATING: “Those should be brown stars.”

MRE # 3: SLOPPY JOE

Contains: Trail Mix, Drink, Wheat Bread, Sloppy Joe Filling, Cheese Spread, Dessert, Gum, Matches, Moist Towelette.

Nut Raisin Mix:
RLLD: This tastes normal….Why is my throat swelling up?
RATING:  “Why am I doing this?  I am allergic to nuts…”

NPX: I haven’t had such a mix of nuts in my mouth since Richard Simmons and Clay Aiken spent the night at my house.  These weren’t as salty though.  At least the raisins tasted normal and looked somewhat like miniature versions of a certain American Idol Runner-up’s coin purse.  It seems that RLLD likes them so much he is turning blue.
RATING:  “Nuts…Beautiful, beautiful nuts.  Ohhhh and some trail mix!”

Carbohydrate Electrolyte Beverage Powder Lemon Lime:
RLLD: Looks like I’m getting a canker sore for Christmas.  I couldn’t finish this, but luckily enough my car’s battery fluid was running low and this was the perfect amount to top it up.
RATING:  “So long, stomach lining.”

NPX: I don’t know what an electrolyte is but I had high hopes of this drink giving me Sith-like powers to smite enemies or effeminate Jedi’s.  Judging by the size of the package that this drink mix came in, I think it’s safe to say that is the opposite of efficient packaging.  After you have your tasty beverage, you can use the wrapper as a sleeping bag.
RATING:  “I can’t wait for the cheese spread next!”

Wheat snack bread & Cheese spread with Jalapeno’s:
NPX: Ughhhhhh it’s the worst.  The “cheese” spreads on the brick bread like oily Silly Putty.   They should have called this CheeseW40 and should only be fed to cars.  I asked Johnny Knoxville to try some and he just laughed at me then stapled his balls to Steve-O’s dick.  Worst thing yet.  Feed only to the gimp.
RATING: “Toss me some matches.”

RLLD: They give this shit to starving countries?  No wonder they’re starving!  This shit ruined my will to eat too.  The only thing I have to look forward to after this is the massive weight loss that’s sure to follow now that I don’t trust food anymore.  For once I am grateful I wasn’t drunk before doing something stupid; not that I could forget this experience no matter hard I will try.
RATING:  “This gets one star because it came in a small amount”

Sloppy Joes:
RLLD: It’s like sweet and sour flavored.  Again, the main course isn’t too bad, but that’s comparing it to some of the other crap I’ve ingested today.  Thank goodness for the tiny bottle of off-coloured tabasco sauce.   At this stage I could be seasoning this food with winning lottery numbers and it still wouldn’t help.
RATING:  “I kind of like the Kool-Aid Demi-Glacé.”

NPX: Looks like baked beans in ketchup.  Tastes like baked ketchup and sugar.  The tiny balls of meat all seem to be the same size and have little M’s printed on them.  This was the best entrée of the bunch, but that’s like saying that this is the best smelling old person in a hospital.
RATING:  “Dessert for dinner?! I’m Sold.”

Fudge Brownie:
RLLD: The packet seemingly baked into the dessert says “DO NOT EAT”.  Probably too late now to be looking for warning signs.  It tastes like pure cocoa, that’s been pressed together by an elephants ass cheeks.  The plus side to eating this crap was finding out how many cavities I have.  Which are 3 more than when I started.
RATING:   

NPX: With all the air suctioned out, this brownie was left denser than a blonde at MOMA.  I think all the sugar from this was put into the Sloppy Joe’s by mistake.  It wasn’t really all that bad, kind of tasted like if you took gas station paper towels, exorcised the flavour and ran it over with 18-wheeler hauling RLLD’s ex-girlfriends.
RATING: Brownie,         “Reminds me of Morgan Freeman for some reason”
RATING: RLLD’s exes, “Bahahahahahaha”

That’s about all our stomachs can take for now.  But believe me there is more.  Stay tuned next week for the next 3 flavours of tongue-numbing, gut-wrenching, boner-softening rations.

Haiku:

These might taste okay
If your next meal was going
to be a land mine.
—RLLD/NPX