New Zealand Family Try U.S MILITARY MRES For The First Time (THINGS GOT CRAZY)
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- čas přidán 25. 07. 2024
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As a retired Marine; I had to laugh when Nadine asked “I wonder what sort of bowl they put it in?”. The reason for the long spoon is because you eat the main course right out of the pouch. You can mix the sports drink powder in your canteen or in your metal canteen cup that the canteen sits in. You would use the metal canteen cup to mix up the hot chocolate. I always liked the vegetarian MREs because the “meat” in them is usually the worst part. Also funny you thought the toilet paper was tissues or napkins. Great video as usual.
Dude he forget to mention “a rock or something” on his MRE
@@lisaellis0511 I thought he was for sure gonna read that.
@@lisaellis0511 and the little picture of a rock or something in case you didn’t figure it out.
My dad is retired Army, and would often bring home mres after a drill weekend. We kids went for the gum. These mres sound like a gourmet meal unlike the hard rock "food" that they were back in the 80s.
That is hilarious eating am MRE out a bowl. Did he seal the end? To funny.
As a Marine, I can tell you that Chill Mac is the holy grail of MREs! Some salt and the little bottle of Tabasco and boom gourmet meal!
YUT!
Yea it's a universal favorite, although the new buffalo chicken one ain't bad either
Yup, Chili Mac is a universal constant.
Personally,.. I loved the ham steak... nom. I'm not even sure they still have the little tabasco bottles in the real ones (which these aren't, although I believe these civilian MREs are made by the same vendor of Military MREs). And they didn't even get the pleasure of sitting around and trading back and forth for your favorite items!!!
Call me crazy.....but I always liked the omelette with ham!
I love the way you patiently explain everything in the Modern Defense Armory box directly in front of your son (who is the same age as my boy), he hears none of it, then loudly asks questions you had just finished clearly answering (exactly as my son would do).
Some human traits universal : )
Hey guys! I've the unique distinction of having been a Veteran who lived off these things for a while AND I serviced the company that made every meal you had in the video. You would be amazed at the process that goes into designing, testing, and manufacturing these things. I would ALWAYS schedule my visits around lunchtime. I would calibrate all of their weighing systems, so I spent quite a bit of time in their full laboratory. The Lab Manager, Lori, would always "force" me to try all that they were working on. Their quality controls were AMAZING. Each ingredient in these meals are measured down to a tolerance of 0.01 gram. The company that makes these, AmeriQual Foods, holds itself to exacting standards that are truly remarkable.
I am sure these are a blessing to any service person stuck in a hole somewhere.❤❤❤❤
@@vickyburton2434 That ain't the only place, I've eaten them on Navy War ships, during certain times like General Quarters and DIW drills. Any time the ship was totally buttoned up. MRC (SW) USN Ret. In the 70s when I first joined, We had C-Rats and occasionally the REALLY old K-rats from WW2 and Korea era.
AmeriQual is not the only company that packages MREs for the military. Sopacko and Wornick are the others.
I think what makes our NZ family so worth coming back to again and again, is their enthusiasm, energy, ad sense of fun. I don't get the impression that you are just putting on an act, and even when you don't like something you are not afraid to say so. Good vid. as always. Kudos.
I also love that they're so polite. They always say thank you and are grateful for every letter, sticker, you name it. It seems really genuine.
We, the Brit. Commonwealth share both mother country and our different styles! but again, really we are the same in a way?
@@patlittle4642 yep England Australia canada U.S. etc
@@jacob45415 oooohah!
Lady Veteran here, MRE’s have improved significantly since I served in the late 80’s! Always fun for the kids to try and enjoy.
I had acquired some MRE's, and thought they were rather tasty. Although, certain K rassions are much better, like Spam.
But yet they failed to read the ultimate instructions on the MRE heater bag “use a rock or something” is literally printed on the instructions on the bag 🤦🏼♀️
Me too, roughly same time. The one we would all trade for I think was turkey and gravy, it wasn't bad. But often ya had to give up your Hershey bar or something in the trade.
I had an interesting cross generational experience with rations. Dad was career AF and a finicky eater. When we were assigned to Germany he'd be sent on FTX and didn't eat his rations so he brought them home to me. I at LRRP rats one year, C rats the next and 1st generation MREs the last.
In 88/89 I did Army Basic and ROTC Advanced Camp where I once again enjoyed ambient temperature MREs.
First off, Melinda A, thank you very much for your service! I have never tried an MRE, but would really like to do so. Can you tell me where I can find a few? Are they available in any US city?
Former Army Infantry here from 90s. My favorites were either Beef Stew or Tuna w/ Noodles. Empty that entire packet of Tabasco in there and you're golden. Heck I'm actually craving them now...
Beef stew was my favorite as well!
Same era… chicken and rice (#11 if my memory serves) was the champ. With the Tabasco. Worst sides tho. God forbid you got stuck with beef frankfurters or the cornbeef hash. lol.
You’re reaction to the skittle was amazing! Yes each different MRE always comes with the same sides so after eating them for a bit you remember which entree comes with what sides. When I was at basic our drill sergeants would actually take away any candy we got in our MREs and would eat it in front of us
We were without power and water for almost 4 weeks after Hurricane Katrina and were given MRE's and bottled water from the National Guard (for which we were extremely thankful!). When you have no way of obtaining food and no way of cooking, they are a life saver. We ended up sharing each meal because they have so many calories and are so filling that none of us could eat one in its entirety. No, they don't taste as good as "normal food", but they weren't the worst thing I've ever tasted and definitely sustained us. 😊
Yeah same here but with Hurricane Charley in 2004. The NG gave us a bunch of MREs and bottled water as we didn't have power or running water and part of our roof was destroyed.
Same experience in Ida. I was only 1 for Katrina so i dont exactly know anything so Ida is the thing for us, we had about a month of nothing
I was just about to comment the same
💯 this proves once you get America on your side there's no stopping you. Honorary American family
Thank you for your sacrifice.❤
Ty Hoorah
NP
330,000,000 people behind them. 🇺🇲
Yes for episode 2 plz! Loved it! As a former soldier myself it was very entertaining!! 😂 Yes, soldiers do trade for the flavors they like, however that is sometimes restricted in basic training- also in basic training, in my company at least, the candies were confiscated. Hoping we get 20k likes for a part 2!!
The matches and gum were also confiscated
Never got skittles in my MREs 😢 nor did we get anything confiscated.
Many MREs included a mini bottle of Tabasco sauce to flavor the food. Many Christmas trees were decorated with mini Tabasco bottles as makeshift ornaments! Fun fact!
yea i was looking for that , i was a bit surprised when he held up the packet...lol
Semper Fi New Zealand from a 37 year career Marine!👍🏽🇺🇸
Thank you for your service.
Semper Fi brother.
Semper Fi and thank you for your service from one Marine to another
What's your favorite crayon ? 😂 Just joking , 37 years is awesome now enjoy your retirement Devil Dog
Semper Fi.
My father and mother (Rip) served. my father was watching this with me and he loved it.
In the 90's we had a little bottle tabasco sauce in our MRE's, can't imagine them without it. Semper Fi !
I'm not sure if they put it in anymore. I know it helped me get through it.
Some of them still have it
Hello my NZ family!!! A question was raised during this video about the candy within the MRE's. Certain MRE meals have Skittles or M&M's. I swear it is like a serious negotiation, a bidding war if you will. if you have one of the sought-after candy items to offer, you can get your favorite MRE meal.
MRE’s can be ate warm or cold. Personally during my 12 years in The Marine Corps mostly ate them cold unless I was physically cold (a rare thing), or I needed a little personal pick me up when feeling down or worn out. The biggest thing to add to any MRE to make them taste better is the addition of hot sauce. When I was in, they usually had a small bottle of Tabasco sauce in the package. Most grunts (infantrymen) also had some crazy concoctions they would make like “grunt pudding”. Grunt pudding is where you take the cocoa powder, coffee creamer, and sugar, mix it together with just a little water, and eat. If you want a different flavor, you would add instant coffee. Oh and the light house tissues is toilet paper.
I was gonna say this. The Tabasco sauce made everything better. And I wasn't a grunt but we had the same pudding we would just call field pudding. Also when I was first in there was no heaters in the mre. If we wanted it warm we would heat it up off the back of an M1A1
Vanilla Pudding + Sugar cookies + Lemon Lime drink powder = Key Lime Pie
Crayons don't do well warmed up. 🤣🤣🤣
Semper Fi.
Army Vet here; we used to call that concoction "ranger pudding" in the Army Infantry, and I agree 👍, I mostly ate MREs cold (except for when I was physically cold or if the particular MRE was the "beef patty") and Tabasco sauce was a plus (but I started carrying large bottles of Tabasco separately in Iraq).
The way the package heats up is from water reacting with powdered magnesium metal, mixed with iron and table salt inside the pouch. It’s an exothermic reaction, which is a type of reaction that generates heat.
You took the words right out of my mouth.
Basically accelerated rust. Gets the job done.
I think you assumed the entrees were like starters, however in America we call mains entrees. So the 3 MREs you ate first were also mains. Love watching you experience new things. It's so great how adventurous your children are.
I laughed at the gum. I think the gum is caffeinated (which tends to produce a bowel movement for some people) but also keeps you more alert. I can imagine all of them after this video. 😂
The whole MRE will leave you with a bowel issue, 90% of people
Yes the gum is to "loosen you up", because MRE's will do that.
Yes I believe so since MREs were notorious for blocking. But I remember the rumors that the gum or certain items in an MRE had um less say "non horny" placebo. I guess to keep troops from becoming horny..😂😮😅
@@str8withjjit can't be a placebo and still do the job. Placebo =fake meds like in a drug trial where they give some subjects the real meds & others the give the placebo (fake meds).
The gum is a laxative to help you take a dump since MREs tend to make you constipated
HI NZ fam... Over the 20 years I was in the service, I can tell you that all joking aside, Sam was absolutely correct. I was a Navy corpsman assigned most of the time with my Marines. Those MRE's are designed for massive calorie replacement and electrolyte replacement. They are not produced to be like Atlanta's cooking 🙂 I can tell you that sitting in a dirt hole after a long hard day patrolling or maneuvering, nothing is more welcomed than shoving a spaghetti MRE into the heater and eating that. It is like a gourmet dinner at that point!!! The other little pack in the bag with the gum was toilet paper. That is how much you get...lol YOu have to save it after a few meals to really have the appropriate amount in the field if you don't have an actual outhouse. Anyway, fantastic video and glad you finally got to try them!!!
Ahh yes. The gum that has 30 seconds of flavor then slowly hardens into clay as you chew it 😂
Semper Fi Devil Doc!! Rah
Hey brother, fellow 8404 here. You are absolutely correct with your statement. When I was assigned to the Corps, we still used out steel helmets for cooking, shaving. Good times!
@@bullets4brekfst884 Yep!!
I was waiting for someone to point out that it was "TP"
My husband and I often watch your videos together and really enjoy them, so thank you for sharing. With that said, my husband, being retired Army, wants to share a few bits of info here as well. [ Hubby:.. MREs are a balanced meal designed to provide nourishment for continuous outdoor activity such as combat operations when a traditional eating environment isn’t available. Because the items in each meal are designed to compliment each other nutritionally, it’s better to eat some of each item instead of all of one item and save the rest for later if you can’t eat the entire MRE. Also, it is a good idea to use those heaters outside, considering they do emit gasses that force oxygen out of the are you are in and can be harmful. Please be safe with those. Thank you for sharing your experience. 🇺🇸
also do not enclose the heater packs in a hard container (unless you like very loud booms)
Thanks to your husband for sharing. 🇺🇸
As a US Navy veteran, ,I am glad that you all enjoyed these and yes, salt does always help the tomato based meals. I give you 100 thumbs up!
During Hurricane Katrina in ‘05, we were given several MREs to eat and the American Red Cross came with Meals-on-wheels. We were out of power and water for a few weeks and the MREs weren’t so bad… lol. We managed. Praying for those that were impacted by Hurricane Ian! Much ❤ to y’all from South Mississippi!!
I was in Pensacola for Ivan in ‘03 and without power and water for weeks. The national guard was distributing mre’s. I had commented they must have improved since then based on their reactions, but was grateful for the mre’s as our supplies were running short.
Maybe I didn’t add salt. lol
That was a crazy couple years of devastating hurricanes. Back home in Key West now and was holding my breath over Ian. So sorry for west coast of FL but so thankful the Keys had minimal impact.
@@island_Dave_KeyWest hurricane Fran hit us ( my family ) pretty hard at the time. Not a single relative was spared.
@@emanymton713 how absolutely heartbreaking. I’m so sorry.
@@island_Dave_KeyWest well, we recovered eventually. It did take about 6 years though to get back to where we were pre-storm.
Katrina was horrible. I’m from New Orleans and I have quite a few family members throughout the coast of MS.
Atlanta is right on the eat straight from the pouch. When I was in the Army, we would get jalapeño cheese occasionally and always Tabasco sauce in our meals. The jalapeño cheese was definitely a bargaining chip that some people would trade multiple meals for 1 pouch. The addition of skittles is a recent thing, the classic was a mini Hershey bar. I enjoyed mixing my crackers, hot sauce, and cheese in with the main course to usually cover the lack of flavor. Thank you for such appreciation and respect for the US military. You guys rock
Chicken Loaf was my favorite.
@@TheAddoni Corned Beef Hash with Tabasco was my favorite.
it cant be all that recent. I remember getting skittles and m&ms in our MRE's after hurricane Ivan (2004)
The jalepeno cheese dip was the best part
They know nothing...
Ha! It's so much fun watching you folks...as I procrastinate since my wife thinks I'm out mowing the lawn. It's nice to see a family enjoying themselves and their time together in a fun wholesome manner. Thank you!
There are civilian versions of MRE's available from some of the survivalist and emergency supply websites. I have one months supply of them on hand just in case of some natural disaster(or man-made disaster). Those and a decent water filtration system can keep us safe during long-term problems.
Love your video's and keep them coming!
Yah I still need that water filtration. Ive got my eye on one but it might take a little time to get it. I'm just hoping I have the time.
Both my parents were in the AirForce when I was young. I've eaten many MRE's over the years. They've been getting better over the years, and there are actually several now that are really good. We take them when camping and hiking on weekend trips these days. Thanks for the love you all show to the military, it's appreciated.
Hunting with my brother meals are usually always MRE's
The average calorie count of an MRE is around 1250 calories. Some of them naturally have higher and some lower, but generally they hover around 1000 calories each.
For while, while I was in the Army, MRE's came with a small bottle of hot sauce. Those became a form of currency used to trade for better MREs.
I just noticed they didn't mention tabasco also. That and jalapeno cheese were serious currency.
They still have the little bottles as well, or at least one I got did
I'm an Army brat. (Both parents in the military and I was born on an overseas base) I grew up eating MREs for fun lol. Its great to see you guys show so much love to our country
You have just done something VERY FEW typical American families have ever done.
Nice one.
You learn a lot about why we should be so grateful for so many things and people, whom we may never know or know about…when you eat an MRE.
Enjoy your sense of curiosity and gratitude.
Keep it up. You are blessed.
As a former military member of the us I find it refreshing you find so much joy in our country. That thought is fading here. Something weird is going on here. You have a lovely family. Be well.
Yeah, people are sick of spending tax dollars on wars!
@@jaelynn7575 you are a sad person but it’s ok life isn’t so bad
I agree. It is nice to see somebody appreciating the good in our country instead of fixating on the bad parts. That's why I started watching this channel.
However, I don't think it's weird that people in the U.S. are forgetting how to stay positive. "Something weird" isn't that weird if you know a bit about history and look at current events objectively. People are currently doing the things which have historically lead society in the direction we are moving.
That fading positivity is entirely predictable...and disheartening, especially if you know what typically lies at the bottom of that slope.
Sorry to be vague, but I enjoyed the video for it's entertainment value and I don't want to brimg down the room too much with politics. Also, I want to add that I agree completely. They do have a lovely family : )
Nadine and Sam, you should watch the “adult” version of MRE tasting with a couple of our special forces guys. Its listed under wine and rations. It’s absolutely hilarious 😂
LOVE seeing 3 of you, at least, wearing USMC T-shirts. Be careful everybody's favorite CZcams family. MREs will "bind you up" if you know what I mean. IF you don't none of you will be pooping for DAYS if you eat multiple MREs in succession. LOL!!!! Pinto stew with ham is the BEST!!
I like how kind people are in new zeiland are so kind and so unentitled. This mentality is something we deal with in tne US and the humility of these people's is fantastic.
It's widely agreed upon that the chili Mac is one of the best mre's. Great video as usual fam!
When I was in the US Army, we'd always joke around with each other that MRE stood for Might Resemble Edible. I preferred eating them cold. Yes, we did have our favorites and we did trade with each other. What you got was whatever came out of the box of MRE's. The hot sauce packet is most likely Tabasco. The MRE's when I was in the US Army came with small bottles of Tabasco. BTW- You did get one of my favorites. The Cheese Tortellini in Tomato Sauce.
'Meals Rejected by Everyone' works, too. There's also 'Meals Rejected by Ethiopians'. I remember an episode of 'Satr Trek; the Next Generation' where they had TKL Rations. I'm pretty sure it meant 'Tastes Kinda Like".
As a C ration soldier ('75-'78) I ate them cold too. Today it drives my wife batty that I can sit down with a can of chili or ravioli etc., and just open them up and eat them cold.
"Meals Rarely Excreted"
You are the politest people on earth. "Not ideal" is the nicest thing ever said about MREs.
Being from a Military Family,and becoming a Spouse, Navy and Army. My children loved eating MREs and having Lawn picnics,the Pound cake is really yummy and some used to come with Snickers and pudding and other quite yummy things.I see yall received Skittles and Applesauce. We had fun doing eating them.Thank you for sharing with us. Glad yall enjoyed can't wait for more Videos.Love to all yall.🥰❤
I love the effort y'all put into these videos, Keep it up!!!
I grew up a Military Brat ( which means the child of a U.S. soldier), and I also briefly served in the Army National Guard, and the State Guard.
Watching y'all with these MRE's was great! It took me back to when I was growing up, when my dad would come home from "the field", and brought home C-Rations (the predecessor of the MRE). I was always excited to see my dad again, but was equally excited to get C-Rations! 😊
We have a funny saying about MRE's in the military though. It technically stands for "Meal Ready to Eat". But those of us who have been in or around the military call it "Meal Refusing to Exit"! 😂😂😂😂 Because some of those meals can really "stop up your gut" (if you catch my drift lol).
Also, the way the food heat pack works is, there's a sealed pack of activated charcoal in there. When you pour the water into the pack, the charcoal chemically reacts to the water. The reaction being heat. So that's how the heat packs work. 😊
And yes, those heat packs get extremely hot (I found out the hard way the 1st time I used one)! So please be careful when you use them! They will burn you!
And the MRE's are kinda random. But certain meals have certain extras in them. Some come with candy (like Skittles, Hershey bars, etc.), and some don't.
And there's all kinds of different "recipes" that you can find online to mix the different things in MRE's to make other things. Like, if you take creamer, peaches, sugar and crackers, and mix them together, you have an MRE Peach Cobbler (one of my uncles came up with that when he was in the Army in the '80's). 😊
As a military veteran I loved this video. From Nadine mentioning bowls, to wondering how one heats up the MREs, to thinking the towelettes were actually used to wipe your hands. 😂
I hoarded the tabasco packets and the peanut butter packets when I was in.
Me tooo 😂
So you were the one..😅
One trick we use to make some of the pasta meals better is to take the crackers (if you get them) and crush them to sprinkle into the entree. It ads texture and makes it feel more substantial. The more you mix parts of your MRE the better it tastes and the faster you can eat it
When I was in the Army in the early 90's, we had to heat our meals on the engine blocks of our Humvees or use a camp stove if we wanted it hot. Then they came out with the MRE heater bags and it was a God send. I always liked the spaghetti and when it came with M&M's.
Yup, early 90’s here too. I crave those thick oatmeal bars every once in a while. Cherry nut bread was legit too.
Heated ours from either the exhaust from the heaters in our tanks, or the actual exhaust from the tank itself. Those engines could heat a military sleeping bag in 5 or 10 mins easily lol
The old MREs if we were out in the woods and no vehicles or couldn't light a fire, we would burn the oil from the peanut butter to heat the main meal.
During my enlistment the 2 favorite meals were the Chicken a la King and the Beef Stew. We also had creative soldiers we called field chefs who could use the extras and a few ingredients to make meals out of the bits that always got left over.
as a 20 year retired Marine, I can tell you , we doctored them up left and right. Tabasco sauce, cheese spread, salt and crackers. The spaghetti we always added crackers cheese and tabasco. The beef stew I added Pace Picante sauce (which I carried in my pack) and crackers. You always hung onto the condiment packets. It was you got your meal randomly and traded for what you want. They have gotten much better. YOU can heat more than one and the cheat way was to keep the packets OUTSIDE the heater pack, on either side and back onto the sleeve. Great job you guys. keep them going. best regards form Texas
FLORIDA MAN HERE!
For future reference, have either milk or bread handy to counter the effects of hot sauce.
Water won't do it, because the oils that cause the heat won't mix with the water. Bread or milk will absorb the oils, and lessen the intensity.
seeing someone from another country so excited to own a piece of our lifestyle is so awesome and entertaining
I just got 2 boxes of MRE's due to Hurricane Ian it was a blessing due to losing everything in my refrigerator they have many locations around Fort Myers thank god for our armed forces standing out in the hot sun in full uniform handing out food and water
Hope you can have some semblance of normalcy soon, I still can't believe it missed us here in Tampa. 🍀💪
I was in the Air Force but my favorite US Marine slogan is “Marines don’t die they go to hell to regroup”!!
Served in the Army for 6 years. Love watching your videos. Lighthouse paper that comes in the MRE = toilet paper. Most soldiers will "field strip" an MRE and take it out of the bag, remove the heater, take the main course and snacks and pack them away, that way you can fit more in your pack. Most of the time you just tear a pouch open and eat it cold.
The one most people go for is spaghetti and meat sauce or ravioli as it typically comes with wild berry skittles. I've seen soldiers in the field pay $20 just for the skittles.
Watching you guys figure out how to heat up the entrees brought a smile to my face. So many memories from my training in the Army. The original MREs which used to be called C-RATS, C-rations, from WWII to the modern day MREs the quality, variety, and taste have greatly improved. The reason there’s not a lot of salt is due to lots of salt causes dehydration and usually when out in the field you sweat enough, weather depending, so you don’t want to loose anything extra. MREs are made by a private company that’s contracted with the government to make them. There are videos about it that are pretty awesome. Also there are military surplus stores that sell things are issued to military personnel but these stores sell to the public including MREs.
I'm Air Force and I will tell you the Marines are a special branch. They are my brothers and sisters in the fight. We all have a place and in reality we never cross that line of respect. When they need air support we are there. They will tell you Specter is king.
I just love watching all your videos showing appreciation for our country. Seriously, you guys are more patriotic than many of our own US citizens. It’s cool to see from “outsider” eyes, different experiences and foods associated with the US. Thank you for the wholesome content!
Isn’t it cool and sad at the same time how much more patriotic the awesome NZ family is than so many of our own citizens. I think we all love what we want the USA to be, just so many divisive issue right now. Fueled in a major way by many in office and/or running for office.
This family is a breath of fresh air and even helps renew hope of what our country has the potential to be again. ❤️
This was fun :) they do get issued on field exercises (my husband is not a fan but admits they have all you need for a full hard days work), but they also sell them at the commissary. A fellow military wife friend is also a Troop Master for Boy Scouts and one time she bought a bunch of MREs for the boys to experience on one of their campouts 😊
Love the dad jokes!! Nice to see we Dads are the same across the world... ;-)
Maybe I shouldn't share this, but we're all family here.. lol. My father was a Food Scientist for the US Army Research and Development Compound in Natick, MA. That is where the MREs were developed for all branches of the US Military as well as NASA. They may not be gourmet, but were a vast improvement over the rations that were issued prior to the MREs.
When I first went in, we were eating C Rations...too bad they couldn't get a couple of those to try lol. MRE's now are a vast improvement over when they first came out. However...nothing beats C Ration Coffee, Instant, Type II 👍
Some of the MRE's anyways. I'd take a BBQ beef patty or chicken ala king over the new menu items any day of the week.
@@jeffburnham6611 Some thought me odd, but when I was in the first gulf war, I would trade just to get the beef or pork patty. I ate them dry lol. For some reason they hit the spot for me. The rest of the MRE was good too, as I remember.
@@jeffburnham6611 which new ones do you not like?
@@jeffburnham6611 That's strange. When I was in the Air Force late 80s- early 90s, Absolutely nobody liked the chicken ala king. They were notorious and people avoided them like the plague. I found the spaghetti and meatballs, beef stew, and breakfast omelette to be the tastiest, and who didn't love those little 1.5 inch tall bottles of Tabasco sauce. I think sealed unopened bottles are a bit of collectables today, especially the rare ones that were made of actual glass instead of plastic.
you can go to the internet and order your favorite mre by the case. back in the day like 1975 in boot camp we had C rations we used a p38 can opener these rations where from 1945
the fudge brownie was hard as a rock. Ah memories.
I was out by 1975 but I still have my P-38.
When I was in the Air Force in the 70's our MRE'S WERE "C" Rations canned food and my favorite was the spaghetti and meatballs there was a snack/dessert that was known by the troops as "John Wayne bars" these were rumored to be John Wayne's favorite while filming the movie "The Green Berets: a must see film. I digress. The bar was toffee chocolate covered bar. Everyone would get a personal can opener called a "P 38" I still have mine. I love watching you guys .
Thank you for your service to all of the military people on here. You are doing something that I could not do for myself. Thank you for your courage and love of America.
So cool! I love that you guys always want to experience more American things. I was never in the military but my best friend was in the Army. He said that mre’s weren’t that bad. Though he did say that th brownie that you got with some of them were awful. They called them track pads, as in they tasted like what they imagined a track pad of a tank would taste like. lol
You usually get whatever is handed to you and YES there are ones who "fight" for the M&Ms out Skittles or the all time favorite JALAPEÑO CHEESE SPREAD...
We usually use the hot chocolate to make an icing type of paste and find someone that has a pound cake...
Choosing the meal depends on the Unit you are with, some let you choose and other just pass them out and you get what you get. Each meal come with different things and depending what you have there are combinations you can do to make them better. Also each MRE is about 2 thousand calories since they are designed to be able to ration throughout the day
its so funny in your thumbnail Denzi (hope I spelled that right) and dads eyebrows are both up, those two are true mini mes to both of you, such a joy of you to share your family with the world and also taking the kids along for a learning adventure.
"That's really pleasant!" - words you'll never hear a Marine say. 🤣🤣🤣
I served in the Army for 13 years and 3 deployments and I was the Quartermaster Supply Sergeant who ordered and handed out boxes and more boxes of MRE's. I really appreciate how Sam/Dad was trying to put himself in the mindset of a veteran to better understand the mentality mindset of a veteran in a warzone or field training exercise were we sacrifice everything we know and love to conduct affective war fighting missions, I truly respect that! Yes veterans eat them hot/cold. The heater packets have pouches of powdered Magnesium which has a chemical reaction when mixed with a little water and the gas that comes out is actually flammable as well, so you actually can make a little gas bomb out of the heater as well. The government is constantly working on trying to make the different MRE's better and better. Recently they actually came out with a pizza MRE I would love to try, because it took them like 50 years to perfect it. The only truly horrible MRE that has ever existed is the premade vegetarian omelet, its super disgusting. Many MRE's come with certain candies, cookies, pop-tarts, etc and those items become liquid currency for bartering trade. They say an unopened MRE can be stored safely for about 13 years, but a completely unopened box of a dozen MRE's could potentially last for 15-25 years. There are currently 24 different flavored MRE being used altogether. Another way to heat them up, other than the heater provided, would be to take the sealed packets and place them in a pot of boiling water. I always keep one MRE in the trunk of my vehicle and one in my 72 Hour Survival Bug Out Bag among other food items like a Mountain House dehydrated food pack as well.
It's not so much about tasting good it's more about keeping you alive with the right nutritions
When I was in the Army 89-93 the MRE's needed some work.... They didn't have the heating element bag to warm them up, we would stick them in the exhaust or manifold of our vehicles to warm them. We came up with a bunch of different ways to make some of these items taste better, like taking the crackers and smashing them up adding peanut butter, cocoa and the creamer packet together with a little water and mixing it up....made like a chocolate fudge concoction and tasted so good. Mostly we ate them cold as we didn't always have accuse to something to warm them up. Love your video's!
Still got some MREs in the house. They have improved a lot since I joined the military in 1997. But still an acquired taste. But when you're hungry, you don't really care lol! The Tabasco sauce helps a lot
They just hand them out, you don't choose. We sit and trade with each other and candy comes in some, not all. Love your videos
As an old Marine (1990-95), I really enjoyed this video! We didn't have those flavors of MRE's back in my day, but they did keep you full all day. I never personally used the heater, just ate everything as is and washed it down with a canteen of water. Great times!
So, were you in Somalia in the '90s? Or the former Yugoslavia?
@@jaelynn7575 No, I was in during that time but was in North Carolina when the Somalia debacle occurred.
I am a Vietnam Era Marine. We used to have C-Rats or C-rstions. These were canned meals. Later they introduced MRE . I have had MRE but favor CRats. We would heat the C Rat cans with small fire tablets over another can we made into a stove or a small piece of C4 . Marines traded for the meals they prefer and usually stayed away from the foods that caused the use of the bathroom often as the C Rations came with very small toilet paper. Marines would steal bottles of Tobasco from the Chow Hall and later in the MRE they just included tiny little Tobasco bottles. These meals are very high calorie meals, 5+ thousand calories due to the physical exertions involved in combat and training. Love your channel.
Central florida. Just ate MRE’S 5 days in a row due to hurricane IAN. They are pretty good when you are hungry and you don’t have power or running water.
God bless you, from Missouri.
What part of Central Florida? I'm in Orlando and some areas were flooded and others weren't phased at all. I was one of the lucky ones.
Lake placid. A lot of wind damage but no flooding here.
Great video. I served in the Marines for 13 years and currently in the Army. MREs have come a long way since my first day as a young Marine back in the 90s. The bag used to be a dark brown and the "food" was dehydrated. My favorite back then was the ham slice meal. Today, chili Mac is my go to, especially if you get the jalapeño cheese and you mix it together.
Again great video! I am always entertained watching your reactions.
Ever tried a C-Rat?
When Hurricane Irene went inland and hit the area of Vermont I live, the US military came to help us Vermonters and they had a tent set up to hand out 1 full box of MRE's to the local citizens.
Navy to the Army was bad enough, but how do you go from the Marines to the Army? Glutton for punishment man.
@@glassontherocks I had them back in 1976 spent a week at fort Polk while in highschool JROTC they're not bad if they're heated up in boiling water but they suck cold especially the ham n eggs. And you don't get to choose your meal you get what they give you
@@glassontherocks Never had C-Rats.
Interesting rendition of family time. You all are such good sports. My children would have stood there saying,” no I’m not going to taste that”
Thanks for the cooking demo with MRE’s.
When I was in the military in the early 80s, this was just before the military transitioned over to MRE’s, we had the C rations, and we would heat up the C rations on our military vehicle’s engine
The trick with the heaters is after you fill them up, you fold the top of the heater over and place the heater (top first) back into the cardboard box it came in. This will heat the meal up better. If you leave the top open it tends to let a lot of the heat out and doesn’t heat up the meal as well
They did exactly what you said. They added the water, folded the top over, and put it in the cardboard sleeve.
@@edwardolson2615 It was upside-down. They put the cardboard sleeve on the bottom of the pouch, leaving the opened top exposed.
Back in the early eighties, when the Marine Corps, started the switch from C-rations to MREs our Sergeant Major gathered us Staff Non-Commissoned offers together to taste test the MREs. Give me a case of C-Rats and I'm happy.
To this day I still carry the John Wayne, can opener, I got in boot camp the 1st time we had C-Rats 45 years ago.
Needless to say we weren't impressed. I understand they've gotten better.
Ah, yes. The good old P-38 can opener....
I laughed so hard when you cut to his shoes and started screaming. Loves you guys.
I was in when the C-Rations were still being issued, i loved them along with the MRE
I loved this video! It was so fun watching the surprise reactions you all had when eating the MREs. Would love watching more of them!
Flavors and varieties of MREs come and go over the years. When I joined the Army in 2004 my first MRE in basic training was the chicken breast entre and came with wheat snack bread, cheese spread, a minestrone soup side, and spice pound cake. Not a bad first, to be honest lol. My three favorites were actually the beef ravioli, meatballs in marinara sauce, and the regular chili.
Greetings from Wisconsin, USA! New Subscriber here. I had a lot of fun watching you try out some American MREs. Have a blessed day!
Im a Navy brat, MRE's, C-Rations, Gov't cheese and crackers, Ive had em all. Still to this day I will eat Spagetti-O's right out of the can. Yummy! Its fun watching yall try these things. Reminds me of my childhood. I also have an older sister. We used to play this game in the kitchen after school. One person closes their eyes, the other person gets something from the fridge and puts it in the other's mouth and they have to guess what it is. There are 2 rules: No raw eggs. No rotten/spoiled food.
They do try to make MRE's tasty but of course they're limited because the fact it's in a pouch and needs to be shelf stable for years. And they do limit certain things like salt or spice, which is why they usually include salt and sometimes hot sauce in packets.
Loved it! Navy ⚓️ Veteran asking for more please 👍🏼!
Former Army infantryman here from the 90's, My favorite was the pork with rice in bbq sauce. Add the apple sauce and cherry beverage powder that came with it, stir it all together and BOOM, sweet and sour pork!
A lot of people don't realize that you can use the coffee grounds as a fire starter. Just pour the grounds under your kindling and use a match to light it. The instant coffee grounds light up easily and stay lit long enough to get the fire going well.
I will love an MRE after being tired and stressed for a day.
YAAAAAAAS! So glad you got to experience these! Wish it was me that could send them, but woot woot!!! In Army Basic Training, we barely had enough time to let them heat up so sometimes you just ate the gel as it was...that's why I loved the tuna one, it didn't need to be heated up!
Former US Army here. The Chili Mac is one of the best MREs hands down! Actually had to live off of MREs in Afghanistan for a month straight since we couldn't get resupplied. We usually ate them cold cause we were usually too busy taking fire or repairing stuff to heat up food. Also the "tissues/napkins" is actually toilet paper. Handy little thing to have when you are outside the wire. Love you guys for being such a great family and learning all new things and can't wait to see more from ya!
Probably not a good idea to hang out in other peoples' lands.
@@jaelynn7575 I'm not sure what you mean by that? And I don't want to start any argument over anything either
Thank you for all you did for us.
@@ZeeZeeSmokes Glad to be of Service and would do it again in a heartbeat!
I was laughing when you were discussing how to heat them, knowing once opened, you will find the answer...and that they didn't put a note saying that, into the box is even better to me...the sender knew they'd find it eventually, and in the meantime, we get to watch and see the reactions. Priceless. Some are not too bad, and some are actually pretty good. There are items that are coveted though. Definitely have to get used to the taste and texture of things this way...but they do not spoil, and that is the most important thing...compact, complete, and does the job.
I was holding my breath to see if you were going to add the applesauce to the pasta dinner 😅
I’m really glad you didn’t!
It was very nice of them to send crayons for dessert, lime green taste the best, dark green is pretty good too. PS don’t eat the gum.
😂
Outstanding!!! Lmao
Missed this video from 3 weeks training in the field and been eating mre, i had great time watching your videos.
As someone who has never been in the service the only thing I can compare eating an MRE to is after a several hour hike up a mountain in the rain and then sitting on top of the mountain, sweaty, tired and cold and pulling out a smushed day-old bologna sandwich from the bottom of my backpack and eating it but it tastes like the best bologna sandwich I've ever had in my life is what I imagine eating an MRE is like for many soldiers/marines. Taste buds completely change depending on environment, circumstances and level of exhaustion.
Great video. I'd like to see more of you trying the rest of the packages of MREs. It's pretty interesting to see what is inside of them.
MRE's came along after my time in the Marine Corps. We were issued C-rations. The main course came in a can and some of the boxes had a small stove and Sterno for heat. The explosive C4 could also be used instead of Sterno. A small folding can opener was also supplied. The most popular meal was beenie- weenies ( baked beans with slices of hot dogs). Great reaction guys!
Many people kept a P-38 (John Wayne) can opener on their dog tag chain. . .I was one of the strange ones, I liked both ham and lima beans (which we called something else. . .but their are kids present) and the ham and eggs. . .we even received K-rations during training, they include a 2 pack of cigarettes (like the WW2 rations). . .USMC '68-'72
I was in hs JROTC in the 80s as part of field exercises at Ft. Wood in the summer one year we ate C rations. At least on can was dated 1953…the year the Korean War armistice was signed. And it wasn’t bad. It wasn’t good either 😅
Yup!
I still have some P38's still in the paper packaging, great survival tool.
I grew up an Army Brat in the '70's and '80's, so I got to get a taste of C-Rations growing up. The little smoked cheddar tubes were my favorite! 😊 Then after I grew up, I joined the Army National Guard briefly, and got to have the MRE's. Plus I was in the State Guard, so I got MRE's during A.T. and FTX. I enjoyed some of the MRE's, but the tomato bases ones were all too rich for me. I kinda miss the C-Rations.
You guys, are awesome. Love the ideas you all come up with. God bless, from one of your American cousins.
Fun fact the owner of the Tabasco sauce company was a US Marine. They donate Tabasco sauce to every branch of the US Military. The reason is the blan taste of the food. Tabasco sauce adds flavor. Most military personnel use the Tabasco sauce.