So here's all we get with it:
- The main itself.
- Pretzels
- Crackers
- Chocolate Protein Beverage Powder
- Peanut Butter
- First Strike Bar, Apple Cinnamon
- Hot Sauce
- Accessory Packet with Cinnamon gum and Coffee Instant Type II
So while the main heats up, let's set everything else up and try it all out.
I would've preferred any of the cheese spreads (esp. with bacon or with jalapenos) to the peanut butter, but I won't turn it down. I like MRE crackers surprisingly, and the peanut butter is a nice addition. The pretzels are pretzels. Nothing much to say about them.
The chocolate protein shake is okay. It tastes very artificial and I suppose that's to be expected because a lot of protein powders are like that, but I don't really drink protein shakes all that much. I would've much preferred an isotonic beverage powder or something like that. I didn't drink the coffee this time because it was the early evening when I ate it and I didn't want to be up all night. But I like Coffee Instant Type II so I'll definitely try it out tomorrow.
The main is also pretty good. A lot of US MREs tend to look a whole hell of a lot worse than they taste, but with this one, there really wasn't any way to screw up how it looked (or how it tasted). I added a bit of the hot sauce for a bit of kick and it was pretty good! A common complaint I have with MRE pasta (like on the chicken pesto pasta) was that it was really soft and sorta tasteless. The spinach sauce made up for it.
Lastly for dessert was the First Strike bar. I like the apple cinnamon one a lot better than the chocolate one, but like all FS bars, they're tough, sticky, and chewy. Not my favorite but I ate it all.
Overall, this MRE left me wanting a bit more. I guess this was meant to be one of the "lunch" rations, with the breakfast and dinner rations being the larger portions. The main definitely was the highlight as everything else was sort of just a snack and didn't really add anything to the rest of the meal. If I had to give it a rating, 5/10, maybe.
