1995 Brown Bag: Escalloped Potatoes with ham (Menu 12)

[GunnarTheFeisty]

Hi guys, first text review for me.

First thing I had was the crackers with Apple Jelly. So far I've found those two things almost never go bad. The crackers were, as always, a plain cracker, that tasted slightly of flour. The apple jelly was really flavorful, but had seperated a little. It's super sweet, too, which I like. In my opinion there coulda been some more jelly for the crackers but it wasn't too little. The Cocoa Beverage powder was, as always, good. I find that the Dominos sugar helps add extra sweetness, as the Cocoa is a little under-sweetened to me. (cont.)

[GunnarTheFeisty]

Next up was the Chocolate Covered Brownie. Unfortunately, the nuts in this were really rancid, and the chocolate coated my mouth with waxy stuff. It tasted bitter, too.

After that I had the beverage base, Lemon-Lime. To me this had a little less of the chemical taste it has nowadays, so I enjoyed it a lot more. It's a pretty strong artificial lemon-lime flavor, but it's not too strong or oversweet.

Finally I got to the main and applesauce.

The Potatoes were kinda tough, but the ham was good texture and fantastic flavor. I really enjoyed it, and it's honestly the best brown bag I've had. I think there was some sauce too, but it was pretty weak, honestly it was good both hot and cold. The Applesauce was really brown, and tastes pretty sour. I think it might have fermented. The consistency was normal though, and the one bite I had wasn't too bad.

[Smitty]

Mmm fermented apples.

Well I’m glad this one turned out to be a “real winner” in terms of surviving the ravages of time a little better than some other brown bags. Good write up

[GunnarTheFeisty]

Thanks! yeah, you have no idea how ecstatic I was after the last one. The Applesauce tasted kinda like candy what with the sour/sweet combo

[SentientTootsieRoll]

I think the MRE cocoa from the 80s and 90s was the best. You can change it from great to fantastic by adding the coffee, sugar and creamer to it. I've run across this menu before but I've never had the nerve to actually try the main since it 1) doesn't sound appetizing to me and 2) I didn't think it was a menu that would last much longer beyond its expiration date. Good review and thanks for sharing some pictures!

[GunnarTheFeisty]

I added sugar, but I don't try old creamer. Too risky for me.

[SentientTootsieRoll]

Oddly enough, I've never come across bad creamer in all the old MREs I've stomached. Even in MREs that were stored in the worst of conditions, the creamer is still good unless it's hardened.

[GunnarTheFeisty]

I've heard too many horror stories about it. I find that it's not really necessary or that great so I don't take the risk.