For breakfast this morning I grabbed this Omelet with Ham MRE produced in 1993 by So-Pak-Co. This is one that I have not tried before so I was pretty excited to try it out!
Here's what the front and back of the ration looked like.
This was the inside of the ration prior to removing its contents.
Here are all the components laid out on a tray. It includes omelet with ham, potatoes au gratin, oatmeal cookie bar, M&M's, apple jelly, tabasco sauce, crackers, cocoa beverage powder, lemonade diet soft drink mix, an accessory packet and a flameless ration heater.
Here's a closeup of the omelet with ham and potatoes au gratin in their retort pouches. I didn't want to rely on the flameless ration heater so I put these in boiling water for about 10 minutes.
This is what was included in the accessory packet.
I'll take any opportunity I can to prepare an Army mocha, so that's exactly what I did.
For those that are curious, here's what the back of the M&M packaging looked like.
And last but certainly not least, here's the whole MRE prepared and hopefully ready to eat!
Except, it wasn't. The omelet smelled like a mixture of expired peanuts and burned rubber. I took a small bite and it tasted exactly like that, except it left a sour numbness in my mouth, so I had to spit it out. For those that will insist that it was like that when it was new, I saw dark mold-like spots inside the retort pouch so it was definitely going make me sick if I ate the entire thing. The same applied to the potatoes au gratin. Time definitely didn't do them any justice. The potatoes au gratin also left a sour taste in my mouth and they smelled like long-expired cheese. You may also be able to see that they are almost dark brown, I don't think they are supposed to look like that.
The third elephant in the room is the M&M's. They actually still tasted good but I think heat or something got to them since they were powdered up. I added the apple jelly to the crackers and it tasted pretty rough but was still edible. It looks a lot like grape jelly, it's supposed to be a much lighter color than that. That's what ultimately lead me to believe that this MRE was stored in a hot environment for too long. The oatmeal cookie bar was pretty tasty. If you've had Datrex bars, it's almost like that but thicker and sweeter. Although it tastes vaguely like a dog treat I still enjoy them. The lemonade tasted just like any off-the-shelf powdered sugar free lemonade, it wasn't a bad way to quench the thirst. Lastly, the Army mocha was amazing, however I still prefer it with the coffee instant type I found in the MREs from the 1980s since it makes it taste sharper and fresher.
1993 Omelet with Ham MRE Review
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Re: 1993 Omelet with Ham MRE Review
This was actually one of my favorite meals back in the day, except the potatoes-all-rotten, lol (never liked those when when new). There was also a metal T-Ration that had the same omelet with ham menu, tasted just as good!
Re: 1993 Omelet with Ham MRE Review
A lot of people did not care for that menu. It was not my first choice, that's for sure. I believe it was nicknamed "Vomelet - w/ Potatoes R Rotten" . I didn't mind it too much, because it was filling. Eggs stick to the gut and leave a feller feeling full for a while. And they were almost edible, particularly if one had the foresight to save up a Cheese Spread and mix that in. For some reason eggs are very difficult to preserve or prepare for long term storage, they don't dehydrate well at all, and freeze-dried aren't a whole lot better. I have to give NATICK a solid A- on this, just because. Eggs are good protein.
The combo knife sharpener & oatmeal cookie bar was one of my favorites, because it was filling. All I could ever think of when eating those was "Sure wish I had an ice cold tall glass of milk!".
The combo knife sharpener & oatmeal cookie bar was one of my favorites, because it was filling. All I could ever think of when eating those was "Sure wish I had an ice cold tall glass of milk!".