Here's what it looked like inside of the packaging prior to removing the contents. Notice how the main entrée is wrapped in a cardboard sleeve. I've heard this was done to prevent holes from being poked in it. A look at the contents and accessory packet items laid out. The accessory packet contains 2 chocolate buttercrunch candies, toilet paper, 2 coffee instant type II packets, creamer, sugar, stim-u-dent interdental stimulator, and matches.
Here's a look at the spaghetti with meat sauce prior to adding water. It smelled a lot like old cardboard so I was pretty skeptical but these all seem to smell pretty weird whether they are spoiled or not. I took a few small bites of it dehydrated and it tasted okay so I decided to add boiling water to it and let it set for about 5 minutes. In the meantime, I prepared the coffee with sugar. Unforutunely, the creamer was clumped up so I couldn't use it. The 1977 version of this meal has nothing on the current production Oregon Freeze Dry Spaghetti with Meat Sauce. The beef was too chunky and I could really taste the salt in it. I think meatballs would have been better. It had a very cheap tomato sauce/paste flavor in comparison and the meat was pretty low quality because I think it had bits of bone in it. Overall, it was still edible but not the taste I was hoping for. I'm glad they've really improved these meals over the years. The two chocolate candies were no longer good. I took a small bite of both of them and they were pretty sour. The coffee was a good way to finish it off, I just wish this ration had cocoa included so I could make a mocha. Actually, I believe all rations should come with cocoa.
