Q&D Veggie Taco Pasta TOTM

[elandil]

Ok, had an opportunity to get my hands on a couple of TOTM's, and decided to do one for dinner the other nite.

Only problem was, couldn't find my main camera, had to use my backup. And it had a lot of issues. So I only have 2 pics to show, and the video will be kinda choppy, but the descriptions should make up for it..

So here's what came in it...


Vegetarian Taco Pasta with sleeve and FRH
Patriotic Sugar Cookies
M&M's
Pretzel Sticks
Mango Peach Applesauce
French Vanilla Cappuccino
Accessory pack including wipe, salt n pepper, napkin,
Deep Rich coffee, 2 sugar, creamer, and MRE spoon

So lets go up the line....



Deep rich coffee....I'm sorry, this stuff is crap. Very weak, not much flavor....
French Vanilla Cappuccino...kinda decent...would have been better just to dump the DR coffee pack in here to boost the flavor.
Mango Peach applesauce...I do not like Applesauce, the texture just turns me off....but I tried it. Sugar, Sweet, no discernable fruit flavor...just sweet....
Pretzel sticks....dry salty bread...it's a pretzel.
M&M's....still good, whole, undamaged, a sweet ending.
Patriotic Sugar Cookies...I love these things, sweet, buttery, light, just that right blend to go with the cappuccino to make a great snack..

And the Main....Vegetarian Taco Pasta...I'll admit i'm a Carnivore....but i'm also a southern man, I do love my veggies...good butter beans, Pinto's n cornbread, collards and black-eyed peas, roasted or fried taters....but I normally don't eat what my food eats...

Having said that...this wasn't bad. The FRH did it's job and got it hot. The pasta and sauce had a great Southwestern flavor, one GunDog would love because it was heavy on the paprika. Texture-wise, I could tell the crumbles were soy, but they did soak up the taco flavor very well. Adding hot sauce really enhanced the meal, made it more palatable. It was filling, and not too bad. I've had worse.

All in all for a TOTM (or MRE Lite, as I like to call them...) it was not bad. it would definately be filling while in a classroom environ....as long as there was better coffee somewhere.

[elandil]

video's up...



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txentezobAo

[Ruleryak]

Thanks for the review elandil TOTMs are always interesting - not sure if I've ever tried this one, but I usually like the veggie meat crumbles (now and then).

[RockyRaab]

Apparently, that's the least wanted one of all the TOTM meals. As I've posted elsewhere, at my base commissary, they have a rack of TOTMs, and the last time I pawed through them, 48 of the 50 meals were Veggie Taco Pasta.

Which raises questions with me: One, do cases of TOTMs come with an assortment of menus or can a case be all one entree? I've never bought a full case and would be horrified if I did and all 12 were the same meal. Two, if they come as assortments, how many cases have they gone through to accumulate that many VTP meals? It is a very recent menu item, after all. And finally, if they're so hard to sell, why don't they give these away or drastically cut the price?

Maybe I'll pick one up next time I'm there. According to my notes, I don't think I've had one. Thought I had, but it turns out to have been the veggie sausage crumbles.

[cavguy]

One, do cases of TOTMs come with an assortment of menus or can a case be all one entree?

Depending upon vendor, TOTM's come in a assorted case of 12, 1 each of 12 different menu's. There are three different types of TOTM's (Type I to III).

Source;http://www.dla.mil/Portals/104/Document ... m_menu.pdf

Two, if they come as assortments, how many cases have they gone through to accumulate that many VTP meals

If there is one VTP meal per case, that would of course mean that they have gone through at least 48 cases to accumulate that many VTP meals.

[RockyRaab]

Thanks, cavguy. I had never seen that before. Not many changes among the three. If I assume that the three different stock numbers refer to the three vendors, do you have any idea which vendor is which?

If there's only one veggie taco pasta per case, my commissary must go through a boatload of TOTM cases!

Edit: Comparing what was in your TOTM with the menu list, I think that the first vendor (7266) must be Wornick.

[RockyRaab]

Went to the base today and pawed through the TOTM rack. I was trying to find Veggie Taco Pasta meals from Sopakco and Ameriqual to see if their contents matched up with the lists posted above. I bought a Sopakco but there were no Ameriqual ones. That's okay. Since the VTP meal in the video came from Wornick, and I have one from Sopako, that pretty mcu identifies which vendor is which in the menu list.

AND, I stumbled across what may be a 2016 TOTM item, a Creamy Spinach Fettucine. This one is from Wornick and since they are the only ones making this meal, that doubly confirms that vendor number 7266 is Wornick!

I look forward to eating both of these TOTMs.

[RockyRaab]

Went to the base today and pawed through the TOTM rack. I was trying to find Veggie Taco Pasta meals from Sopakco and Ameriqual to see if their contents matched up with the lists posted above. I bought a Sopakco but there were no Ameriqual ones. That's okay. Since the VTP meal in the video came from Wornick, and I have one from Sopako, that pretty mcu identifies which vendor is which in the menu list. Sopakco is vendor 7262, and Ameriqual is vendor 7264.

AND, I stumbled across what may be a 2016 TOTM item, a Creamy Spinach Fettucine. This one is from Wornick and since they are the only ones making this meal, that doubly confirms that vendor number 7266 is Wornick!

I look forward to eating both of these TOTMs.

[gschultz9]

Wow, that was some nice detective work there Rocky. And you got a nice 2016 Spinach Fettucine as a reward for digging through all those VTPs!

[cavguy]

You are correct! Here are the other vendors listed;

WORNICK (7266)
SOPAKCO (7264)
SOPAKCO (7262)

Curiously I cannot find the vendor # for Ameriqual on the document...