Vegetable stew with Beef

[Norton]

I went on the river for the first canoe camping trip of the year on Saturday. It's still fairly cold out there with ice on the river. So I wanted a very hearty meal
Tried Ameriqual Vegetable stew with Beef code 1124B and did not think I would have enough so I mixed it with a pouch of Ameriqual Regular beef stew code 1082A .

To start off with the Vegetable stew had large pieces of potato carrots and onions. It was hard to see in the dark.
The flavor seemed about the same as their regular beef stew, maybe a bit more tomato base.
I added the regular beef stew and threw in a small can of corned beef I bought from the Middle Eastern Grocery store.
Topped off with a Stop sign MRE biscuit.(I am going to miss them when the Army gets rid of that component )
It did not need any extra spices, tabaco or cheese pouches. I brought them as back up but it was unnecessary
Very hearty almost 1950's dinner flavor and texture. One of the best evening meals or lunch they make. extra good in the low temps

Had the spiced Cider made with the water used to heat the main pouch. It was not bad for a powdered drink mix. Good change of pace, but especially good in cold weather and damp climate of the river.
For desert I had the apple pieces spread on hot Cornbread. It made sort of a cobbler type after dinner treat.

[rattattoo]

Great review. Maybe I'll have to try to look for one of the vegetable stews.
And I also find the powdered cider to be a nice break on a cold evening. One of my favorite combos for dessert [if I can manage to restrain from eating them before hand, and actually end up with both of them available at the same time] is to wait until I have a spiced poundcake AND and the spiced apples! Now... That's a real treat when you're out in the woods!

BTW- very jealous that you're ready back to the canoeing. We have 3 feet of ice on the lakes up here.
What river were you out on? ....The Rapidan?

[Norton]

BTW- very jealous that you're ready back to the canoeing. We have 3 feet of ice on the lakes up here.
What river were you out on? ....The Rapidan?

Rattattoo That is the upper Potomac near. The ice stays in the inches not feet most of the time.
Hrd to see but there were chunks of clear ice floating.
The river bank and the rocks were covered with a layer of ice.

[housil]

I like your scenic pictures and reviews. Thx for sharing.

[steve1989]

Hey Norton, awesome review!

MRE Beef Stew is like THE iconic entree of all of them, I'm pretty sure they've had variations of that entree since the beginning of MRE's and I gotta agree it's a perfect hearty entree for cold weather!

I wonder how many variations of that entree have been produced in U.S. rations so far? You have 2 variations there and I think there are several more!

Now, I remember an old review before the photo bucket pics were lost forever of Norge's and he had an old school MRE Beef Stew, it had real nice cuts of beef in there, not the pre cubed bits they have in more recent ones..!

I've had 1998 RCW, 1980's LRP, and 2005 & 2012 MCW Beef Stew along with Halal Beef Stew, and regular MRE Beef Stew of many various DoP's. I think the best was the 80's LRP Beef Stew, it had a ton of MSG and savory flavor! I have pictures around here somewhere of it, I'm ashamed to say I have about 75 ration photo sets and reviews I gotta still put up..! Including 3 or 4 sets of photos during a 25 mile hike I just got home yesterday. I had a Russian IRP, RCW Snacks, & some Canadian IMP Components. I wanna share that with ya soon.

Again, super nice review, I love your scenery photos and how you take the rations out on adventures. You give us a slice of your experience and I can live vicariously through them with such detailed and rich photos like yours. Thankyou!!

Also seems like you had a nice time out there, nothing beats the great outdoors with some good comfort food like yours presented here - totally seems like a slice of home when you have food like that way out there.

P.S. MRE Apple Cider Mix is one of my favorite ration components.. but sadly I have not found any in 2012-2014 MRE's! Only coffee and sugar free drink mixes, am I just unlucky or did they discontinue the Sweet Tea and & Apple Cider Mixes?

[rattattoo]

MRE Apple Cider Mix is one of my favorite ration components.. but sadly I have not found any in 2012-2014 MRE's! Only coffee and sugar free drink mixes, am I just unlucky or did they discontinue the Sweet Tea and & Apple Cider Mixes?

Steve- I don't have any MREs that date past 2011, so I can't comment on whether they might've been discontinued. However, I found 32-packs of instant cider down at my local Sam's Club. They were made by Mott's. I think I paid less than six dollars for the first pack, and then saw them knocked down to something like $3.57, and bought another. This was last year, so I don't know if they still have the same product. Mott's is a dependably good brand and I wasn't disappointed.
There were four different flavors: Macintosh, Honeycrisp, Caramel, and "Hot Apple Pie". All of them say "spiced" on the label, but the only one that really seemd spiced was the apple pie version. They are all very good, and they are all much more like cider than just plain apple juice. Probably better than the ones packaged in the MREs, and those weren't bad.
I tossed several in a photo along with one last lonely leftover cider from the $$store...

[Failsafe77]

Had the spiced Cider made with the water used to heat the main pouch. It was not bad for a powdered drink mix. Good change of pace, but especially good in cold weather and damp climate of the river.
.

Another amazing review and great pics!!

I reallllly wanted to try that packet MRE cider but sadly all my MREs are from 2014 and don't contain them anymore. I was hoping to get one in a 2013 TOTM or 2012 FSR but again, no luck. Is it more like apple, or more like cinnamon and clove? Maybe I can find some on the Epicenter.

[Failsafe77]

There were four different flavors: Macintosh, Honeycrisp, Caramel, and "Hot Apple Pie". All of them say "spiced" on the label, but the only one that really seemd spiced was the apple pie version. They are all very good, and they are all much more like cider than just plain apple juice.

Love this post! I'm very much a fan of the drinks/coffee/bev packets aspect of MREs and those spiced cider packs from Motts look very enticing! Im assuming since they are flavored you don't add anything to them? Thanks for the info and the great post! ill be on the lookout for these!

[Failsafe77]

Found one!!! I can now confirm the spiced cider is in accessory packet C (not A or B) in 2012 FSR's. Which means it's likely the same can be said for the ones packaged in 2011 and most likely 2013? Looks like I finally get to try it!

[Norton]

I did not try the cider cold, but would like to try it again in the summer time.
as a breakfast cold drink. I have to get a few more accessory packs.