XMRE Mexican Style Chicken Stew #5

[housil]

Thx to Kman, today I (actually Mrs Housil) had for dinner - and for the very first time - a XMRE ration.

It was #5

Mexican Style Chicken Stew

I like their idea of having the contents on the back side

The opened bag - note the sleeve at the entree

Their entrees don´t come in a card board "box", but have a sleeve around that reminds me to the 1980s pouch stand

The back side with the printing

You can fold the bottom to close it, maybe to hold the hot entree pouch in but, the entree pouch is to be opened horizontally.

A 3086 entree in a 4143 MRE bag?!

The chicken stew out of the pouch on a plate

It had a nice, salty taste but wasn´t "hot/spicy" as I had expected a "Mexican" entree would/could be. To me, very yummi as I don´t like hot/spicy food

For Mrs Housil, I had to "pimp" the taste and amount with a "Mexican Rice" side as she *loves* hot/spice food and also loves MREs

Green chili pepper?

I like their little accessory packet and don´t miss the Tabasco, nor the coffee/creamer etc.

This was the very first time I had a XMRE ration and we have to say, we liked it

[Paul Buikema]

Nice.

[[ex-Member1]]

How did you get it? Thanks for the review.

[Ruleryak]

Looks good! Given the choice I'd still go for the official MRE because I, much like Mrs Housil, need to add in the rice (which comes with the MRE, but doesn't come with the XMRE) to make it a full dish.

XMREs are roughly the same calorie count as an actual MRE, but they get there with snacks instead of a side dish. Meal Kit Supply has a side-dish-free MRE as well, but they also sell a complete meal for twice as much.

[gundog4314]

Wow! That is quite an accomplishment. My other half flat out refuses to try any of this stuff. She had some of the ancient stuff back in the day and well...just not having it. Cheers Mrs. Housil!

[gschultz9]

Thanks for the review Housil (and I agree with gundog about how impressive it is that Mrs. Housil actually LIKES MREs)! One thing I'll say about XMRE is that are a company that REALLY seems to be trying as hard as possible to put out a good product and is constantly looking to improve. This one appears to be what I refer to as a "second generation" XMRE. The original ones (only about a year earlier than this one) had even more generic outer bags that didn't even have a menu number on them. The number was printed (like some date codes are printed on rather than stamped into genuine MREs) on the back of the bag and you had to use a "packing list" to figure out what menu you were getting. If you didn't happen to have that list that came with the case it was a total mystery what you were getting. The "second generation" bags had a menu number listed on them, but you still needed to use the packing list at first, until they started putting the menu stickers on the backs (like this one has). They have since completely redesigned the bags with the "third generation", and I think they look much better now. In addition to all the changes to the bags they've also tinkered with and improved what's inside. They have started including hot beverage bags and more variety in the spreads (they originally only had peanut butter). It's interesting to watch them develop over time, and the changes are still ongoing. Unlike most civvie MRE companies they actually offer a lot of different lines to choose from (sometimes it almost seems like TOO MUCH choice in fact). In addition to the 1300XT line (1,300 calories on average) they also have a 1000XT line and an "XMRE Lite" line that has even fewer calories and many civvie components. AND they have a 3000XT line of 24-hour rations (which they are currently revamping) and something called the "Blue Line", which is geared toward medical facilities, municipalities and emergency preparedness agencies (according to the website. I haven't really figured out what's different between the regular ones and the Blue Line ones other than the name). AND, if all that weren't enough, most of the lines can be bought in 6 or 12 pack cases, with or without FRHs, and I believe you can even choose all-chicken, all-beef or all-veggie entree cases! I believe that there are even more changes coming in the future too. Sorry to have gone off on this so much, but like I said, it's pretty interesting watching this company develop!

[gschultz9]

Oh, and if you can stand to read a little more... The issue with XMRE's entrees being a year or more older than the date code on the outer bag seems to be a common one. I recently had some of their 24-hour rations and the entrees were between a year and a year-and-a-half older than the date the rations were assembled. I was told that I had received a "beta" version for reviewing, but others reported having similar experiences on my YouTube channel. I can understand that the "big three" MRE producers (Sopakco, Wornick and Ameriqual) probably have access to the freshest components available (namely their own product!) for their civilian MREs, and independent companies (who are also competitors of the biggies) like XMRE might have to settle for slightly older product from them, but Meal Kit Supply (which should be in the same boat) seems to be able to provide components dated very closely to the outer bag date codes. It's something I'm kind of keeping an eye on and an area I'd love to see XMRE improve on. After all, one of the biggest selling points of MREs is the long shelf life. What good is a freshly packed case of MREs for someone's disaster prep stockpile when the entrees inside the case might be a year or two older than the case manufacture date?

[parafireboy]

Thanks for the review Housil! It's cool that Mrs. Housil likes rations, I'm still trying to get my wife to try one. One of these days maybe she'll go for it

gschultz9, thanks for the info on the XMRE company!

[Ruleryak]

Thanks for all that info gschultz9! The date codes being so far back has been one of my bigger concerns, and the change in contents seems more like a reaction to what's available than a planned upgrade to me. I'm wondering what kind of contracts XMRE even has with component producers. If they're only able to buy surplus for example, then they're going to have shortages and will end up substituting. Getting a three year shelf life item at a year and a half old is unacceptable when paying for new product. It's 50% down the path to its intended use by date. We know from experience that we can eat them for decades if stored properly, but we also know from experience that overall quality absolutely declines over time so they're best when new.

[elandil]

Thanks for the review Housil! It's cool that Mrs. Housil likes rations, I'm still trying to get my wife to try one. One of these days maybe she'll go for it

The only way I can get my wife to eat any rations is to sneak it in on her and not tell her what it is. So far it's worked with the Beef ravioli and the Maple sausage patty....