Yesterday, I wanted to enjoy an MRE meal for breakfast, so I dug into Menu 17: Pork Sausage Patty, Maple Flavored. It comes from a B case (menus 13-24) with an inspection date of 3/25 and a good Time and Temperature Indicator (TTI) sticker.
Each case has twelve meals tightly packed in its dense cardboard box. A case weighs about 20 pounds.
This case included these menu options:
- Menu 13: Cheese Tortellini in Tomato Sauce
- Menu 14: Mexican Style Rice and Bean Bowl
- Menu 15: Mexican Chicken
- Menu 16: Chicken Burrito Bowl
- Menu 17: Pork Sausage Patty, Maple Flavor
- Menu 18: Beef Ravioli in Mat Sauce
- Menu 19: Beef Patty, Jalapeno Pepper Jack
- Menu 20: Italian Sausage with Pepper and Onions in Marinara Sauce
- Menu 21: Tuna, Chunk, Light Water Packed, Lemon Pepper
- Menu 22: Beef Goulash
- Menu 23: Pizza Slice, Pepperoni
- Menu 24: Southwest Style Beef and Black Beans
Opening the outer heavy-duty bag, reveals a more tightly packed thin plastic bag containing the MRE’s contents.
From the upper left to right, this MRE includes:
- Water-activated heater bag
- Mountain House Dehydrated Granola with Milk and Blueberries
- Pork sausage patty
- Hash brown potatoes with bacon, peppers, and onions
- Table syrup
- Entree and side nutrition info card (can be used as insulating sleeve, paper for writing, sending as a postcard–I have done this before, or kindling for fire)
- Grape flavored carbohydrate electrolyte beverage powder in drinking pouch
- Hot beverage bag (for coffee)
- Dry roasted Peanuts
- Maple muffin top
- Accessory pack
- Spoon
The accessory pack included clockwise from the bottom left: chewing gum, instant coffee, TP, salt, zero calorie sweetener (dextrose and sucralose), sugar, non-dairy creamer, and moist towelette.
For breakfast, I prepared the patty, hash browns, and muffin top using the microwave. I warmed the patty and hash browns for 45 seconds, then added the muffin top, and microwaved for 15 more seconds. In general, I find MREs taste better by combining the individual elements in it. In this case, I would have a spoonful of patty, hash browns, and muffin together, which I thought was quite flavorful and enjoyable. For some folks, adding the syrup would improve the meal, but I don’t need the extra calories. Regardless, I recommend it.
I saved the granola for breakfast on another day, and I had the peanuts for dessert with cookies at dinner later that night. I’ll save the other parts for consuming or using another day.
