Review: Meal Kit Supply MRE's - Part 2 of 4

We're here at the second part of the review. I opened a second of four MRE's provided by Meal Kit Supply to sample for the purposes of a full review. This particular MRE contained a few things that the previous one did. For instance - both included the delicious Wheat Bread Snack and Blackberry Jam. Honestly, really tasty - first thing I ate and was actually excited to see it.

Above is a picture of everything that was included in this MRE. The usual two spoons, condiment pack and a few things that were included in the first MRE we tried. I didn't make the hot cocoa from the first batch - it wasn't until I was cleaning up the packaging that I noticed I had missed it. We were sure to include it in this review, however. So it was time to see what the second MRE had in store for us - tactical review gear in place, we sat down for chow.


The two main dishes this time around were Sloppy Joe Filling and Potato Cheddar Soup w/ Bacon. I didn't get right into these - I wanted to see what else there was.

The first thing I did open was the juice pouch. I'd like to make another thing clear here - well, two things, really. One, I do NOT like lemonade. My wife does, I do not. Let that reflect my view on the supplied juice packet, later on. The next - I REALLY like juice. This can also sway my opinion, so let's not forget that. Some people just don't like juice - just as some don't like pop. I do, however.


So, I mixed up a cup of the Lemon-Lime juice packet, half expecting to hate it. I don't know what it is, I just don't like lemonade. After mixing all the crystals up, I took a sip. Goosebumps! Cough! Sputter! Again, I don't like lemonade. I found the juice to be very sour on the first sip - almost candy-sour, if there were some kind of scale you could apply to it. My wife, on the other hand, thought it was nice and a 'summery drink'. She likes lemonade - I don't.


Like a little kid, I went straight to an old-standard. Hot chocolate. What interests me most about Meal Kit Supply MRE's is the 'all-in' structuring of them. They include everything - minus water, that you need to enjoy whats inside. The container that houses the mix for both beverages have the capability to both mix and serve the beverage itself. Awesome.

We mixed up the cocoa and poured it into a cup. Nothing separates this mix from anything you'd get in the grocery store or a Tim Horton's drive-thru. Rich, hot, tasty. My wife is basically a hot-chocolate connoisseur. She drinks it as opposed to coffee - crazy, right?


Well, she says there's two kinds of hot chocolate at the grocery store - brand name and no-name. She compared this to no-name hot chocolate. Good, fulfilling, but not brand name - not as creamy.


Next - I opened the Sloppy Joe main dish. Hungry at this point as the little hand was gracing the top of the clock. I must say - this was really, really good. We had just finished putting groceries away - I had my pick of good food. I ate this for lunch. Not just because it was open, in front of me and available readily - because it was genuinely tasty. Here's the kicker - I didn't even heat it up!

A little history here, my younger brother and I used to eat Chef BoyR-Dee or however you spell it, straight out of the can. This was almost identical to that taste. I couldn't describe it any clearer than that. Really good.


The next thing we tried was the Potato mix. Opening up the package - it looked exactly as I thought it would. I said to my wife;

"Brace yourself, this is gonna look like puke."

Past that, I took a bite, cold. Bacon and Potato. Nothing more, nothing less. Texture was as you'd expect from a potato soup mix. I expected it to be slimier than it was, but was surprised to find a very pleasurable texture, even cold.

We warmed it up and found a massive difference. Perhaps only as a morale issue, we were much happier to eat the mixture hot, rather than lukewarm or cold. In fact, my wife had several spoonfuls and remarked that it was delicious.


Last but not least, we opened the Fudge Brownie. It smelled like a brownie but was kind of hard to the touch. Maybe hard isn't the right word for it, but compared to the Wheat Bread Snack, it was definately not as moist or soft. We both described it as 'chalky'. I couldn't really think of anything else - it tasted good but wasn't 'bakery moist'.

I suppose I had high hopes, given the absolute delicacy that we found in the Wheat Bread Snack. It's good to note that this could act as a major morale booster - chocolate tends to do that. There were actually little hunks of chocolate in the brownie itself, we both liked it despite the relative textural differences when compared to other snacks included with the MRE.

But here's the thing - if I had this brownie, and my wife had the Wheat Bread Snack, we've already agreed on a trade.

All in all - it's interesting to note how typical 'breakfast' foods would 'go down' better in the morning than 'lunch foods'. I mean, sure, we'd eat the Sloppy Joe mix at sunrise, but the increase in morale in having sausage and hash-brown would be welcome. Both my wife and I have agreed that so far, these MRE's would be wonderful for camping, hunting and long term storage. Really nice to put in the basement and forget about them until they are needed. We'd cycle through our cans before we'd open these up on a Wednesday night. However, we'd much rather take a few of these camping than a cooler full of food - so long as your campers can give up the creature comforts of specific things, or can get over maybe eating one or two main dishes cold. Alternatively you could just bring things to cook in - pots and pans, and leave the camp utensils and dishware at home.

We still have 2 more MRE's to review, and 2 consumer-grade substitutes to compare. Stay tuned.

Meal Kit Supply has assured us that a coupon code should be ready to roll out for Monday.