If you know me, then you know one of the things I hate are MRE's and/or survival rations.

Why?

That could take me a while to answer and that's really not why I'm writing this article.

Let's just keep it that I am bias that "survival food" doesn't have to taste like.....um....terrible!

Wise Co Outdoor Meals

Thankfully SOMEBODY made something other than military MRE's!

Wise Co makes dehydrated food that have a shelf life of 7 years. They come in their own "add water and cook" packages that are handy for storage or your BOB pack. If you want to check out the company it's www.wisefoodstorage.com.

My box this month had Chilli Macaroni and Paste Alfredo in it.

Chilli Macaroni

Stats:
Serving Size: 1 cup
Servings Per Container: 2
Calories: 250 per serving

Instructions are simple:

1) Remove oxygen absorber (blue packet) from pouch.

2) Heat 2 cups (16 oz) of water to boiling and pour into the pouch.

3) Stir thoroughly and close zipper. THIS A VERY IMPORTANT STEP to ensure that the food and water are well mixed. You'll be glad you did when you eat it.

4) Let stand for 12-15 mins.

5) Open and eat.

I expected the Chilli Mac to be something similar in taste and flavor of Beefaroni (as a comparsion).

Taste wise, it was a solid second to Beefaroni, so don't look for anything gourmet here, but it wasn't as bad as MRE's and certainly NO where close to as terrible as the "survival bars".

Edible - yes. Fabulous - no.

However, second picture displays the ENTIRE portion of the package in a "regular" soup bowl, so the portion size is a little small for me to say it "feeds 2 people" like on the package. Personally, if you're counting these to feed your family, better step it up and count one pack per person per meal. That's just my opinion.

Side Note: The scrounger in me demanded that I test the empty package out for hold water. It will and did. Probably about a liter of water. So if you need a "water carrier", yes - it would work.


Rating:

Food: 3 (that's about as good as this type of food gets for me. MRE's are a 2. Survival bars are a ZERO!)

There are certainly worse options for this type of food, but given the choice and need for long term storaged food, the Wise Company stuff is.....not bad :P






Ironhand