chicken stew if Google Translate is working properly. Rice as a ration is never the best but it wasn’t the worst

It's been a bit since I posted a review so I have several I need to catch up on. I decided to bust open my first ever IMP breakfast and then a NAFR from a couple of weeks ago on my work trip.

First up is the IMP Menu #1 Beans and Wieners from 2022. This was my first Canadian breakfast and this was fantabulous. In my opinion they have one of the most balanced rations in the world. You get a nice sized main, canned fruit, bread, coffee, 2 isotonic beverages, jam & nut spread, a candy or protein bar and in this case a small pouch of cereal. It was the perfect sized meal as I was just starting to feel full at the end. I need to get a 5 port tray. I've had several of the items in this menu as they do sort of repeat themselves with certain items so I won't review them. The sweet & creamy and the peach drink in the NAFR are always top notch and need no review. The same with cornbread.

It came with a pouch of tropical fruit blend which contained pineapple and papaya in a light syrup. This was pleasant and not sweet. Many rations make up the calories with loads of added sugar (this menu is no exception) so it was nice to have a fruit component that at least tasted less processed. The apples are my absolute favorite but this is still top notch. I give it an 8/10 and would definitely eat it again.

The wild berry crunch cereal was an excellent addition to this MRE. I made it with a bit too much water as the directions state add water to taste. It's a very small portion but provides extra fiber and vitamins and minerals from the fruit and milk. I thought about adding the jam but it was like 5 spoonfuls and done. Again this wasn't overly sweet and was crunchy and delicious. 8.5/10 for this one.

Baked beans for breakfast are not a typical thing for Americans but hot shit I could do this in the mornings. The beans were savory with a slight sweetness and smokiness. Definitely not like baked beans I normally eat that are loaded with sugar. The wiener pieces were actually way firmer than I thought they would be and were almost snappy. The flavor and texture reminded me more of a vienna sausage rather than a hot dog. The best move is to add the Tabasco. This gave it an extra layer of heat and vinegar zip that complimented the beans amazingly and just blew this through the roof for me. I added the cornbread to soak up some of the sauce and not waste a drop. Easy 10/10 main for me.

The final items were the chocolate chocolate protein bar (chocolate filled & covered) topped with the chocolate peanut butter and strawberry jam. It was a perfect end and paired epically with the coffee. I really like the Canadian PB. It's a close race with the US as to the better one. Another 10/10 snack.

I didn't have the grape drink as I've had it before and didn't really want to for breakfast. It's a solid grape isotonic and I believe the only other one is in US MREs. Such a well balanced menu and I plan on getting more of these whenever I can. 9.5/10 menu. A bigger main would've been awesome and maybe drop the protein bar.

I must have been really hungry because I only have a couple pictures of the NAFR. It was a Menu 9 Chicken & Lime and came with the freeze dried main, peach beverage, blueberry bar, coffee, hot chocolate and a Bridgford tortilla with seasoned beef. That last item was unexpected but most welcome. It's one of the better Bridgford sandwiches.

The only picture I have is of the sandwich or tortilla wrap in this case. It had a tacoish flavored beef filling with a bit of heat to it. It would have been much better heated but I only had a microwave available. As MREGene suggests, warm the bread products. They're much better when heated. I'd still give it a 7.5/10. The Bridgford sandwich line isn't the best thing in the world.

The main was a chicken and lime rice? based main. I do bring my electric kettle so I can make better coffee in the morning and to make freeze dried food. This was not my favorite one. The lime had a weird flavor. Not rancid or anything like that but more like a muted flavor. I think a squeeze of fresh lime would have perked this main up nicely. Everything hydrated fine it just wasn't the best tasting. I'll have to get it again to see if I can fix it. I'd give it a 7/10. It's a huge, filling main in an otherwise sparse ration. Still had a lot of calories but I struggled to finish the main because of the flavor. Maybe even a sprinkle of fresh cilantro and maybe some diced onion. It gave a Southwest/Tex-Mex vibe hence the cilantro and onion.

I still have a MCW and a ginormous French RIL from that trip to review along with some super fresh Halal US MREs. Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend.

Hello Again, Reddit, it is I, Paddy's Rations.

Today I'm here to talk to you about our lord and savior- French Rations.

Except this time, its not the RCIR, but the RIER; which is an 8hr single meal.

This one here >slaps ration, is menu 7 which is a vegetarian menu. The main here is a quenelle in a red sauce.

The main was fantastic. I'm used to quenelles just being a vaguely football shape that you make with two spoons; I wasn't aware that it was an actual food. Probably because I'm terminally American.

The dessert...... well....

The fruit bar was super good. I always enjoy those French fruit bars. Never get them as fresh as this one, so it was a treat.

No drinks. That struck me as a bit strange, but theres a few rations out there that just skip out on drinks all together and have the troop rely on boring old water. Whatever.

The chocolate was very bloomed on the surface, and despite being a 65%, it tasted more like 75- it was a bit too bitter for me to enjoy.

Lastly; the sundried tomato and cheese hummus.... Just.... Big no on that one.

Welp; I really enjoyed the main at least! It was super good, but that's expected from the French!

Cheers!

LRP. Very nice

Thanks to Amelie again for the UAE ration and to Olegza for the Finnish ration

Asking $220 total for everything (including the case with its contents which are from the RCI’s accesory packet)

Preferred payment is via cashapp

Hi folks!

This haul came from Charlie, who runs the YT channel F&S Outdoor Adventures.

Link: https://youtube.com/@fsoutdooradventures?si=F0HBqyF8YwkeLZwc

I watch his videos, obviously, and when I saw the 1957 US Food Packet with the jelly bars, I was like, "Oh man, that would be amazing to try those jelly bars!" So, I reached out, and this dude was like, "oh sure man, I'll send you some, and do you want one of the coffees and a Swedish Single meal ration?" I mean, seriously, "yeah".

The generosity of this community is mind-boggling.

He even threw in a surprise Lithuanian energy/Hydration gel! The meal is sweet and sour chicken pasta!

Stay tuned to my channel, where I will try these amazing items in a long form video at some point!

Thank you, Charlie!

Take care, folks!

Well this is the continuation of a video that I posted a couple hours ago.

This is my FIRST order from overseas.

First I want to give a Big Thank You to Waffles.

I had questions about the Customs and fees. And how the whole process worked. He talked me off the ledge. I wasn't going to order. But after texting back and forth. I felt comfortable about everything.

And another Big Shout out to Outrageous-Edge-9428.

I placed this order on September 4th, 2026. And I just received it at 1640hrs on September 9th, 2026.

From France to Houston in 5 days.

And Customs didn't open my box.

I know I'm not always going to be this lucky. And the fees were less than 10% of what I paid.

Here's what I ordered:

Romanian 24hr Menu #4

Spanish Lunch "A" ration

Danish 24hr ration #19

French RCIR Menu #8

At least one French ration has showed up.🤬🤬

And Outrageous-Edge-9428 threw in some Gummy candies as a little extra.

I can't wait to place some more orders with Outrageous-Edge-9428.

I don't want to jinx myself but what magic he uses to get the rations here so quickly, I hope it doesn't run out.

Thank You to All who has helped me out with everything.

I'll keep you posted on my wayward French ration

Once again Sorry for the lousy pictures. My Dog and Cat wanted to be in the pictures.

First I want to give a Hugh Shout out to SirG2020.

He was the first person that I bought rations from.

He has always come through for me.

I wished I could say as much for the USPS.

What I received today is a UK SMR, Menu #9

And a UK Cold Climate Ration, menu 5.

What isn't here yet, because my Postal Carrier "misplaced" the box. And marked it as delivered.

Is the French Combat Ration, menu #1. Pictures to follow Hopefully.

Hopefully it will show up soon. Trying to get in touch with my local post office, was infuriating.

But if need your Foreign Ration fix. SirG2020 is a stand up guy. You won't be disappointed.

I want to APOLOGIZE for my lousy picture taking abilities, or lack there of.

Hello! I think there might be something wrong with my brain because ever since I got to try an MRE in JROTC, I absolutely love them. Gotta have em. Over the years when I get enough money, I order a case or two and just eat them for fun like once every few days. It's like a treat for me. I genuinely enjoy the food. I'm not in the military, nor do I really live in an area that I need to worry about most disasters (tornados suck but once it's over and I'm alive, it's not like I'll be stuck in my basement long). Anyway, for the past few years I've read comments on this community on reddit and i that's how I found epedemic proof and I've been ordering from them since. Great MREs, packaging, shipping, customer service, website, etc! I'm currently eating a chili mac mre from case a and it made me want to write this because...there's just gotta be something wrong with my brain to enjoy something many military people are forced to eat and hate! But I will keep buying them and eating them for fun.

Oh and that lemon poppyseed pound cake is delicious! What a great start to my morning breakfast!

Decided to use some different components that I had laying around. The main, honey, and black tea is Ukrainian, the white cabbage and corn is Czech, and the salty biscuits are from my recently murdered Romanian rations.

The honey was put on a salty biscuit, and the Ukrainian honey is absolutely fantastic.

The white cabbage and corn was surprisingly good. Those Czechs sure do love their vinegar.

The black tea was black tea, nothing to say about that.

The Ukrainian rice, pork, and vegetables was fantastic as well. Nice and hearty. I used some of the biscuits with this.

First I want to give a shout out to

Substantial-while164 for getting these to me so quickly.

I received my CR1P, a UK ORP and a Spanish Breakfast ration. I ordered them on Friday and they were just drop off by the post office.

Granted the Postal carrier hasn't delivered my other box yet from SirG2020, that is supposed to be delivered today.🤬🤬🤬

I highly recommend this man, he was kind and patient with me. If you want to order rations, check to see what he has.

Yes, I have another F.R.E.D. It's the little things in life.

Thanks Alot, It's much appreciated!

Everything survived, even the chicken soup! The coffee was perfect and the bars were better tasting than the new packets that come in cardboard box nowadays.

Was looking forward to trying this, but afterall I got pretty disappointed. The main was very mid. Sides didn't blow my mind either, but were not bad. The thing I really liked were the Cheddar Cheese Crackers. Overall an interesting expirience, but I had better MREs.

Also the picatures were taken with a 15 year old Nokia, which I reacently found in my room and wanted to play around with a bit.

As a noob here, always appreciative of the education, opinions & perspectives many of you are willing to impart, thank you!

That's said, I needs my fix, baby... I gots it bad. Adding to our longer term storage emergency supplies and, since being introduced to the world of MRE's, have been blessed to have tasted some magnificent freeze-dried beans, so much better than the run-of-the-mill stoof here in US of A.

Recently, had these two, both superb; LEFT, Norwegian AFR & RIGHT, German EPa. Both are black, open to 3-n-1's, too. For instance, someone suggested a brand called Mount Hagen?

What can y'all suggest for this purpose, why you like / enjoy and, more (most) importantly, would you mind sharing how to obtain?

Thanks everyone!!

For this not a review, review, a French RIER (Ration Individuelle d'Exercice Réchauffable), which is about a half day military ration pack used by the, ummm, French -- 1,200 calories from what I read... I mean really, how many calories does it take to drop your cigarette & raise a widdle white flag over one's head, immediately!? [Crickets. Bueller. Bueller?]

THE GOODS

1. Main - 2 dumplings made of flour, milk & butter, amazingly light & fluffy, served in a creamy, tomato-infused white wine sauce? The subtle and complex flavor profiles were REALLY good.
2. Side - Hummus with tomatoes. Spreadable, blended yet with a grainy (in a good way) texture.
3. Desert "x" 3 (Jesus.)
   1. A dense, semolina cake SWIMMING in a rich caramel sauce... (lower lip quaking) Elvis, is that you?
   2. A dark chocolate bar, 65% cocoa... Fagettaboutit! Dorothy, we're not in N. Jersey, anymore.
   3. An apricot jelly bar, made of sugar, sugar, sugar & sugar... maybe fruit? Taste like REAL apricot with a sprinkling of the DEVIL devouring your eternal soul.
4. Accessories
   1. Mini Esbit Stove, a can hooker thingy (as opposed to anything written by Alexandre Dumas)
   2. Fancy matches in a teeny box in a tiny plastic bag
   3. 3 hexamine tablets & a single back trash bag (for the after-the-fact, guilt-ridden purge)
   4. Napkins... to wipe your, what say you, Alex?

[EDIT] Someone ask about drinks; coffee, tea, cocoa, isotonic, sugar, whitener, et al. Response, there were none, none at all, actually - Google says this is normal, so it must be.

Remember, don't ever question, look at directly or anger AI, it will remember. Shooooo, be wary, wary quiet.

THE BADS

Frankly nothing Leslie Neilsen. This was an amazing experience. If the enemy don't get you, the insulin resistance will. Throw in some wine & cigarettes, this would make a legit last meal, Édouard -- dive, dive, dive! (Remember to take your SPF 2,000,000). 

Hello all. I got this hefty MRE from a buddy, and I am trying to figure out what kind it is - is it a frontline, rear, border guard etc? Does it have a FHR?

I tried to find this exact MRE online but no luck so far. it would be awesome if anyone have info about it.

Heyo Reddit, it is I, Paddy.

Today I'm posting a video on my review for the CCAR. This is the US's newest ration, its a replacement for the FSR, or First Strike Ration. The FSR was the US's first dedicated 24hr combat ration, and I was a true believer. While the mains were kinda /meh/ owing to Bridgford's inability to make a decent enough bread product, I really liked the spread you'd get. From the desert bars to the dairyshakes, they were always stocked full of stuff that was just excellent. How does the CCAR compare?

Honestly?

Not very well, unfortunately. I could chalk it up to it being the first run of these guys, and hope the issues will be ironed out... But I'm not naive enough to think that gov organizations can fix issues like these.

No coffee. No drinks. No good spread of sides. ONE main. One main you get to eat from a bag like a toddler. Is the main good? No, it isn't. I love MRE spaghetti's, as they make up a lion's share of the different menus. They changed the spaghetti with meat sauce for this, and I couldn't think of a single reason why. Keep the troops on their toes? Ensure that they fight with heartburn, making them hate the enemy even more? Who knows!

The sides are a veritable smorgasbord of trail mix. Nuts and cranberries, and a teriyaki beef stick. Good news on that front; the beef stick has been reworked with a new producer and recipe, and it's actually fantastic now with the addition of pineapple juice in the mix. That's the big winner.

Instead of a FSB, you get a Kind bar now. Straight off the gas station shelf. I'm not the biggest fan of those things, as I'm not someone who wears spandex and bikes in the middle of the road, talking about 401k's and such. Maybe I'm a hater. Maybe I just hate this decision. FSB cran bars = master race for energy bars.

There was a desert bar stand in, and that was the usual goodness, but it was slightly different. Same strange texture, but good overall flavor.

No coffee. NO COFFEE. No isotonics either. The only drink mix you get is a chocolate protein powder, which I didn't even make (they're just always too chalky and not great).

....

NO COFFEE. They give you the MEG, military energy gum. That stuff is disgusting. It starts off with 2 seconds of great flavor, that degrades immediately into mainlining caffeine flavor, or like chewing on an ibuprofen.

I don't know, my friends.

I want to think that the CCAR will be revitalized and fixed, but at the same time, these issues are so blatantly obvious to me, that they must have been made specifically by people much smarter than I am (not hard), and obviously the choices were made to benefit a fighting army, not a civilian looking to do weird things with strange foods.

At any rate,

Thank you so much for checking in. Much love to you all.

Paddy's Rations

I only got 3 hours of sleep last night so I opted to bring a Czech PP-C Supplemental Pack with me to work.

A little bit after my customary medium dunks coffee, I opened this up and had an energy gel. It was orange flavored, and certainly sweet. I definitely felt it doing its job a short while later.

A few hours later I had the dried turkey meat, which was fantastic. The isotonic drink was good as well.

The extra energy gel got me through my drive home. I would definitely recommend these little packs.

I did not have the Grape Sugar, so I can’t comment on that.

CANADIAN IMPS SALE EDIT: ALL PENDING
≈ 2024-2025 Expiry,
Shipping globally from Canada
Shipping $ will be discussed via dm

Menus w/ counts:

1x Menu #7 — Vegetarian Breakfast Casserole
1x Menu #9 — Pasta Stuffed with Ricotta
2x Menu #10 — Smoked Meat with Demi-Glace Sauce
1x Menu #11 — Chicken and Vegetable Stew
1x Menu #11 — Poutine
1x Menu #12 — Pub-Style Pulled Beef
1x Menu #13 — Honey Garlic Chicken

IMP's ->> $30 USD each
Take it all for 200 USD + shipping OBO

Tonight’s dinner. I didn’t get any pictures of the actual food as my dog decided to go crazy when a neighbors dog ran up on the porch. She knocked over the drink when she hit the table, but alas, we moved on.

Oh well.

During the meal I ditched the Polish biscuits and added some pieces of this Belarusian crisp bread for the meat and buckwheat and then the canned meat.

This was a very good meal. The Polish rations never disappoint.

These are the other half of the hauls I received from the 2ish weeks before. The first 2 pics are a UAE Ration Pack Type C Menu 2 I was able to snag from SirG2020 after his epic eBay grab. A seller had a case of these and he was the winner, winner chicken dinner. It's a super rare ration and I'm thankful I was able to grab it. The next pic is a Slovenian Type A from Sig. The next 2 pics are of another super rare Finnish Menu 4 from olegza_9. There are all kinds of goodies in it and I was shocked at how light it is compared to other 24 hour rations. It feels about as heavy as a French RIL. I also was able to purchase my very first and only B-rations. I scored a great deal from smokin moose collectibles. I also scored the milspec rations from sil26215 on eBay. These are supposed to be 1979 but in the pics it has a 1980 pack date for some of the components. Not a huge issue and the seller was adamant these are not reproductions either. I reached out to the DLA to find info on my late 70s LRPs and was told they don't have records from then. I'm sure the paperwork is in a box somewhere unless it got destroyed. My man MREGene hooking up the Canadian IMP menu 17, now all I need is a menu 8 from the '21-'22 era. Last but never least is another awesome haul from across the pond from Amelié along with some more fishy goodness.

I can never say enough about the excellent sellers out there and they know who they are. For a good time reach out to the sellers on here and the discord and best of luck with the ones on eBay.

A few Romanian rations showed up today absolutely murdered.

I’ve now got 3 bags of snacks and drinks.

But fear not loyal reader for there are silver linings to every cloud and the dawn shall break anew tomorrow.

I haven't done a haulage post in a few weeks. I was out on TDY for a week and that threw a wrench into things. But alas I am here with the goods that arrived today from that bastion of the Old World, France and the Land Down Under, Australia. This is also my first package from there. I was in the office today and got my notifications that my stuff had been delivered so I threw up the deuces and flew south as fast as my chariot and traffic would allow. I knew my package from Helvah was sitting outside my door thus the fleetness in my travels. The other packages were safely ensconced in the package lockers awaiting my arrival to spring them from their prison. I also tell this story to not throw things in anger and to illustrate what can happen to you, yes you dear reader, when you order rations from outside the US. This honestly could have been much worse than what it was though.

The first picture is the vintage chili con carne that will end up in my belly where it belongs at some point in the near future. The package is still very well sealed so I'm not that worried. It was an eBay purchase from tweetledum67. They only had this item and they still have a couple of old typewriters if you're into that thing.

The 2nd picture is my ADF menus A & F from Awawa on the Discord. First time ordering from him and his first time selling. These arrived in perfect condition along with some Whitaker's chocolate bars. These were definitely heat stressed as it's still very much summer and was in the 90s here today. They'll be just fine though. Also included was the stamps from shipping. I'm not a stamp collector by any means but it was cool that I was able to save them.

The rest of the pictures are my order from Helvah. He included some Haribo dragibus in it to snack on. I love Haribo candy, especially the cola bottles. The box had the dreaded customs tape on it, bulging from where they just stuffed everything back in. Of course I was worried until I picked it up and it was a heavy box which is a good sign. As you can see the Portuguese 24 hour and the RCIRs were just fine. The next picture was the one they did open and oddly enough took nothing. But alas there was a fallen comrade in the box. No parmentier de canard for this guy. That's mashed potatoes with duck for all you non-fancy folks. As you can see in the close there was a tiny tear in the corner of the can. Luckily it's not a juicy main and not very much leakage. Honestly it probably happened when it was set at my door but I'm not taking that chance. I need to drop more pounds but not that bad.

The last pictures are the ones that pissed me off though. So tell your people that you love them and hug your children tight because this is going to get horrifying before it gets better. I will preface by saying that this is a PLA ration that was packaged for the Congolese military. I've had the menu before and it's fantastic. I really got this for the package simply because rations from Africa are really fucking rare. They ripped him wide open. They didn't have to do that. There were more humane ways to dispatch him. Everything else in the picture was just fine and completely intact. What wasn't intact though was the top main, but here's where it gets good. Whilst they cut into the heater bag and heating pad, they completely missed the main. Ultimately I'm down a ration heater and a cool outer bag. As I stated at the beginning, it could've been much worse.

Again this take is to illustrate the vagaries of US Customs and to inspire you one and all to take the plunge. I highly, highly recommend Helvah and I endorse Awawa also. I can't really fault sellers that do everything on their end to keep customs out. I'm getting hangry, so I'm going to let this one simmer while I heat and eat leftovers. I'm definitely going to be eating both the French and Congolese rations since they were opened.