A Little Taste of Army Life

Being around all this Army green for the last couple of days here at Fort Sam Houston, Texas has made me a bit nostalgic for the 23 years I spent wearing an Army uniform. In fact, I was so nostalgic that I decided to pop open a bag of MRE’s that Amanda was saving to bring home to Jack so he could take them as provisions for his next elk hunting trip.

Okay, so maybe it wasn’t just nostalgia that drove me to pop the trunk of the rental car and rummage through the box of MREs she had assembled. I was tired after a full day of sightseeing, eating and navigating the San Antonio traffic and had no desire, or energy, to even go so far as the hotel restaurant to get something to eat. With no fast food, or even a convenience store in sight, I decide to give the MREs a try.

I had my share of MRE’s or Meals Ready to Eat for those of you not familiar with the Army acronym. MREs came along after the ever popular C-Rations made a much needed departure from the soldiers’ dietary staple. I had some C-Rats early on in my military career and I can honestly say that faced with starvation or eating C-Rats I would have opted for a slow, painful death. Then the MRE came along and things started to look up. Of course, in their infancy, we all learned what MREs to eat and which ones to avoid and we got quite creative with how we put things together. Think of it as an Iron Chef competition where you’re armed with nothing more than a small portable heater and food in brown plastic bags. Sometimes it was a challenge to put together something palatable.

Not looking to create a four course meal, I came up with some of my old favorite standbys – peanut butter, cheese spread (think Cheez-Whiz the consistency of toothpaste), crackers (I don’t dare call them saltines), and a couple of new items; tortillas and raisins. I assembled some cheese quesadillas with the cheese spread and then, for dessert, created a nice little combination of peanut butter and crackers topped with raisins.

As I ate the cheese and crackers I remembered why most soldiers avoided the processed cheese spread because it acted as a very effective method to avoid having to use the Porta-potties for at least a couple of days. But by the time I remembered that fact I was more than halfway through a couple of crackers. Well, at least I know I won’t have to worry about making any unscheduled stops at rest areas as we head to Austin tomorrow.

Did my MRE experience make me want to don my BDUs again?  Not really. But at least when Amanda asks me what to eat and what to avoid, I can give her a little motherly advice. Stay away from the cheese.