MRE Monday - Sloppy Joe Filling

Sloppy Joes ( 8 oz. ) were on the menu this week as a side dish to be tried by my family. Let's see how it did. Currently $2.75 at Emergency Essentials.

Nutritional Information:

Calories:250

Calories from Fat: 110

Total Fat: 16g or 25% Daily Value ( DV )

Saturated Fat: 3.5g or 18%

Trans Fat: 0g

Cholesterol: 60mg or 20% DV

Sodium: 700mg or 29% DV

Total Carbohydrates: 21g or 7% DV

Dietary Fiber: 1g or 4%

Sugars: 14g

Protein: 21g

Vitamin A: 30%

Vitamin C: 100%

Calcium: 4%

Iron: 20%

Expectations:

I always try to give my readers a point of reference on my expectations so that  it gives them a better idea of how I grade the MRE. Of course, I am expecting the homemade version where you brown the hamburger meat then add the can of Sloppy Joe mix.

Reality:

First, I'd like to apologize for forgetting to take a picture of the finished product, but we were in a hurry to get the food onto the table. Red Ant, our 3 year old, immediately said, "I don't like this."  This was his first exposure to Sloppy Joes. For those without kids, it takes a few times for them to get used to the idea of new foods. This being said, I'll probably try to reintroduce it to him and see what the new response might be.

My oldest, Row, the six year old, was a lot more entertaining. "Why are they called Sloppy Joes?" I made up an answer and told him it is because they are SO messy. He also wanted to know if Sloppy Joe was the restaurant's name. He took a few bites and said,"I just love Sloppy Joe." I have to admit that he is the pickiest of the two kids, and this was a nice change of pace. 

Sweetheart thought it was "Alright, good tang, but the texture was a little to be desired." I had to remind her that it is, after all, a packaged product for long term storage and texture is a hard problem to overcome. She understood, but still would have preferred the texture to be better. Sweetheart reiterated that Filled French Toast was still her favorite.

I think that I was less impressed with the MRE than my wife. The first taste had a preservative taste and overall, I thought that the MRE was lacking compared to the original.

Final Thoughts:

Once again, the most important factor is that we will be ordering more. We agreed that this MRE probably won't be the first one picked, but makes an good sandwich. Sweetheart wanted to do a cost comparison against the dehydrated hamburger and a can of mix versus the MRE. I told her She knew that we are not opening a  #10 can just to do a comparison. Maybe I can find a Mychoice can size or something, because I would be interested too.  Anyways, with one boy really liking it, and the other needing to be reintroduced to it, we will be ordering at least three for each meal. By the way, they make about three sandwiches with the regular size hamburger buns. ( There was some still in the package ). This is an excellent yield for an MRE. One MRE package per adult would be good, and half per child would fill everyone up.