MRE Monday - Cherry Turnover

We decided to do a safer MRE this Monday instead of the past two spicy entrees we have reviewed previously.

Nutritional Information:

Serving Size: 3.1 oz.
Calories: 280
Calories from fat: 60
Total Fat: 7g or 10% DV ( Daily Value )
Cholesterol: 0mg or 0% DV
Sodium: 300mg or 12% DV
Total Carbohydrates: 47g or 16% DV
Dietary Fiber: 3g or 12% DV
Sugars: 17g
Protein: 5g
Vitamin A: 8% DV
Vitamin C: 0% DV
Calcium:  6% DV
Iron: 4%

Expectations:

We have reviewed the apple turnover, so I'm expecting cherry instead of apple.

Realities:

The first reviewer, Row, the seven year old, took his usual small cautious bite, and quickly declared that he didn't like it. I asked why, and he said that there were too many cherries, and it tasted like jelly. While he doesn't have a sweet tooth, I did find this interesting. I didn't press the subject, because we want to still keep this a fun time for Army men food reviews.

Red Ant, the four year old, parroted the same response when asked about why he didn't like the cherry turnover. This son likes jelly on his peanut butter sandwich on occasions, so this was another interesting turn for the review.

Sweetheart, thought that the smell reminded her of cherry pie, but the turnover had a small amount of filling when compared to a Hostess fruit pie. While the jelly is actually more of a jam texture, with small tidbits throughout, the cherry had a good flavor. The crust was a little disappointing for her, as it didn't have much flavor, and the texture was more like a danish than a pie crust.

I took an immediate liking to the turnover. The crust had a soft, moist, and chewy texture. The filling reminded me of a Pop-tart in flavor. The tidbits of cherry were a nice touch, but I would have liked to see a little bit more filling inside the turnover.

Final Thoughts:

I've tended to like the dessert MREs more than the entrees, but then again I like desserts better than entrees. I did like the apple over the cherry, but that is just a personal preference too.

I would throw an extra one into my pack for a weekend trip without a second thought. The boys would probably eat it, and possibly enjoy it, if push came to shove, but it didn't earn their stars for the review.

Stars: * * ( 2 )

Movie Review

We watched most of  After Armageddon, which is a History channel production about the aftermath of a global pandemic and the effect on society. It follows a couple and their older son and the events that happen to them. 

It has the basic prepper information, but I did find a few new tidbits. For example, the effects and progress of dehydration and starvation were interesting to learn. At 1:28:00, you'll have to decide if it is worth your time. Sweetheart and I both enjoy a good disaster/survival movie so it was more of a movie night  for us. We also like to make Mystery Science Theater 3000 comments as well. I like Crow the best, while I think Gypsy might be my Sweetheart...if we had to pick.

We gave it a 7 and 8, so 7.5 out of 10.

It's on Youtube, so it's some free entertainment and it has a prepping angle. Enjoy the weather, and take care.

Keep Right On Prepping  - K

Weekend Plans

My big plans this weekend? Buying a new lawnmower because I killed the last one with a BIG rock. Yeah, it bent the blade shaft and destroyed the drive belt system. Cheaper to replace this round. I'll also be cleaning up the garden and checking the asparagus that we planted last year for sprouts. The strawberries will need to be transplanted to a better location too. It's still too early to plant some seeds, but I can start dreaming.

The grocery store has to be visited and a trip to the community college. It seems that someone [me] has kept their email active at the community college to destroy small forests print handouts for another college. After 2 and half years, I'm finally getting a return on my investment from my activity fees.

Oh course, inside stuff has to be done. Cleaning and laundry and such....

Take Care and Keep Prepping For The Future - K

Through No Coaching Of My Own

Mrs. Rose, one of the wonderful daycare workers, has been furthering her education on child development and using Red Ant as a case study in one of her classes. This basically revolves around ono on one sessions to assess physical and mental skills as the year progresses. Rose has our full support since she holds a special place in both of our kid's hearts.They regularly think about her, and wanted to take her on trips with us. She has a rare gift of being able to love other people's children as her own.

She stopped me the other day to tell me a funny story about Red Ant. During February, they did a small lesson on Presidents. I imagine the conversation went like this from her description:

Rose:   Do you know who the current President is?
Ant: No
Rose: Can you say Barack Obama?
Ant: (shaking head no)
Rose: Why not?
Ant: We don't talk like that at our house.

What can I say? He's only four and already a prodigy.

Keep Right On Prepping - K

Thursday Cram Sessions

Today will be devoted to Radiological Imaging, Radiographic Procedures II, and putting the final polish on Radiation Exposure. This is the first time this semester that we have had 3 BIG tests on on day. I should have spent more time on spring break studying, but I guess the proverbial grasshopper [me] has to play catch up.

 

We received bad news about Row's school assignment two days ago. We have been taking Row to daycare with his brother, so that he could ride the van to school. This allows us to transfer him to a much better school, because of  "transportation problems". Sweetheart and I even talked about selling our house and buying a new one in his current school assignment area to avoid him going to the ghetto school.

I called the district desegregation affairs office, and played nice with the people there. They were really helpful in figuring out what went wrong with the process, and allowed me to submit more paperwork. I think, but not sure, that I had forgotten one piece from the daycare provider. I had our daycare provider submit another form, and the problem was solved.  I got a call before lunch saying that  Row will be reassigned to his current school. He will continue to receive a much better education. 

Sweetheart took her some flowers as a thank you yesterday afternoon because she sent in the paperwork pronto.

His current school is rated an 8 on a scale of 1 to 10, and the ghetto school is being closed and turned into a truancy school. While we do pay more for Row to ride the van, we consider it a small price to pay for his education.  

We have to go through this every year too.

Most people use a relative's address to go to the school of their choice. While we try to play by the rules, it seems like honest people are always being penalized for being honest.

Keep Right On Prepping - K

The comment line is open.

I'm trapped in a fortune cookie factory!

I'm taking a break from this...

and this...

All I've got to say, thank God for study groups!

Keep Right On Prepping ( while I'm studying ) - K

2013 Challenge Update - Mar Accountability

*Increase our families preparedness food supply to 6 months of long term storage. 

We were able to put up 4 lbs. of 15 bean soup, which we split into 8 ounce jars. Six pounds of black eyed peas were also sealed in jars. We would have done more but we ran out of quart jars. We also bought 3 five gallon buckets and lids for our rice, but we haven't sealed the rice yet. While the amount is small, we continue to put up small amounts every month.

*Get into better physical shape - diet and exercise.

Jan 1st : 182.2 lbs.
Feb 1st: 179.4 lbs
Mar 1st: 184.2 (Too much birthday cake!)
Apr 1st: 186.2 (Okay, wrong direction!)
May 1st:
Jun 1st:
Jul 1st:
Aug 1st:
Sep 1st:
Oct 1st:
Nov 1st:
Dec 1st:

*Get better organized in the home.

3-2 I hung up my CD racks and started to organize the back junk room for a study area. The two closets were also cleaned out and organized - one is a backpacking closet while the other is a long term food storage bucket area/ tool closet.

3-26 The kitchen, boys rooms are back to their old ways again. The kitchen will take about 20-30 minutes to put back into place. Time to reclean and purge. Outside yardwork is also starting to happen again. Where will I find the time?


*Complete some long standing projects - Kitchen and downstairs bathroom

The sewer blockage was fixed the first weekend of this month.

*Reorganize our food storage into a better logical format.

Completed and still in good shape.

 *Get better grades in school ( 3 A's 3 B's last semester ).

3/1 scored 85.4% on Procedures II
3/22 scored 65% on Pro II test - first time to sign "flunking paperwork".
3/29 scored over 100% with bonus questions.

3/1 scored 88% on Imaging so it drops my grade to a B.

3/12 I received my midterm grade for Radiation Exposure and it stands at 97%.
3/22 Scored 85.7% on Radiation Exposure Exam #3(outta 5 + final)

3/14 The university allows some students to take one senior level class per semester, in addition to the regularly scheduled classes, to speed things up for the degree plan. Well, I talked to the director and got her approval to take an extra class.


*Go to the range more often with Sweetheart.

Not this month. We did have a range day scheduled in WV, but it snowed that day, so the range was closed.

*Teach the kids new practical survival skills : outdoors skills, common sense camping

We got to go on several hikes while on vacation. Row also was able to earn his Hiking belt loop and academic pin on our vacation for Cub Scouts. They both provided practical information for outdoor skills.

*Learn to bake better bread.

I picked up The Bread Machine Book by Marie Lambert at the thrift store and tried a standard focaccia bread recipe. Good, but I doubt if I will use the same recipe again. I'll have to keep trying different recipes.

 *Pick three skills to work on with wife.

1. shooting
2.
3.

 *Be more consistent with the MRE Monday reviews.

The year to date is 11 out of 13 Mondays.

*Improve our family's water plan.

I was able to trade for a MSR hiker water filter. While the filter is very slow, and requires a lot of energy, it does provide our family with a way to purify water from a nearby lake.

Purchased a small bottle of bleach for water purification.

 *Do a monthly review of each for the blog to hold myself accountable.

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

MRE Monday - Turkey Chili With Beans

Sweetheart got to pick out today's review, and here it is on a Monday evening for April Fool's Day.

Nutritional Information:

Serving Size: 8 oz.
Calories: 180
Calories from fat: 25
Total Fat: 2.5g or 4% DV
Cholesterol: 30mg or 10% DV
Sodium: 480mg or 20% DV
Total Carbohydrates: 34g or 11% DV
Dietary Fiber: 13g or 52% DV
Sugars: 6g
Protein: 17g
Vitamin A: 6% DV
Vitamin C: 0% DV
Calcium:  15% DV
Iron: 90%


Expectations:

Canned chilli with beans would be my guess.

Realities:

Row was the first to sample the chili, and I quote, "Hot,Hot,Hot....I don't like it". This is the second week in a row that we had a kid "spicy" entree.

Red Ant With Pincers, was saying that he didn't like it even before he had a small bite. Sweetheart fed him a bite and he said that "Don't like it".

Mother-in-law was dining with us and she made the comment that it resembled ranch beans. "It doesn't taste like chili, rather like ranch beans." I wasn't sure whether she liked it or not, but she did finish her small sample. The conversation between Sweetheart and MIL did at one point revolve around the fact that the  size and nutritional contents of the package would make for a nice diet food.

Sweetheart, thought that it was heavy on the beans and humorously noted that the packaging should be called Beans With Turkey Chili. She did like the spicy flavor of the chili and said that it was decent. She also didn't hesitate to give it a star and made the final comment that it was "pretty good".

I thought that it had a good texture and the spicy flavor started to kick in around the middle of the chewing process. I'll admit that really spicy food makes me sweat, but this wasn't too spicy. I'd also like to say that I'm not a big fan of chili. Even with both of these considerations, I could see a package getting into my backpack for an extended trip to vary my diet. The nutritional values are really good for an MRE, lots of fiber and the sodium is on the low side.

Final Thoughts:

The Turkey Chili With Beans isn't a bland dish nor a Tabasco spicy hot either, but a nice compromise between the two. The chili does have a lot of beans, so if you prefer your chili without, I would look elsewhere.

Stars: * * ( 2 )