MRE Menu Item Review: Cherry Blueberry Cobbler

Cherry Blueberry Cobbler Review By Todd Farino

I had the luxury of eating the Cherry Blueberry Cobbler desert item which I got from a 2007 Spaghetti with Meat Sauce MRE. I have to say it was a delight to eat. It was moist, sweet, and the blueberries tasted surprising fresh. I do admit that the blueberries were a bit tart, but that is how most blue berries taste.

The cobbler or bread portion was moist and sweet and frankly the whole dessert tasted as though it was only a few days old. The biggest difference between Cherry Blueberry Cobbler and the other bread desserts was the moistness of the bread. I love the MRE pound cakes, but they are normally dry and require a liquid during or after eating.

I'd say that the Cherry Blueberry Cobbler has to be the best overall dessert I've tasted to date. If the Spaghetti MRE wasn't good enough, now you get the bonus awesome Cherry Blueberry Cobbler dessert.

The only reason its not a perfect 5 star rating is the sweetness wasn't quite enough and balanced with the tart of the blueberry. More cherry would make it a 5 star dessert. Enjoy it when you can as it only comes in the 2006-2008 Spaghetti w/ Meat Sauce MRE.


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MRE Menu Item Review: Potato Sticks

Potatoe Sticks Review By Todd Farino

This will be an easy review. They were terrible. The taste of the potato sticks was not a real taste. It was a weird, bland taste that seemed to be manufactured. Even the after taste was awful. You did get the sensation while you were chewing them that they were french fries, but that was only for a moment. I offered some to my 4 year old son who loves french fries. I said, "look, miniature french fries, try one." He ate one and actually said they were "disgusting." He didn't eat another. Very bad menu item. I would recommend trading these for just about anything.

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2008 Menu: Spicy Penne Pasta with Vegetarian Sausage

Spicy Penne Pasta with Vegetarian Sausage Review By Todd Farino


This was another fantastic MRE. It wasn't one of the top 10, but all-in-all a very good MRE. The entree Spicy Penne Pasta with Vegetarian Sausage was exactly what it said it was, SPICY. I added Tabasco sauce like I always do, but it was not necessary. The meal was not only spicy, but it was full of flavor primarily garlic. I did add salt to the entree itself and that added to the flavor, but it didn't help the vegetable sausage. I have to say that the vegetable sausage wasn't the best part of the meal. It was chunky and rubbery. Mixed in with the pasta shells and sauce it was OK, but I probably could have done without it or at least with real meat. The entree was definitely worth having and it is one you will enjoy and remember.


The rest of the MRE was average and lackluster. It came with dried fruit, pound cake, and crackers. Since the crackers came with peanut butter I wasn't too thrilled with it because I would rather have jelly. The pound cake was outstanding as usual, and the dried fruit was pretty good. Overall, the MRE as a whole was missing some things. It didn't have candy, but it had a pound cake. The side it came with was good (dried fruit), but I would have liked to get something different like pretzels, clam chowder, or just something more dinner oriented.


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2007 Menu: Chicken with Cavatelli

Review By Badtux the Culinary Penguin

Snack: Bacon cheese spread with wheat snack bread: The bacon cheese spread tasted like, well, Cheese Wiz. About what you'd expect from a pasteurized canned cheese spread. Pretty good, if you like Cheese Wiz. It ain't the Ritz, but then I was camped at 6,000 feet, so whadya expect? The wheat snack bread is, as usual, pretty good. It's actually more of a snack wheat cookie because it is rather dense, but nicely moist, not crumbly.
Snack: Fig newtons. I don't know how they got this to be so yummy. They came out of the package nice and moist.
Main dish: Chicken Cavatelli. Yummy. Another reviewer has said "better than Chef Boy-ar-dee but not as good as Olive Garden." Probably about right. A word of warning: It does need the little bottle of hot sauce.
Gripe: No cracker! The Chicken Cavatelli really needs a cracker! Thankfully I saved a cracker from one of the other MRE's I've eaten. MRE crackers are the hardest substance known to man, but do manage to taste decently despite that (just a very, very slight stale taste to them).
Pound cake: Meh. Somewhat dense. Needs peanut butter. Borrow peanut butter from another MRE. With peanut butter it is edible. That's the best you can say for it. Not bad, not great, edible.
All in all, if someone wants to trade you their Chicken Cavetelli for your Meatloaf (a.k.a. "cat food"), jump at it. Good stuff. Just look for a cracker and a peanut butter from another MRE for best results with the Chicken Cavatelli and the pound cake.

2007 Menu: Chicken With Salsa

Review By Badtux the Culinary Penguin


This one was good! For best results, heat up the chicken with salsa and pour over the spanish rice. Top with the jalapeno cheese spread, mix well, eat with crackers. Needs a bit of hot sauce, but that comes in the accessory packet. All in all, I enjoyed this MRE and enjoyed the deserts too (peanut M&M's, and shortbread cookies). If you can find some white bread dude who enjoys the meatloaf (which has the consistency and taste of cat food), trade'em your meatloaf for this delicious bundle of joy.

2008 Menu: Chicken With Salsa

Review By Todd Farino

The Chicken with Salsa is one of the best MREs I've ever had when prepared special. Alone the Chicken with Salsa entree is alright. It does have a light salsa flavor that can easily be made hotter with Tabasco sauce. One thing I've learned over the years of eating MREs is mixing certain items, spices, and flavors make the MREs extremely tasty. In the case of Chicken with Salsa, I had a can of whole kernel corn. I ate it while camping and I have a gas stove, so I poured the contents of the entree into a small camping pan, and poured the corn (removing the water from the can first). I heated them up for 10 minutes or so, while mixing in salt and Tabasco sauce. It was absolutely outstanding. I encourage everyone to experiment with the MREs. Add flavors, vegetables, or flavors. It made an alright meal outstanding and that is worth packing a can of corn.



What was even better is adding the fried rice. I removed half of the meal onto a plate and then added most, but not all of the rice to the Chicken with Salsa and corn. Again, the meal was outstanding. It was a great mix of flavors that was both filling and tasty.



The rest of the MRE was wonderful as well. You got cracker sand Jalapeno cheese spread, which my wife loved and always does love. It had for a snack, shortbread cookies and they were somewhat moist, but could have used a bit more sweetness. The dessert was M&Ms and I loved those.



This was truly an excellent MRE.



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