Do it Yourself MRE's

     My wife and I decided to make our own MRE's. We had priced out ordering some or buying from a local surplus store, but could not decide on which to buy. The website MREinfo.com was helpful in trying to decide. Finally, since we needed some right away, I tried making my own.  Upon examination several issues came to light:  Shelf life, Weight, and  Calories.
   Shelf life is a tough one if you are trying to reduce the carry weight. Foods would have to keep a minimum of a year to be useful. Weight is an issue when you consider what 3 days worth will weigh together. The human body needs at least 2000 calories per day on Regular rations, not short.
 My solution: Hormel  Compleats Meals  
These meals are priced  between $1.50-3.00 depending on the store or sale. I found them at Big Lots for $1.50 and Dollar General for $2.25. According to the manufacturer there are 2 way to cook them. Microwave or the old boil bag technique. Another cool way is to set the meal on the dashboard of the car in the sun; or just eat it cold. Shelf life is a little more than a year. The only down side is the calories, between 250 and 400 each. 
 What I ended up with is a homemade MRE that is about 1000 calories each, so 2 per day.
Whats Inside:

1. 1 Hormel Compleat 
2. 1 package or either Tuna, Chicken, ham, or Seafood Salad with Crackers (From the Dollar store)
3. 1 package of instant oatmeal
4. 1 16oz drink mix tube
5. 1 16 oz coffee mix tube
6. 1 spoon (I like the ones from Wendy's)
7. 3 sugar packets
8. 1 each salt and Peppers packets
9. 1 packet of jelly
10. 1 packet of Tabasco Hot sauce or Taco Bell Hot sauce
11. 1 granola bar or cookie 
12. hard candy or chewables
13. Dried Fruit

All of these Items I placed in a Gallon Ziploc bag, folded it over sealed and Duct taped in place. The dates on the outside are the same as the one on the Entree. The idea is to eat the entree and use the entree container to hold the oatmeal. The condiments all came from Fast food places. The jelly and Fruit is for the oatmeal. For variety sometimes I substituted applesauce for the salad. I'll post a Pic when I find the blasted Camera.