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😂I know the feeling. I'm a old woman and I hate to see them coming with that little tiny tiny cup of my medicine. The nurse is all smiles and talking so sweet ( which is all fake ) and giggling looking right at me eye to eye. Saying I got you something...🙄 I'm like yeah I bet I do....😅 I ask her last night why can't you bring it a little latter why are u always on time at 7:00 pm every time? She just laughed.😅😂 My son came right in behind her saying, now momma be nice and take your medicine. 😂 I looked at him and said I'm getting tired of be nice all the time.lol😅 My nurse said oh your momma, she's always nice for me....😂glad she can't read minds was all I was thinking 😂. God bless you all. Really like watching ur videos sir. Blessings to you.💜
Thank you for taking one for the team. I would be interested in a "best of" series. This would be a series of MRE's that would be from more than one store. Best tasting, Best price, Longest storage life, etc. And maybe a cross with best price with longest shelf life.
First off Happy Father’s Day. Now the look on your face when you tried the Swedish meatball was priceless. Years ago before Hormel took them over they were named Top Shelf Meals and were remarkably better and Jack Links come on that package is a snack for the ordinary man. Overall another great video my friend and again have a wonderful Father’s Day.
Your reaction to the "Swedish meatballs" was very telling. I've seen the freeze dried ice cream sandwiches at Walmart. Always figured they'd be like munching on a chunk of styrofoam.
I’ve had the Mountain House ice cream sandwich like Walmart carries before. They aren’t bad. It’s odd that they taste the same as they did but thaw texture is so drastically different.
When he said the drink had a little bitterness to it I wondered about that. I have a genetic trait that makes some red food coloring taste bitter to me. (The red used in frosting roses on cakes tastes especially strong.)
I visited my son a few weeks ago and checked out Menard’s for the first time. I was certainly impressed. I’ve been thinking about adding some of the Compleats to my preps, but judging by the pain on your face, I might pass lol. Happy Father’s Day!
Another great video, when I saw Menards I immediately thought it was a joke and you were going to have a bag of sawdust... 🤣 I love the other content and wouldn't mind seeing more of it. How about the best of both? I would love to see a video that goes into the challenge of making a good MRE that is packed for weight and size. Not just talking about opening it, but the whole process, picking the items, packaging it and then putting it to use on a camping video, let the MRE be the co-host. Love the content, thank you for what you do! 🍻
Wow DBA! That was rough. I wouldn’t have eaten that slop after the first bite. You’re a real trooper and a good sport! Looking forward to your camping content!
Great video DBA, I've never been to a Menard's, but they just opened a new one nearby in Bowling Green, KY, so I may go check it out. I'd like to see more videos with you and Mrs. DBA making MRE's. My wife and I really enjoyed the last one you guys did. Have a great week. JT Kentucky.
There is a gas station that sells a line of freeze dried candy called Crazy Candy. They have a couple different Astronaut Ice Creams they come with two sandwiches in each pack. One is Neopolitin and Vanilla. The second is Mint Chocolate Chip and Chocolate. Go to a local gas station like Speedway, Ridies, Race Track or a Truck Stop like Pilot or Love's to make a MRE. Great Video today.
I find it amazing that Hormel thought these meals were so good they submitted them to the DOD for consideration as an MRE. I am also not a fan of most of those meals. I am glad you were able to get to the Menard's. Thanks again for your reviews!
Save big money! Yeah, about half of the conpletes are good. The ones with pasta are the best. They are cheap enough to just try them all and stock up on the ones you like.
What I have found works great is take a 20 oz bottle instead of a 12 oz and use two drink mixes seem to be a lot better. Still maybe a little sweeter but hits the spot.
The freeze dried ice cream sounds like a nice addition to an MRE. I think I'll let the grandkids try it before it's needed though. You never know with kids if they'll like it. 😁 How about doing some cooking while camping episodes? Any camping trips in the works?
The only Hormel Compleats I ever tried that I really truly enjoyed and bought repeatedly is not available anymore. It was a smoky bacon flavored pasta, like an alfredo. The flavor was truly desirable and I enjoyed them although the bulk of it was the pasta. You're a hero for taking on another Compleats! Now to see you try another Russian Space Pizza.....................
Was wandering through the local family dollar and found sriracha decided to try it and now I buy 4 at a time. Surprised how good it was, now its my new add to anything to see how it tastes.
You are the man. I really enjoy you videos and the honest reviews on the products. This is a little late to mention. Your videos on the products at HEB your entree was Herefords shredded beef. I would highly suggest the roast beef selection and I promise you won't be disappointed. Even though your not in Texas anymore the Hereford roast beef is available on Amazon. I would not recommend the Jambalaya though.
I have found a few of their products here and there but have not seen more than two varieties in a single store. Wonder why nobody carries their full line.
I tried the Completes a few years back and didn't find even one I liked. A couple I had left got thrown in the trash. I have been going back to some of your older videos, I like the camping ones. Just happy I found you and your entertainment.
I shop there a lot for home improvement projects but never tried the food there. It's funny they have some of those items there as I didn't expect freeze dried ice cream, but would definitely agree the hormel entree didn't look appetizing. And since I own a freeze dryer, i think depending on what they make the ice cream out of, that can determine texture. I've tried regular ice cream bars vs non-dairy for my wife and found the non dairy seemed to hold up structure better. Thanks for the content!
@@dadbudgetadventures Definitely. I use it to make seasonings and to help prolong food, including canned food. But if you do get one, it's good to use desiccant packets, a vacuum sealer, and the mylar, but I saw you have the mylar part covered. :) Glad I ran into your channel. Appreciate the videos. They definitely give me ideas of things to look for when making MREs.
I really enjoyed this video! I live in Milwaukee, WI and we have several Menards near by. If you are ever in the area again, look for a Woodman's. They are a HUGE grocery store, and I think you would find quite a few shelf stable options for your MRE's. Also, you should try to create a breakfast MRE! I am binge watching your videos, so maybe you have already done one...but if not, that might be challenging and fun :)
I have tried really hard to do a breakfast MRE but there’s just not much out there for that. Once you get beyond cereal bars and Pop Tarts nobody really makes much for that. I really wish I could find some cool items for that.
I didn’t see the link for that bowling shirt you were wearing.I’m somewhat interested, (it even matched that shelf stable ice cream sandwich)👍 Good video though, thanks.
It would be awesome if you would tell us about the stores that you go to. Maybe tell us what part of the country they are in(HEB only in south TX?), and if they are expensive compared to others (Whole Foods or Walmart), higher quality or lower type items filled with chemicals, are their employees happy and well paid? IDK, just stuff like that.
I love pringles, but I found that those little plastic containers are garbage. We bought a mix pack at Sam’s. We got more crushed chips than full chips. I like the Swedish meatballs, but they don’t usually look like the globulous mass you have there. Crushed up Pringles sour cream and onion may be a good additive to kick it up. In Murfreesboro, there is a small business that does freeze dried ice cream sandwich bites. Those things are so addictive
Yet another….great video! No lie..l GUESSED the jerky and figured astronauts ice cream. Now….as for the entree’s flavor…probably delicious with the proper amount of one special ingredient…..STARVATION!
We appreciate your warning DBA! The new wholesale club in our small Philippine city is now open and to our surprise, one variety of Compleats was on the shelf. Why oh why did it have to be Swedish meatballs in creamy sauce? We purchased one piece, knowing that some of these Compleats main dishes may be "sketchy" at best. Beautiful Bride, youngest son and Beautiful Daughter were out on business as eldest son and I watched your review of this main dish. I swore him to secrecy so the rest of the taste testers may form their own opinion. Thankfully we have accumulated canned chili with and without beans and Bush's original baked beans. We also found eighteen (18) packs of Kraft macaroni & cheese individually packed in plastic sachets. That is important in our tropical environment so that the macaroni will not take on foul odors from damp cardboard boxes. Yes, they will require cooking but it will be easy to turn these bad boys into a decent camp meal with the canned ham, Spam or BBQ flavour Amour Vienna sausage. I am no fan of eating out of a cans but hey, shelf stable products for the 72 hour school emergency kits is the goal here. Some of these products may be eaten directly our of the can sans heating!
@@dadbudgetadventures You bet, testing the Swedish meatballs is on the agenda. We are doing at least on test everyday now while the troops decide witch products to include in their kits. Once again, thank you for your continuing inspiration.
Regarding AC, I've noticed other YTbers have to shut off their AC to make videos due to noise. So they cool the space down, then film. Rinse and repeat.
Happy Father's Day! Compleat weren't bad when they were a dollar but now? I got turned off them with the chicken and mashed potatoes. By the look on your face it looked like you were forced to eat canned cat food 😂😂😂 another great video!
Oh my goodness your face when you tasted that stuff. The hormel meals are okay kinda, the spaghetti, chili, beef stew, meatloaf and turkey with dressing are ones I have tried and are decent. Would I go out of my way to eat them eh, but for this purpose totally fine.
I've never tried freeze dried ice cream. That sandwich piques my interest. Your expression with that Hormel 😆 The sacrifices you make for us. Still made me hungry though. Wondering now if I have a pack tucked away somewhere to try. I really like the turkey and dressing. Weird little packs of food that I really dont mind. But I imagine something will eventually gross me out.
I knew when you showed the swedish meatballs you were in for a bad time. I frequent Menards regularly and love cheap Swedish meatball dishes. I had to drown it in black pepper to make it palatable. It's a definite miss. Menards also stocks Mountain house in their camping section but that would likely not work for a video.
First I have to know if you purposefully wore a shirt that looked like the chocolate mint ice cream sandwich or if that was a happy accident. Secondly, I have been on my own, personal journey to find out which of those Hormel meals are at least tolerable. I wish they were all actually good because they are easy to store, would work for longer term storage and just in regular circumstance make for a quick, easy lunch. They would also work well if the power is out - I usually heat them by putting them in a pot of water and heating the water because if the power were out I would heat them that way on a camp stove so I want to know how they would taste heated that way. They are also 2 for $5.00 at my local grocery store and I figure $2.50 isn't bad for lunch if they are actually edible. So far I am coming to the conclusion that none of the varieties with mashed potatoes and gravy are very good. I tried one that was like a sliced beef with mashed potatoes and gravy. I was able to eat it all but was not impressed - which is too bad because that could be a go to. I mean, how do you screw up roast beef with mashed potatoes? The spaghetti isn't bad but I am not a big fan of that sort of thing. It is certainly better than Chef Boyardee, IMO. The Salisbury steak version is one of the better ones I have tried. It has sliced potatoes which I think are a lot better than the mashed. Don't get me wrong, I'm not likely to be craving the Salisbury steak but I wouldn't dread it, either. I have a few more to try - the chicken and dumplings (I don't have high hopes), the Chicken Alfredo and the Dinty Moore beef stew (Dinty Moore is not at the top of my list even for standard, canned beef stew so we'll see) are among them. Oh, btw, Hormel used to have a few varieties of the Compleats that were breakfasts. I tried one that was scrambled eggs with something else I can't remember - I think my mind has blocked out the trauma. Like you, I don't like wasting food which Is why I forced myself to take a second bite before throwing that abomination in the trash. I don't know if they are still making the breakfasts but if you ever come across one you should NOT try it. They also made a few varieties for a while that they had supposedly developed in consultation with medical professionals and that were supposed to be for people who are on restricted diets due to health conditions. I don't think those lasted long.
The wardrobe decision was not deliberate but it’s awesome you spotted that! As far as the Compleats, I’ve found the tomato based dishes are decent but the chicken gravy dishes are all but inedible. Avoid the egg noodle pasta too because it’s so cooked down it becomes mush. The DM beef stew isn’t bad, I had it in a prior video. Might try the Salisbury steak and see what my thoughts are on that.
How about a SHTF outdoor scenario, cooking on a fire started with a Ferro rod, with questionable water from a creek. With the way this world is going that might be the norm before long.
Campbell’s soup is condensed and has to be mixed with water or milk as opposed to eating it out of the can. Also, I try to avoid adding heavy cans of food if I have other options. I’m not against it, it’s just not what comes to mind when I’m building my MREs.
Hi from Argentina. Do you have farm market in your town? Mre from a farm market Will be healthier I Guess. You can have honey, canned veggies and salted ham, etc. Nuts. Can you visit one? You can make a direct video, reels❤
on the single sevre pringles, they throw your carb counting off foe diabetics. 14-15 chips is what you get on the cans as 1 carb of 15 carbohydrates. in thse singles you get 11 chips. as far as the main goes, this is one you can feed to the dog. hate swedish meatballs. wonder how the drink mix would taste if combined with another flavor. on the freeze dried ice cream bar. i looked for 1 item in the wrapping. was the wrapping cut. other manufactors of this product cut the wrapping on both sides. this seems to get more moisture out of the product during the freeze-drying. an your comment of it beeing a little chewy is another indicator of this. i did hit my local dollar tree the other day. the date rule still proves the biggest issue. but only spent 6.25 for the meal. some items had under 6 months on them others had well over a yr or 2 on them.
I really enjoy these MRE videos but having Celiac I can’t make use of most of your food you use. Have you thought of trying your do dietary based MRE’s? Gluten, soy, corn, dairy free type foods?
I have deliberately avoided doing restricted diet MREs for the simple fact that I don’t know enough about the specifics (which can vary greatly) and I would likely get it wrong. I do not want to present something that makes someone sick or causes them discomfort because I was ignorant about what I was doing.
Going camping later today so there will be more of that soon. Haven’t hit the Pig yet but I think there is one right across the state line so I’m going to try it soon.
I really thought you were going to throw it in reverse when you tried that entree🤮 If the best thing you can say about it, after drowning it with hot sauce and pepper, is _" I can make that go away..."_ , that is not the ringing endorsement Hormel hoped to hear🤣 I tried the beef stew years ago, and it was so disgusting I never tried any of the others. Thanks for suffering for us!
Howdy DAD great videos and very creative. Also were do you get the bags that you make the MRE's and put the components in ? Do they have a resealable top ? THANK's RUSTY
Everything we buy here in Michigan at Meijer, Wal-Mart, dollar tree, etc. We buy from (especially nonpreserved fruits especially) lose flavor and go bad quicker and taste worse than before recently.
I think about of stores are putting out overripe fruits and veggies lately trying to cut food waste costs by selling people things that ten years ago would already be thrown out.
I completely agree and it makes it harder to get "fresh" food without a bunch of preservatives, etc. The will last. I try not to eat big box store bread for that reason. I would like to try to make my own maybe from Sunflour, acorn flour, etc since they grow locally. I prefer Sunflour (i.e. Sun flower flour) to acorn as it requires additional processing to remove tannin from it before milling them.
Thanks for doing these MRE'S for us. I seem to be having better luck than you when it comes to the Hormel meals. I agree that the meal with mashed potatoes are not good. They seem to change their ingredients often.
Question. The mylar bag ill assume keeps the food lasting longer? Plus can i put hot water in one to hydrate food? I want to move away from the expensive mountain house meals.
@@dadbudgetadventures I'm so doing this. I can use them to collect water as well. Thank you for the info. Not to expensive on Amazon for them. Ill stick my daily hygiene in each one to. Plus those toilet paper tablets. The 3mm thick ones are odor resistant. I ran into a bear a few weeks ago. Eating food left out by mistake. Not doing that again. Again thanks for the info. These are great ideas.
I must have really bad taste buds because I have not found any Hormel meal that is bad I think the chicken tastes very good. I keep 60 meals on hand and eat one each week to keep them rotated to have for a disater for the first days.
Obviously they have a lot of fans because they keep making them. I just expected much better from them. I’m glad you like them because they are a great option if you do.
