READYWISE - Favorite’s Box, 18 Servings, MRE, Emergency Food Supply, Premade, Freeze Dried Food, Survival Meal, Hiking, Adventure & Camping Essentials, Just Add Water, 25-Year Shelf Life

I'm really grateful for these vegetarian options, and the nice convenient box. We got two boxes to supplement other food storage. I did try one packet (Vegetable Rotini) while hiking with my spouse. One package (4 servings) is good for one meal for 2 people, if you have an additional side (we had a bunch of crackers). It's not a dinner for 4 by any means, but I didn't expect it to be. We enjoyed it though, easy to make and tasted good. Basically expect this box to be 8 meals, or 16 side dishes.When I purchased the price was about $18. That was a good reasonable deal. It appears the price has gone up dramatically, and it's NOT worth $30 like they're charging now.

I'm used to eating Military MREs and bad ex-wife food. While I wouldn't regard this as restaurant quality food, for something that's portable and has an extended shelf life with easy prep it's actually pretty good. The biggest challenge with "emergency food" is how easy is it to prepare and do you actually want to eat it when it's ready? This was easy to make and although we preferred some of the selections to others, everyone agreed they would be willing to eat it again. A couple of these could be made as a "side dish" for a meal and most people wouldn't notice a difference between it and "regular" grocery store food.

Bought several containers through Costco (better price than ANYWHERE), but in regards to the sample pack, it was better than I expected. The cook times and amount of water is completely different than the instructions say, however because it's really just a trial and error with water. It was easy enough to cook a little longer to soften the noodles, or steam off some of the excess water, or add some extra water to get the right consistency. The flavors themselves were better than I expected. Interestingly enough, I don't recommend trying to add anything, spice-wise, to doctor it up. I tried with just a little bit of salt and pepper and it didn't enhance it nor mix well. It gave it a bit of a funky flavor. So, it pretty much is "you get what you get." Still, it's not bad, and if you're looking for true long term storage and survival food for the "Red Dawn," no need to be picky.

These are not MRE's and are not a complete meal on their own. They require cooking, and could be part of a well planned emergency food supply but they are sort of misleading and the serving sizes are very small. Even my children wanted more when we tested these out, so I would divide the servings by at least half. You will probably want to include some sides with these even with the adjusted serving size and then they are a decent addition to a food plan. By themselves, the are over stated and a little disappointing, the value is the shelf life, nothing else is all that special. They taste ok when times are good and probably taste great when times are bad. I will keep them as part of my food stores, but will probably only purchase again if there is a very very very good sale going on, otherwise I will look elsewhere.

Meals are great for freeze dried food. I let them sit longer than directions to make sure noodles are soft. For the price you get your moneys worth

It probably has more sodium than I would like but then again salt is probably part of the preservative that keeps it lasting so long. I bought it to use for travel in case I wanted to eat in the motel room and not go out and have something fast and easy. It does okay for that but I have found out along the way that freeze dried reconstitutes better than foods that you have to boil in water especially when you only have a microwave to use to heat it up this is more in the dehydrated category but I can get it to work well enough. I wish there were more instructions on how to make just a one person serving out of it.

Perfect addition to my cast iron pans

This really is handy for me. My refrigerator just died. So, I'm using these until I go back to work and save up for a new or reconditioned refrigerator (just had back surgery). The taste isn't perfect for me because I'm not a Teriyaki fan. However, I really like the Beef Stroganoff. I guess you could say I'm in the middle of testing this product. I'd be very happy to have it if I ever encounter an emergency. If I still went camping, the packets are perfect for my backpack or BOB too.