MRE "dairy Shake" mix

A couple months ago I bought an MRE (was car camping) just to try it. It came with a vanilla "dairy shake mix". If you are not familiar with them all you do is add cold water shake for a little bit then drink.

I was really surprised how good it was. It kind of made me think... you could bring a couple packs backpacking and pour them over cereal or just bring them to drink.

They are not a runny as milk and not quite as thick as a milkshake but they were good.

I can’t link directly to the item as they have them all listed on one page but they are a little bit more than half way down... You can get a 6 pack (vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate) for around $8. I was going to get some peanut butter packets too (12 packs for around $7).

Click Here

Also this site sells all the individual components of the MRE meals if you are looking for something specific. Might be old news but I figured some people might want to know

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I've had them years back, and though they are more tasty than water; once you read what they are made from it kinda takes the joy out of them <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> That is if you watch what you eat.

Peanut Butter powder is lighter and easy to mix up on the trail, try it sometime.

After eating MRE's for a year straight (I actually only had to eat them about 50% of the time), I would say that some people like these, and others don't (me included). I had a hard time drinking them. Luckily, I found someone that was willing to trade for the Jalapeno cheese packets. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Here's a recipe to make your own:
TRAIL MILKSHAKE


1 x 100g powdered milk

3½ cups water

3-4 tablespoons chocolate sauce or caramel syrup

Sugar to taste (optional)


Dilute the powdered milk in the water, then pour the milk in a water bottle. Add the chocolate or caramel sauce and sugar. Then shake to mix all the ingredients.

Found on: http://www.hikingrecipes.co.cc/trailmilkshake.php

You can also use instant breakfast. A similar product but I think it's for dieters. It contains vitamins and nutrition.

I was going to ask how it compared to instant breakfast.

Carnation Instant Breakfast comes both with and without sugar added; about 60 calories difference between the two.

Mixed with some Nido and instant expresso, the Carnation Instant Breakfasts and and some Logan bread bars have become my standard trail breakfast.

FB

For those of you who like to go with more frugal choices-

Look at the ingredients and nutritional values on the Instant breakfast box/canister. The last time I did so, it seemed that doubling up the amount of instant milk and adding Nestle's Quik would get pretty close to the same nutrition, if one also popped a multi-vitamin. Tailor the concoction to personal needs by choosing between sugar-free and regular Quik, and non-fat milk and Nido. Quik comes in strawberry and chocolate flavors. Add coffee to chocolate, or use coffee and sweeten to taste. Hmm-Four flavors easily prepared...

CM

You had me excited and interested...I thought there might be a cheaper way. But I checked out the nutrition labels and there's a strong leaning towards the Carnation Instant Breakfast vs Nesquik. There's a difference in serving sizes so a comparison of nutrition per serving has to be adjusted...the Carnation serving is 2¼ times the Nesquik serving by weight. All the below reflects the adjustment:

Calories come out almost identical, both have a lot of sugar but Quik has 45% more. Is that good or bad? Carnation has more than twice the protein. Carnation as 5½ times the iron (good) but it also has 18% more sodium (not so good). Carnation also has twice the vitamin C. Many of the other vitamins and minerals are pretty close in both products. But the rest of the list of vitamins and minerals shows Carnation to have an overwhelming advantage simply because they aren't listed/contained in Quik. After all is said and done, a serving of Carnation contains 130 kcal of energy, 2¼ servings of Quik has 135 kcal. (comparisons from caloriecount.about.com , Carnation Rich Milk Chocolate Original vs Nesquik Chocolate).

It's been years (decades?) since I purchase Quik, months since I last bought Carnation Instant Breakfast...I can't comment on the relative advantage by cost per serving. A significant price difference might change perspectives, especially when considering a multi vitamin/mineral tablet...

But in the end, none of this may make much difference. The nutrition amounts are small and, IMO, not meaningful for a weekend trip or even one of a couple weeks. Longer than that and things might change. Choices may simply come down to cost or, in my case, taste. Carnation offers vanilla (my favorite), to my knowledge Quik does not.

Thanks for pointing this out. Next time I'm stocking up I'll take a close look at prices. But right now, I have a hunger for some vanilla mixed with expresso. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

FB

Hi, Fiddleback-

When you make your comparisons, check to see if you are looking at the Carnation instant Breakfast, as prepared by adding to milk or just the powder.

Then look at the protein. IIRC, Instant Breakfast had about double the protein of a plain glass of milk. Double the powdered milk=double the protein and other nutrients. If you make your shake with Quik, then look at the nutrients in Quick made with nonfat milk and add the nutrients of a serving of plain dry milk. Quik comes in a sugar-free variety, too. If you prefer vanilla, try burying a vanilla bean in some milk powder for a period of time, then make your shake powder and add some sweeter of your choice. Or, if you package in advance, put a piece of vanilla bean in each serving.

Another idea-"Better Than Milk" soymilk has a vanila flavor. "Cheat" by adding powdered milk to the vanilla soy powder. You might also look at whey protein powder sold in "health food" sections of some store.

Generic "One-a-Day" multi vits should be a pretty cheap addition, and, I agree, an occasional weekend of trail food that is not perfectly balanced should not hurt a healthy hiker.

CM

Hi!

The nutrition listing on caloriecount.about.com implys the numbers are for the powders only, e.g., "1 packet, 36g." And, when running a crosscheck of the website's figures with an actual box of Carnation Instant Breakfast, those measurements common of the two are listed for the powder, not 'as served with milk.'

The above website assigns a nuitrition grade to foods. Both Nesquik and Carnation Instant Breakfast are manufactured by Nestle; the Nesquik is rated a B+, the Carnation gets an A. The single bad point for both is 'very high in sugar.' And that's believable...I have both in my camping larder, the regular packet of Carnation is 36g, a sugar-free packet is 20g, well over a 40% drop in weight!!

Thanks for the tips. But I gotta say, except for the ice cream I treat myself on the weekends, <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> I rarely get close to whole milk (or sugar). But I cheat and don't worry about my home diet when backpacking. That's one big reason that, when I'm on the trail, non-fat anything is sort of on my non-take list. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

FB

ive got a bunch of leftover mre's after helping with hurricane ike evac. had the chocolate shake during a solo backpack trip, it was awesome. though ingredients listed hydrogented veg oil(yuck) and it had something like 450 calories.