Perhaps a combination of Pemmican, Panforte, Logan/Expedition Bread, and lifeboat rations.
http://www.tastereport.com/TasteReport.com/food/Entries/2013/7/31_Fruitcake_The_breakfast_%28lunch_snack%29_of_champions.html

Any sort of protein bar -- Cliff bars, for example. (Lightweight back[packers think about this a lot -- highest calorie to weight ratio)

I take MRE's on canoe trips as a "treat".freeze dry gets old after a few days.i would suggest just taking the meat packs without all the sauce in them.beef stew with all the vegetables is a filling meal but heavy.after a trip with those type packs I got the pork rib,chicken patty,and beef patty.adding instant rice or some sort of pasta on the side makes a real filling meal.
the Spam singles need to be fried otherwise they are just salty blobs if cooked in any sort of stew type meal.a single cooked up in a pot of Knorr rice side,teriyaki,was one of the most nasty meals I had on the canoe trail
the meat patty's can be eaten cold or the pack heated in any water you might use for something else.
half a Cliff bar was enough to keep me going between lunch and dinner but expect a hard chew.i can't say enough good things about some sort of hard chocolate with fruit and nuts in it.
I cut out hard sausage because it's salty and leaves a taste in you mouth for a long time.
if you want real hard core survival food make up ground toasted corn and take it with water.it expands in your stomach and has all the nutrition you need.i tried that when I was much younger at home to see if it worked,it does but it's not a real meal just something to keep you alive.

I haven't seen Millennium bars around here yet, but I too am a fan of Daytrex and Cliff bars. I snack on them once in a while, and my kids love them, but I try to reserve them for emergency rations.

As for actual planned menu items, MH and MREs do make appearances in my packs, but I find them too expensive. MREs are heavy and bulky too, at least until you factor in the water that you may need to make other stuff. Water weight is water weight and there's just no getting around it. Try eating those ration bars without washing it down with a litre of water. UGH!

I love finding my own DYI rations and recipes. I haven't started dehydrating my own stuff yet, but grocery stores, Walmart and Dollarama all have lots of options for ready-to-eat-condensed-dehyrdrated foods that are budget-friendly, packable and tasty. The options available for grains and canned meat these days is pretty impressive, for example.

Not sure what your taste buds like, but check out the International section of your local stores. Ours are carrying lots of interesting stuff!

I like the taste of some MREs personally (Beef Stew and Cheese Tortellini especially) but I generally strip them down to the entrees as the complete MREs are too bulky.

I'd love mountain house to shape their pro-pak meals like their long range patrol rations (into bricks basically) since they store much better that way.... but they're so expensive I don't buy either.

As far as snacks go, I like clif bars not for the taste but because they don't melt into a mess in the heat, they just get softer. Sometimes I'll pack nature valley crunchy granola bars too.

My "iron ration" is a 3600 cal lifeboat ration (mainstay or the walmart UST one that has a mild apple taste) I generally keep in the bottom of my bag.

Generally, I can get the food I need, even when weight is critical, from standard supermarket fare, especially if I don't need to pack a lot of water. Stuff like instant oatmeal, dehydrated potatoes, cheeses, beef jerky will generally do quite nicely. i will repackage if bulk is an issue. I also toss in some MH stuff, but it is quite expensive.

If I must carry water, or if travelling by vehicle, I go for favorite canned goods - Dinty Moore beef stew is a current fav. You can often supplement what you carry with gathered items - berries, miners lettuce, and the like. This adds fresh greens and variety. Once can be surprised at what is out there for the taking...

has anyone tried the emergency rations from China that I see on Ebay?

It looks like you can get MREs (or equivalent) from different countries -- Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Russia, Norway, etc. A multicultural survival experience is completely within your grasp! So the question, I suppose, is which country's army feeds their soldiers the best, assuming the MREs are authentic. I notice you can get the French ration individuelle d'exercise as well as the Italian ratione viveri da combattimento...

Hmmm....Do the French and/or Italians have wine in their rations? Personally, I prefer a good red.

Suddenly, ETS is now ETSWC -- Equipped to Survive with Class. People on the internet say the French MRE had liquor at one point, but I don't know the truth of it.

Here's some info with pictures: http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2011/10/13/which_countries_have_the_tastiest_mres_.html