"MRE's...i heard that soldiers hate them..."

From what I have heard, soldiers hate them because in the sandbox that is often all they get to eat for months and months and months. No matter what it is, the same basic thing for long term gets boring. Plus they tend to cause constipation, which is never fun. I have eaten quite a few MRE's, and right this minute have probably 20 or so entrees under our bed (we are currently full-time RV'ers), just in case. Bad thing about MRE's, if you have to carry them, is their weight. You can lighten the load a bit by opening the bag and tossing a lot of the stuff in there, packaging if nothing else.

A friend of mine once bought some of those survival tabs that come in a GI canteen sized bottle. Supposed to be a months worth or something in one jug. As a test he once ate nothing but the tabs for a week or so. He said that he felt OK, but was really craving real food by the end of that week.

If you have room, and can handle the weight, regular canned goods will give you more variety, at a much lower cost than MR's...