I've gone a month at a time on MRE's in the Army before, and, apart from an apparent lack of variety, on a table (or even a chair) to sit at, they arent THAT bad. The newer ones have a quite large variety, and are FAR more palatable than the older ones in the dark green bags. We used to pack ramne noodles to make a sort of stew out of the dried beef or pork patties. Also, I learned a valuable lesson; ALWAYS use the heater packets for the main course; it makes it that much tastier. I was one who never bothered with that until a couple of years before I got out. What a difference in taste!
Nothing tastes better than that first meal, indoors, out of the elements, sitting at a clean table, after a month of eating MRE's out in the field.
One last mention of palatability; anyone here ever try the old cold winter rations that were army issue, in the 90's? Ugh...choking those down were an experinece in & of itself.