Food In The Military

[Jaymes]

You can find crushed versions of most of those dried peppers in the small cellophane packets, which is what I send.

[Mabelline]

fifi, I sent the question about the chiles, and asked if they could use some masa harina in a plastic container, all sealed up. Damn, wish I would have bought one of those vacuum sealers now. Even if the masa doesn't have a real long life, they might at least get a batch of tortillas out of it.

[StInGeR]

StInGeR, do they have any problem getting canned pork products? Is that allowed in Kuwait or Iraq? Beto said that there was a real shortage of it, and then requested the Goya Jamon cubes. But I thought those small canned Danish hams would ship okay.

I thought about the spices too, and I'm glad they can use the plastic containers. Will they allow a labelled container that is from bulk spices? The best ones I can buy are in bulk from the health store, and I have containers.

All the personal items are not weird. I've been at cow camps where you made do, and anything that made you fresher or more human was worth more than gold (but maybe not more than some good Scotch!).

From personal experience we always avoided asking for pork products as much as we wanted them. Xmas time in Saudi I would have killed for a ham and somehow my family sourced a company that would ship it through to us but we somehow resisted. My advice for this is seeing the country is 95% (maybe just less than that) try to avoid sending pork products - that way no one is embarrassed, either the soldier that opens it or possibly "customs". As for spices, I'd suggest sending in the original containers/ unopened even if they are in bulk. That way the guys who check out the packages don't have to worry about the contents and on top of that the guys on the ground can then split up the spices etc between themselves.

NOTE: As much as I wished for a beer or ANY other sort of alcohol while in the ME... PLEASE don't even contemplate it. I realize you were prob joking about the scotch but that's one thing that will automatically be confiscated... call me on the worry BUT during GW1 people sent alot of bottles of alcohol and they were confiscated, shipped straight back to the US and gone by the time we got home sooooooooo all the REMF's got it and we who were doing the job missed out

[StInGeR]

StInGeR, do they have any problem getting canned pork products?

PS Don;t tell the the muslim Iraqi's what's in hotdogs

[Mabelline]

Okay, I got it. No canned pork, ham (but a lot of Goya Jamon cubes), no repackaged stuff, no sneaking alcohol--actually mine was cooking wine in a vinegar bottle--

Now: Lava soap, TP, AA batteries,babywipes,pipe cleaners,instant coffee,tea bags,dry candies...broth cubes, spices,good Mexican canned stuff. For a start.

[Chris Cognac]

One thing I used to like to get during the first gulf war,was cheeze whiz...the kind in the spray can. I would keep it in my rucksack, and it greatly improved the MRE's we were given. I also enjoyed Bacon Bits as they could add some crunch and flavor to the chicken with rice MRE....oh yea, a little cheeze whiz, bacon bits and some tapatio hot sauce (from the mexican guy that every platoon has)..good stuff and they had just come out with MRE bread towards the end...now all that combined made a good sadwich...

Oh yeah,remember "weight". I was an Infantryman and we had to walk everywhere so weight is crucial...so stuff like Ramen is great...also spices like Ms Dash are good and do not weight much...

Throw a can or 2 of Skoal or some Cigs in the package as well...that stuff is like gold and even if the person does not use it,they can trade it...It pretty much has the "second highest" trading value....right behind a good nudie mag!

[Mabelline]

Thanks Chris! Slapping head repeatedly--the pork ramen--duh! I can use that for filler in the package! Mrs. Dash, yeah..SO will be so proud of me--today is PAYDAY!!! Look out BigLots, Walmart and the Dollar Stores! Major league pillage and plunder on the horizon!! YeeeHaaawwww!!

[Jaymes]

I also send beef jerky. And in some places you can find canned corn tortillas. They're not as good as fresh, obviously, but when you dip them into oil or sauce, they do soften into something edible.

[Mabelline]

Jaymes, do you know in my whole life I do not ever recall even seeing them(canned tortillas). We have Country Market, IGA, and Albertson's.Walmart has chased most of the others off. Where do you find them?

[Jaymes]

Jaymes, do you know in my whole life I do not ever recall even seeing them(canned tortillas). We have Country Market, IGA, and Albertson's.Walmart has chased most of the others off. Where do you find them?

I've found them in places that don't have good fresh tortillas. Alaska. Panama. Kansas. Nebraska. The Philippines. Europe. I think "Old El Paso" makes them, among other brands. Actually, you may have seen them, but since you weren't looking for them, didn't realize that's what they were. They come in a flat round can, just the size of....well....tortillas. So, about an 8" circumference, and maybe 2" high, if that. Like I said, they are certainly not so good as fresh, but they work pretty well, after dipping into hot oil, and then sauce, for things like enchiladas. And you can fry them for chilaquiles.

They might be in your stores. I'd suggest that you ask.

[Beto]

Oh man, the support that I'm seeing in this thread is overwhelming! You folks are good people.

Just to set the record straight: unlike many of my fellow soldiers, I'm NOT sitting out in the middle of the desert living out of a foxhole. We are in a camp that has a small PX with q-tips, soap, potato chips, etc. I apologize if I gave anyone the wrong impression of our situation here. The reason that I gave Mabelline such a short list is because I should be able to get the basics here or in town, but some of the spices such as dried peppers are next-to-impossible to procure locally.

I miss being able to cook decent meals and wish to be able to bring a little bit of "home" and decent culinary quality to our little corner of the world in which we find ourselves.

That being said, here are some things that we could use:

Dried Beans - (pintos, black beans, lentils, split peas)

Adobo

Black Peppercorns

Oregano

Chicken Bullion

Basil

Red Pepper Flakes

Cayenne Pepper

Sazon

Cumin

If anyone has a cheap pepper mill they could send, that would be great. Also, (and I hope that I'm not pushing it) we would LOVE some Parmesiano reggiano as well as any other cheese that would survive shipping.

Stinger is correct, we are prohibited from receiving pork and alcohol (although the PX has spam).

Again, we appreciate all of your support while we are over here away from home. Thanks for everything!

[Mabelline]

No sooner said than done Beto, and what about your cousin? Is he in Iraq or Afghanistan? Or did I read it wrong...we can surprise the crap out of him!!

[Jaymes]

we can surprise the crap out of him!!

From what I understand, that IS allowed in the Middle East. Quite common, in fact, I think.

[Beto]

Mabelline, I'll have to get my cousin's address for you. We communicate by email and he is out of the network most times. I'll let you know.

[hillvalley]

I would love to send something over but don't have a lot of money right now. How expensive is it to send a package over?

I wonder if the USO is still doing care packages?

[Lyle]

Operation USO care packages

http://www.usometrodc.org/care.html

Actually, this link to Winds of Change has a nice consolidated list of ways one can help soldiers from a variety of nations.

[Jaymes]

How expensive is it to send a package over?

No more expensive than it is to mail a package anywhere in the US. You don't have to send it "overseas." It transfers from the US mail system right to the military one. You use an APO/FPO address. Just get something small and light. It'll be quite affordable, and they'll appreciate anything. Even a card that says, "Thanks and we appreciate you."

PS - Another thing I send that seems to be well-used are those small, complimentary bottles of shampoo, soap, bath gel, mouthwash, lotion, etc., that you get in hotels.

Edited February 26, 2004 by Jaymes (log)

[StInGeR]

Another couple of things I thought of last night:

Thick socks because Army socks suck and after 6 months of deplyment your originals are buggered.

Tinea cream because after a week on the ground everyone's got it and it's a pain in the azz.

Regards

Tom

[hillvalley]

How expensive is it to send a package over?

No more expensive than it is to mail a package anywhere in the US. You don't have to send it "overseas." It transfers from the US mail system right to the military one. You use an APO/FPO address. Just get something small and light. It'll be quite affordable, and they'll appreciate anything. Even a card that says, "Thanks and we appreciate you."

PS - Another thing I send that is always seems to be well-used are those small, complimentary bottles of shampoo, soap, bath gel, mouthwash, lotion, etc., that you get in hotels.

Perfect Paycheck comes tomorrow and I'm going shopping!

[StInGeR]

Hey Beto please don't tell me you're a REMF

J/K

[Mabelline]

There is this all-purpose salve called buttpaste that I was thinking of sending. I also went to a couple places and came across presweetened dry drinks,CDs,Puzzlebooks,disposable cameras, and foot powder.

[Mayhaw Man]

There is this all-purpose salve called buttpaste that I was thinking of sending. .

Oddly enough, the Boudreaux's Buttpaste guy is IN my office complex in Covington, LA (George Boudreaux, a guy who made a ton on a funny idea-great t-shirts incidentally).

How much do you want? I am sure that I can get a butt load

[Jaymes]

This is fun.

[StInGeR]

There is this all-purpose salve called buttpaste that I was thinking of sending. .

Oddly enough, the Boudreaux's Buttpaste guy is IN my office complex in Covington, LA (George Boudreaux, a guy who made a ton on a funny idea-great t-shirts incidentally).

How much do you want? I am sure that I can get a butt load

It's be great publicity for him and and it's for a great cause too

Regards

Tom

[Mabelline]

Okay we got the troops over here---WHO wants to be the general??? Somebody (MM) who has an organizational mind, that can tell us what TF we're doing , and how we ought to co-ordinate. Once we are semi-kinda organized, I figure we'll get enough stuff to inquire into adoptaplatoon.org, which will provide us with others. I reckon to be do-able we will each send ours individually, but how about a day we all send packages at the same time? And how about some eGullet decal stickers we can buy to stick on our packages so that they'll recognize our packages??!!

Edit to add; okay, we have eGullet stickers in the store. And we can always figure

up a note to add in each box.

Also edit .org not .com

Edited February 27, 2004 by Mabelline (log)