Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This kit contains the freeze dried food house's most popular products: One breakfast (scrambled eggs with ham), four entrees (beef stroganoff, lasagna, chicken teriyaki, and beef stew), and one dessert (raspberry crumble). Each comes in their own individual, self sealing plastic/foil pouch, the scrambled eggs pouch measuring 7" x 8", the others 8" x 9.5". All the pouches are 5 ounces or less (except for the crumble, which is 5.15) and each is very sturdy and wide enough at the bottom that they can stand upright on flat surfaces on their own. They are also quite colorful, with attractive artwork, and the contents, ingredients (with a separate line relisting items that might be of dietary concern to some, like soy or wheat), nutritional information, and instructions clearly printed on the outside. The preparation proceedure for each pouch (except the crumble) is the same: Tear off the top of the pouch at the pre-cut notch, discard the oxygen absorbing packet within, pour the appropriate amount of boiling water inside, stir, seal the pouch, then wait the indicated number of minutes before eating. The instructions say you can eat the contents out of the pouch, thereby avoiding the need to wash dishes; but I found it more convenient to dump the reconstituted meal out on a plate... - Scrambled Eggs with ham (serves one) - The serving size was quite sufficient for one. The ham bits were chewier than normal ham, and the eggs (with red and green pepper bits embedded) were a bit mushy. But the taste was quite good, and although there was some lingering aftertaste it wasn't unpleasant. - Beef stroganoff with noodles (serves two) - The serving size was a bit small for two, particularly two engaging in physical activity like hiking long distances or strenuous work. But more than enough for one. The texture of the noodles and meat were good, and I found the taste comperable to if not better than non-freeze dried stroganoff you'd get from a box or a frozen entree. Although perhaps a touch bland. - Beef stew (sterves two) - With respect to the serving size, similar concerns and conclusions as the stroganoff. The meat, potatoes, and vegetables were slightly tougher than I expected; they may not have fully rehydrated, although I used the specified amount of water and waited the correct length of time before eating. The taste was fine, if a little dull, and the stew seemed more filling than the stroganoff. - Lasagna with meat sauce (serves two) - As usual, too much for one, not quite enough for two. The texture and taste were very good, although I couldn't taste any meat in the meat sauce, the strength of the tomato sauce drowned it out. - Chicken teriyaki with rice (serves two) - A bit more in this pouch than the others, I think there'd be enough for two. The texture of the rice and teriyaki were very good and the taste was excellent, with hints of mushroom and peppers. - Raspberry Crumble (serves four) - Actually this probably does serve four, it was rich enough so the small portions were still satisfying. The preparation proceedure was different for this pouch: Tearing off the top reveals two bags, one full of chocolate cookie crumbs, the other with freeze dried raspberry sauce. You open the sauce bag, pour it into the pouch, then reconstitute the same as the other pouches. After 'cooking', mix with the cookie crumbs, and serve. Texture wise the crumble was quite thick and sticky, with a tendancy to get on everything. Taste-wise, I don't like raspberry, so I can't really judge, but the cookie crumbs were good. The crumble gave me a mild case of indigestion.. All the contents of this kit are very tasty, light weight, extremely convenient , and have a long shelf life; as such they're good for camping or emergency use. They're also a bit high in sodium (MH says they expect the people using their products to be engaged in heavy exercise and need to have salt replaced). But the kit itself is an excellent introduction to Mountain House products, and/or a convenient way to stock up on these six items. Doesn't save much on price, though.