After spending several months away from my apartment in Carson City, I decided it was time to quit buying new groceries for a while and finally eat all the stuff that's been sitting in the freezer and cabinets since (??????). I'm down to three TV dinners and a bean burrito in the freezer, and a few cans of tuna and soups and a few packs of ramen in the kitchen.

I just opened a can of beef and vegatable soup marked "Best by NOV 08". The can wasn't bulging or leaking, and the soup doesn't smell or look spoiled, so I'm taking the plunge. Have I reached the limits of shelf life? I'll know by morning.

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Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 400,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 22,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.

Not absolutly positive, but I believe undamaged canned goods in are good indefinitely(within reason 10+ years maybe more).

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Question Authority before it Questions you.

I was "served" C-rations almost 20 years old while in the Army back in the mid 60's. Didn't taste, that being just about no taste, much different from Cs that only were a few years old. The cigarettes were another story.

I gave the soup a longer than usual trip through the microwave. It still smelled okay hot, so I took a taste. Not bad, a little bland, thick enough I would have called it stew. It tastes kind of like something from an MRE. I added 10 dashes of Tapatio hot sauce and some saltine crackers, and it was pretty good.

The brand is Nalley if anyone cares.

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Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 400,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 22,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.

Ah, C-rats. My dad was in the Army and I was a little kid around the time they phased those out. I remember the peanut butter where you had to stir the oil back in, and the crackers, and some kind of jam or jelly. I really liked the crackers.

An old neighbor told me about eating 20+ year old C-rats regularly when he was in the Airborne, but I thought maybe they had something different done to them to allow them to keep longer than regular canned food.

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Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 400,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 22,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.

It was all in the cooking process. There was none of the preservatives back then, except maybe salt.
Jam and crackers were a real favorite along with pound cake. The peanut butter we started on fire with a squirt of insect repellent and used it to heat the main meal. Beef stew and beans with franks were pretty rough cold.

I loved the turkey loaf and the omelet with ham....I know, I am weird. peaches and apricots were cool tasting on a hot day, and the John Wayne bars (toffee) rocked always....

That was supposed to be ham? We always figured it was just the grease from the, ahem, "eggs" separating!

Absolutely, positively, the worst, had to be the spaghetti! Well, okay, maybe the fruitcake.

Ahh, yes! The 4 pack of smokes. I got "Lucky Strikes" one time. I was surprised it wasn't the "green" label (you older guys know what I am talking about) pack those things were so stale. How 'bout that gum?

Canned stuff tends to last a very long time. I have been known to pick through the out of code stuff at work and make soup, even if its a couple years out of code its still good.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

36 year old meat

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You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows - Robert A. Zimmerman

Skippy, someone from the CDC will be contacting you shortly to enroll you in a study.....good luck.

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"It's normal for these things to empty your wallet and break your heart in the process."
2012 SLK 350
1987 420 SEL

Skippy, you run a pretty lean operation, don't you?

Been awhile since I've been to Reno, an hour away from here. I think I was at Cabela's in August and would enjoy going again.


I'd be happy to drive over the summit at Donner Pass and come out there, for a meetup and lunch at a good place in Reno.

It'll be on me, so confirm by PM if you like.

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1991 560 SEC AMG, 199k <---- 300 hp 10:1 ECE euro HV ...

1995 E 420, 170k "The Red Plum" (sold)

2015 BMW 535i xdrive awd Stage 1 DINAN, 6k, <----364 hp

1967 Mercury Cougar, 49k

2013 Jaguar XF, 20k <----340 hp Supercharged, All Wheel Drive (sold)

I always thought C-rats were way better than MRE's. As I was in the field artillery we called the beef and potatoes meal roadwheels and trackpads! And who can forget the cheese spread packet- good for 2 days of no trips to the latrine!!

OMG, like, I hand out MRE's to the little children who come around here trick-or-treating on Halloween!!!!

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1991 560 SEC AMG, 199k <---- 300 hp 10:1 ECE euro HV ...

1995 E 420, 170k "The Red Plum" (sold)

2015 BMW 535i xdrive awd Stage 1 DINAN, 6k, <----364 hp

1967 Mercury Cougar, 49k

2013 Jaguar XF, 20k <----340 hp Supercharged, All Wheel Drive (sold)

Listening to you Army guys makes me happily recall the days of Navy chow lines. At least the food was fresh. The fresh eggs and milk would usually last only a few days at sea. Plenty of food. All hours of the day and night.

But to the OP, as a bachelor for the last 14 years, well, I've got a few dated things around.. The g/f has developed a habit for always checking for dates on things. Me? "Screw it. Won't kill ya". What? Me Worry?
I do draw the line at frozen meat that's turned white in the freezer.