Tackle your caveman cravings: Paleo mix adds variety to forward-deployed chow - Army Off Duty, army leave, health, fitness, gear, gadgets, sports, travel - Army Times

Tackle your caveman cravings: Paleo mix adds variety to forward-deployed chow

If you’ve been hunting for an MRE replacement or just trying to gather something different for your next camping or summer road trip, a CrossFit and Paleo Diet supplier may have the missing link to expand your menu options.

The 1,006-calorie Steve’s Original Paleo MRE is a resealable grab-bag of grass-fed beef jerky, raw macadamias, almonds and pecans. The bags sell for $11, but military buyers get a 10 percent discount.

Our crack team of taste testers gave high marks to the jerky, which they found wasn’t as salty as expected and had an awesome, unmistakable beef flavor. However, so did the not-so-crunchy nuts, after being vacuum-sealed with the beef.

Also known as the Stone Age or caveman diet — with its focus on back-to-basics eating, muscle-building proteins and Omega-3 fats — the Paleo Diet has become a favorite with CrossFitters, mixed martial artists and other athletes.

“We basically serve the CrossFit community, and of course a big part of that is the military,” says Steve Liberati, the chief cook and “head caveman” for Steve’s Originals and owner of New Jersey’s CrossFit Tribe gym.

“We created the MRE at the request of our military customers, and now we can’t make them fast enough. We’re completely sold out right now.” Fresh stocks will be available soon, he says.

Since they were first introduced five years ago, the company’s flagship PaleoKits — snack-sized versions of the MRE that include dried berries — have become increasingly popular with the military. Liberati says about one of every five of his customers is military.

“Your kits are perfect for me to throw in one of my bags while I’m on mission because the eating schedule is so chaotic,” an Air Force flight medic recently wrote Liberati.

For his new MRE, Liberati dropped the dried berries to increase shelf life. Unopened, the MREs are good for at least two years, he says.

The products are available online by clicking here or here.