Commercially prepared meals were used in the field and at times when hot meals were not available. These meals came in a case containing 12 meals. Each meal was in it's own cardboard box, which contained the individual items sealed in cans. A can opener (called a "P-38") was needed to open the cans. The accessory pack with each meal was sealed in a foil pouch.

My favorites were the Spaghetti and Meatballs, Beefsteak, Potatoes and Gravy, Meatball and Beans, and the Turkey Loaf. We use to heat the Cocoa Beverage almost every night. The process we used was to take the helmet liner out of our helmet (aka steel pot) take the camouflage cover off the steel pot, turn it upside down, put a "heat tab" in the bottom of it and light it. The canteen cups we had would fit down inside the helmet at just the right height above the heat tab. This way you could heat up the water without giving off any light.

Another "treat" was to take the pound cake, heat the candy disc chocolate and pour it over the pound cake. We would then put a match in the middle and "Walla" a birthday cake!

As much complaining as we did, the c-rations really weren't that bad. We could mix and match to come up with something that had different tastes.