Breakfast in the line of duty

Low Impact vs High Impact Brekkie

US Army Dining Facility, Somewhere in Afghanistan

It is a widely known proverb that “an army marches on their stomach”. For mine, this brings forth images of the early 20^th century in the theatres of war around Europe and the South Pacific of soldiers tucking into their far-from-delicious ration packs of bully beef, hard tack and biscuits you could use to chock the wheels of a Jeep. Times have certainly changed, with the ration packs being super charged with carbs and sugar to keep the energy levels up for the gun slingers out in the wilderness, fighting the good fight.

For those of the armed forces and support staff that aren’t taking the fight “outside the wire”, there is the dining facility (or D-FAC for short) to get your three squares a day. Generally the food is of a good quality considering where you are in the world and how many personnel the caterers are serving on a day-to-day basis.

Approaching the half way mark of my four month deployment, I have been moved to the night shift. Because my working day is now from 2300 to 1100, I have the opportunity to partake in my favourite meal of the day and give as much attention to the Morning Glory as it deserves.....

My first venture into the morning meal was what I’ve coined as the “Low Impact Brekkie”. Back home this would be the daily staple for the majority of the population to get their day started, a balanced meal loaded with carbs to give you energy throughout the day.

So here we go, the Low Impact Brekkie:

Kellogg’s Special K with red berries:

This is an old favourite of mine from my two tours in Iraq. I was very happy to see this on the shelf at the D-FAC and jumped at the opportunity to blog about it. The strawberries are super-dried and the trick is to put the milk into the bowl and leave it for about five minutes, ensuring that all strawberries are suitably submerged. The downside to this bowl of cereal is that it provides nearly 25% of your daily intake of sodium and worth 240 calories. I know that I don’t EVER bang on about calories and salt when it comes to breakfasts however if this is what you’re going to be eating on a daily basis, you might want to look for a less saltier/sugary alternative. For those of you playing at home, those alternatives are few and far between, with even the bread being sweeter than what it is back in Australia. Fruit salad may be your only option in this dilemma.

Blueberry Bagel with butter:

Australia doesn’t do bagels like the yanks, and it’s a pity because they’re just so damn delicious. There was little evidence of real blueberries in these particular ones however the artificial flavouring and colouring were there in all their glory. Not that I gave a toss, I had a hankering for bagels and they certainly delivered. They were lightly toasted on the outside to give the crispness against the doughy inside, the salty butter complimenting the sweet flavours of the faux-berries made it all come together. As a result, I’ve regained my crack-like addiction to bagels and there’ll be some cold turkey to deal with when I get home. Just think “Trainspotting” crossed with a Jewish bakery and you’ll get the idea.

Apple Juice:

It’s in a box, nothing new to report here.

Results:

Overall I was super-satisfied with this start to the day. Wasn’t too light, filled a hole and put me in good spirits as I was fighting back an attack of the yawns in my eighth hour of work.

As I put off my coffee until I got back to my workshop (read my thoughts on American coffee in the “Great Hawaiian Disappointment” of 2009) I didn’t feel as if I was going to explode on the walk back to the car. However that feeling may be reserved for my attempt at the High Impact Brekkie tomorrow morning.....

Friday, 14 May 2010. 6:30am. I knew this was coming. I had been gearing myself up for this for the past 24hrs and knew that I couldn’t let the fans of the blog down. Putting my own health at risk, I attempted one of the largest brekkies I’ve ever had. I had the option of going for the American-style bacon, however those of you who’ve read my work before would be well aware of my thoughts of their style of the cured meat of cloven hoof. I took in a deep breath, closed my eyes and concentrated on masticating for the Morning Glory.....

High Impact Brekkie:

Omelette with everything (and they’re not kidding):

This was my first venture into the realm of “everything”. I usually limit myself to one omelette per week containing the obligatory ham, cheese and tomato. For you guys though, I went the whole hog and ordered everything. The young man from the sub-continent looked at us and with a broad smile, said “yes, everything for you”. Sure it’s powdered eggs, but you’re in the middle of a war zone and you’ll find the ‘harden up pills’ over next to the teaspoons of cement (take one of each). On went the orange American Jack cheese, jalapeños, tomato, spring onion, mushrooms, tomato and ham....handfuls of the stuff! Once it was cooked and folded, it took up over half of my plate. To tell the honest truth, it tasted amazing. I’m not sure if it’s because my standards have lowered over the past two months because of where I’ve been working, however the flavours that exploded in my mouth were a refreshing surprise. The slight sting of the jalapeños, the mild mushrooms and the melted cheese had me forgetting that I was eating something that was near-on the size of my head surrounded by people who’d prefer to remove it.

Hash Browns:

Deep fried to perfection. Sure they were once frozen, but like I’ve said before, you’ve got to remember where you are.

Plain bagel with strawberry and blueberry jam:

I cooked this myself so if there was anything wrong with the preparation of the bagel, it’d be my fault. In light of this, it was awesome. Like crack to me, remember?

Strawberry Milk:

Nearly O.D’d on coffee last night so I thought I’d go with something without caffeine. It’s UHT milk, it’s artificial strawberry. You deal with it.

So there you have it. I challenge anyone to find a breakfast review from the middle of a war zone. I’m quietly confident that this is the first time in the history of the world that it’s been done and I’m privileged to be able to provide it to you. I mean, if you’re going to make anything your first, the best option is to go with an old friend, your Morning Glory.