Backpacking meals/food

[MrSpeedy]

Late to the party, but I do a lot of backpacking and thought I would chime in. Dehydrating is absolutely the least expensive way to go. You can get a decent dehydrator on Amazon for about $50. Chili dehydrates great. One of the things I do is to cook up some ground chicken with diced onion and season it with sage, thyme, and rosemary, then dehydrate it. Package it up with either Stove-Top stuffing or instant mashed potatoes (or both!), some cranberries, and a little gravy powder. Thanksgiving on the trail! Refried beans also dehydrate well.

My only "problem" with making your own is I sometimes feel they are low in calories. I usually bring my own stuff for lunch and a commercial meal for dinner. My favorite is Peak Refuel. Packit Gourmet and Heather's Choice are also good.

 

[DEgeezer]

Late to the party, but I do a lot of backpacking and thought I would chime in. Dehydrating is absolutely the least expensive way to go. You can get a decent dehydrator on Amazon for about $50. Chili dehydrates great. One of the things I do is to cook up some ground chicken with diced onion and season it with sage, thyme, and rosemary, then dehydrate it. Package it up with either Stove-Top stuffing or instant mashed potatoes (or both!), some cranberries, and a little gravy powder. Thanksgiving on the trail! Refried beans also dehydrate well.

My only "problem" with making your own is I sometimes feel they are low in calories. I usually bring my own stuff for lunch and a commercial meal for dinner. My favorite is Peak Refuel. Packit Gourmet and Heather's Choice are also good.

I've been dehydrating my backpacking meals for years, and think it's far and away the best way to go. My three favorites are spaghetti, chili, and Spanish rice. There are of course many other meals that will work.
When my wife makes a meal of any of the three, I'll have her make extra, and dehydrate it. They rehydrate right back, are tastier than the 10 dollar freeze dried stuff, and are light weight.
A recipe book that I highly recommend is 'Backpacking Gourmet' by Linda Frederick Yaffe. Nearly every recipe, be it breakfast, lunch, dinner, or dessert is dehydrated. You can have a lot of fun experimenting.

 

[MrSpeedy]

I've been dehydrating my backpacking meals for years, and think it's far and away the best way to go. My three favorites are spaghetti, chili, and Spanish rice. There are of course many other meals that will work.
When my wife makes a meal of any of the three, I'll have her make extra, and dehydrate it. They rehydrate right back, are tastier than the 10 dollar freeze dried stuff, and are light weight.
A recipe book that I highly recommend is 'Backpacking Gourmet' by Linda Frederick Yaffe. Nearly every recipe, be it breakfast, lunch, dinner, or dessert is dehydrated. You can have a lot of fun experimenting.

Definitely familiar with the "Backpacking Gourmet". We've dehydrated lots of stuff and mostly it's been good. Like I mentioned above I sometimes feel like they don't have enough calories. That's just my perception. I've got a good handle on what I need calorically on a backpacking trip, and I always feel better in the morning after having a commercially made meal.

 

[Four for Luck]

I found on another site backpacker.com “Backcountry Hacks Every Lazy Hiker Chef Needs to Know.”
Good reading.
Also minimus.biz where you can order packets of sauce/condiments.

 

[Buster]

I’ve been thinking of getting a dehydrator but I’m not ready to commit yet.

check out backcountry foodie on Facebook. She’s a nutritionist and is starting to make dehydrated meals for sale. She posted an article about nutrition at high altitude. Wish I read it before my last trip. This is her web page.

Ultralight Recipes & Meal Planning Tools for Backpackers

Backcountry Foodie provides dietitian-created ultralight recipes, backpacking meal plans, nutrition coaching, and resupply coordination.

backcountryfoodie.com

 

[Tirvine]

When I am backpacking, tubes of peanut butter are awfully good. So are pancakes. If packing a flyrod and fish are hitting, pull out a can of Danish bacon to make bacon and have grease for frying. A bag of cornmeal is a nice touch. A pack of tortillas doesn't weigh much. The more altitude you gain, the more you are ok with freeze dried foods. Take along Bisquick and a little solar oven if huckleberries are in season.

 

[Buster]

Here is an article about nutrition at high altitude. I should have read this before my last trip.

Top 6 Nutrition Tips for High Altitude Hiking

Do you have a high-altitude trip planned soon? There are a few things to know to make your trip more enjoyable.

backcountryfoodie.com

 

[Ad Astra]

Been watching a bunch of different YouTube MRE reviews - for some reason! After deciding long ago I hated the d@mn things and freeze-dried was the way to go. (Actually, it still is, but a few MREs are probably not a bad thing to have around). There are companies that repack them so you can order an MRE with exactly what you like (make that "like").

Pix include the Mountain House military pack - these things are vacuum bricks, and better food.

AA

 

[Ad Astra]

Another cool item I picked up - again, the YT guy's inspiration - is the German survival chocolate, called Scho-Ka-Kola.

Comes in milk and dark, both are really good and have caffeine.

Tons of history to it ... the empty tin will make a good fishing or survival kit.

Scho-Ka-Kola - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Homepage english

www.scho-ka-kola.de

Will be hiking with!


AA

 

[Jayson74]

I mostly dehydrate my meals, chilli, spaghetti, beef stew, black beans and rice that sort of stuff. I am a freezer bag meal guy.
But every trip includes a pouch of Backpackers Pantry Pad Thai. I really like it, honestly one of the better Pad Thai I have had. I prefer the vegan one to the chicken version, chicken never seems to rehydrate properly.

Another thing is the instant bisquick mix, I make "bread" to go with every meal and fry extras with some raisins and sugar and boom breakfast is ready. (my pot lid is a tiny frypan)