Trail Meals

“At the risk of being redundant and asking a stupid question...

I'm planning my first trip and trying to figure out meals. I'm interested in finding out what you all plan for a typical weekender.”

“Mine are S-I-M-P-L-E

Breakfast...
2 packets of instant oatmeal. Pour boiling water right in the pouches and eat from them, holding with the flap you tore back to open them.

Lunch...
Tuna on a bagel or pita pocket. Sometimes have lettuce along early in the trip. Maybe cheese if not too hot. Maybe baby carrots. Hot chocolate?

Snack...
Trail mix (dried fruit, Ritz peanut butter or cheese "stuffed" crackers, M&Ms, and peanuts or other nuts) or granola bar.

Dinner...
Mountain House chili mac or lasagna. YUM!!! Maybe hot chocolate... and whatever other libations you might bring. :-)”

“Oh yeah, and I'll bring along a PopTart or two to eat cold.”

“whatever you like is what you should take


that's a good dinner lizzy...i take some string cheese to add some gooeyness to it....”

“No chili mac for me. Does terribel things to my innards.




...and you don't wanna be around!”

“who did you used to be?”

“I love those two Mountain House meals!

At Ocala, I repackaged 3 Mountain House double chili macs into 2 meals in baggies. Worked well and the size was better.”

“well 2poops, he used to be stumprider”

“thang kyue, lizsard : D”

“Well, I'm no gourmet on the trail... I'm more into the 'no muss, no fuss' method (especially if my fingers are freezing, LOL).

Hmmmm... Typical 2-nighter:
~6 Coffee Singles
~6 Swiss Miss Sensations
(I dunk the coffee singles for a couple of minutes, then toss in the Swiss Miss)
4 Inst. Oatmeal (peaches & cream)
~5 Clif Bars
Gorp (optional) about a pint zip-loc full (granola base, dried tropical fruit, cashews, raisens, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, whatever)
(sometimes an apple, cheddar cheese & granola bars for an on-the-trail apple pie effect, <G>)

2 Freeze-dried dinners (I go for the spicy ones). I get a wild hair and toss in an extra or two sometimes, depending on the weather and distance from civilization (cheap insurance).
Margarine (optional) small squeeze bottle to boost the calories of the FD dinners. Doesn't hurt the taste either.
Don't forget the salt & pepper --

And of course CHOCOLATE -- there will be chocolate covered almonds in the gorp unless it's July or something. I've found that the individually wrapped Lindt milk chocolate truffles go really well with a small platypus of VSOP cognac.

Once in a while, I'll do something more elaborate than boiling water... like Brownies in the BakePacker... but that's kindof rare lately.


All standard disclaimers apply.

-- Your Tastebuds May Vary --”

“I take Instant Oatmeal, some Cup-A-Soup and some mre's (Meals ready To Eat). I also take trail mix and some nutrition bars as well as coffee, miniature coffee cone filters, and powdered gatorade.”

“has anyone tried the lemon poppyseed clif bars? tastes just like a lemon bundt cake. really : D”

“Dang, Hawk, don't you find those mre's to be a might heavy???”

“Yeah, but ya don't hafta worry about taking a dump on the trail!

LOL!”

“Oh. In that case, they'd be perfect for bbinkley, LOL!”

“lol...”

“breakfast:
oatmeal or butter grits
coffee

snacks:
trailmix
energybar

lunch:
tuna (sweet and spicy)
pita bread

dinner:
lipton instant meal. I like the chinese teriaky noodles
hot apple cider”

“A danish pastry or something sweet for breakfast, candy bars and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch, a freeze dried meal (Mountain House or another brand) for dinner. I also bring coffee and hot chocolate.”

“breakfast...bagels and peanut butter and raisins,coffee
snack...granola bar (quaker rolled oat)cheese,jerky
lunch...12"tortilla (2 of em) with 1/2 pouch of foil tuna each,add one packet mayo and mustard to each
snack...mixed nuts (or payday candy bar) and dried fruit
dinner...an enertia brand dinner (www.trailfoods.com) small candies
snack...crackers and peanut butter or cheese”

“I've also tried a few of those 'energy gels' and I think some of them are pretty tasty. I was thinking about getting a couple of gelflasks and maybe a 'holster' with my next REI order.”

“breakfast; 3 packets of instant oatmeal or grits

lunch; lg. packet of tuna or chicken mixed with relish and mayo, granola bar

supper; Lipton meal or precooked, dehydrated meal mixed with dehydraped chicken, ham or sausage

Crystal Light
adult beverage”

“That dehydraped chicken is a real killer...”

“I like some sort of pasta and the dehydrated chicken for dinners.

I always carry some coffee and instant oatmeal for breakfast. Usually some bite size snickers and nuts for snacks.

Lunch is either an "instant" type soup or Raman noodle in winter or tuna type stuff in summer.”

“why did the dehydrated chicken cross the road?”

“What are your favorite Mountain House (or other brand) meals? Are there any that you recommend against?”

“The wind blew it over???”

“Vic - When I used to buy them, I really liked the Beef Stroganoff! It's my favorite meal anyways, but the MH version was very good and filling!

Since I bought a dehydrator, I only eat "fresh" meals. Ya save money, and it's better fer ya!

I made some of what I call Trail Stew last month. It was great!”

“Yep, using the inserts for making fruit roll-ups you can dehydrate your favorite soups, stews, chili, etc.

Freeze-dried-wise, there was a Jamaican BBQ Chicken that was pretty good (can't recall who made it, tho'). Turkey Tetrazini, Thai Chicken... I've got a few things from Mary Jane's Farm here I have to try next... Sicilian Polenta, Santa Fe Pasta... Their potatoes were Real Good (especially with an extra dose of margarine).”

“Ohh! The Sweet and Sour Pork from MH was good too!”

“why did the dehydrated chicken cross the road?"
Tilt
09:22:51 AM
03/13/04


ok....why???”

“Just askin'!”

“Ohhh..I thought YOU knew

I'll ask at work..LOL....”

“I second the recommendation on getting a food dehydrator. Two of my favorites are making a big batch of beans and rice and chicken, and throwing that in the dehydrator. Trail prepping is easy, just add water, and simmer. The grub will absorb the water as it heats. Another favorite is doing the same with pasta. Sometimes I'll prepare the pasta and sauce, mix them together just as if I were about to eat them, but dehydrate them together. However, I've somewhat recently discovered the Barilla brand dehydrated tortillinis, you can find them at most food stores. It's perfect for backpacking. For those, I usually just dehydrate the sauce.

The tunas in the foils are also great. You can get salmon ones also. Tastes good with instant mashed potatoes (credit goes to twigeater and Pennsy for that tip).

Breakfast I used to eat oatmeal, but I've grown to hate making it, and now just eat peanut butter bagels instead.

Lunches, I ususally just graze throughout the day. I'm a big fan of Clif bars. CRAP is also good. That's candy, raisens and peanuts... If it's not too warm and you can keep the cheese from getting to soft, sharp chedder and pepperoni (or summer sausage) wrapped up in a tortilla also tastes really good on the trail. Just make sure nobody's hiking to closely behind you afterwards.

Good luck.”

“Gem- is that your starvation diet list, or was something different on the menu last weekend?”

“Anybody got tips on dehydrators? Brands that are known good, or brands to avoid like the plauge? Been threatening to get one, (I've been using my oven but it'd be nice to dehydrate a good stew)”

“American Harvest? I think that's the one where you don't have to rotate the trays and the flavors don't mix if you're doing different things...


Thanks for the reminder about the dried tortillinis. I've been meaning to try those, dammit!”

“American Harvest is the one that I have. I recommend it.”

“Tilt's right about American Harvest. It's the most popular brand, and you can find it just about anywhere they sell housewares. I've had mine for a few years now and am very happy with it.

How could I forget: with a dehydrator, it's easy to make super kick-a$$ beef jerky! Do a TT search and you'll find numerous recipes.”

“i love salmon flanored oatmeal too, arty...”

“i love salmon flavored oatmeal too, arty...”

“Yes, I've got one too... I need to use it more. I have to snag a couple more trays and the doodads for drying liquids.

What would be really handy is some type of slicer so I could crank out 'apple chips' and the like.”

“My fave backcountry meal: Fresh newbie liver, grilled over a campfire with some green hemlock branches.

Yum. Fava beans and chianti complement this meal excellently.”

“American Harvest kicks butt. My FAVORITE NIECE gave me one several years ago and I have used it extensively. It's quite impressive with all 12 trays stacked up.”

“Bit, remind me to not go on my first trip with you.”

“Oh yeah, and I'll bring along a PopTart or two to eat cold."
lizs
10:43:32 PM
03/12/04
ignore this user

Big time on the pop tarts lizs!

Lunch can be anything from pita and hummas to trail bars.

For dinner I take Enertria Trail Meals. Check out Binks for these, or I will bring some on the Mammoth Cave trip.”

“"Dang, Hawk, don't you find those mre's to be a might heavy???

They average about 5-6 oz each. I usuakky take an 1 entree type for each day and also a pilaf or stew extra for every three days.

SO three days food is about 1 to 1.5 lbs. They heat quickly, are fully cooked and if need be I can eat them without having to heat them. Plus I figure that each day I shed the food weight from the pack anyway.

When I can get 72 of them for $90.00, then the weight doesn't seem to be as much as a problem.

I still manage a 60 pound pack with very little difficilty. Back in the 50's and 60's packs for a week ran about 70 pounds.

I would say that on average I pack 40 pounds spring through fall for hikes up to seven days.

Only negative is the weight. The MRE's that I get are very tasty, they cook easily in in their pouch in hot water, Critters can't smell them, If I don't have fire I can still eat them, and they cost less then $1.50 each.

Since I am on Social Security now, the price sure makes it nice.”

“helinka, nope that was my regular meals. my starvation diet goes like this:

breakfast:
dehyrated ricotto cheese/egg with sweet and low and cinamon.
tea

snack: 12 almonds

lunch: plain tuna

snack: 12 almonds
dehyrated red pepper

dinner: chicken, 1/2 red pepper if still eatable, 1/2 cucumber if still eatable. 1 table spoon olive oil, a little bit of lemon juice

lol NOW that's a starvation diet :)”

“I read in Backpacker Mag that gear makers are working on putting out dehydrated water.

Any truth to this?”

“"I read in Backpacker Mag that gear makers are working on putting out dehydrated water.
Any truth to this?"

Of course, you can find it in the aisle right next to instant Garbage.”

“redhawk - Go with me here, will ya? LOL!

I swear I coulda got someone on that.......!”