Food Find

“it tastes better than ramen

But just how meaningful a statement is that in reality?”

“I can't quite force myself to like the stuff.
The texture feels wrong and the taste is very bland.”

“The blandness is solved by putting spices with the couscous or adding a powdered soup mix to flavor it....

I personally like the instant Rice vermicelli noodles better than ramen... but the couscous is good to use to bulk up oat meal and other things. :-)”

“try a dabble of EVOO, a touch of dried garlic and a smidgeon of sun dried tomato in your couscous. Mmmmmm.... My favorite is the Spinach flavor.”

“The texture feels wrong.”

“i agree with stomper.....and i still have a hard time with tofu.....”

“Found smoked salmon at Wal-mart in a gift box, but inside is a foil pouch, unrefridgerated with a shelf life of over five years. What I bought yesterday had a 2013 Exp. Date.

It is labeled Pacific Select, Smoked Salmon, distributed by Trident Seafood, Seattle. Supposed to be all natural and certified by the Marine Stewardship Council.

Is pretty good stuff with some cream cheese and crackers. Would probably be good in some pasta as well.”

“...this is backpacking related, how??”

“you can carry unrefridgerated fish in your backpack for 5 years.

I approve this thread as backpacking related...lol

BTW, REI sells this stuff at christmas also”

“You can buy it at regular supermarkets too.”

“Have you guys tried the barbeque chicken breast in the foil packet? It is surprisingly good. Then again, pretty much everything tastes good on the trail. Heat up the chicken by dropping the whole pouch into a pot of boiling water. You can turn off the stove and just let the pouch sit in the hot water and heat through. Eat it right out of the pouch. Yummers!”

“.......and use the hot water for something else.”

“We were in the store tonight and I spotted this juice that said "good for your brain"...heaven knows I need all the help I can get!!!

It is Pomagranit, apple, and berries...it is soooo good!!! By Minute Maid”

“juice for brains............”

“LOL...it has all sorts of good stuff in it!!!”

“Corn syrup?”

“Is it mostly? Maybe I should read the laber closer.”

“Brain juice for zombies?”

“I'm asking, not telling. =)”

“OH...I will have to get back to ya Sass.”

“Recently, I found some single packs of "concentrated broth" (chicken or beef) at Trader Joe's. They come in single servings about the size of a ketchup packet-- pretty tasty and adds just enough flavor to hot water to make you feel like you're actually having something more substantial... I haven't tested it out with my instant rice vermicelli yet, but I'll make a bet it will beat the pants off of the "instant soup packet" that comes with that (or ramen)!”

“How high is the sodium content?”

“On a grueling hike, sodium is my friend.

I will be on the lookout for those, thanks for the heads up.”

“Same here, but I gotta watch the old BP too.”

“Hm. I'm not sure.

The box is currently in my office (and I'm at home), but I tend to buy lower sodium foods (I prefer to salt after I cook vs. adding too much sodium while cooking).

It's liquid, so you could probably adjust to the amount of water--I think it called for about 6 oz. but I tend to mix it with more. At least it doesn't take as long to dissolve vs. boullion granules.

If you have a Trader Joe's near you, they are an awesome place to find good hiking foods... :-)

The only downside is that sometimes they stop stocking things due to limited quantities from their suppliers. (I used to get these small single packets of olives that were perfect for hiking, but they no longer sell them :-( )

Right now (for the holidays) they have a 10-pack of dark "single source" chocolates--that come from various countries-- makes for a fun "taste test" (my family did that at Christmastime) and they are all at least 60% cocoa, so the flavor is very concentrated.

I also found a Seed/nut & Current cookie that would probably be a great thing to have on the trails-- it's called their "Seedy little currant cookies"--made with sugar & honey vs. high fructose corn syrup, it's like a tiny trail mix cookie and has oats, sesames, peanuts, wheat bran, sunflower seeds & currants--plus each cookie is bite-sized... YUM....”

“Man, I just love Trader Joe's. I dropped 100 smackers there just last night...

And you are right, they have some excellent backpacking grub.

Thanks for the heads up on the broth packets.”

“I bought those olives after you had them at the Schoolhouse trip, but struck out the last two visits down there. Bummer. I really liked them. I see bigger pouches of plain old green olives in the grocery store though.”

“I know. They stopped carrying the olives a while ago. I used to get little packs for my desk at work-- great snack (although a bit salty--but that was to my advantage-- I wouldn't eat nearly as many that way... LOL)

Right now TJ has some tiny Holiday "Dark Chocolate Mint Cookie Cheers" that taste like the Girl Scout thin mints. (It's like little chocolates with mint cookie bits inside) Thank God I don't have any open or I'd eat the whole container...LOL”

“Okay, nonconformist,
I checked the boxes of broth concentrate....
They are labeled as "reduced sodium" liquid concentrate.

Serving Size: 1 pouch (9.6 g)
Reconstituted to 1 cup (240 ml)
Servings - 12 per pkg.

TJ Savory Broth "Beef"
Calories: 20
Cal from Fat: 10
Total Fat 1 g
Saturated Fat: 0.5 g
Sodium 360 mg
Total Carbs: 3 g
Sugars 1 g
Protein less than 1 g

TJ Savory Broth "Chicken"
Calories: 25
Cal from Fat: 10
Total Fat 1 g
Saturated Fat: 0.5 g
Sodium 360 mg
Total Carbs: 3 g
Sugars 1 g
Protein less than 1 g

Hope this helps!!!”

“I am on the lookout for these.

I did find some small packets of margarine at KFC the other day. Most excellent to use instead of butter buds.”

“Thanks pinkbubelz! If memory serves (okay jokers, just let it go) a serving of Ramen can be anywhere from 1000-1600 or more sodium mg. I'll have to pick some of these up on my next Trader Joes trip.”

“Cool! I'm glad I could be of help... :-) They taste pretty good--it's liquid vs. powdered... :-)”

“Oh, and I forgot to mention--they have a veggie one, too (Thinkbubelz can't eat onions, so I did not get that one.)”

“Pink, I picked up all 3 last month. They are very good! Easy to pack as well.....”

“

I first found these over in Hot Springs. I have since found them at Ingles supermarket.

I think it is the best soup I have tried on the trail. Rehyrates and tastes way better than Ramen.”

“Reynolds Handi-vac. Found it on sale at Safeway $9 . Sealed some steaks. Super easy. Took about 20 seconds to fill zip and vacuume. Bags come in quart and gallon size. Two thumbs up.

www.handi-vac.com”

“This isn't a new food find for me but one I thought I'd share...

Scrambled Egg Mix from WaltonFeed.com - almost as good as regular scrambled eggs... makes wicked backcountry french toast!”

“Almost as good as scrambled huh? Hmmmm...there are several trail recipes where I could use this to add some protein or come up with something new. How do you make your backcountry french toast?

Also, I looked at the website. Do you really need to buy 18 pounds of powdered egg, or can you buy less? I didn't see any other choices.”

“Creek Dancer... it's called co-op with everyone one you know.”

“Oh ok, thanks. That fact wasn't evident from a quick scan of the website.”

“you buy the 18 pounds and then parcel it out to anyone else who wants some. It can get tricky with dried foods because you have to repackage it properly..... but it can be done.”

“On the noon news, they just showed a consumer test of the Reynolds Handi-vac. They demonstrated how it works and showed food stored in the bags after a couple of weeks with no freezer burn. They gave it two thumbs up.
last edited: 1/25/08 9:36:52 AM”

“I gave it two thumbs up first! : P”

“shouldn't this be on the "gear find" thread ;)”

“Two thumbs of how many?”

“I bought one when they first came out. I found the directions to be the best part of it. Especially the part about not using it on animals or humans.

Waaahhhh? You mean I am not supposed to run around chasing my cats with it giving them hickies?

Well, there goes my evening.”

“saw this in the grochery store today...more of a cold weather item though:

If you love cooking with fresh herbs & spices simply squeeze through Gourmet Garden. Picked at their peak to capture their rich flavor and powerful antioxidants, Gourmet Garden herbs & spices keep for up to 90 days, so they’re always on hand.



http://www.gourmetgarden.com/us/index.php”

“Looks heavy.”