easy dinners found in grocery stores

[Mikereisner]

I am very confident in hiking and camping techniques, but cooking easy dinners is beyond my grasp. I don't want to get the meals at any hiking outfitters do to the cost and the availability. I want to know some easy meals that will taste half decent and easy to find at any store.

[Lone Wolf]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFvyD-be-tA

[ImkerVS]

This is not quite to your point, but the food is found at the store.

Freezer bag cooking is very popular. A search here related to that topic will turn up hundreds of posts.


Originally Posted by B Thrash http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/wb_style/buttons/viewpost.gif (http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?p=357992#post357992)
Please explain how you freezer bag cook.
1. Cook food at home.
2. Dehydrate it.
3. Stick in a freezer bag.
4. Pack in your backpack.
5. Hike.
6. Get hungry.
7. Take out a freezer bag.
8. Boil water.
9. Pour boiling water in freezer bag.
10. Wait 10 minutes.
11. Eat contents of freezer bag.

[Terry7]

Lipton dinners, add boiling water cook 4-5 min. and eat. about $1.25 per meal.

[Footslogger]

Other than the meal in a pouch (Lipton type) stuff ...one of the tastiest, inexpensive and easy to fix dinners is StoveTop Stuffing Mix with a foil packet of chicken added to it. One pouch (inside the box) of StoveTop makes 2 meals (at least for me). I generally repackage it into pint sized ziplocks. Light as all get out to carry and boils up quickly.

'Slogger

[Appalachian Tater]

Stovetop cornbread stuffing, can or pouch of chicken, dried cranberries aka "craisins". Gravy if you're so inclined. Pour hot water in the stuffing pouch, stir, let sit, add chicken, cranberries.

[Thoughtful Owl]

I made a meal out of Uncle Ben's Ready Rice which comes in a variety of different flavors and BumbleBee Chicken or Fish. The Lipton sides also make a good dinner and I have added thingss such as tuna, chicken, spam and summer sausage to them. Go to the grocery store when you are not rushed and wonder around the isles and let your imaganation run wild. You can come up with a lot of different easy to prepare meals.

http://www.unclebens.com/rice/
http://www.bumblebee.com/products_fam.jsp?famid=10
http://www.bumblebee.com/products_indiv.jsp?prodid=115

[budforester]

I am very confident in hiking and camping techniques, but cooking easy dinners is beyond my grasp. I don't want to get the meals at any hiking outfitters do to the cost and the availability. I want to know some easy meals that will taste half decent and easy to find at any store.

Ramen noodles and mac & cheese are also long- time favorites with campers (and students). Very little cooking skill is needed to "dress up" these into tasty and nutritious meals; and they are cheap and widely available.

[Two Speed]

Zatarain's. Lipton's. Mac 'n' cheese. Stove Top Stuffing.

The Holy Trinity of Hiking Food.

'Kay, so math ain't a strong point for me. Is that really a big deal?

[Jack Tarlin]

Mike:

As other folks have mentioned, the most popular hiker hot meals are found in the "prepared Foods" section of any supermarket.

This would include stuff like Lipton pasta or rice dinners; Rice a Roni pasta didhes; Mac 'n Cheese dinners; Stuffing mix; Mashed Potatoes; other potato dishes like instant Au Gratin; instant soups; Minute Rice, etc.

These are all simple to prepare; in most cases, you boil a small ammount of water, throw in the dinner, stir occasionally, and it's ready in a few minutes.
Cooking skills are happily not required.

Ways to improve any or all of these dinners: Carry some spices (salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, Cajun, etc). Carry butter, butter flavoring, or olive oil. Dice cheese into your dinners. Carry hot sauce of some sort. Carry an onion or green pepper and add them to your dinners; they'll last for several days, even in the summer. Carry tortillas and cheese from town, and you can make your own burritos. Add meat of some kind to your dinners; there are all sorts of things available in foil pouches now, such as tuna, ham, chicken, etc. On occasion, you may want to carry tins of food as well like turkey or deviled ham, but keep them small. Tinned tuna is MUCH cheaper than the pouches, but is heavier.

Also, Mike, on the day I leave a major town, I sometimes carry a piece of real meat (like Beef Tips or something similar). If possible, I freeze it the night before and then hike out with it next day. By dinnertime, it can be cut up and added to just about anything. It's amazing how much difference "real" mean can make.

[Bob S]

Almost 1/4 of the isles in a grocery store have something that can be used for backpacking. I find the problem is not what to take, but that there is so much food that I don’t know what not to take. Go look, buy some and make it in the back yard to see how it works for you.

[highway]

Couscous and anything
tabouli
Any dried grains

Look at the dried food aisles in the market and let your imagination run wild. If you are hungry enough you will eat about anything, ravenously!

[_terrapin_]

In addition to what's been mentioned: Alessi and Bear Creek soup mixes and Barilla's Tortellini. Packages from the store are more than I can eat in one meal, so I divvy them up into multiple Ziploc bags. Generally embellished with chunks of summer sausage, or chunks of chicken, salmon, or tuna from foil packets. Soup mixes in general consist of dehydrated stuff; the only thing to watch for is the cooking time.

[Jack Tarlin]

Oh, I forgot. Make sure and try some instant tortellini, like Barilla. It's great!

[Jack Tarlin]

Whoops. Terrapin beat me to it!

[mweinstone]

one word,....ingredients. not meals or mix. and lone wolfs a sick bastard. who i kinda like. the fact is wolf, johnney thunders dad is the recipitition for lipton. in the dinners department. hes the only one. all in charge. every meal ever eaten by a hiker from lopton is johnney thunders dads fault.

you eat what you like. food wars isnt fun. you should never should folks too much. me? ive used up all my should points and have to shut up now. but i could tell you the secrets of my food bag. but of course then id have to kill you.

just know this,...without dow monsanta chemical corporation,...life itself would be impossible. you keep eating your bovine swine eyeball injected turky pops and rice dinners. ill continue to have children with two eyes thank you very much mr thunder sr sir.

steak
bacon
cheese
bagels

ill give you the big four out of pitty or mercy im not sure witch.

[Train Wreck 2]

the natural food stores' bulk sections you can usually find a plethora of dehydrated goodies that you can hydrate and warm. Also it's a good place to get nuts that have a high fat/ caloric count that's easily absorbable. That's what I'm going with this time. I also made some jerky

[Blissful]

Ramen noodles and mac & cheese are also long- time favorites with campers (and students). Very little cooking skill is needed to "dress up" these into tasty and nutritious meals; and they are cheap and widely available.

...And very little nutritional value for long distance hiking unless you do add something to it. Ditto for LIpton noodles, potatoes, stuffing and the like.

Which is why we made up packets of dehydrated veggies, chicken, etc to put in ramen when we used it (and went in our notorious mail drops :eek:).

I noticed Lipton /Knorrs is coming out with more of a veggie-type loaded noodle /rice mix which looks better than the former. Still need more protein though for muscle repair. Could supplement with nuts thrown in, etc., as well as foil packets of tuna, etc. But the foil packets also weigh a bit.

Cheesy tortellinis are great, though. Liked them very much with a Knorrs white sauce mix and dehydrated milk (again, additional ingredients we uh - had packed in our...gulp...mail drop :eek: ).

:)

[earlylight]

I'm amazed that no one has mentioned Couscous. It is the perfect freezer bag base. It absorbs water almost instantly and is easily ready in under 5 minutes. It gets boring real fast though so you need to add stuff to it like tuna, chicken, tvp, dehydrated veggies, curry powder, etc. But it is a reliable calorie provider and a good source of protein and fiber.

[highway]

I'm amazed that no one has mentioned Couscous. It is the perfect freezer bag base. It absorbs water almost instantly and is easily ready in under 5 minutes. It gets boring real fast though so you need to add stuff to it like tuna, chicken, tvp, dehydrated veggies, curry powder, etc. But it is a reliable calorie provider and a good source of protein and fiber.

Cous Cous: See post # 12

I add chorizo or cheese or anything, mostly

[budforester]

...And very little nutritional value for long distance hiking unless you do add something to it. Ditto for LIpton noodles, potatoes, stuffing and the like.

I noticed Lipton /Knorrs is coming out with more of a veggie-type loaded noodle /rice mix which looks better than the former. Still need more protein though for muscle repair. Could supplement with nuts thrown in, etc., as well as foil packets of tuna, etc. But the foil packets also weigh a bit.

:)

Here's a link (http://www.liptonfavorites.com/products_landing.asp?nav=10) to those Sides- plus- more- veggie products; they look tempting, but sodium is over my limit.

[Wise Old Owl]

http://www.idahoan.com/product/PRODUCT_IMAGES/original8oz.gif (http://www.idahoan.com/product/product_details.php3?id=dc3c7ea89618fa237b208c2956 fa0db0)Goof proof and fast. A relativly new product thats lightweight and is ready in 4 minutes I did not like instant potato until I tried this brand.

[Grinder]

footslogger,

The chicken and stuffing idea sounded so good, I ate it for dinner last night..


"MMMMMMM!! Good!!"

it's a keeper. Now I just need to find chicken in a pouch here in Florida. We seem to be can people around here.

Tom

[highway]

footslogger,

The chicken and stuffing idea sounded so good, I ate it for dinner last night..


"MMMMMMM!! Good!!"

it's a keeper. Now I just need to find chicken in a pouch here in Florida. We seem to be can people around here.

Tom

Try the largest supermarket chain in Florida-Publix

[Cannibal]

it's a keeper. Now I just need to find chicken in a pouch here in Florida. We seem to be can people around here.

Tom

In addition to Publix; Walmart, Target, and Kmart all sell chicken and tuna in a pouch.

[SteveJ]

this may be a little off-topic, in that it takes a dehydrator, but I tried dehydrating cooked ground beef for the first time last year - yum!

Cook it up - I put in a packet of burrito mix. Dehydrate, then store in quart-size freezer bags. Also - buy a can of refried beans - dehydrate. I found that a pound of cooked ground beef weighs about 3 ozs after being dehydrated. A pound of dehydrated beef makes 4 good meals if you're making burritos with refried beans - I separate it out, doubled bagged in quart-sized freezer bags - to leave room for water when I re-hydrate). A couple of hours before you plan to cook, add some water to the beans and meat. When you get to camp, boil up some water, and add hot water. Take out your tortilla shells, a couple of packets of hot sauce, add warmed, re-hydrated beef and some of the beans to the tortilla shell, and it's good eatin'.....

I also tried chicken - boiled up a couple of breasts, cut them into bite sized pieces, and dehydrated. It made pretty good "chicken jerky", but did nothing for the Zatarin's rice meal I tried to eat it in....was talking with someone later who told me to use canned chicken and it will rehydrate - haven't tried it, yet, tho....

Also, perhaps closer to topic - I've taken Hamburger Helper meals on several trips. Some of them call for milk - I put powdered milk double-bagged in snack bags, premeasured for a cup. Pretty good stuff.... I've tried the cheese helper chicken alfredo a couple of times, bringing a foil packet of chicken to add - I simmer for a while in a ccf cozy, then cook for a few more minutes. I find that it doesn't simmer down well, but makes pretty good "chicken alfredo soup!"

http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/showimage.php?i=17787&catid=member&imageuser=6309

[budforester]

There are some microwave Hamburger Helper packets, only needing water, that SteveJ brought to mind. They taste OK and work for campstove or FBC, but one pack ain't enough for me.

[NerdyJohn]

I agree completely with Wise Old Owl. I never liked instant potatoes untilI tried this brand. I've tried every single one of their varieties, and they are all amazingly good.

I wonder what they are doing that is different?

[bullseye]

I agree completely with Wise Old Owl. I never liked instant potatoes untilI tried this brand. I've tried every single one of their varieties, and they are all amazingly good.

I wonder what they are doing that is different?

I'll third that. I add a pouch of chicken and some instant gravy mix...man is that good! I also like to make pasta w/a pack of instant sauce, and a small can of tomato paste, and a pouch of chicken. I gotta try the stovetop and chicken, that sounds like gourmet after a long day :D.

[GGS2]

http://www.idahoan.com/product/PRODUCT_IMAGES/original8oz.gif (http://www.idahoan.com/product/product_details.php3?id=dc3c7ea89618fa237b208c2956 fa0db0)Goof proof and fast. A relativly new product thats lightweight and is ready in 4 minutes I did not like instant potato until I tried this brand.

I just went to their web site. The plain stuff seems ok, but the flavored is way too high in salt. Which one did you try?

[take-a-knee]

I just went to their web site. The plain stuff seems ok, but the flavored is way too high in salt. Which one did you try?

You may not need to be concerned with the sodium if you only eat it while hiking, especially if it is warm. Just don't eat the stuff at home.

[GGS2]

You may not need to be concerned with the sodium if you only eat it while hiking, especially if it is warm. Just don't eat the stuff at home.

Maybe. I sweat like a pig out there in summer, so I could probably get away with it, but I have high blood pressure when I eat too much sodium. So I have to be careful. Or carry lots of water, which I tend to do anyway.

[sarbar]

The reason those packs taste good is they have everything in them vs. plain instant potatoes. Of course the hefty sodium is what you pay for convenience ;)

[Wise Old Owl]

I just went to their web site. The plain stuff seems ok, but the flavored is way too high in salt. Which one did you try?

I can understand your question as about ten years ago I too was put on a very strict no salt just what is in the food. My wife and I did it together. Sodium is present in all foods, just as is natural nitrates in wine. Salt in this product is 4th on list of ingredients. On some of the days on my hikes Potassium, Magnesium and Salt is necessary when hiking with plenty of water. To do without would not be a good idea. Take-a-Knee and Sabar are correct. As I said before Instant potato flake is noticeably awful to me, adding Low Salt Substitutes as I have in the past did not help. For me a lot of good things that work for backpacking might not be good for you. The best advice would be to have a frank discussion next time you visit your doctor for something else.


Oh I almost forgot what makes this set of products better is the different flavors to choose from and 1/2 a packet is all you need to supplement a personal dinner

[Creek Dancer]

The barbeque whole chicken breast in a foil pouch is pretty good. They also make a garlic herb one You can heat the chicken by letting the unopened pouch sit in boiling water for a few minutes. Turn off your stove and cover your pot with the pouch inside to allow the hot water to finish heating the chicken. Eat the chicken right out of the pouch for no mess clean up! I recommned eating this the first night out on a multi day hike because it's kind of heavy.

[Tinker]

I tried smoked salmon in a pouch on my '06 Georgia hike. Very nice!
Lentils add fiber and protein to one pot meals. Just boil some for about 5 min. before adding instant dinners (red or yellow lentils cook fastest).
Quinoa (pronounced Keen-wah) is a grain that is very high in protein and cooks quickly. Not all people like it, though.
You can buy frozen biscuits for your first night out of town, hard boil a couple of eggs for a couple of lunches, and, as Jack said, buy some frozen meat and cook it first night on the trail. A fresh onion and/or pepper, or even garlic does wonders for a boring meal. Of course, you can dry some of this stuff at home, too.

[Doctari]

All the above posts are great answers. I'd like to add: Plan a trip to the grocery store just to "Practice" Look at the items listed in the posts above, & if you have the $$$ get some to fix pre hike at home. I "shop for the hike" every time I am somewhere that has possible hiking type foods. Probably the best places to actually practice are the small convenience type stores, small "Mom & Pop" groceries, Family dollar & Dollar general type stores, etc.
As with most times shoping for food, don't go when you are hungry! This is PRACTICE! Learn what is avalable, read the calories per serving, AND the servings per pkg. Most foods listed, are made to be side dishes (Like Lipton noodles & sauce) so you will want to multiply calories by number of servings. Do you need to add anything to make it edable? Some Zatarans are like that, altho I love the dirty rice without adding anything.
How long is the "cook time"?
If you cook this way on trail: Will that translate to "Add boiling water, stir & wait a few minutes" type cooking?
Also think about what you may want to add to make it taste better / add calories / change the taste, etc.

[Monkeyboy]

Other than the meal in a pouch (Lipton type) stuff ...one of the tastiest, inexpensive and easy to fix dinners is StoveTop Stuffing Mix with a foil packet of chicken added to it. One pouch (inside the box) of StoveTop makes 2 meals (at least for me). I generally repackage it into pint sized ziplocks. Light as all get out to carry and boils up quickly.

'Slogger


For something a little different, make boiling water and add both Stove Top, Instant Mashed potatoes, powdered Chicken gravy mix and parmasan cheese with foil chicken.

[Monkeyboy]

And if you want to add a little more kick to the stove top or mashed potatoes, add some dried chives to the boiling water.

[whitefoot_hp]

wow, there is something we agree upon, monkeyboy.

[Wise Old Owl]

Quinoa (pronounced Keen-wah) is a grain that is very high in protein and cooks quickly. Not all people like it, though.
.

Yes you are right, it is an aquired taste that resembles poop. I have had it a couple of times - and I am on the fence as to; "I better be starving to eat that again" Please do not take the cartoon I found too seriously.

http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg275/MarkSwarbrick/shizzy0087.gif

[Appalachian Tater]

I add about 25% quinoa when cooking rice at home, it gives a nice flavor and helps with protein balance.

[Erin]

Ditto the stove top stuffing (cornbread mix) and chicken. I even eat this at home. We had some dehydrated morels that added a nice flavor. If you are sharing meals, dehydrated refried beans, velveeta (that stuff is so processed, it keeps) tortillas and taco sauce in the packets from Taco Bell makes for a filling and satisfying dinner and a great source of protein.
Quinoa is good with a dab of olive oil and any vegetable too, left over onion, green pepper, etc.