Mountain House theres gota be a better way?????

[jelloitsalive]

I was in walmart today and saw they had mountain house meals 5-6 dollars for only 400 calories..... Im a newbie planing on doing weekend hikes to me this just doesnt sound suffeciant for dinner after a long day of hiking..........DINNER RECOMENDATIONS ANYONE???????????

[Northern Lights]

Make your own meals and check out freezerbagcooking

[leaftye]

I was in walmart today and saw they had mountain house meals 5-6 dollars for only 400 calories..... Im a newbie planing on doing weekend hikes to me this just doesnt sound suffeciant for dinner after a long day of hiking..........DINNER RECOMENDATIONS ANYONE???????????

I'm impressed that you noticed the calories. It's amazing how many people don't. I bet that package said it had two servings, which makes it seems like a lot, but it's really a very little amount of food.

Northern Lights nailed it. You can also add things to it to add calories, like olive oil. Sometimes I'll sprinkle sunflower seeds on my meals.

Check out Dicentra's site and book for dehydrated meals that you can prepare at home and make on the trail using freezer bag cooking.

[leaftye]

Forgot the link:
http://www.onepanwonders.com/

[pafarmboy]

www.hawkvittles.com

[RodentWhisperer]

I'll +1.5 to the idea of freezer bag bag cooking-- try trailcooking.com .

To put this into perspective, when I hike with me wife, she's always happy to eat dishes I prepare for FBC. Why is that a big deal? She's a chef!

[Bronk]

A box of Velveeta Shells and Cheese is 1000 calories. Look for any food you can find in the grocery store that can be cooked by just boiling some water...stuffing, mashed potatoes (add cheese and pre-cooked bacon), Lipton dinners, soups. Food that is labeled "camping food" is mostly overpriced stuff that is not necessarily better than regular food sold in a grocery store.

[Del Q]

I went into no-cook mode a few years ago, no stove, no fuel, simpler, mountain house and other food was fine but I prefer not cooking a lot more. On a thru-hike not sure if I would go no-cook the whole way but for section hiking it works for me. My typical dinner is Spam single serving, mustard packet, pita bread, cheese and snacks from everything else in my bag, sunflower seeds, frito's, hard pretzels, dried fruit, etc.

[Ktaadn]

tortillias, pre-cooked bacon, salami, aged cheese, mayo, m&m's. The MH meals are good, but they are expensive and I prefer not having to cook.

[Wise Old Owl]

this ought to be an article... if it isn't already....

getting back to the OP original post - box stores "see" something isn't selling and flags the decision maker to blow it out, I see this over at Dick Sporting goods occasionally too.

[Spirit Walker]

You can buy Lipton/Knorr or Rice-a-roni rice or pasta meals for about $1.25. I add dried milk and a protein - Spam, sausage, tuna, salmon, ham, or chicken. Other inexpensive and filling options are mac n cheese, stuffing mix, instant mashed potatoes with cheese, dried bean soup, etc. When hiking with my husband I'll add a Ramen or just plain pasta to a Liptons to add bulk without adding a lot of cost.

[shelb]

You can buy Lipton/Knorr or Rice-a-roni rice or pasta meals for about $1.25. I add dried milk and a protein - Spam, sausage, tuna, salmon, ham, or chicken. Other inexpensive and filling options are mac n cheese, stuffing mix, instant mashed potatoes with cheese, dried bean soup, etc. When hiking with my husband I'll add a Ramen or just plain pasta to a Liptons to add bulk without adding a lot of cost.

This is the best way to go! However, mac n cheese doesn't work well for me with FBC. Thes rest does!

[Wise Old Owl]

Shelb if you do find a mac and cheese it deserves a new thread.

[leaftye]

This is the best way to go! However, mac n cheese doesn't work well for me with FBC. Thes rest does!

I have to use microwavable mac n cheese, but it doesn't taste nearly as good.

[Dicentra]

This is the best way to go! However, mac n cheese doesn't work well for me with FBC. Thes rest does!

The ones that are just-add-hot-water that come in a cup are OK for FBC. I don't think they taste very good though. You can make your own by pre-cooking and dehydrating the pasta, then combining that with the cheese powder, a little milk powder and maybe some butter powder.

[Wise Old Owl]

Ah haaa Dicentra is a morning person!

What I ment by my post after trying ones with as little sodium and quick noodles - its awe full it never gets fully cooked and remains watery. eeewwwww.

[fenderbenderfc]

Cook whatever you like to eat in advance and dehydrate it. Cheaper and tastier.

[Dicentra]

And that, mah dear, is why you make your own! Add *just* enough water to cover.

Ah haaa Dicentra is a morning person!

What I ment by my post after trying ones with as little sodium and quick noodles - its awe full it never gets fully cooked and remains watery. eeewwwww.

[sarbar]

For mac and cheese I cook and dry pasta and then u8se this sauce mix:
http://www.trailcooking.com/recipes/...eese-sauce-mix
or:
http://www.trailcooking.com/recipes/...uce-powder-mix

Also:
http://www.trailcooking.com/dehydrat...eze-dried-meal
http://www.trailcooking.com/content/diy-trail-spaghetti

[oldbear]

Jelloitsalive
Cooking time is one thing that you must always take into account when you're using supermarket foods bc cooking times becomes fuel needs which in turn becomes weight and volume
One way that you can significantly reduce the amount of fuel need to cook something as fuel intensive as dried pasta is to passively rehydrate the pasta first
Place the pasta in a container that's 4x the volume of the pasta
Fill w/ cold water
Leave alone for about an hour
Your product is done when it smells really wheaty and has the texture of a 2 minutes before al dente state
Drain
Bring enough lightly salted water to cover to a boil
Add pasta
Cook until it looks like cooked pasta and is at the al dente state....it will only take a couple of minutes
Drain and add what you will to it

Bring enough lightly salted