Ultra Light Food Recommendations

[mtnkngxt]

I'm moving more and more towards no cook meals.

Snickers, Met-Rx Protein Bars, Nature Valley Protein Bars, Justin's PB packets and Jelly packets on Indian Flatbread, Tuna Foil Pack, Mayo Packets, Relish Packets, and Flatbread.

I've started carrying a 450ml MLD pot and 2 esbit tabs with a small pot stand just to heat water on really cold nights for cider. This only applies for 3 season weather, still haul in canister stoves for winter.

[Wise Old Owl]

Add hard boiled eggs to that list - nice thread, I would suggest that instead of lite weight, focus on high protein and high carb - low sodium ideas that are packed with calories. For example a Tuna Pita & Kettle chips.

[Wise Old Owl]

where did everyone go?

[Another Kevin]

Where'd everyone go? I'm still here. I just get tired of answering this question. I get bored with the question much more easily than I get bored with my cooking. You can ring endless changes on staples like pasta and noodles, spuds, rice, tabbouleh, couscous, quinoa, beans and lentils, plus dehydrated veggies (I get most of mine from Harmony House), dried milk, sauce mixes (maybe the ones that come with Knorr sides, but maybe I'll assemble my own), herbs (usually dried from my garden) and spices. It would probably mean mail drops for a thru-hiker, but for a clueless weekender and short-sectioner like me, the possibilities abound.

I've got a few clueless weekends coming up. I plan that meals will include:

Dinner - Kevin's Italian mix (tomato powder, dehydrated onions, celery, carrots, herbs and spices) with abruzzese sausage and Parmesan over small pasta shells.

Noodles alfredo with smoked salmon, dried porcini mushrooms, dehydrated peas, onion, and capers.

Dal bhaat tarkari (mango-chicken curry over the dal bhaat) if I'm cooking for two. I have a hard time finding single-serving packaged chicken. Or chicken and dumplings if my hiking partner can't cope with Punjabi food - but most of my hiking partners ask for my curry.

Winter soup (lentils, potatoes, onions, celery, cabbage, Spam single). This is heavy enough to be a meal in itself, maybe with crusty bread or crackers.

Lunch - Dagwood from home on the first day.

Cold burrito (my mix of dehydrated beans, onions, peppers, corn, cabbage, reconstituted with water, lemon and oil, with hard cheese and salsa).

Bagel and peanut butter or tuna salad or chicken salad.

Hummus and pita. I wish baba ghannoosh would dehydrate.

Breakfast - Oatmeal. Mix it up with some combination of dried fruit or freeze-dried fruit or coconut or brown sugar.

Clif bar if I'm in a hurry.

Fresh muffins, made from Bisquick and dehydrated berries, steamed in a Fauxbaker.

Coffee. If I can't have coffee I'm not going.

This is just a sampling. I usually look in the cupboard before I go and grab what looks good. Maybe corn chowder (dehydrated corn, potatoes, onions, bell peppers, dry milk, microwave bacon) with some sort of bread or crackers. Or clam chowder (dehydrated vegetables, potatoes, pouch clams, microwave bacon) instead of the corn chowder. Or mashed potatoes, cooked apples, cabbage, and slices of summer sausage (Himmel und Erde).

A fancy dessert if the mood strikes me. Stewed freeze-dried peaches topped with Bisquick dumplings for a cobbler. Instant pudding over vanilla wafers or ladyfingers with a little splash of some sort of liqueur.

Don't get me started on what will happen if Mother Nature presents me with nettles, berries, grape leaves, mint, ramps, or even a trout.

If trail food is boring, you're doing it wrong.

[quasarr]

I recently discovered Ramen noodles AND instant mashed potatoes together = heaven!

Some mad genius told me about this on the trail. It has made my hiking life 1,000% better (as measured on my gram-O-matic scale)

[Tuckahoe]

An issue for me is becoming packaging and that it really does take up too much space. Take the Brother's All Natual freeze dried fruit or any packaged freeze dried fruit and for such a light weight product, there is a pretty massive packaging. The freeze dried fruit is fragile and companies often fill the packaging with a gas for cushioning. Repackage the product and you can end up with a baggie of freeze fruit dust (although that could be interesting).

Now I am more interested in foods that are denser and pack up small. I can I do some of that that myself.

[garlic08]

An issue for me is becoming packaging and that it really does take up too much space....

Me too, and this is a good point for going UL. My last 100 mile hike, the only trash I had at the end of the hike was an empty peanut butter jar. Everything else in the food bag was empty ziplocks that I used again. Of course, I threw away a bunch of packaging I bought the stuff in, like the instant potatoes, the Wheat Thins, Fig Newtons, sometimes ramen. But I also bought a bunch of stuff in bulk, like rolled oats, walnuts, raisins, cashews. I reuse the bags my tortillas and bread come in, sometimes as shoe liners when the weather turns to crap (and those stay dedicated to that task).

[Butterfly58]

@Another Kevin. Curious about your use of capers, cuz I love them! Do they dehydrate and rehydrate well?

[zelph]

Sun dried anchovies and roasted red peppers mixed with Mountain House Chicken-n-Rice.

[Another Kevin]

@Another Kevin. Curious about your use of capers, cuz I love them! Do they dehydrate and rehydrate well?

Indeed they do. They're really salty, I think that helps preserve them.

[Dogwood]

Excellent variety and creativity AK.

[hikernutcasey]

I usually do a 1 week section hike every month

I have no advice for you but I'm hoping you can tell me your secret to being able to do a 1 week hike EVERY month?!?

[CoffeeBager]

Roasted Coconut Chips from Trader Joe's. 160 calories/ounce. $2 for a 2 oz bag.
http://traderjoes.com/fearless-flyer...article_id=994
Can go in trail mix and sweet or savory dishes.

[dustfire]

I'm moving more and more towards no cook meals.

Snickers, Met-Rx Protein Bars, Nature Valley Protein Bars, Justin's PB packets and Jelly packets on Indian Flatbread, Tuna Foil Pack, Mayo Packets, Relish Packets, and Flatbread.

I've started carrying a 450ml MLD pot and 2 esbit tabs with a small pot stand just to heat water on really cold nights for cider. This only applies for 3 season weather, still haul in canister stoves for winter.

I've thought about doing this myself, how well has it worked out for you?

[wiiawiwb]

Hawk Vittles

[seminoles]

I'm with Kayak Karl, I take Hawks Vittles! It's easy, good and cheaper than I can make it.

[Dogwood]

So that we're on the same page, I think when we start examining UL food recommendations(that is the thread topic) we might take a few things into acct 1) high cals/ounce ratios(I try limiting myself to 120 cals/oz and higher) 2) low volume food(food that doesn't take up much space, it will factor into an overall UL hiking philosophy and certainly in UL trail food 3) repackaging food to reduce packaging wt and the extra volume that entails 4) NOT making the mistake in over simplifying our diets by assuming nutritional quality of trail food(and off trail food!) is simply cals/oz, fats, carbs, and proteins nor the ratios of those components in total daily caloric intake and vitamins(food is also about phytochemicals like polyphenols, carotenoids, etc , enzymes, etc). *I feel this is particularly important when minimizing the wt of our trail food when applying an UL philosophy. It turns out that these other OFTEN overlooked compounds have important antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and other benefits both on and off the trail possibly being even more important on a long distance hike. I notice this is all too often ignored by the junk trail food eating masses. 5) If truly adopting an overall UL hiking philosophy then UL trail food has to be taken in context with that overall philosophy. Looking at UL trail food recommendations need to be viewed in the larger context of an UL philosophy. These are my bedrock requirements in going with UL trail food. It has enabled me to get my daily LONG TERM long distance trail diet wt down to 20-22 ozs per day average. I can even typically afford to carry a bit of whole living foods(vegetables and fruits) in that avg trail food wt. However, it take some preparation as well as lifestyle discipline in achieving that daily avg trail food wt! Count the costs. Your mileage may differ.

[MuddyWaters]

No such thing as UL food.
Just food without water content, and its all the common ones.

I target 150 cal/oz overall. Usually end up in the 130 cal/oz range. It is easy to be higher, for instance peanut butter is 190 cal/oz and olive oil is 240 cal/oz. But Im not going to exist on just peanut butter and olive oil. They are great supplements to add to everything to bring the cals up though.

[QiWiz]

Try adding some fresh garlic and/or spices (eg turmeric) and olive oil to the usual suspects to jazz them up. Hearty soup mixes by Taste Adventure also make great starting points for meals. See http://www.tasteadventure.com/products/soups/
My favorite is the curry lentil, but the split pea, black bean, and corn chowder are also very good.

[aficion]

Grits+red pepper+parm+hardboiled eggs diced up+ bacon, summer sausage, or ham. Oh baby!
With instant grits you can go no cook if you like.