View Full Version : Breakfast Help and Buying Bulk
Okay, so I'm doing the whole post drop thing (with buying some things in towns as needed like toilet paper, soap, etc..), but the majority of my food will be coming from home.
I'm planning for 175 days (12.5 miles/day - I don't want to overshoot and say I'll do an average of 15/day because I feel like most people's expectations are not met) I also don't want to undershoot and have an abundance of food when I get back...
Meal Plans:
Dinner - dehydrated meals I've been working on the past 2 months
Here's where I need help:
"Lunch" (basically just random snacks throughout the day) - beef jerky (homemade), 2 cliff bars, 2 candy bars, trail mix (these items will get meshed with breakfast/dinner as well)
Breakfast - poptarts/granola bars
Basically, I need help with a breakfast plan (I usually make omelettes/scrambled eggs at home, but I don't want to have to cook in the AM- I'd strictly like to use my stove at night). Any ideas what I should get? I know I'll be sick of poptarts and granola bars by the 2nd week.
Also, I'm going to BJs tomorrow to buy everything in bulk. Any other ideas/suggestions for food/snacks/random items I could buy in bulk and ship out?
swisscross
02-19-2016, 13:47
I tried a new breakfast for my last outing per suggestions here on WB.
I really liked it and continued eating/drinking it after I got home to use up all I had purchased.
Sure others will give you other suggestions.
10 oz of H2O (instructions on Nido is 8oz)
4 scoops of Nido
1 package of Carnation instant breakfast
2 packs of instant coffee.
Can be consumed cold or hot.
I walked out of camp drinking my breakfast....fast, easy, tasty
Okay, so I'm doing the whole post drop thing (with buying some things in towns as needed like toilet paper, soap, etc..), but the majority of my food will be coming from home.
I'm planning for 175 days (12.5 miles/day - I don't want to overshoot and say I'll do an average of 15/day because I feel like most people's expectations are not met) I also don't want to undershoot and have an abundance of food when I get back...
Meal Plans:
Dinner - dehydrated meals I've been working on the past 2 months
Here's where I need help:
"Lunch" (basically just random snacks throughout the day) - beef jerky (homemade), 2 cliff bars, 2 candy bars, trail mix (these items will get meshed with breakfast/dinner as well)
Breakfast - poptarts/granola bars
Basically, I need help with a breakfast plan (I usually make omelettes/scrambled eggs at home, but I don't want to have to cook in the AM- I'd strictly like to use my stove at night). Any ideas what I should get? I know I'll be sick of poptarts and granola bars by the 2nd week.
Also, I'm going to BJs tomorrow to buy everything in bulk. Any other ideas/suggestions for food/snacks/random items I could buy in bulk and ship out?
Before breakfast.......
why wouldn't you pack out TP in your resupply along with other consumables??????
breakfast.
1) any kind of cereal.
2) any kind of pastry, especially honey buns.
3) poptarts
4) oatmeal.
5) use Nido for milk.
6) my favorite. mochas, either hot or cold. Two packages of dark chocolate hot chocolate plus 2-4 tubes of instant coffee.
7) candy bars.
Basically, just about anything. I find that variety really helps. Example: how many favors of poptarts can you pack?
Puddlefish
02-19-2016, 14:09
Chia pudding. Chia seeds, Nido, powdered sugar, cocoa powder. Add water the night before, mush the plastic baggy. Cut off a corner of the bag in the morning and slurp down. Add whatever else you want to add. Dried fruit, nuts, oatmeal, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, allspice. Cold, or warm, your choice.
Soft tortillas filled with pretty much anything, wrap it and it's portable if you want to eat as you go.
Don't feel you have to limit yourself to breakfast foods in the morning either. Nutrition doesn't care about social conventions.
When are you leaving?
Get Thee to Trader Joe's! The place is the Taj Mahal of reasonably nutritious as well as downright decadent trail food.
Boone Barrs - buy online. Google knows the way.
I bought some of these at T.J.'s last night.
Kind Plus Bars
Clif Bars
Lara Bars
A bewildering array of flavors.
I doubt you would get tired of them.
Dried fruit-again a bewildering array of dried & freeze dried fruit on the market. Trader Joe's or make your own. Texas blueberries & peaches are on the horizon.
Nuts & nut butters. Find an HEB and make your own butters.
Any morning that starts without hot food & hot coffee SUCKS! Remember you heard it here first.
I'll wager your mail drops decline rapidly and/or disappear somewhere in North Carolina.
Good luck!
Wayne
I second the chia pudding. It's very lightweight and compact for the calories/nutrition.
This is what I do:
1-3 TBSP of chia seed
2-4 TBSP of powdered peanut butter
1/4 cup nuts (walnuts, pecans, etc.)
1/4 cup dried fruit (raisins, apricots, cranberries, etc.)
Add water to achieve desired consistency. I prefer something similar to the consistency of greek yogurt.
Puddlefish
02-19-2016, 15:23
Oh, Whey protein powder as well. Various flavors, some beneficial nutrients, lightweight. Tasty enough. Seems expensive initially, but it's not a horrible cost per serving.
Slo-go'en
02-19-2016, 16:38
Breakfast and lunch then to be snack type items which are easy to get along the way and aren't going to cost that much more bought as you go then in bulk. What ever extra that might cost is made up with reduced postage.
The other issue is what are you going to do with 300 power bars and 20 pounds of oatmeal if you end up having to go home after a month? Having spent a lot of money upfront for food might be incentive to keep going, but that can't be counted on. With a 80% drop out rate, that's not a good bet.
CarlZ993
02-19-2016, 17:15
I typically don't cook too often for breakfast. When I do, it's oatmeal. Maybe some hot chocolate w/ it. The rest of the time, I'm using Nido powdered milk w/ granola cereal. Nido milk really tastes pretty good for powdered milk. I may toss in some extra fruit and/or nuts in my cereal.
I used mail drops for all but one resupply on my hike. Most bought stuff along the way. My resupply & hiking schedule is linked in my signature below. If you do mail drops, uses businesses where possible. PO can be a hassle (you get ahead or behind schedule & hit it when they're closed).
Good luck on your hike.
peakbagger
02-19-2016, 17:50
I expect a few other thru hikers are going to follow you to wherever you unpack your food drops so they can get all the stuff that you got sick of ;). Folks tastes change on the trail sometimes bizarrely. There is not much a hiker can do about daily mileage if they want to thru hike but they can change their menu.
You don't say what time of the year your thru hike will start but if you are up on the ridge lines in the spring it can be quite cold in the AM. There is lot to be said for something hot for breakfast. When you get up in the AM your body core is cold and nothing beats something warm in your stomach. I find that a cold breakfast just sits there until I get hiking, plus I don't really go for the morning sugar buzz from pop tarts. I never eat oatmeal any other time but when I hike, I eat it. I am not a coffee drinker so I do hot chocolate. I eat the oatmeal first in my cup then mix up the hot chocolate in the cup and then pour some water in the cup and its "clean" and ready for supper. As the weather warms up, a bowl of cereal with Nido is remarkably nice. I have met a few folks over the years that pick up few boxes of different varieties in town and then split them up. It is interesting to see folks mowing down on Captain Crunch and Count Chocola in the middle of the 100 mile wilderness (remember my comment on bizarre tastes) Most of the Sunbelt cereals (walmart has then all) are pretty dense and pack well plus they are a cheap substitute for granola. The key is to secure a supply of NIDO as its hard to find in stores. It is much better than the other skim milk. In a pinch if you have to you can add coffee creamer to regular powdered milk and it improves things but NIDO is much better as it has fat in it. Just don't try it at home and expect ti tastes like milk as its not that close but when on the trail it works great with cereal
Warm tortillas with Nutella and peanut butter are nice luxury. Tortillas are my bread product and if there are still coals in the firepit just wrap them the tortilla in foil and they heat right up.
The other hiking only item is Fruit by the foot. Basically its instant sugar with some fruit flavor. Nothing I would eat normally but it works for hiking.
Wow, thanks so much for all the helpful info guys. Definitely going to buy NIDO to add to my resupply as well as reconsider maybe a hot breakfast or two for the colder times on the ridge lines.
PS puddlefish and kathyd, the pudding idea actually sounds pretty dope- definitely going to have to try that as well:)
Miso is usually stocked in large cans. I recently found smaller cans which would be better for one backpacker.
BE CAREFUL Of LOW FAT NIDO. Don't buy it. Read the label carefully. Only buy the whole milk variety.
HEB rocks for backpacking food.
Have fun.
Wayne
Sent from somewhere around here.
NIDO not miso.
Sent from somewhere around here.
Strummystick
03-10-2016, 13:57
Mix it up the night before in 20oz water bottle ..... Wake up/shake again - chug as you start hiking :banana
Super Protein Breakfast Mix
[just add 16-20oz. water]
(tastes like “Yoohoo “or “Starbuck’s Mocha Drink”)
½ cp "Nido brand" instant whole milk 320c
1 envelope of “Carnation Breakfast Essentials” 130c
1 daily dose of “ON Gold Standard Whey Protein Mix 120c
optional 1 tsp. inst. coffee for a wake up caffeine jolt
[pack at home in a “snack size" zip lock bag]
Packed weight 4.3oz (570 total calories !!!!!)
flatgrounder
03-10-2016, 14:17
Strummystick this sounds great. Getting my food mixed for my hike. Will def try this.
flatgrounder
03-10-2016, 14:22
Some of my mornings will include ..tortilla, peanut butter, honey...for a no cook and to change up
colorado_rob
03-10-2016, 14:54
I use Costco to bulk-buy my trail food, all except your original question, that of Breakfast food, sorry.... For Breakfast I wait until my "normal life" usual cereal (I love Post "Great Grains")goes on sale at my usual grocery, and stock up with a bunch of boxes. Then I mixed it up with Nido in little baggies, voila, my trail breakfasts; add water and enjoy. I do mix in a few packets of instant oatmeal for some breakfasts, but I love my GG cereal, and never seem to tire of it. And instant Starbucks coffee, bought in bulk at Costco.
Speaking of bulk at Costco, one hears some WBers spout off about "if you buy in bulk, you'll be eating power bars all day every day". Just not true. Costco (and I'm sure other places) sells a huge variety of trail foods. I just stocked up for the spring/summer, see pic below, without even trying hard I have 13 varieties of trail-snack foods, all at roughly half price vs. my usual store (Krogers). I could have easily bought (in bulk) twice as many things. I also buy about half of my dehydrated meals at Costco (not shown in pic), at $4 each (about half of REI prices).
The other half I buy in bulk at maryjanefarms.com good stuff there, but pricey if bought individually.
It really is important to have a good variety of stuff for both on-trail foods and dinners. For some reason I don't need variety at breakfast, but of course YMMV.
Someone mentioned in another thread, hawkvittles. He's an Adirondack's 49er whom I agree, makes delicious freeze-dried meals. However, I haven't been there or purchased from him in a few years, and he's been awol in a popular Adirondacks forum. But here's the link:
http://hawkvittles.com/
For example:
http://hawkvittles.com/diva/divaPOP/divaPOPgold_img.htm?i=http://hawkvittles.com/product_pages/packers_potatoes.jpg&c=&a=Packers_Potatoes_plus&h= 1&n=1&x=&s=15
Platypus2016
03-15-2016, 15:40
I know this has been answered in many amazing ways already, but I figured I would add my expect with breakfast on the trail......
I HATED IT!!! Lol, I'm not even kidding! My eating habits probably had a lot to do with me only making it 700ish Mike's last year. Away from the trai, I am without a doubt a morning person. I wake up, normally without an alarm, jump out of bed and start my day right away. But once I was on the other trail awhile I started having a really hard time in the mornings. I think a lot of that had to do with the fact that I couldn't figure out a way of not having to completely unpack and repack my bag every morning, even when I'd stay in shelter. So because of this oh-so-time-consuming morning ritual, I hardly ever was in the mood to make a hot breakfast. I got so sick of oatmeal it took me six months of being home before I could even look at it again. A lot of times I would just force myself to eat it (and don't forget that you can cook the oatmeal in the loop ttle brown paper bag it comes in, just pour the water into the bag,fold it over and let it sit, and the water can be hot or cold...)
So what I ended up finding that worked best for me was a liquid breakfast, similar to some of the recipes listed above, I would use two packs of carnations breakfast essentials (vanilla), with two scoops of vanilla whey protein mix, a pack or two of instant coffee and then just fill with water until you get to the consistency that works best for you (I ended up making mine ina whole liter of water, just tomget some H2O in me before the hiking started . it tasted like crap, but it gave me enough calories, protein, and vitamins to get through the day until I could get more substantial (and tasty) food in me.
Just make sure that no matter what, you always put something on your stomach before you start your day.
Platypus
PS: I just poured the tub of protein powder into a gallon ziplock bag, it was heavy, but lasted me a very long time.
Platypus2016
03-15-2016, 15:47
Oh, sorry I forgot to mention..
A lot of our hiking group split a tub of "pre-workout" mix also, which was a basically a nasty tasting mix that had tons of caffeine, and other "proprietary blend" or something... But definitely worked when you needed an energy boost in-between meals. That might be worth looking into.
The main thing is to find plenty of options that work for you, most people can and will get tired of eating the same thing for months on end, a new enjoyable food source can be a huge mental boost!
Platypus
fabianscorpio
03-23-2016, 11:35
My mail drops usually contain 4-6 days of food....in each one, I pack different flavors of pop tarts (I have about 7 different flavors), and usually only one or two days for oatmeal (also different flavors). Then I have my 'snack pack' for the day bagged up too...1 snickers bar, 2 packs of peanut butter crackers, 1 pack of nutter butter cookies, and 4 slim jims. Then I have my ramen for lunch, again, different flavors to mix it up, then for supper...(see my post on 'trail dinners on the cheap' in the cooking forums....good luck!
Nice cabinets, colorado_rob. Very pretty.
Vegan Packer
03-25-2016, 00:13
Basically, I need help with a breakfast plan
I have this for breakfast. (You can also have it for dessert, but I prefer it for breakfast.) All that you need is a half cup of hot water to rehydrate it. It is filling, and it gives me great energy.
I've had good luck with it being shelf stable. In fact, I just ate one of my leftover batches made 10 months ago.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJY0xUxopXE
During the warmer months when I want the convenience of having fast get up and go food options I like no cook assorted Bobo's Oatmeal Bars(like an oatmeal fiber filled cake, GREAT with a nut butter packet!) and Pro Bars(Meals!), handful of dried fruits like TJ's dried unsweetened mango, persimmon, Navitas Naturals dried mulberries, Bare/Dang roasted flavored coconut chips/apple slices/etc, and drip gnoshing a handful of trail mix containing various nuts, seeds, and fruit, and maybe a Mocha/ Espresso Love/Vanilla Bean Gu or Stinger Honey Packet w/ caffeine(from Gotu kola) and ginseng. Energy Bites or Energy Squares of various ingredients are on the list too which can be obtained from Nuts. com or Whole Foods or some mainstream grocery stores in bulk bins. I've made them myself as well.
http://bobosoatbars.com lots of good stuff comes out of Boulder CO.
http://shop.theprobar.com/Products/PROBAR-Meal
http://www.amazon.com/Trader-Joes-Dried-Slices-ounces/dp/B004A9VWC2
http://eatingatjoes.com/2013/05/07/trader-joes-dried-persimmons/
http://navitasnaturals.com/product/459/Mulberries.html
http://www.baresnacks.com/products/
http://dangfoods.com/our-products/coconut-chips/
https://guenergy.com/shop/energy-gel
http://www.honeystinger.com/gels/ginsting.html
https://nuts.com/snacks/energy-squares/cacao-goji.html