fabianscorpio
03-23-2016, 10:12
Beginners ‘on the cheap’ dinner suggestions:
Found at Big Lots for $2.00 - $3.00…Bear Creek soup mixes, and rice mixes.
I bought Idahoan instant mashed potatoes at Sam's club, along with A huge box of 'Minute Rice'.....both about 6 bucks for huge boxes...
Let me start with my favorite….Bear Creek ‘Darn Good chili mix’. Typically, you can get three to four meals out of one bag….
I pour the entire package of Bear Creek chili mix into a mixing bowl and mix it around.
Now, how to mix with rice and mashed potatoes:
Using a measuring cup, I pour ½ cup Bear Creek ‘Darn Good Chili’ mix + 1/3 cup instant rice (I use minute rice) + ¼ cup instant mashed potatoes (I use Idahoan, butter flavor or real premium), into a quart sized freezer bag. Shake it up a bit to mix it together, push the air out and then seal it, and label the contents with a sharpie. *You can add some red pepper too (I used red pepper packets I grabbed from Little Caesars Pizza, but it’s probably more practical to just add them to the mix, however, you may not be in the mood!) I also tried adding a ketchup packet from McDonalds, substituted for the Tomato Paste it suggests. That was pretty good too (you may however consider adding a tid-bit less water if you add more than one package of ketchup).
How to prepare:
Boil your water (I used a jetboil, filled to the 400 line if it had mashed potatoes, 300 if only 'double' rice was added, in place of mashed) and pour it into the freezer ziplock bag containing the chili mix and other added stuff, the freezer bag should be inside your cozy. I used a cozy lunch bag I bought at walmart for 4 bucks, I then lined it with a bubble foil envelope; this held the freezer bag. I would pour the water into the bag containing the mix, seal the bag tightly, pinch the corners of the cozy onto the freezer bag, and shake it around a bit, then let it sit for about a half hour (shaking it ever now and then, when I thought of it), and trust me, with the cozy and foil bag, it was still too hot to eat, even after a half hour! You may find that you want a bit more water to hydrate the beans if you are going to just leave it sit, as shaking it around more often helped distribute the water. I found that if I simply let it sit, the beans that 'floated' to the top were still a bit 'crunchy'.
*Yields about 600 calories, but I added calories by either adding bacon pieces to the chili (1.38 at walmart), or eating a can a Vienna sausages on the side (43 cents at walmart)…average 800 calories for dinner.
About Bear Creek Meals:
Pretty much all the Bear Creek meals are 2 to 3 bucks; 2 for the rice mixes, and 3 for the soups and chili. And they all require pretty much the same combo of ingredients depending on your preference of taste and texture. I usually start with a ½ cup of whatever Bear creek meal I’m using, then add 1/3 rice and ¼ mashed potatoes, or exclude the mashed potatoes if it’s pasta based, and add more rice, that is, I add 2/3 rice as my only ingredient, in place of the 1/3 rice and ¼ mashed potatoes I would normally add.
When using a lot of rice, 2/3 rice, and no mashed potatoes, I found that it was typical that the dinner was bland in flavor, ‘watered down’ by the added 'flavorless' rice no doubt. Here, I would add salt and pepper, even bacon bits. You can even buy a seasoning, and add a ½ teaspoon to provide more flavor, or a different flavor.
How I cooked my meals:
As stated above, I used a jetboil system, and typically used 300 ML for rice mixtures, and 400 ML for anything with mashed potatoes, or a bit less than 400 ML, and slightly above 300 ML, if the meal itself was ‘thick’ (meals like this will have a lot of powder).
Other Bear Creek meals:
For the Bear Creek mac and cheese meals (3 bucks) I simply split the package in half, added no rice or any other sides, except for real bacon pieces! So you get two, 800 calorie meals for about 4 bucks! Vs the Mountain House 1 meal package for over ten bucks!
Note: For Bear Creek meals with ‘thicker’ pasta shells or noodles, add about 400 ML of water and let sit for over a half hour. I always liked my meals ‘thick’, not soupy, so I used less water…300 ML seemed to be right on for meals with only added rice. You just have to consider what it is you are re-hydrating, what you have added to the mix, if anything, and how long it must sit to taste acceptable (2 dollar rice mixes with added rice took less time, thick noodles such as shells and bow-ties took longer, and I would suggest using more water, but just shy of 400 ML).
Other suggestions:
Walmart has their own brand of pop tarts and oatmeal, 'Great Value' brand, I found that this is the best place to get these items, as well as Ramen noodles and peanut butter, ‘All-Good’ Peanut Butter was 1.50 per 16 oz jar, and it was tasty!
Sams Club provided the bulk of my money saving….peanut butter cracker 40 packs for 7 bucks, 48 snickers bars for 28 bucks, yeah….and the list goes on….I paid the 45 dollar membership fee, and saved money buying in bulk….
By the way, This was my typical day of food…
Breakfast:
Coffee + Pop tarts or oatmeal.
(Here's another tip: I priced coffee packets, and the cheapest I found was 19 packets for 5 bucks....Because I don't like instant coffee, nor did I like the price of 200 days of coffee, I made my own coffee packets! I used regular sized coffee filters, added a heaping teaspoon of folger's coffee grounds, folded it into a pouch, and used kite string and a stapler to seal it off! Fresh coffee!!!! And it only cost me about 15 bucks in materials/ingredients, for about 150 packets of coffee!) (300/400 ML in the jetboil per packet)
Snacks:
1 Snickers bar, 2 packs of 6 peanut butter crackers, 1 pack of 6 nutter butter cookies, 4 small slim jims.
Lunch:
Peanut butter spread onto 3 soft 6 inch tortillas (I took PB and tortillas on a 5/6 day hike and decided it was too heavy in comparison to ramen noodles (when carrying 6 days of food)...so ramen noodles it is. Of course, when shopping in town, PB is always an option!)
Dinner:
Bear Creek mixture + bacon bits, or Vienna sausages….
*About 3000 calories per day.
I have scheduled about 13 mail drops between Swatara Gap, PA and Amicalola Falls, and I have scheduled about 12 town/store resupplies (I know that will most definitely change, lol). Occasionally, I have a biscuit pouch thrown in here and there with my mail drops, also Chef-Boy-R-Dee cans to eat on the spot.
*After calculating my shipping expenses for mail drops and what I spent on 'cheap' food, I figure the cost of my 'mail drop food' to be at around 8 bucks per day of food ($200 shipping cost + 400 in food(probably less, I had a considerable amount of food left over after buying in bulk), divided by 65 days of dropped food)....however, whatever I spend in town when not getting mail drops will also add to the expense 'total' of my trip from PA to GA. I planned my trip at 102 days at 12 miles a day, from PA to GA, but this did not include any ZERO days, but I also know that I can do more than 12 miles a day (I like to underestimate) So, it may be pretty accurate accounting for those days I do 15-20 miles. Anyway, I reserved 1000 bucks to spend on hostels and motels (which I do not plan on staying at, but I find that I just may like a bed for a change!), broken gear, food, laundry, showers, whatever...)...so that puts me at 1600 bucks for PA to Georgia....now....because I still have food left over for my NOBO trip from NJ to Maine...well, I still have yet to calculate my trip from NJ to Maine! So, I'll let you know!!! But I figure anyone can do the trail for about 3000 bucks, even less....If you have no gear to start with, expect this price tag to be around 5000....good luck!!!
I hope this helped and gave you some food ideas!
Found at Big Lots for $2.00 - $3.00…Bear Creek soup mixes, and rice mixes.
I bought Idahoan instant mashed potatoes at Sam's club, along with A huge box of 'Minute Rice'.....both about 6 bucks for huge boxes...
Let me start with my favorite….Bear Creek ‘Darn Good chili mix’. Typically, you can get three to four meals out of one bag….
I pour the entire package of Bear Creek chili mix into a mixing bowl and mix it around.
Now, how to mix with rice and mashed potatoes:
Using a measuring cup, I pour ½ cup Bear Creek ‘Darn Good Chili’ mix + 1/3 cup instant rice (I use minute rice) + ¼ cup instant mashed potatoes (I use Idahoan, butter flavor or real premium), into a quart sized freezer bag. Shake it up a bit to mix it together, push the air out and then seal it, and label the contents with a sharpie. *You can add some red pepper too (I used red pepper packets I grabbed from Little Caesars Pizza, but it’s probably more practical to just add them to the mix, however, you may not be in the mood!) I also tried adding a ketchup packet from McDonalds, substituted for the Tomato Paste it suggests. That was pretty good too (you may however consider adding a tid-bit less water if you add more than one package of ketchup).
How to prepare:
Boil your water (I used a jetboil, filled to the 400 line if it had mashed potatoes, 300 if only 'double' rice was added, in place of mashed) and pour it into the freezer ziplock bag containing the chili mix and other added stuff, the freezer bag should be inside your cozy. I used a cozy lunch bag I bought at walmart for 4 bucks, I then lined it with a bubble foil envelope; this held the freezer bag. I would pour the water into the bag containing the mix, seal the bag tightly, pinch the corners of the cozy onto the freezer bag, and shake it around a bit, then let it sit for about a half hour (shaking it ever now and then, when I thought of it), and trust me, with the cozy and foil bag, it was still too hot to eat, even after a half hour! You may find that you want a bit more water to hydrate the beans if you are going to just leave it sit, as shaking it around more often helped distribute the water. I found that if I simply let it sit, the beans that 'floated' to the top were still a bit 'crunchy'.
*Yields about 600 calories, but I added calories by either adding bacon pieces to the chili (1.38 at walmart), or eating a can a Vienna sausages on the side (43 cents at walmart)…average 800 calories for dinner.
About Bear Creek Meals:
Pretty much all the Bear Creek meals are 2 to 3 bucks; 2 for the rice mixes, and 3 for the soups and chili. And they all require pretty much the same combo of ingredients depending on your preference of taste and texture. I usually start with a ½ cup of whatever Bear creek meal I’m using, then add 1/3 rice and ¼ mashed potatoes, or exclude the mashed potatoes if it’s pasta based, and add more rice, that is, I add 2/3 rice as my only ingredient, in place of the 1/3 rice and ¼ mashed potatoes I would normally add.
When using a lot of rice, 2/3 rice, and no mashed potatoes, I found that it was typical that the dinner was bland in flavor, ‘watered down’ by the added 'flavorless' rice no doubt. Here, I would add salt and pepper, even bacon bits. You can even buy a seasoning, and add a ½ teaspoon to provide more flavor, or a different flavor.
How I cooked my meals:
As stated above, I used a jetboil system, and typically used 300 ML for rice mixtures, and 400 ML for anything with mashed potatoes, or a bit less than 400 ML, and slightly above 300 ML, if the meal itself was ‘thick’ (meals like this will have a lot of powder).
Other Bear Creek meals:
For the Bear Creek mac and cheese meals (3 bucks) I simply split the package in half, added no rice or any other sides, except for real bacon pieces! So you get two, 800 calorie meals for about 4 bucks! Vs the Mountain House 1 meal package for over ten bucks!
Note: For Bear Creek meals with ‘thicker’ pasta shells or noodles, add about 400 ML of water and let sit for over a half hour. I always liked my meals ‘thick’, not soupy, so I used less water…300 ML seemed to be right on for meals with only added rice. You just have to consider what it is you are re-hydrating, what you have added to the mix, if anything, and how long it must sit to taste acceptable (2 dollar rice mixes with added rice took less time, thick noodles such as shells and bow-ties took longer, and I would suggest using more water, but just shy of 400 ML).
Other suggestions:
Walmart has their own brand of pop tarts and oatmeal, 'Great Value' brand, I found that this is the best place to get these items, as well as Ramen noodles and peanut butter, ‘All-Good’ Peanut Butter was 1.50 per 16 oz jar, and it was tasty!
Sams Club provided the bulk of my money saving….peanut butter cracker 40 packs for 7 bucks, 48 snickers bars for 28 bucks, yeah….and the list goes on….I paid the 45 dollar membership fee, and saved money buying in bulk….
By the way, This was my typical day of food…
Breakfast:
Coffee + Pop tarts or oatmeal.
(Here's another tip: I priced coffee packets, and the cheapest I found was 19 packets for 5 bucks....Because I don't like instant coffee, nor did I like the price of 200 days of coffee, I made my own coffee packets! I used regular sized coffee filters, added a heaping teaspoon of folger's coffee grounds, folded it into a pouch, and used kite string and a stapler to seal it off! Fresh coffee!!!! And it only cost me about 15 bucks in materials/ingredients, for about 150 packets of coffee!) (300/400 ML in the jetboil per packet)
Snacks:
1 Snickers bar, 2 packs of 6 peanut butter crackers, 1 pack of 6 nutter butter cookies, 4 small slim jims.
Lunch:
Peanut butter spread onto 3 soft 6 inch tortillas (I took PB and tortillas on a 5/6 day hike and decided it was too heavy in comparison to ramen noodles (when carrying 6 days of food)...so ramen noodles it is. Of course, when shopping in town, PB is always an option!)
Dinner:
Bear Creek mixture + bacon bits, or Vienna sausages….
*About 3000 calories per day.
I have scheduled about 13 mail drops between Swatara Gap, PA and Amicalola Falls, and I have scheduled about 12 town/store resupplies (I know that will most definitely change, lol). Occasionally, I have a biscuit pouch thrown in here and there with my mail drops, also Chef-Boy-R-Dee cans to eat on the spot.
*After calculating my shipping expenses for mail drops and what I spent on 'cheap' food, I figure the cost of my 'mail drop food' to be at around 8 bucks per day of food ($200 shipping cost + 400 in food(probably less, I had a considerable amount of food left over after buying in bulk), divided by 65 days of dropped food)....however, whatever I spend in town when not getting mail drops will also add to the expense 'total' of my trip from PA to GA. I planned my trip at 102 days at 12 miles a day, from PA to GA, but this did not include any ZERO days, but I also know that I can do more than 12 miles a day (I like to underestimate) So, it may be pretty accurate accounting for those days I do 15-20 miles. Anyway, I reserved 1000 bucks to spend on hostels and motels (which I do not plan on staying at, but I find that I just may like a bed for a change!), broken gear, food, laundry, showers, whatever...)...so that puts me at 1600 bucks for PA to Georgia....now....because I still have food left over for my NOBO trip from NJ to Maine...well, I still have yet to calculate my trip from NJ to Maine! So, I'll let you know!!! But I figure anyone can do the trail for about 3000 bucks, even less....If you have no gear to start with, expect this price tag to be around 5000....good luck!!!
I hope this helped and gave you some food ideas!