will ramen suffice?

[baerbelleksa]

any tips as to what food i'd need starting out sobo here in a couple weeks? thanks!

-baerbel

[Hikes in Rain]

Ramin is all you'll need to eat for a 2100+ hike.

OK, kidding aside. Check out the cooking and food forum more an almost overwhelming amount of great information and recipies. Some even look good enough to eat!

http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=32

[Two Speed]

Well, if you're OK with eating nothing but ramen for 4 - 6 months it will.

[max patch]

i ate ramen exactly once. i don't think its worth the effort.

lot of food ideas elsewhere on the website.

[RITBlake]

I ate Ramen just about every night for the last 2 months of our sobo TH. I enjoy it and I never really got sick of it. If you like it, go for it. Its cheap, easy to make and super easy to clean up. Some people went all out w/ their food choices, but at the end of the day I just wanted to eat without the hassle. I would have a ramen pack, a bag of peanut m&m's dumped in a jar of peanut butter, and something else like a bar or a piece of fruit.

[tlbj6142]

Don't forget you do NOT have to use the Ramen flavor (aka salt) packet. Sometimes, I just use the noodles (lightly broken, with half the water), a large splash of olive oil and crushed red pepper. Add some chicken or tuna once in a while.

Though I find eating chicken or tuna cold at lunch easier than dealing with it at dinner.

On my last trip, I use the new flavored tuna packets. The Spicey and Sweet (?) with a packet of Horsey Sauce and Arby Sauce thrown in. Had the mixture straight from the pouch one day, spread on tortillas another. Great lunch. That is the fanciest, most complicated, meal I've ever done.

I hate cooking and preparing food.

[RITBlake]

yah good point. My compatriot from the South, Gills, would cook his ramen, add the flavor packet, then drain the water. So he was left w/ just the noodles. I had never seen it done this way. If you try it, be ready for a flavor explosion.

[icemanat95]

You need to do something to fill out the nutritional value. Ramen ain't got much nutritional value at all. Not that any of the other quick and cheap choices do either, but Ramen is even less so. I carry it as filler.

[Spock]

Ramen hot, Ramen cold, Ramen cooked, Ramen crunchy.MMMMMM. I like Ramen. But there ain't much there there. However, you can mix it with anything and up the value a lot.

When you get tired of Ramen, couscous cook instantly and whole wheat (Hodgkins Mill) couscous have that extra whole grain nutrition... whatever that is????

Masa - fine corn meal with lime, used for making tortillas - mixed with brown suger or malt sugar (Carnation Malt) and any flavoring you like, chocolate, cinnamon, instant coffee... and mixed with hot water to make a thick drink or a spoonable meal. This is the iron rations of the frontier and still works fine. It makes a great pick-me-up in the afternoon - hot or cold. If you can toast the masa in a dry frying pan it magnifies the flavor. But that isn't necessary.

Search food threads here. There is more than you will ever use, but when you get to some semi-town in N. Carolina and the convenience store has nothing but Slim Jims, Velveeta and Ramen, you will be able to put some meals together.

Just throw in lots of good nutrients when you are in town. Listen to the bod. If you are craving oranges, meat, spinach, whatever, it means you need to get some. Pig out in town and plan the next section's food accordingly.

[QHShowoman]

I cook the ramen, drain the water, and add about 3/4's of the flavor (salt) packet and mix it up. If I am really dehydrated, I'll throw in the entire packet. Sad to say for my blood pressure, but I ALWAYS eat Ramen in this manner ... even at home. I'd imagine you can round out Ramen with a pouch of tuna or chicken.

[Spock]

Ramen hot, Ramen cold, Ramen cooked, Ramen crunchy, MMMMMMMM! I love Ramen. Only thing, there's not much there there. Think of it like pasta and use it with other stuff.

Couscous cook instantly and mix with lots of other stuff. Use them for dinner like pasta and breakfast like cream of wheat.

Atol (pronounced with long 'o') is the iron ration of the frontier (Parched corn). John Muir, Daniel Boone and others used it for their trail food. Take masa - fine corn meal with lime, for making tortillas and mix it with brown sugar or malt sugar (Carnation malted milk mix) or any other sweatener and a little salt, any flavoring you like - cinnamon, coffee, cocoa - Mix with hot water to make a thick drink or spoonable meal. Or use it for afternoon pick-me-ups with hot or cold water.

Eat what you want and let the bod tell you what it needs. If you hit town craving oranges, meat or spinach, pig out and plan your next section accordingly.

And study ideas on the food threads here. You may never use all these ideas, but when you hit the little convenience store at Buzzard Crotch, Tenn. and see nothing but Slim Jims, Velveeta and a sack of corn meal, you will be able to resupply.

[weary]

i ate ramen exactly once. i don't think its worth the effort. lot of food ideas elsewhere on the website.
As near as I can figure out, ramen is nothing but an easily cooked version of pasta with a slightly few more calories than ordinary versions of pasta. I never found anything to especially like -- or to dislike -- about it. So I ate a few packages a week.

Doctored with a few spices and whatever interesting things I could find in my pack -- tuna, nuts, peanuts, spices, whatever -- it served the purpose.

Weary

[rickb]

I'd treat the enclosed flavor packs like toxic waste, and replace them with a cream-type dry soup mix. Add flesh and live well.

[NINpigNIN]

Gotta love the ramen recipe that got posted on Jetboil's website. 1 package ramen (with toxic beef-flavored sodium packet), 2 cups water, 1 cup crushed Doritos and 1 sliced Slim Jim.

My shame is that I'm half considering trying that recipe just to see what it's like.

[Just Jeff]

I think that recipe would be more accurate if it said, "Take what's left in your food bag and dump it in the pot. Eat."

Sounds...um...well, I might try it, too.

[SGT Rock]

Depends on your taste. Honestly I do want ramen occasionally, but not often. But when I hike with my sons and ask them what they want for luch? - Dry ramen. What do they want for dinner? - Chicken ramen. What do they want for snacks? - How about some more ramen.

[Gaiter]

Ramen is okay if you can add varitiy to it..... I like to change up my spices, also i add either half packet of chicken or tuna to it, and dried veggies (google: just tomatoes). I also carry mashed potatoes (premixed w/ dried goats milk, i'm lactose intolerant), i sprinkle a little in there to absorb any excess water, but there rarely is any.

[Grandma Dixie]

I do enjoy ramen. Cant beat the clean up. My favorite thing though isn't ramen. Make 2 packs of easy mack and add one packet of tuna fish (foil pack) enjoy.

[RITBlake]

Depends on your taste. Honestly I do want ramen occasionally, but not often. But when I hike with my sons and ask them what they want for luch? - Dry ramen. What do they want for dinner? - Chicken ramen. What do they want for snacks? - How about some more ramen.

Hey Rock how about offering the kids a snickers bar or something? :)

[Just Jeff]

Haha - here's a picture at Yosemite. I'm in the background eating Cup-o-Soup, and Patrick is up front making fresh veggie curry. It looked good, but look at all that stuff he had to carry! I was happy with the noodles. Patrick always cooks like that, though.

http://paigefalk.smugmug.com/gallery/876920/2/39644785

[SGT Rock]

Hey Rock how about offering the kids a snickers bar or something? :)

LOL, I actually had to force a snickers on my son once when he needed more callories (ran out of ramen) and wouldn't eat.