Vegetarians?

[Aussie922]

I've only gone on day hikes so far. I usually just pack a peanut butter sandwich or something easy to have for lunch. However, I have a week-long trip coming up and I'm thinking that peanut butter sandwiches aren't going to cut it for that long.
So I have a question to fellow vegetarians- How do you get the nutrition/calories that your body needs, while having a little variety in your diet? Recipes would be appreciated :)

[Bearpaw88]

I've only gone on day hikes so far. I usually just pack a peanut butter sandwich or something easy to have for lunch. However, I have a week-long trip coming up and I'm thinking that peanut butter sandwiches aren't going to cut it for that long.
So I have a question to fellow vegetarians- How do you get the nutrition/calories that your body needs, while having a little variety in your diet? Recipes would be appreciated :)

I am not a vegetarian, but I didn't eat meat that much on trail. My diet was oatmeal in the a.m. a random supply of snacks (nuts, candy bars, dried fruit, tortilla chips, gorp ect...) in the afternoon which I snacked on throughout a 10 hour day of hiking. Then mac and cheese, lipton sides, stuffing, instant flavored potatoes, and like thing for dinner. I doubt all this gives one proper nutrition so I also took a muti-V. One of my favorite dinners was Barilla Cheese and Spinach Tortellini with olive oil, Parmesan cheese, and crushed red pepper mmmmm.:D
The hardest thing I saw for Veggies on trail was when they get into a town and have to resist a cheeseburger. On the trail is not to hard.

[generoll]

Check out the Tofu thread. There's some interesting info there on dried tofu. Might be something to add to your drop box.

[DEECEE207]

i take curry&veg paks drop in water the only thing is holding on to the trash.you can get them at any store.

[Monkeywrench]

So I have a question to fellow vegetarians- How do you get the nutrition/calories that your body needs, while having a little variety in your diet? Recipes would be appreciated :)

Just eat what everybody else does, but without the packets of tuna or chicken that many add to their noodles. A plastic bag of TVP flakes travels well and can be added to almost anything to boost the protein.

[Appalachian Tater]

Just eat what everybody else does, but without the packets of tuna or chicken that many add to their noodles. A plastic bag of TVP flakes travels well and can be added to almost anything to boost the protein.That's would I suggest. The only thing different I eat on the trail now from what I would eat if vegetarian is the addition of chicken or pepperoni or bacon to something. Add dried or freeze-dried tofu, tvp, beans, etc. to make complete proteins with all of the grains the typical hiker eats for carbs. If low calories are a problem, add olive oil.

I saw some vegetarians with a giant bag of those frozen refried bean burritos, 12, 18 or 24, something like that, coming out of Damascus.

[truthisnature]

freezerbagcooking.com has a bunch of recipes and instructions on dehydrating just about any food. I have so far only done day trips but have been reading, reading and reading some more in order to plan for longer hikes and hopefully an AT thru hike in the future.

[KarenM982]

I'm a vegetarian and although my longest backpacking trip was only4 days, I usually get enough calories and have enough variety with the following:

Breakfast: oatmeal/grits, clif bar, fruit, or leftovers from dinner

Lunch/Snacks: tortillas with hummus, fruit, chocolate bar, goldfish/cheez-its, reeses m&ms are a great snack and don't melt

Dinner: Burritos (dehydrated refried beans and minute rice on tortillas), spagetti and sauce (either pesto from dried pesto packets mixed with oil or dehydrated tomato sauce), curry cous cous with dehydrated spinach (really good freezerbag cooking recipe), chili with beans and tvp (dehydrated). All these are pretty high in protein and are definitely filling.

I went backpacking with a few (non vegetarian) friends last year...we all ate the same meals. The only difference was that they muched on homemade beef jerky every day while I stuck to my other snacks. No biggie!

[Bearpaw88]

freezerbagcooking.com has a bunch of recipes and instructions on dehydrating just about any food. I have so far only done day trips but have been reading, reading and reading some more in order to plan for longer hikes and hopefully an AT thru hike in the future.

Freezerbag.com is cooking is an amazing site with great ideas and recipies for vegetarians and no-vegs alike. If I had the time to dehydrate all my food before a thru-hike I would.

[sarbar]

I was going to say....for the most part I don't eat meat - now the kid I carried while I was a vegan? Yeah, he has razor sharp meat shredding teeth. Oh well. So he gets meat, I don't when hiking.

I use a LOT of beans in my food. I also use flavored TVP's as well. I eat cheese, etc. Pasta is pretty high in protein - especially if you use whole grain ones.

Even if you never dry anything, you can get almost anything via the mail :D I often buy my precooked/dried beans and TVP from www.harmonyhousefoods.com It is also my main source now for veggies.

[fiddlehead]

I gave up meat for 1 1/2 years including about 1500 miles of hiking in that time. (and running ultras)
Here's one thing i did that was great on the trail: Cook up a big batch of black beans the way you like them with some hot spice in there too. Cook them a little dry and then get a dehyrdrated, put some saran wrap or equiv. on half the trays, spread your bean mix on that half, alternate your halves so air can flow up through the dehydrator, and dry lots of it. Not only it can add your protein to any dish, you can make one great burrito out of it.
I like to add: Garlic, onioins, hot peppers, carrots, yellow (indian) curry powder to mine.

[Aussie922]

Thanks to everyone who replied. The freezer bag cooking website has a lot of really tasty-looking ideas. It looks like it won't be difficult to have some variety after all :)

[take-a-knee]

Mutual Supplementation, that is, combining different incomplete protein sources in the same meal to provide a complete protein source is what you must learn as a vegehead. If you don't learn it, you'll be sick a lot, right up until you die, and you likely won't be all that old when you do die.

Smart people committed to a healthy diet quickly realize this process is a lot easier if they consume eggs, dairy, and maybe some fish. This recipe has worked for Jack Lallane, he's 93 and still a stud.

[grrrhaha]

having "aussie" in your name i guess u know about vege-mite. there are tons of awesome protein sources that are really light. i've been a vege my whole life and have some pretty good resources to share (some delicious, some...well some are not) with whoever is curious. have you ever heard of "ezekiel" bread? (as in the Bible 'ezekiel'). you can make it without yeast to keep longer and it packs the ultimate nutritious punch. you could live off the stuff if you really needed to. anyway PM me if you would like more info on websites/foods etc...

[Tipi Walter]

Having been a backpacking vegetarian for many years, I'm comfortable with going out for long periods eating this kind of diet. On a recent trip in June I listed all the food I took and you can read it here:

http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=237360


It typlifies my usual vegetarian meals, coupled with a white gas stove and a dual-use pot/frypan to cook eggs, bread-to-toast and all the rest. Of late I've been getting into taking out Morningstar type veggie meatless patties and they fry up quick with or w/o brown rice.

The secret to backpacking and eating is VARIETY.

[beckyjean]

Mutual Supplementation, that is, combining different incomplete protein sources in the same meal to provide a complete protein source is what you must learn as a vegehead. If you don't learn it, you'll be sick a lot, right up until you die, and you likely won't be all that old when you do die.

Smart people committed to a healthy diet quickly realize this process is a lot easier if they consume eggs, dairy, and maybe some fish. This recipe has worked for Jack Lallane, he's 93 and still a stud.
i just read the post, and as a new vegetarian, just over 2 months, i was curious.. so i looked it up.. i found this article, and is this basically what you mean?

Mutual Supplementation or Complementary Proteins
Animal foods, including meat, milk, cheese and eggs, will provide "complete" protein. This means that a single food can supply all the essential amino acids. Plant-based foods also supply a good source of protein, even though some foods may have low levels of particular amino acids.
This was once considered an issue of some concern for vegetarians. If they are eating a food low in tryptophan, for instant, they were cautioned to be sure to eat a food that was a good source of that amino acid at the same meal. It is no longer thought to be critical to get all of the essential amino acids combined in a single meal, as long as you do get them over the course of the day. Most well-balanced vegetarian meals rely on time-honored food combinations, such as rice and beans, that provide all of the essential amino acids.

[Aussie922]

having "aussie" in your name i guess u know about vege-mite. there are tons of awesome protein sources that are really light. i've been a vege my whole life and have some pretty good resources to share (some delicious, some...well some are not) with whoever is curious. have you ever heard of "ezekiel" bread? (as in the Bible 'ezekiel'). you can make it without yeast to keep longer and it packs the ultimate nutritious punch. you could live off the stuff if you really needed to. anyway PM me if you would like more info on websites/foods etc...

What is a PM and how do I send one? As for my name, I have Australian Shepherds- I've never even been to Australia ;)

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