Food???

[GeoHiker]

So Im a very recent addition to this site, (love it by the way) and have not seen too much on the topic of food. I realize that this is a very personal decision, but i was just curious what types of foods people bring along. I am looking to add some variety to my food supplies (dont think i can make it 5 months on tuna, mashed potatoes, peanut butter sandwiches). Please let me know if, and i know you do have ideas for food or favorites you would like to share.

[Jason of the Woods]

Sure you can. You have town days to eat real food. I suggest mixing in a few Mountainhouse Meals and some of the Lipton meals. Believe me after a long day of hiking they taste pretty good!

[FritztheCat]

The Mountainhouse meals aren't bad at all. They cost about as much as a meal deal at a fast food joint though. I just came back from a week long "new gear shakedown" and thoroughly enjoyed my Mountainhouse meals. The bags get really hot so you have to watch out for that.

[KG4FAM]

Breakfast - large bagel - ~280cal
lunch - snacks througout the day, I don't do a proper lunch
Dinner - Mac and Cheese with whatever other stuff I happen to pick up (french fried onions, tuna, jerky, ect.)

[kayak karl]

So Im a very recent addition to this site, (love it by the way) and have not seen too much on the topic of food. I realize that this is a very personal decision, but i was just curious what types of foods people bring along. I am looking to add some variety to my food supplies (dont think i can make it 5 months on tuna, mashed potatoes, peanut butter sandwiches). Please let me know if, and i know you do have ideas for food or favorites you would like to share.

might help
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?t=38010&highlight=lunch
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?t=40327&highlight=breakfast
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?t=35226&highlight=breakfast

[bigcranky]

www.freezerbagcooking.com
Lipsmackin' Backpackin' (and the vegetarian version)
The Well Fed Backpacker

You can eat pretty much anything in the middle aisles of the grocery store. There's plenty of variety, good food, and ease of prep. And it doesn't have to be expensive.

[Grumpy]

Don't forget there is oatmeal for breakfast... very cheap and gives enough calories to stroll along for quite some time. Not to mention it is LIGHT...

[GeoHiker]

Great site bigcranky...thanks a bunch. does anyone eat veggies out there? ive heard baby food (gross i know, but it keeps well and has all the vitamins)

[Pedaling Fool]

Great site bigcranky...thanks a bunch. does anyone eat veggies out there? ive heard baby food (gross i know, but it keeps well and has all the vitamins)
I dehydrate much of my food, most of it is veggies, all kinds. Also do chicken/beef jerky.

[kayak karl]

Don't forget there is oatmeal for breakfast... very cheap and gives enough calories to stroll along for quite some time. Not to mention it is LIGHT...
Don't forget there are grits:banana

[Blissful]

We did mail drops for many of our dinners to avoid the mashed potato / Lipton route which can become old real fast (esp eating it for weeks on end), not to mention the lack of nutrition and protein which your muscles need to repair afer a day of hiking(though the loaded veggie Liptons is at least a better option than justplain Ramen, for instance). And it's good to look forward to a good, nutritious meal at the end of a long day. We did a mix - mail drops and shopping on the trail for lunch varieties, etc. It really depends on how varied you want your meals and if you plan to just shop on the way or do any supplemental mail drops (which is easy to do with POS, hostels, along the way). If you do some mail drops, the ATC (Appalachian Trail Conservancy) has a great cookbook that we used to make interesting dinners ahead of time and had our supply person pack in the boxes. Also other hikers recommended tortellinis with Knorrs sauce mixes which we liked too. The Mountain House meals good at times but is very expensive to use extensively on a thru hike unless you have money to burn ($5- 6 a pop per meal). I'd save the money and use it for towns, personally and use them sparingly.

[Blissful]

Great site bigcranky...thanks a bunch. does anyone eat veggies out there? ive heard baby food (gross i know, but it keeps well and has all the vitamins)

For baby food, you'd have to dry it if you don't want to carry jars. Better off dehydrating your own frozen bags of veggies to add to meals. You can make fruit and tomato leathers as well (Target also sells good fruit leathers - their Archer brand if you can get it on sale). And as I mention, the Liptons is making their noodles with extra veggies. You can also get protein that you need from nuts, soybeans, e tc.

[modiyooch]

I have added pad thai to my menu. You can find it on the asian food aisle at walmart. Quick boil. also couscous- just add boiling water.

[take-a-knee]

I tried the Mountain House granola several years ago and loved it on short hikes (1-3 days). No cooking or cleanup and a quick morning start, I found this to work especially well in the cold (cold milk and cereal is a lot tastier than cold most anything else for breakfast, you can stop and brew warm drinks/food AFTER you walk yourself warm). On my 11 day section in June, I packed several packs of the MH granola I had lying around and, on the reccomendation of other WB'ers, packed pint ziplocs with Kashi Mountain Medley granola (they have other versions) with Nido whole powdered milk already added. Basically a homemade version of the MH packaged granola. At the end of the hike I loathed the MH version and loved the home packed variety. Also no hydrogenated fats in the homebrewed version.

[GeoHiker]

Thanks for the input guys, i really appreciate it.

[bigcranky]

I tried the Mountain House granola several years ago and loved it on short hikes (1-3 days).

Sarbar's freezerbag cooking site has my wife's granola recipe. It's really easy to make, waaaay cheaper than pre-packaged granola, and you can vary the ingredients to your own taste. Oh, and I think it's far tastier, too. Click the Breakfast link and scroll down to the first Granola recipe.

I use 1-pint freezer ziploc bags with granola, dried fruit, and powdered milk. Add water, shake, and eat.

[dessertrat]

I only cook one meal per day-- trying to cook both breakfast and dinner is too much fuel and too much time in camp for my tastes. I usually cook a proper dinner, and instead of regular meals during the day, just eat when I'm hungry, snack foods or sandwiches of all kinds. (I usually carry either pita bread or fajitas and some peanut butter and/or some tuna fish, and eat those on the first few days of a hike, so that the bread doesn't go bad and the heaviest food gets eaten first).

For the evening meal, I favor mashed potatoes or some sort of Lipton/Knorr dinner fortified with cheese and pepperoni or salami, etc., or you can add some tuna if you are more health conscious. (None of this stuff is very healthy-- if you want to hear from the "health food" side of it, with whole grain everything and a hypoglycemic index for everything, I'm sure Minnesota Smith will be glad to share his menu with you).

If you are a beginner, remember this-- you will not eat as much as you think you will for the first few days, and then you will eat more. If you become fatigued on the trail during the day more than you think is normal for your level of exertion, drink some water and force yourself to eat some food or drink some sports drinks, even if you are not hungry, and you will probably recover your energy.

[River Runner]

Don't forget there is oatmeal for breakfast... very cheap and gives enough calories to stroll along for quite some time. Not to mention it is LIGHT...

And free in many hiker boxes and some shelters (particularly those close to Springer Mountain). ;)

[Turtle2]

Try english muffins for bread. They pack extremely well and are lighter than bagels and a change from pita and/or tortillas. Pick up a small bottle of honey to make the PB more palatable. Great for energy, too.

[Bob S]

There are so many light weight, good tasting, and easily prepared food in today’s grocery store you could eat well for weeks without repeating a meal.

A lot of microwave food can be cooked in water, we are just so tied to our modern way of doing it that many times we don’t think about how to do it any other way. Easy-Mac comes to mind, it’s a Microwave only food, but the noodles don’t know how the water they are sitting in gets heated up. It works fine in a pot, messy, but it works.

[rafe]

A lot of microwave food can be cooked in water, we are just so tied to our modern way of doing it that many times we don’t think about how to do it any other way. Easy-Mac comes to mind, it’s a Microwave only food, but the noodles don’t know how the water they are sitting in gets heated up. It works fine in a pot, messy, but it works.

The problem with these kinds of prepared foods is that a good chunk of the weight is water.

[Nicksaari]

the lightest thing, most idea thing is to bring some gorp, and a bow and arrow; a high caliber hand gun. fresh protein. supplement with potatoes, seasoning, olive oil. throw carcass in pit, bury it.

[Nicksaari]

ive never done this, but seems the most economical, most rustic experience.

[Bob S]

The problem with these kinds of prepared foods is that a good chunk of the weight is water.

What kinds of food do you mean?

I’ve made and eaten Easy Mac, and I’m sure it had no water before I added it. Not all grocery story food is as light as the Easy Mac type of stuff, but with careful choosing I think the weight can be kept down. And as far as the stuff with water, it’s good for the first night or maybe the second.

[LIhikers]

For breakfast in warm weather try this idea. Put some cold cereal and powdered milk into a zip-loc baggie. Then add some nuts, raisins, M+Ms, or other things. Come breakfast time dump the contents of the baggie into a cup, add water, stir and eat.

[take-a-knee]

For breakfast in warm weather try this idea. Put some cold cereal and powdered milk into a zip-loc baggie. Then add some nuts, raisins, M+Ms, or other things. Come breakfast time dump the contents of the baggie into a cup, add water, stir and eat.

Why bother with the cup? Just eat it out of the bag.

[Safety Pins]

This has worked well for me. Carry dry lentils and in the morning put that evening's portion in a small, lightweight plastic jar with just enough H2O to cover. By the time you're ready to eat later, the lentils, now softened, will take about 5-7 minutes to cook. Can add a little oil, salt and pepper, or lemon pepper. Also, can add a small amount of Minute (brand) instant brown rice to the mix, just after the lentils have started to boil. If using the rice, need to let the whole mix stand another 5 minutes before eating.

[Gray Blazer]

A good snack would be those golden delicious apples. They pack well and take no preparation. They especially come in handy if you happen to be trying to make it to the next water source and in the meantime you have run out of water. I usually cut one in half and save the other half for later.

[mkmangold]

Don't forget there are grits:banana
What's that?

[Over Yonder]

for my hike I usually bought cold cereal, each week I would switch up the kind to eliminate getting tired or it. Also bring some powdered milk and whalah a great fast breakfast. I usually had poptarts or a granola/luna bar for my second breakfast to keep me going. (I was sick of oatmeal before I began.)

Lunch was usually a sandwich as it was easiest to whip out in the middle of hiking. Things you can use to change it up: cheese, peperoni, summer sausage, hummus, pb, jelly, honey, fluff, nutella... what ever floats your boat.. you can use all sorts of bread items to change it up too.. bagles a bit heavy but really fill you up!, pita, tortilla, english muffins, all sorts of goodies..

Snacks tended towards candy bars, crackers, fruit snacks, fruit leathers, cereal, granola bars, and all sorts of kid's lunch type snacks that are easily found in variety packs and are light weight.

Dinners revolved a lot around mac and cheese, Knorr/Liptons (especially the 2 servings of veggie ones), Idahoian potoatos, Stuffing, ramen, and usually had chicken in pouches added to it as I am not a fan of tuna. Also if you are a veg. or just not finding yourself getting a lot of protein... check out some TVP which was found a lot along the trail. Just add it to what ever you are cooking and it takes on the flavor of it, gives ya a good percent of protein to fuel ya. (At the end of my hike we found a huge box of mountain house's in a hiker box. they were pretty good and all but really not worth the price to me. I've never personally paid for one. MH's were usually found among the weekend warriors and sometimes when they pack extra they share:) )

hope that helps... enjoy the hike!

[Lyle]

Many possibilities, these are things I find convenient and tasty, yet easy to carry and prepare:

Breakfast:
Oatmeal (Cream of Wheat, Grits, etc.)
English Muffin with jam
Cold cereal w/milk
Pop tarts
Bagel w/cream cheese or peanut butter
Couple of handfuls of gorp (great for a quick start to the day)

Lunch:
Crackers and cheese/peanut butter/hard salami
Cup-o-soup
Tuna salad on Pitas
Chicken salad on Pita
Bagels and Cream cheese
Tobouli on pitas
PB&Js
Nutella on pitas or English Muffins
Black beans on pitas

Dinners:

Lipton Noodle or Rice dinners with tuna or chicken and freeze dried peas
Spaghetti
Mac and Cheese
Stove Top with chicken and freeze dried veggies
Ham Steak (vacuum packed will last at least a day) with Mashed Potatoes and freeze dried green beans
Hot soup with any of the above lunch items
Any Freeze Dried dinners for two
Dried Mashed potatoes with gravy mix and cheese
Tuna/egg noodles/cheese casserole
Instant pudding or cheesecake makes a great treat to top off a "Light" meal

Beverages:

Water - my number one
Powdered Milk - not too bad if chilled in a spring
Coffee
Tea
Hot Cider
Lemonade (crystal light is very light weight)
Tang (also makes GREAT snow cones if there is clean snow available)
Fruit punch
Hot chocolate
Hot Jello

Snacks:

Candy
Gorp
Crackers and cheese/peanut butter
cookies
nuts
jerky
power bars
Little Debbie
Dried fruit
M&Ms (these deserve their own mention, along with Snickers) :)

Can mix and match any of your food stuffs to fit your schedule or mood. A few spices that you like can add a great deal of flavor to even the most mundane diet. Supplement this with restaurant meals and fresh fruit/veggies when in town and you won't get all that bored. Let your imagination go wild.

[Tipi Walter]

The secret to backpacking food and meals is VARIETY, plain and simple. Over the decades I've taken a watermelon, avocados, 2 pints of Haagen Daz ice cream(melted by the time I got to my camp--drank each in quick succession--not recommended), jugs of fruit juice in their quart glass jars(not recommended), lentils and brown rice with cook times in the 60 minute range(take along plenty of white gas), oats in all their forms and mixed with cream cheese and wild edibles--chickweed, mustard greens, etc, purple cabbage and baby carrots, apples and pears, THE WORKS.

Here's a list of food items I've backpacked with over the last several trips(mostly vegetarian):

FOOD FOR EIGHT DAYS
1 Knudsen ginger ale soda
3 juice smoothies(45 ozs)
3 eggs raw
3 pouches brown rice
4 Tasty Bites pouches(Spinach etc)
1 Kashi frozen meal
Olive oil and spirulina
6 Bear Valley Pemmican bars
2 blocks raw goat cheese
2 Clif bars
Bag of Lifesavers
5 whole wheat muffins
4 peanut butter/jelly sandwiches
2 apples
3 mac and cheese
7 oatmeal packets
Tea with sugar, soymilk powder
Bag of cashew butter
Raisins and walnuts
Kelp/dulse
1/4 head cabbage
Bag of Mary Jane Farm's pasta

A SIX DAY TRIP
Food for first day:
Several carrots
1 pear
2 granola bars
stirfry broccoli with brown rice
1 piece of toast with jam
A one-eyed Susan(egg fried in a piece of bread)
several dates and nuts

Food for second day:
Dates and nuts
2 granola bars
carrots
brown rice and broccoli
hummus

FOOD LIST FOR A 9 DAY TRIP, April 2008
6 whole wheat muffins
1.5 pound loaf cinnamon raisin sprouted whole grain bread
2 bags corn chips
rice cakes
2 tubs jam
big tub mayo
honey tub
2 oil tubs
soy sauce
bag organic corn/bag broccoli/bag shiitake mushrooms
3 bags cooked brown rice
big bag fried tofu
bag chocolate cookies
2 tubs hummus
teas
big bag sundried tomatoes
8 veggie patties
3 mac and cheese
big bag dehydrated lentils
18 oatmeal cookies
candy
2 bags granola
raisins and pecans
peanut butter-honey-coconut-carob candy
big bag figs
9 raw eggs
21 granola bars
ramen noodles

SIX DAY TRIP, June 2008
3 bags cooked brown rice
32 oz mango juice smoothie
6 eggs
3 whole wheat muffins
jug mayo
2 tubs hummus
8 veggie sausages
2 bags frozen organic butternut squash
homemade peanut butter-honey-coconut-carob fudge
rice cakes
little jugs jelly and honey
oil
tamari
2 mac and cheese
bag dehydrated pinto beans
8 veggie patties
oatmeal
bag of baby carrots
half loaf whole wheat bread
bag candy
bag corn chips
bag whole wheat crackers
raisins and black walnuts
11 veggie jerky
13 Larabars
4 Kind bars
1 Clif bar
granola
cookies
tea

[mudhead]

A good snack would be those golden delicious apples. They pack well and take no preparation. They especially come in handy if you happen to be trying to make it to the next water source and in the meantime you have run out of water. I usually cut one in half and save the other half for later.

I wish I could eat just half an apple. This time of year, I can stand under the tree.

[Blue Jay]

Two items not yet mentioned are Omega-3 fortified powdered eggs. I know powdered eggs in the past really really sucked, but if you can find it the Omega-3 eggs taste just like scrambled eggs. I've fooled several people who refused to even try powdered eggs because they used to suck so much. This is a great substitue for constant pasta/rice thing. The other item that has improved dramaticly is full fat milk. It tastes close to real milk and can be used to improve the taste of almost anything. You can get it from Adventure Foods, a great company. If you add something like Nestle Quick it's quite good. Low fat powdered milk still sucks.

[Tipi Walter]

I wish I could eat just half an apple. This time of year, I can stand under the tree.

The ideal diet in my neck of the woods right now(October 20), but only if I could find someone to do the gathering and shelling, would be a big plate of freshly harvested persimmons and black walnuts. I found a persimmon tree with about 50,000 fruits, all ready to be eaten. And the walnut crop this year is huge.

[Old Grouse]

[quote=Gray Blazer;692473]A good snack would be those golden delicious apples. They pack well and take no preparation. They especially come in handy if you happen to be trying to make it to the next water source and in the meantime you have run out of water. I usually cut one in half and save the other half for later.[/quote

Funny you should mention that. My daughter borrowed my car to drive to Philadelphia and I suggested that she take an apple for refreshment. I mentioned that it can even slake one's thirst. That comment was met with the kind of sarcasm only one's child can bring to bear. "Oh right, Dad! No one ever said, 'Gee, that apple was quenching!'"

Personally I like something more tart than a Delicious, but this is the time of year to gorge yourself on apples. And they make great road or trail food.

[trailfoot]

I did the trail this year and did the no cook thing. I ate all kinds of things. Early on you can eat anything and everything since it's pretty cold out most of the day.
lunch meat, tuna, peperoni, cheese, pb & j, any kind of meat product you like.
Bagels, bread wheat (lasts longer), fruit (east asap usually)
cookies, little debbies, fruit snacks, Honey Oates, anything you want. Higher the calories the better.
Hope this helps.

[phillycheze]

what about cream of wheat, decent change to oatmeal. also stay away from instant oats; they have low nutritional value as most instant stuff does.

who hates stinging neddles? when they find u... grab a bunch, pick it, and tie it to ur pack. try it in ur rice as a seasoning. very good. then u may have a different feeling when they sting u.

wintergreen and chickory are everywhere. tea anyone?

winter road kill. gross? mabye but not if it's frozen...

if u have skills with snaring or trapping, fresh meat is only a night away. especially near the shelters that get high useage.

sleeping bag and pad as a freezer? yup. try it out on a hot day. buy a frozen piece of meat and pack it inside ur bag or pad tightly (double bag it and wrap butcher style with paper, just incase). you'll be suprised when the meat is still cool or cold when u put it on a stick over a fire.

falafel? far east makes a good one. mix, ball em up, and saute in a little olive oil. dope but can be messy if u rush or add too much water.

hard cheese and some fruits last a couple of days in the summer. good grabs when leaving town. smoked and salted meats last a good while too. i still have not gotten tired of pepperoni.

also check out some adventure racer foods. light and nutritious, but sometimes bland.

holla!

[JAK]

I love making apple sauce when I'm outdoors because it reminds me of a camping trip I took as a kid with my oldest sister and her soon to be husband and we made applesauce from apples at this unofficial campspot before we got moved by the park warden to an official campsite. Good memories. I was brought along as a sort of chaperone I guess. Anyhow, good reason to bring nutmeg and/or cinnamon this time of year.

[Manwich]

Two items not yet mentioned are Omega-3 fortified powdered eggs. I know powdered eggs in the past really really sucked, but if you can find it the Omega-3 eggs taste just like scrambled eggs. I've fooled several people who refused to even try powdered eggs because they used to suck so much. This is a great substitue for constant pasta/rice thing. The other item that has improved dramaticly is full fat milk. It tastes close to real milk and can be used to improve the taste of almost anything. You can get it from Adventure Foods, a great company. If you add something like Nestle Quick it's quite good. Low fat powdered milk still sucks.

I would like to point out that most consumers are unaware of how useless Omega-3 Fortified Eggs are. Most eggs contain only about 100mg of DHA and EPA Omega-3s (the useful ones.) My Heart Doctor says in her practice, they consistently recommend 2-3 grams (3000mg) of DHA/EPA.

I take a daily dose of 3500mg throughout the day. Completely eliminated heart palpitations i had between 15 years old and 20.

[leeki pole]

The ideal diet in my neck of the woods right now(October 20), but only if I could find someone to do the gathering and shelling, would be a big plate of freshly harvested persimmons and black walnuts. I found a persimmon tree with about 50,000 fruits, all ready to be eaten. And the walnut crop this year is huge.
This is the first year that I can remember down here (31 years) that we'll actually be able to harvest and eat persimmons due to the hard freeze last night. My granddaddy told me to never eat persimmons until after a frost. Heck, it was 27 degrees in the creek bottom this morning!

[randyg45]

I regularly use a few things that haven't been specifically mentioned.

Bear Creek soups, with and without meat supplements. Most supermarkets.
Archer Farms trail mixes- many varieties, ranging imo from very good to excellent to decadent (you have to try the Chocolate Monkey). Target.
Bouillon cubes for that quick warm-me-up and added flavor to noodles, etc.
Summer sausage keeps well forever.
Cajun Jambalaya Mix by Louisiana Fish Fry Products. Good luck finding it outside the deep south. Good meatless, better with boiled or broiled trout, better still with broiled rabbit, excellent with summer sausage.
Eggs, bacon, and sausage can all be kept for at least 48 summer hours, according to my experience, by the simple expedient of keeping them wet in the daytime so that they cool by evaporation.

My challenge eating (well) on the trail is that I'm slowly becoming more and more anti-carbohydrate, and so much dehydrated food is rice, pasta, or potato based.

[Blissful]

The Target Archer farms fruit leathers are very good.

I just got back from a hike in Shenadoah and took these kinds of foods -

Breakfast
Oatmeal packets
Cocoa
hard granola bars (can't stand the chewy)
did take carnation instant breakfast but didn't use it on this hike since it was cold

Lunch
Tortillas (small kind)
hard cheddar cheese block
turkey pepperoni
raisins

Snacks
corn chips with flaxseed
sunflower seeds and cashews
small energy bites (from a Mennonite country market)
Snickers

Dinner
Pasta veggie side with dried can of chicken
Ramen with dried hamburger and dried green beans added
Turkey dinner made from ATC cookbook
Veggie Couscous with dried can of chicken
Dessert - Rice Krispy bars

[Bare Bear]

You will save weight by skipping the hot breakfast both in fuel and weight, plus the time it takes to get going. I regretted my 22 maildrops of food mostly. Too time consuming and I ended up with way too much food to carry at times. Pick up half of what you need out of hiker boxes for the first month then just buy what you need. Unless you are on a vegan or special diet you will find what you need. Split bigger packages with other hikers.
Someone suggested Bear Creek Soups, excellent by themselves or added to Ramen or whatever.