View Full Version : Vegan/Vegetarian
The Tank
06-14-2010, 15:31
I'm a vegan planning a thru hike. Is there any other vegan or vegetarian hikers out there that can suggest good/high calorie foods that would be easy to prepare? Thanks in advance!!! :)
ShoelessWanderer
06-14-2010, 15:35
Have you tried searching the Forum? I know there have been a lot of discussions on vegan/vegetarian diets on the trail.
ShoelessWanderer
06-14-2010, 15:42
A good one that I had marked & used before: http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?t=41992&highlight=vegan
The Tank
06-14-2010, 15:53
A good one that I had marked & used before: http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?t=41992&highlight=vegan
Thanks!! I tried searching, but had some trouble. I'll try again.
Odd Man Out
06-14-2010, 16:58
I posted this recently. I'm not vegetarian, but my daughter is so when we go out together, I skip the meat.
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?p=1020923#post1020923
I'm a vegan planning a thru hike. Is there any other vegan or vegetarian hikers out there that can suggest good/high calorie foods that would be easy to prepare? Thanks in advance!!! :)
Breakfast of oats, and vegan stuff that goes good with oats.
Supper of lentils, and vegan stuff that goes good with lentils.
To make oats more interesting and more calorie dense, stuff like dried fruit, seeds and nuts, and spices like cinnamon and nutmeg. To make lentils more interesting and more calorie dense, stuff like dried vegetable, less water, and more vegetable oil, and herbs and spices like and paprika and chilli powder and whatever else they put in chilli.
Start with the dehydrated trailfood companies like Mountain House, Alpineaire, Mary Janes, etc. They offer Vegeterian entrees. Even if you decide not to purchase any of their already prepared meals they will give you some good ideas for coming up with your own vegeterian recipes.
Next, pick up a trail cookbook. They often have a section dedicated to vegeterian trailfood recipes.
I'm basically a pesce vegeterian eating no red meat even while hiking. I find eating a vegeterian trail diet not so hard even on long distance trails without as many resupply opps as on the AT. Going Vegan is doable on the AT without doing any or many maildrops but it's a bit more difficult. If I was to go hard-core Vegan on the AT I personally would do a few resupply maildrops in key places without a large grocery store.
the goat
06-15-2010, 09:22
I'm a vegan planning a thru hike. Is there any other vegan or vegetarian hikers out there that can suggest good/high calorie foods that would be easy to prepare? Thanks in advance!!! :)
buy lots of tvp to put in your pasta/ rice dishes.
Johnny Thunder
06-15-2010, 10:34
buy lots of tvp to put in your pasta/ rice dishes.
word. and figure out what type of seasoning to use in addition to the added protein. like a taco seasoning packet stretched across two or three noodle/rice dinners w/tvp. Or some soy sauce packets with thai noodles and tvp.
oreo's are vegan. how cool is that?
If you have serious questions you should track down Samwise who hiked vegan in 2010. My girlfriend hiked veg in 2008 and we did the long trail vegan in 2009. it simply takes creativity and a willingness to either plan ahead or bend a little on small ingredients when necessary (like whey).
It simply takes creativity and a willingness to either plan ahead or bend a little on small ingredients..... Johnny Thunder
Tank, if you pay close attention to those who actually hike while consuming a vegan/vegeterian trail diet, like Johnny Thunder stated, it's totally doable, especially on the AT!
fudgefoot
06-15-2010, 12:11
I normally follow a vegan diet but I cheat a little bit when I'm on the trail (occasional foil pack of tuna or salmon).
You might want to consider investing in a food dehydrator. It's easy to dehydrate things like jarred pasta sauce, vegetables, beans, etc. The Vegetarian Lipsmackin' Backpackin' cookbook has some good recipes in it. Fantastic Foods makes decent dehydated mixes for hummus and refried beans. One of my new favorites is Primal vegan jerky - great for a quick snack.
The Tank
06-15-2010, 13:17
Thanks again for everyone's help! I'm going to check out some of the cookbooks suggested! Y'all have been very helpful! I found out a guy at my local REI thru-hiked on a veg diet, so I plan on talking to him as well.
Check out Tumble's Podcast:
"Preparing your own Trail Meals: for vegans and non-vegans."
http://longtrailpodcast.com/podcasts_advice.shtml
Appalachian Tater
06-15-2010, 21:05
A couple of vegetarian hikers I knew bought an entire case of those frozen 3/$1 bean burritos at the grocery store in Damascus and packed them out. I wasn't hiking downwind from them, thank goodness.
innermountain
06-15-2010, 21:14
cous cous and dried beans with sauteed sunflower seeds and lots of spices; using almond cheese is a nice way to add to lots of dishes; spaghetti with a peanut butter/soy sauce/vinegar/olive oil/sunflower seeds/sugar sauce (called Gado Gado Spaghetti); lentil and rice cakes - mix together with spices and fry in oil.
Things I use on my hikes (http://www.wildlandtrekking.com) - some ideas anyways...
SassyWindsor
06-16-2010, 20:13
Basically, I a vegan when off trail. On the several very long distant trips I've made I have gave in to eating canned fish, jerky and a few burgers when available. It's tough to get the cals and other nutrients your bod needs. GORP, homemade or purchased power bars, oils, etc just gets hard to come by and gets tiresome. If mail drops are planned carefully you can do pretty good on being a vegan and hike. Vegan Pizzas and beer are my fav food when in a trail town.
If peanutbutter is vegan I don't understand why there would be a problem. I always thought that before food was invented people lived on peanutbutter.
Also check out
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?t=55983&highlight=vegan
Lots of info from hikers who actually thru hiked & stayed Vegan.
I'm neither Vegan or (Fully) Vegetarian, but I copied notes none the less.
If not for BACON I could go Vegetarian pretty easily. :p
http://www.rawhike.com/index.shtml This guy thru hiked the PCT and CDT.
Dehydrated Fruit
Sprouted Almonds
Sprouted Sunflower seed / buckwheat groat nori rolls. (I made some tonight with quinoa instead and I think that's what I'm going to eat on my hike.
I'm a vegan planning a thru hike. Is there any other vegan or vegetarian hikers out there that can suggest good/high calorie foods that would be easy to prepare? Thanks in advance!!! :)
Try this relatively new website created by an AT thru hiker.
http://backpackingvegan.wordpress.com/intro/
I haven't visited there all that frequently, but there have been some responses. :sun
Hey all, I am the creator of the Backpacking Vegan blog (thanks jrwiesz for posting it!).
http://backpackingvegan.wordpress.com/intro/
@The Tank, yay for planning a vegan hike! It can be done! I stayed vegan for my entire thru-hike, as have a bunch of other folks I've met and spoken to.
My staple foods throughout the hike were peanut butter (duh), dehydrated beans, couscous, nuts, and packaged (wet, not dehydrated) things I could find in normal grocery stores such as Kashi 7grain mixes, Indian meals (Tasty Bite, etc). The packaged meal things were great. Though slightly heavy because they aren't dehydrated, they were worth it for the good flavor, high protein, and relative inexpensiveness. I couldn't afford any fancy backpacker food on my hike (like Mary Jane brand). I would take one of the Tasty Bite Indian meals and bulk it up with instant rice and a tortilla. Loved it!
When I started, I swear I ate dehydrated beans and couscous every night and it sucked. Eventually I worked hard and was able to find other options to add variety. Though I did have a couple of boxes sent along the trail, I probably did 85-90% of my resupplies from stores along the way.
And the truth is that everyone gets sick of their food, not just the vegans!
Good luck and happy trails! Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.
Samwise
GA>ME '09