Oatmeal?

[DownEaster]

I get no satisfaction from instant oatmeal. On the trail I carry a mix of Quaker old fashioned rolled oats with Nido Fortificada whole milk powder. Half the time I include brown sugar and cinnamon; in the other half of the zipper bags I leave it plain. Cooking takes the same amount of fuel as the instant junk, but is a bit more time-consuming. Combine water and a zipper bag of oatmeal mix in your cookpot and stir while bringing it to a boil. Remove from the flame and put in a Reflectix cozy made for your pot; wait 8-10 minutes. Starting with uncooked oats and using milk rather than water yields a tasty, textured meal rather than gluey gruel.

For a treat, sweeten a hot plain oatmeal mix with Guittard dark chocolate chips; the chips melt and turn breakfast into dark chocolate indulgence.

[Venchka]

(By comparison, I met a hiker who attempted the JMT on nothing but Little Debbie brownies. He didn't make it. I think muesli is a better idea for a mono-diet.)

This should be a sticky in the "How not to hike" section.
Wayne


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ldsailor]

Cooked oatmeal was problematic for me on the trail. Hard to get the texture right. Took a lot of fuel. When it cooled, it set up like glue. Pot hart to clean. Then I used this trick to solve all these problems. Don't use instant oatmeal packages. Plain oatmeal with extras as in th OP (but use maple syrup or sugar, if not already suggesyed). Then add boiling water until you get the texture you like. The texture is quite different than when fully cooked, bit I like it and it's not too gooey. Plus it cleans up very easily.

I ate instant Quaker Oatmeal on the trail for breakfast. It was easy to prepare. I bought a box of quart Zip-Lok freezer bags for my "bowl." Boil water in my pot, pour the oatmeal into the bag, pour the water into the bag, stir and eat. Fast, easy and no messy bowls or pots. Just throw away the Zip-Lok bag when you're finished.

I'm sure you can use the same approach with other oatmeal brands.

[DownEaster]

Just throw away the Zip-Lok bag when you're finished.

I've got to say, I find this approach hard to reconcile with a hobby that's supposed to be in harmony with nature. A nylon pot scraper can be used over and over without waste, and there's less weight of trash in your pack.

[cneill13]

I've got to say, I find this approach hard to reconcile with a hobby that's supposed to be in harmony with nature. A nylon pot scraper can be used over and over without waste, and there's less weight of trash in your pack.

Seriously? Like a couple of ziplocks makes a difference. Where is silicon valley? California of course. Land of fruits and nuts.

[egilbe]

Seriously? Like a couple of ziplocks makes a difference. Where is silicon valley? California of course. Land of fruits and nuts.

Its more than a couple ziplocks. I reuse my ziplocks. I found, after FBC, that I throw them out. To me, it makes more sense to clean my cook pot.

[Traveler]

Seriously? Like a couple of ziplocks makes a difference. Where is silicon valley? California of course. Land of fruits and nuts.

Grams lead to ounces, ounces to pounds. Packing ziplock bags not only adds to weight and bulk, but also adds to the solid waste stream that does seem to be in conflict with overarching LNT concepts. Some people are serious about every gram and their refuse footprint. And, as you demonstrate, some are not. Nor are some folks able to support a position absent domicile ad hominem apparently.

[BuckeyeBill]

The only plastic bags I use are Locsak Opsak bags that are odor free. Loose food into individual small bags. Those go into larger like food Locsak Opsak bags and finally everything into one extra large Locsak Opsak bag. I put this into my Ursack bag. Never had a problem. You can usually go for a long time with bags, if you don't try to overload them or just shove them into larger bags. The whole idea of this system is to prevent odors from getting out. I also pack any garbage out the same way. And by the way I can eat oatmeal year round for breakfast along with my morning coffee. I do simple meals on the trail and load up with pork, beef, and poultry when I am in town.

[QiWiz]

You could live on oatmeal with additions, but you may grow to hate it (or not). Try it and see. I have a hiking friend who has cheddar broccoli pasta with tuna every night for weeks and is very happy with that meal night after night. I'd be unhappy.

[ldsailor]

I've got to say, I find this approach hard to reconcile with a hobby that's supposed to be in harmony with nature. A nylon pot scraper can be used over and over without waste, and there's less weight of trash in your pack.

I thought about using a scraper, but it is an imperfect solution to my way of thinking. There is always some residue left in the pot and that can lead to bacteria forming. I did cook in and then clean the pot for awhile before I started using ziplocks, but then I'm introducing bits and pieces of uneaten food into the environment. Ziplocks seemed to be the best way. Absolutely no chance of trail environment contamination (of course I pack the used bags out) and the pot only gets boiling water. And ziplocks don't weigh all that much - 5 weigh about an ounce.

BTW. You can recycle ziplock bags. They just need to be rinsed out and dropped off at a participating grocery store. Not ideal while on the trail, but a hiker's environmental impact is small when using the bags on the trail in comparison to homeowners who have the ability to recycle the bags.

[DownEaster]

I thought about using a scraper, but it is an imperfect solution to my way of thinking. There is always some residue left in the pot and that can lead to bacteria forming.

I didn't mean to suggest that you only use a scraper; I apologize if that's the impression you got. Washing things clean is always a healthy practice. If you use the scraper, the washing up is much easier.

[evyck da fleet]

I liked eating oatmeal for breakfast because it made cleaning my pot easier. I could live with a little grease from having added pepperoni to Ramen or a rice side because I knew it would be absorbed by the oatmeal in the morning. No ziplocks needed or extra soap to remove grease. I'd rather spend the extra 30 seconds cleaning the pot after oatmeal in the morning than contribute to additional plastic consumption.

Now off trail I don't eat the stuff.

[rocketsocks]

I like my groats thin and in a coffee cup...drank em down.

[cmoulder]

I liked eating oatmeal for breakfast because it made cleaning my pot easier. I could live with a little grease from having added pepperoni to Ramen or a rice side because I knew it would be absorbed by the oatmeal in the morning. No ziplocks needed or extra soap to remove grease. I'd rather spend the extra 30 seconds cleaning the pot after oatmeal in the morning than contribute to additional plastic consumption.

Now off trail I don't eat the stuff.

Reminded me of a lesson I once learned: You can eat lasagne after oatmeal but not oatmeal after lasagne. I'm pretty sure that tomato paste is not good with oatmeal.

I've eaten a lot of instant oatmeal over the years — I could eat Quaker Peaches n Cream every day — but I must admit it leaves me hungry less than an hour later. This spring and summer I started using Bob's Red Mill European Style Muesli with a couple tablespoons of Nido, and I add some raisins or craisins. It "sticks with me" for 2-3 hours. I eat it at home with some cut up fruit such as strawberries or nectarines and greek style yogurt.

[egilbe]

I mix and match chia seeds, walnuts, dried fruit, almonds, brown sugar, nido, shredded coconut and anything else I can thinkof, to my oatmeal when I'm hiking. I have even added hot cocoa and/or instant coffee if I wanted a quick energy burst in the morning.

[JJ505]

Walnuts (or some other nuts), pumpkin seeds, crasins (I like the orange flavored ones).

[AllDownhillFromHere]

Oatmeal cold-soaks well. Double or triple the water, and when you stop for second breakfast, you can drink it like a smoothie.

[Ruck]

Great choice. Adding dried fruit picked up in town is helpful to add variety. I like to add boiled water to the instant oatmeal packet and use that as a waterproof bowl. That leaves the remainder of the boiled water in my evernew 550 for instant coffee or tea.

[Slow Trek]

The easy way on instant oatmeal is to pour a cup of hot water into the pouch the oatmeal comes in. Eat from the pouch,no pot to clean. Probably not gourmet oatmeal,but quick,easy and can get the stuff anywhere.

[LazyLightning]

I like my oatmeal unusually dry, like 2 tablespoons of water tops in one of the little instant packets. It's almost like an apple crisp topping texture. I would like to just bring a big thing and add stuff myself but if I have to cook it in water that will be way to soggy for me.