Food Optimization on the Trail

[Venchka]

A CAN of refried beans? For backpacking? Surely you jest?
I’ve paid as little as $1.00 for a package of these. Andrew Skurka has a recipe for beans and rice based on these instant beans.
https://santafebean.com/Santa_Fe_Bea.../Products.html
Wayne

[perrymk]

A CAN of refried beans? For backpacking? Surely you jest?
I’ve paid as little as $1.00 for a package of these. Andrew Skurka has a recipe for beans and rice based on these instant beans.
https://santafebean.com/Santa_Fe_Bea.../Products.html
Wayne

Harmony House dehydrated beans also re-hydrate easily and there are several different beans to choose from. Notice these are dehydrated, not just dried. It's different than what is typically at the grocery store.

[stephanD]

It's hilarious the people who suggest that everyone else follows their boring food list. I am discussing varied nutrition sources, and eating junk doesn't follow that thinking.

You're not proving that you're hardcore because you eat four things. The fact that you think this is nutritious or tasteful is ridiculous. That's your opinion, and you'll find no nutritionist that would support four months of four foods only.

You can add those tuna pouches and make it five, but i stopped buying them because of the smell. Beside, what I meant is that this is what you NEED. If you have peanuts allergy, or you are lactose intolerant, that is not going to work for you.

[CalebJ]

It always amazes me when someone shows up and asks questions, then chooses to argue with everyone that responds, even the ones that are clearly agreeing with many of the OP's general ideas. At this point I should be used to it.

[stephanD]

It always amazes me when someone shows up and asks questions, then chooses to argue with everyone that responds, even the ones that are clearly agreeing with many of the OP's general ideas. At this point I should be used to it.

Yes. And many of the food items mentioned in this thread cannot be easily found, unless you go to a specialty store.

[Dogwood]

It always amazes me when someone shows up and asks questions, then chooses to argue with everyone that responds, even the ones that are clearly agreeing with many of the OP's general ideas. At this point I should be used to it.

That's not that uncommon. Ahh, Trambo is just working out his hike and he's sharing as much or more than it seems he's asking. Don't let it bother you. Offer something possibly useful. If it's accepted great. If not we put it out there. We can learn something from others if we stay open when we disagree too. That's what a conversation and greater understanding is about.

Yes. And many of the food items mentioned in this thread cannot be easily found, unless you go to a specialty store.

Respectfully, actually if one does look most of these items can be found at mainstream grocery stores, even most WallyWorlds. I don't think you can get moth beans there but I could be wrong as WallyWorlds do stock merchandise according to regional preferences. For example, essential oils for about $1.25 are found in the vitamin aisle of all the WallyWorlds I've looked. Gnocchi is found in DG's and WWorlds. Seeds to sprout aren't difficult to locate. I have my eye on an Indian Grocery Store near me to look for moth or "mat" beans all because someone brought them to my attention on WB.

[Trambo]

............

[Trambo]

A CAN of refried beans? For backpacking? Surely you jest?
I’ve paid as little as $1.00 for a package of these. Andrew Skurka has a recipe for beans and rice based on these instant beans.
https://santafebean.com/Santa_Fe_Bea.../Products.html
Wayne

First off, you have to be accurate and reasonable about the costs of food. Just because you found those beans for a dollar once, doesn't mean that that is the price. Those beans are 3 dollars a bag at the grocery store, and 3 dollars a bag on Amazon. This is their normal price. You could have been buying ones that were set to expire, but we must look at the normal price of things, and not how you found a great deal that nobody else can find (because it could be giving them improper pricing advice). Let's do the math here, (since you so quickly assume that I'm incorrect or joking).

The single bean bag costs 3 dollars, giving you 7.25 ounces of beans. I purchase a can of beans for 39 cents, giving me 7.75 cans of beans to your single pouch. Each can is 16 ounces (compared to 7.25 ounces of your bean). That leaves me with 124 ounces of beans before dehydrating, to your 7.25. That's over 17 times the amount of beans.


Looking into bulk refried beans, even these 8 pounds of beans costs 55 bucks. This comes out to the same price per volume as the Santa Fe beans (about 43 cents per ounce of beans). That's the price of an entire 16 ounce can, and I'm sure that will weigh more than 1 ounce after dehydrating ...... we wouldn't get a 16 to 1 reduction. I have no clue the weight reduction of refried beans, but I would assume that it's around 5 to 1 reduction.

Now, I'm not saying that buying canned food is best for everyone. There is electricity to factor in also. For me, I have my dehydrator running, as I've been constantly drying food out for this journey. I do not believe that already dried food is always the best alternative. If someone can find those at a dollar a bag, it's a great deal ..... but, I would suggest that price won't be able to be found. We must be realistic about the prices. People must be able to do math, in order to find the best deal. If you can show me a single current advertisement or online listing showing those beans for a dollar, I would gladly buy some. However, I think that you should be honest and admit that they aren't available at that price point.

[Dogwood]

Interesterified Soybean Oil (with TBHQ to preserve freshness),

[Dogwood]

Ugggggggggh!

[Trambo]

That's not that uncommon. Ahh, Trambo is just working out his hike and he's sharing as much or more than it seems he's asking. Don't let it bother you. Offer something possibly useful. If it's accepted great. If not we put it out there. We can learn something from others if we stay open when we disagree too. That's what a conversation and greater understanding is about.

The difference is someone stepping in with their opinion, and suggesting that nothing more is needed than four foods. If I am making claims as to the reason to vary one's meal, suggesting only four foods needs to be eaten is very offensive. There's a difference between saying, "hey, all I eat is four foods. This is an interesting system", versus saying "all you need is these four foods ever". The first is conversational, and it follows the thread. The second is just someone wanting to talk, providing zero information, and just saying how wrong I am. Well, guess what .... I'm going to tell you how I disagree with the person's opinion who attempts to undermine the thread's proposition.

If someone thinks that the person talking about 4 foods is answering a question that I asked, this is hilarious.


.... Isn't it funny how the claim is that these foods can't be found? I'm discussing providing better fuel for the body over long periods of time, and people look for any excuse to make this seem difficult. Every single bit of food comes from a normal grocery store (or Walmart). I'm not sure what specialty food items he is talking about. This type of optimization isn't for everyone. If you're happy eating tuna and spam for months, then I congratulate you. If you find it too difficult to purchase these types of food items, then this isn't the conversation for you. This saddens me, because none of this food is complex. It shows the inability of people to surpass what they see as possible or easy.

As for "many of the food items mentioned", I would contend that only the Moth bean (aka matki bean) would be difficult to find. Essential oils weren't a large topic of this thread, but more of a reply by someone suggesting dry spices. I feel that conversation is more for the oils thread, but I can understand how they are confusingly similar (as both are to increase nutrition).

With so many people losing extreme weight on the trail, I'm surprised that more effort isn't put into nutrition. I feel that some of that is laziness, but most of it is tradition. People get set into their way of thinking. I admit that I'm taking the difficult path, but I also know that my body responds best to quality inputs. You know what? I should definitely track my weight along the trail.

[MuddyWaters]

It's hilarious the people who suggest that everyone else follows their boring food list. I am discussing varied nutrition sources, and eating junk doesn't follow that thinking.

You're not proving that you're hardcore because you eat four things. The fact that you think this is nutritious or tasteful is ridiculous. That's your opinion, and you'll find no nutritionist that would support four months of four foods only.

People dont eat poor on trail because they want to.

Its because it takes an inordinate amount if time, effort, and maybe $ not to.

Hiking 10-12 hrs per day simply does that to you. In town you want to sleep, eat, hang out. Not get out spreadsheets and start putting together new meals with items found on sale .

Id guess to be successful at that, people are practiced at it and enjoy doing that. Thats not everyone. Fir most....simplicity rules. Hikers have been known to exist largely on squeeze parkay or chocolate frosting to get calories needed to stop the body wasting.

Vegetarians would be way ahead of game on that Imo.

[Trambo]

Interesterified Soybean Oil (with TBHQ to preserve freshness),

I do not know what that type of oil is. Doing some quick searches, I see that the process helps to increase nutritive value of the oil. Soy is one of those things that I'm a bit weary of for long distance treks, but I'm not sure why this is the case. When creating my trail mix, I was considering adding soy nuts to the mix. Many people currently are worried about soy, as they claim that it produces estrogen in the body. I feel that this is more of a scare tactic, but that it could have consequences at high concentrations. These high levels would come from someone using soy as a major replacement in their diet. For my trail food, I decided against soy nuts. This was just a personal preference, and not because I'm worried about estrogen. I don't think soy at normal levels would negatively affect a hiker at all, and so I would be interested in the health benefits of interesterified soybean oil.

It would be tough for any oil to displace my main oil, as I love coconut oil so much. It's my multi-tool in the kitchen, as I can do anything with it. I might make some cookie butter, by crushing up some Bischoff cookies and adding in some dark chocolate chips. If I add a little salt, the coconut oil is used as a direct butter replacement. I can use it to cook like olive oil, and it won't go rancid. The ultimate property of the oil, is that I can also deep fry with it. Not only does this give a tasty sweetness to anything fried, but the oil is also usable after frying. This leftover oil then can be added directly to food, spread onto bread, or saved for a later meal. It's a very adaptive oil, and I feel that it's perfect for the trail. I also like how it changes from solid to liquid at a specific temperature (about 75 degrees).

[Venchka]

First off, you have to be accurate and reasonable about the costs of food. Just because you found those beans for a dollar once, doesn't mean that that is the price. Those beans are 3 dollars a bag at the grocery store, and 3 dollars a bag on Amazon. This is their normal price. You could have been buying ones that were set to expire, but we must look at the normal price of things, and not how you found a great deal that nobody else can find (because it could be giving them improper pricing advice). Let's do the math here, (since you so quickly assume that I'm incorrect or joking).

The single bean bag costs 3 dollars, giving you 7.25 ounces of beans. I purchase a can of beans for 39 cents, giving me 7.75 cans of beans to your single pouch. Each can is 16 ounces (compared to 7.25 ounces of your bean). That leaves me with 124 ounces of beans before dehydrating, to your 7.25. That's over 17 times the amount of beans.


Looking into bulk refried beans, even these 8 pounds of beans costs 55 bucks. This comes out to the same price per volume as the Santa Fe beans (about 43 cents per ounce of beans). That's the price of an entire 16 ounce can, and I'm sure that will weigh more than 1 ounce after dehydrating ...... we wouldn't get a 16 to 1 reduction. I have no clue the weight reduction of refried beans, but I would assume that it's around 5 to 1 reduction.

Now, I'm not saying that buying canned food is best for everyone. There is electricity to factor in also. For me, I have my dehydrator running, as I've been constantly drying food out for this journey. I do not believe that already dried food is always the best alternative. If someone can find those at a dollar a bag, it's a great deal ..... but, I would suggest that price won't be able to be found. We must be realistic about the prices. People must be able to do math, in order to find the best deal. If you can show me a single current advertisement or online listing showing those beans for a dollar, I would gladly buy some. However, I think that you should be honest and admit that they aren't available at that price point.

It helps to live in Texas I suppose.
Today they are slightly on sale. When they are really on sale I stock up. These are TOTALLY instant beans. I'm not sure how well your home dried beans reconstitute. I'm also not sure how the finished weight compares either.
16 ounces of BEANS? Or 16 ounces of Beans & Water?
Rather that argue and do a bunch of arithmetic to justify your position, buy a package of the Santa Fe, other brand, of instant refried beans and run them through some tasting tests.
https://www.brookshires.com/shop#/product/465070 6 servings for $2.29.
https://andrewskurka.com/2015/backpa...fritos-cheese/

Cheers!
Wayne

[stephanD]

I apologize for the misunderstanding. I edited my post from "you" to "I". I hope that the offence is now corrected.

[middle to middle]

I ate a lot of oatmeal and slim jims. i amlooking forward to the invention of dehydrated water !

[Traillium]

I ate a lot of oatmeal and slim jims. i amlooking forward to the invention of dehydrated water !

That would be sublime …


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Slow Trek]

Hope you can make your food system work. As for losing weight hiking,that is one of the reasons I hike. Problem is that I find the weight I thought I lost shortly after I stop hiking....

[Dogwood]

Hope you can make your food system work. As for losing weight hiking,that is one of the reasons I hike. Problem is that I find the weight I thought I lost shortly after I stop hiking....

It's called the yo yo Hiking diet.

[Big_Old_Dog]

When reading this whole thread, I wondered if any successful thruhiker (AT, CDT, PCT) actually eats such wonderfully prepared meals as the OP? If so, how? I have a good dehydrator and certainly lots of preparations and drop boxes could work. MH and other freeze dried foods are very expensive. For instance, a two serving container of MH breakfast skillet costs $10. The container has a total of 510 calories. I don't know about anyone else, but 255 calories (half) isn't a serving for me. A #10 can of MH beef stew has 2000 calories and costs $50. Call it 2 cents per calorie or about 3 dollars per mile. Skippies looks pretty good.