Best trail dinner!!!

[PUNKINPUSS11]

whats ur favorite trail dinner after a long day hike?? Keep it simple trying to get ideas im packing food for my 3 friends for the JMT.

[cowpoke]

simple...mine is MountainHouse Beef Stroganoff with packets of parmesan cheese from Pizza Hut....simple...easy...very light-weight.

[JustaTouron]

Me and my kids have settled on this have settled on this......

Applizer: GORP with M&Ms and various of dried fruits.
Soup: Lipton instant onion or instant chicken.
Main course: kielbasa heated over wood fire for dad/hot dogs for kids
side: baked potato
dessert: baked apple
evening snack: s'mores

[ShakeyLeggs]

Everything tastes better on the trail. So I will have to say, what I happen to be eating at the time.

[PUNKINPUSS11]

mountain house r way 2 expensive for a LD hike tho,. Cant pack kielbasi. i shoulda specified a long distance hike with food drops my bad

[Hooch]

Enertia Trail Foods' Max Patch Mac n Cheese with crumbled bacon, extra peas and a good shot of Texas Pete. Yum!

[DAKS]

ramen noodles(sans the seasoning packet)
foil packet of chicken
powdered peanut butter
excessive amount of hot sauce like texas pete for the WIN!

powdered hummus
olive oil
pita bread or a bagel

instant taters
1 package of brown gravy
foil packet of chicken
stuffing or a tore up bagel
craisins

[sparky2009]

"Darn Good Chili" from Walmart. 1 packet makes enough for 2 people. If your going to break it up into 2 meals, make sure the seasoning is split evenly between the 2 servings.

[Deadeye]

Taste of Thai Pad Thai - it comes in a box with noodles, sauce, oil, and peanuts. Drop it all in some boiling water, and add a packet or can of chicken or shrimp, and some dried veggies.

That 3-part meal (a flavor base such as a cup o soup, a protein, and some veggies) is my base for almost unlimited variations:

Dried pea soup, ham (soy ham bits, canned ham, pepperoni, etc,) and carrots.

Cheesy mashed potatoes, chicken, peas or broccoli

Curried Thai noodles, shrimp, veggies

I usually soak the dehydrated veggies for a while, and then bring the veggies to a boil in the soaking water. Eliminates any cooking time beyond that necessary to boil water, and rehydrates the veggies up nicely.


You get the picture. Most grocery stores have a wide selection of instant soups, mashed potatoes, bean, noodle, or rice dishes in a cup that can be the start of a good dinner. After some experimenting, you can skip the prepared stuff and make your own. Check out harmony house for dried veggies and soy protein meat substitutes.

http://www.harmonyhousefoods.com/

[Wise Old Owl]

[Tuckahoe]

Right now for myself, its Sweet Italian Sausage and Pasta from Hawk Vittles. Pretty tasty stuff.

[reddenbacher]

spicey tuna pack crushed dry raiman chopped dry cherries sunflower seeds hot sc.

[daddytwosticks]

Barrilla (sic) tortillini with spagetti sauce powder. Easy, filling, and tastes great!

[dgaf169]

I also like the borilla tortillini but I prefer to use the pesto that somes in a tube.

But my all time favorite would have to be knorr pasta side broccolli cheddar flavor with a spam single cut into little cubes, bacon bits, a disgusting amount of parkay squirt butter, and hot sauce. Its cheap but most importantly its high in carbs, fat, and protien!!!

[Sassafras Lass]

So . . . this is a little daunting, to be honest.

My husband and I are gearing up for a GA-ME thru-hike starting March '11. We don't eat processed food, fake food, chemicals - essentially, about 90% of the stuff sold in supermarkets today.

We're more concerned about finding affordable, quality sleeping bags, tent/tarp, packs and boots/shoes right now, but at some point we'll have to focus on our diet and how it translates to the trail.

Is it really that impossible to eat fresh, real foods while hiking? Out of concern for weight and what kinds of foods we eat, at this point we've ruled out a camping stove. We're kinda set on foods like nuts, fruits, canned vegetables, cereal, etc.

I don't want to hike the trail at the expense of my health; surely they aren't incompatible.

Any thoughts?

[wudhipy]

Whatever is closest at hand.

[GGS2]

So . . . this is a little daunting, to be honest.
...
I don't want to hike the trail at the expense of my health; surely they aren't incompatible.

Any thoughts?

Wow. Quite a few, actually. First up, camp stove: Once you've had a chance to survey the posts here, you will find there are quite a few alternatives for stoves. By camp stove, I presume you mean a Coleman stove or a variant. I don't imagine any thru hikers would carry such a thing past the first few miles. The ordinary stove for thrus weighs just a few ounces. The alternatives are cannister (liquified fuel gas), alcohol, gas or kerosene (a miniature version of the Coleman) and wood burners. You'll find advocates for all of these here on WB. Study carefully.

Trail cookery: This means anything from boil water and rehydrate through baking and multi-course meals. Most thrus limit their cookery to variants on the boil and eat, usually in one pot per person or couple. That's why the simple stoves above are adequate. If you want to do more complex cookery, it is all possible, but you will pay in pack weight. That's a personal decision.

Trail food: Of course this goes hand in glove with the cookset and stove, but there's more to it than that. If you want to buy food along the way, bear in mind that some of your supplies will come from small country stores with limited selection, especially of fresh foods. Also, a good many of the items in your selection will be of the 90% that you won't want to eat. But there are alternatives. Somewhat out of fashion is the mail drop option. You prepare packages of the foods you want to eat, and you get someone back home to mail them to you as you move down the trail. There are many posts about this, and how to do it. Look in the articles section, and also look for threads on dehyration, freezer bag cooking and resupply.

Now, there's something else for you to think about. Eating while hiking is very different from eating at home. Generally speaking, eating at home is a matter of limiting the calories and "chemicals" while getting enough nutrients. On the trail, it's the other way around. You need to pack in as many calories as you can stand, and sufficient nutrition usually comes along for free because of the quantity of food you will want to eat. Now, large amounts of processed food will come with an excess of "chemicals", but what you really need are not processed foods. What you need are heavy starches, oils and fats, and some extra protein. There are lots of theories about this, but I think there's plenty of latitude for you to do it your own way. The key variables are the calorie density (fats are more dense than carbs and proteins), and water content (with most foods, the weight is mostly water, which contributes no calories and weighs a lot: hence the emphasis on dried foods and rehydration techniques.) So most of the resupply options for thrus come from the dried food aisle, and from the cooking oil section (olive oil is preferred by many). That is for food you will carry out onto the trail and cook there. Many people carry treats, like perishable foods, that they will only carry until their first or second meal stop. Some will gladly carry a dozen eggs or bacon, etc. Again, it is your choice, but the key is that if you are going to eat it, you have to carry it.

If you crave foods that you cannot carry, plan on stuffing yourself at town stops.

So, what you will see a lot of are pastas, dehydrated starches like potatoes, grits, cereals, etc. And to make them palatable, dehydrated fruits and vegetables, sauces, herbs, etc., with some dried meats. Also high fat foods like peanut butter. Not so much bread, as this is perishable and water dense. Perhaps crackers and drier breads. Trail cooked breads are entirely possible, but many thus just don't feel like that much cooking, especially at the end of the day.

If this seems to be a bit familiar, it should be, because it is the base of travel and work food through the ages. Add in some cheeses and preserved foods, and you have peasant food from almost anywhere in the world. The only difference is which culture in comes from, and the hiker's emphasis on dehydration and simplicity.

So, there is nothing incompatible between hiking and eating healthy food, but depending on your choices, you may have to be creative and adapt your idea of good food to what you can carry on your back.

Now, that's more than enough from me. You will find many opinions and not a few experts on trail cookery, nutrition and the like right here. Learn how to search the archives and start reading. And test what you like at home and on overnight and short hikes. Don't wait for the big event.

[jnl82381]

So . . . this is a little daunting, to be honest.

My husband and I are gearing up for a GA-ME thru-hike starting March '11. We don't eat processed food, fake food, chemicals - essentially, about 90% of the stuff sold in supermarkets today.

We're more concerned about finding affordable, quality sleeping bags, tent/tarp, packs and boots/shoes right now, but at some point we'll have to focus on our diet and how it translates to the trail.

Is it really that impossible to eat fresh, real foods while hiking? Out of concern for weight and what kinds of foods we eat, at this point we've ruled out a camping stove. We're kinda set on foods like nuts, fruits, canned vegetables, cereal, etc.

I don't want to hike the trail at the expense of my health; surely they aren't incompatible.

Any thoughts?

are you guys Paleo? my wife and i are on that diet. if you're not, the two seem pretty similar. you are correct though, when i hike this summer, i'll not be following the rules because without spport from mail drops, it would be impossible. if you are on the paleo diet, let me know what kind of response you get here or what you figure out. i'd be interested to learn what some other options are for food during shorter trips. thanks.

[mweinstone]

wakapacs moms dehydrated spagettie dinner thingymabobs.

[sarbar]

So . . . this is a little daunting, to be honest.

My husband and I are gearing up for a GA-ME thru-hike starting March '11. We don't eat processed food, fake food, chemicals - essentially, about 90% of the stuff sold in supermarkets today.

We're more concerned about finding affordable, quality sleeping bags, tent/tarp, packs and boots/shoes right now, but at some point we'll have to focus on our diet and how it translates to the trail.

Is it really that impossible to eat fresh, real foods while hiking? Out of concern for weight and what kinds of foods we eat, at this point we've ruled out a camping stove. We're kinda set on foods like nuts, fruits, canned vegetables, cereal, etc.

I don't want to hike the trail at the expense of my health; surely they aren't incompatible.

Any thoughts?

It isn't hard. A dehydrator and a few days work equals a years worth of meals.

Personally unless I am buying Eden, I don't consider canned vegetables to be "healthy" due to the high sodium used to preserve. Frozen vegetables tend to be of higher quality and are in most cases just veggies. You have to read packages of course to see what country they come from (same with canned goods).

Any grain can be precooked and dehydrated, allowing "instant" trail foods.

Cereal by itself isn't very high in calories, so do research that.

While I use convenience products in my trail meals most of what I eat is based on normal foods (rice, pasta, other grains, vegetables, fruit, etc) with the convenience products used for flavoring. I make my own mixes or I use organic versions when I can. I for example live on a lower sodium diet and cannot consume artificial coloring - which limits my diet in some ways.

But I never starve and I eat very well.

There is after all...a world beyond Mt. House Meals and Top Ramen...one just has to walk over to it