Food???

[Roamer]

+1 on the dehydrated potatoes, my personal favorite. I throw in some dehydrated vegetables and bacon bits or beef jerky sometimes. Find a local health food store with a bulk foods aisle, and buy these ingredients that way to save money (only buy what you need for each trip). PineMartyn's advice is sound. But if you can't dehydrate your own or don't want to, this is the way to go.

Another good bet is dehydrated black beans, which are very nutritious and can also be mixed with other stuff to your liking.

[sdjsdj]

Lots of good suggestions above. One thing I tend to "underestimate" when expending large amounts of calories is the need for some high fat/protein content. For me, even though it's heavy, I have a small jar of peanut butter as well as things like cashews/almonds/M & M's with peanuts, Cliff bars Again this does not really help your "getting down the pack weight", but don't go so "slim" that you are constantly hungry because you are not getting enough fat/protein. Also, I know it is somewhat "controversial", but I find many freeze dried/box foods to be way to high in sodium content when consumed as "whole meals" while in the woods.
Personally I find that dehydrating my own meals is the most satisfying.
Chili, spaghetti, black beans are all favorites.
If I want to avoid the hassle of making bannock, I take soft shelled tortillas.

Also, if you are changing your diet by adding a high amount of things like beans and whole grains and dried fruit, be aware that your digestional system can start to "not cooperate". I may be weird, but a couple of weeks before going on a trip, I will take 3 days and eat the same menu as my trip menu (including cooking it all on my camp stove in the kitchen) to see how I feel, and how tasty it is and how my digestive system works. Believe me it is a great learning experience.

[PineMartyn]

Look up Freezer Bag Cooking. Sarah has lots of recipes on the site and sells very nice cozies. The idea is to make up meals carried dry in strong freezer bags. Push the bag into a cozy, open the bag, pour in requisite amount of hot water, stir, let sit for a few minutes to rehydrate and eat. Clean up involves stuffing empty bag into garbage bag.

The recipes involve instant noodles, rice, potatoes; dry vegetables and/or meats some type of sauce/gravy, and seasonings.

Freezer bag cooking is something I'm planning on trying this winter. I'm an igloo cold-camper and one of the more annoying chores of winter camping is doing dishes. I'll be testing this out at home first by making my own ziplock cozies from Reflectex (thermal ducting insulation) to see how well it works. It's one of those tried and tested methods, so I'm very confident it will work, but I never try a new recipe or cooking technique in the bush until I've tried it at home first. The big advantage of this will be that it will eliminate the hassle of melting snow and heating water up for dishes. In sub-freezing winter temperatures, cleaning pots and dishes leads to iced up dishes afterward.

Good suggestion rdec.

- Martin

[PineMartyn]

Also, I know it is somewhat "controversial", but I find many freeze dried/box foods to be way to high in sodium content when consumed as "whole meals" while in the woods.
Personally I find that dehydrating my own meals is the most satisfying.
Chili, spaghetti, black beans are all favorites.
If I want to avoid the hassle of making bannock, I take soft shelled tortillas.

I too find the commercial freeze-dried meals too loaded with sodium. And +1 on the soft-shelled tortillas. They are not light but we make some killer fajitas with salami slices, dehydrated salsa & peppers, or alternately, with dehydrated chicken, hummus, and tabouli. The soft-shelled tortillas are also great with peanut butter and jam for breakfast or lunch, so you avoid the problem of packing bulky bread.

Hope this helps,
- Martin

[gunner65]

I really like the Knorr packets. They are usually rice or noodle and I add spam or chicken when cooking. Most of them cook in 7 minutes or less.

[sdjsdj]

PineMartin, I whole-heartedly agree with you about the sodium thing. Many people have this "thought/philosophy" that you need to add salt when doing a lot of perspiring/exercising. I personally don't think this is true. Maybe some Gatorade type of drink in electrolyte replacement in extreme heat/extreme cold. Again just my opinion/experience. Mostly sodium is added for taste and food preservation and because it is a "CHEAP" way for the company to make their food taste better without using other spices/seasonings.
I like using garlic pepper and red pepper flakes and Italian seasoning.

[Pablo]

A more important question is how MUCH food should you pack. A "ballpark" way to estimate needed food weight is to consider anywhere from 1.5 to 2.5 lbs/person/day. The types of food that fit into this weight measure. would be things like rice, beans, jerky, nuts, dried fruit, etc. Fresh food is much heavier, while freeze-dried food is lighter.

Within these weights should be a balanced mix of fats, carbs and proteins and a variety of foods for meals and snacks. The actual weight of food you need depends a great deal on the physical stresses you expect to encounter. for example, a moderately difficult backpacking trip might need around 1.5 lbs./day while an intense mountaineering trip with very heavy packs in extreme cold might need 2.5 lbs/day or more per person. For a week it's not a critical issue, but for longer trips too much or too little food can create unnecessary stress.

For a week though, once you've figured out what you want, check your food weights and see where you fall. For most of my trips I've found 1.5 lbs/day to be about right. Any more usually means I'll be carrying the extra food back.

The National Outdoor Leadership School has some useful books that'll help you figure all this out.

[werewolf won]

The nice thing about the food bag is its weight only goes one way…down. I like to eat really well the first night out and will bring fresh fruit, usually a steak, a potato, and a couple of eggs and bacon for breakfast.
After that it is a mixture of dried fruits and nuts, and MREs. They are good for the boys and girls in the military; they are more than good enough for me. Admittedly I do purchase the individual menu items I like, and split up complete meals leaving some of the items and a lot of the packaging behind. I also fish and in season hunt and do depend on that for fresh protien.
Wolf

[gamer]

I use "Food Saver" bags and sealer. For breakfasts I just mix eggs and assorted vegetables or meat in the bag at home and seal. Once in camp I drop the sealed bag into boiling water until egg is cooked. Open bag and eat right from bag. Instant omelette.
Before I leave on a trip we will cook a roast or turkey dinner. I just seal individual portions(potatoes, veggies and meat) in a bag and heat in boiling water.
Works great for pizza left overs. When heated in the bag in boiling water comes out hot like fresh and not dried out like when reheated in the microwave.

If I am backpacking in I will bring one meal a day like this to keep weight down. Sure is nice to have one really nice meal a day. Makes it easier to eat dried food the rest of the time if you have one real meal to look forward to.

[VinoNoir]

I made my own "MRE's" a while back. This is just a small sample of what I make and bring. I've refined my methodology and menu a bit since then, but it gives you the basic idea.

Here's the thread from it: http://bushcraftusa.com/forum/showth...eap-sustinence

I'm a cheap bastard, but I like to eat well. So I decided a long time ago that I wasn't going to pay for the expensive, salt laden Mountain House etc brands, and instead I was going to make my own.