Food ideas

[sean salach]

i don't like cooking at all on cycling trips. saves the weight and hassle of stove and fuel. unfortunately, that'll probably change for my winter trips this season. i like dry foods that can be soaked as well as they can be cooked, like oatmeal and ramen noodles. finish it off with dried fuit and nuts, honey and peanut butter. maybe a few granola bars or cliff bars. that's good enough for me.

[Mike Brown]

"For dinner, I really like this one, I've tried rice "sticks" (more like noodles) combined with dried instant black bean mix from the bulk foods section of the local co-op.  Those dried bean mixes are really nice and the whole combo cooks in less than 10 minutes in a bag of boiling water."

Shaun- try couscous instead of the sticks.  This is my go-to meal- couscous and the beans, plus a seasoned salt/cayenne mix.  All you have to do is bring the water to a boil, add stuff, put the lid on, and take it off the heat.  I actually often make enough at night that I eat it cold for breakfast in the morning. 

[carlhutch]

One of the things i find really difficult about racing in the US is identifying foods at service stations and small stores that i can re-charge on.The amount of time i wasted at the GDR this year for example was stupid.Not helped by arriving at said services virtually seeing double and feeling depleted the usual scenario was to buy 2 litres of chocolate milk and sit outside the store downing that whilst waiting for my 2 brain cells to kick back in and re-enter the store with food in mind.

Has anybody been scientific knowing how many calories and protein % required for 18+hr days and what best to buy from a store that maybe has a microwave at best to achieve those percentages.
I lost 16.5 Lbs during the race.I felt after 5-6 hrs sleeping rough mostly my legs recovered enough to do it all again but cant help thinking i could have been better performing if i was looking after myself better.Maybe corn chips and licorice is all you need to keep going?

[dave54]

Carl:  Start here for some basics.

Firefighting, combat, and endurance biking have many commonalities.

http://www.hooah4health.com/body/nutrition/default.htm

http://www.fs.fed.us/t-d/pubs/htmlpubs/htm02512323/


Check with your local college or university for a course on sports nutrition.  I am trying to get our local community college to offer one in the correspondence program.  The chair of the athletic dept is interested, she has to just get it through the curriculum committee...

Of course, lots of info on the internet, much of it useless or even harmful.  Stay away from web sites that are also selling a product ("We have the secret that doctors don't want you to know", "Our product is the only one with the secret formula proven to work", etc.)  Snake oil salesmen and patent medicine hucksters still exist, they just use the internet and call it nutritional supplements. 

And there is nothing sold at GNC or similar stores that works better than what you find at the supermarket for a whole lot less money.

Get your nutrition from food, not chemicals.

[DeanHill]

I a big fan of just cooking with an alchohol stove.  I'm using the newest vargo with seems to have a longer cook time then some. 

Here my staple when I can get them.

Quinou.  Cooks just fast enough for an alchohol stove.  Complete food, works great for any meal.
Almond butter/Peanut butter (Ive given up on bread or crackers and have found im fine just mixing some on a spoon with honey and eating it.
Honey
Dehydrated beans. 
Dehydrated soup.
Oatmeal
Raisons
Nuts (mostly cashews) 
Chocolate
Yerba Mate ( yeah its kinda like food, and if you add honey and powedered soy milk or butter its a meal in itself)
Powdered soy milk
I agree with ramen being a little on the unhealthy side and I prefer the thai noodles, same same, but different. I wouldnt say Im much of a picky eater, and as we all know,  hunger is the best spice.

Randy

[tomp]

Anybody out there rely partially on robot food? Talking about powders really and not bars.

In '07 some of the GDR riders who were in Absolute Bikes split a big can of Hammer Recoverite, put what they could fit into a freezer-size ziplocks and gave me the rest. I know that you aren't going to find Hammer stuff in the Circular K, but starting out with a healthy supply (or having plenty for a 3-7 day trek) would not be hard. Protein powders like Perpetuum (which I can't use because Soy powder blows me up like a meat balloon) or just ordinary powdered Egg, Rice or whatever protein seem like they'd be weight efficient.

I'm a Hammer addict, but haven't gone on overnights yet. I suspect I'll bring at least some HEED and some Recoverite for the end of the day. On big one-day rides I've used rice protein powder (with limited success) and walnuts, Hammer bars, Honey Stinger bars for my protein source. I've had trouble finding a good lightweight source of protein that my body likes.
--
Tom P. of Salida.

[hillsy]

A food dehydrator like a Nesco American Harvest, Garden Master (that's the brand i have) they are great, cook up a batch of whatever you want, chilli, soups, stew and dehydrate them and bag em. Tasty....they gotta be better than the freeze dried stuff and much cheaper. As for powdered milk, not a big Nido fan as i recall it's not all milk in there, there is some vegetable oil. I go to ethnic grocery stores, Indian ones are good and they sell milk that's sourced from New Zealand or Canada or bulk stores, Bulk Barn in Canada, has the same stuff in bins, it's full cream milk powder 

[heckler]

freezerbagcooking.com has a lot of information and recipes. I actually made quite a large portion of this stuff. Even tried my kids on some of the more "family freindly" type stuff. Works great as an option. Did one trip of 22 days in the Boundry Waters (kayaking) and survived fine.

[sherpaxc]

Tried out some new recipies for an upcoming trip.  I was browsing through the grocery store and stumbled upon boxed dinners from Macaroni Grill with everything except the meat in it.  Just add the chicken in a pouch and it's perfect!  It's probably one of the best meals I've ever had.
Just an FYI!

[wheelmanron]

You all can laugh, but I dehydrate my own beans,mushrooms,peppers,onions,tomatoes and salsa. I mix all of that with Knorr steak fajita rice side dish,cook until done,then spoon it onto tortillas. 10 minute trail burritos! My wife loves it. I have used tortillas for years instead of bread when back-bikepacking. Easy to store in many packs,and tasty. For when I am alone,I take the same veggies,add some dehydrated mixed veggies and cook them with Shin Ramyun gourmet spicy ramen mix. I love it! Couscous with crumbled bacon for breakfast. All cooked on an altoid tin alcohol stove with integrated pot stand or esbit stove modified to burn wood.

[ImAFred]

... All cooked on an altoid tin alcohol stove with integrated pot stand or esbit stove modified to burn wood.

WMR, how did you modify your esbit to burn wood?

[wheelmanron]

I removed the depression that holds the cube in the base. To use, I open the stove so that the sides are vertical, then I push the tabs into the ground a little, basically upside down. I light a small fire under the stove so that the flames are concentrated in the opening left from the piece I removed. I use one of the side openings to feed small twigs into, and if it is real windy, I place a rock near the other opening. Takes some practice and patience, but I like it.

Occasionally I will bring a one egg wonder pan with me and make a real special breakfast of little pancakes, or if my wife is with me, corn cakes. I get some just add water or milk cornbread mix, and I mix in some rolled oats, walnuts and dried cranberries. If I can only find add milk mix, I add powdered milk so all I need to add is water.   

I have found that tasty food is the key to getting people to join me on these little adventures. Yes, I could get by on summer sausage, crackers and string cheese, but then my wife would be home alone while I have all the fun.

[ImAFred]

I see said the blind man
Are you doing this, so you can control the fire/temp?
Or length of burn time?
Or just so you don't have to carry tabs?

[wheelmanron]

So I don't have to buy tabs. I have run out of tabs, but never twigs. Plus, as I have been a mechanic for most of my life, if I can get away from using chemicals even for a short time, it is a good thing.

[ImAFred]

Thanks for the info

[SlowDave]

I like to stick to foods that I can pronounce what is in it.  I make an exception for Hammer products but I have to gag them down.  Some things are just worth their weight if you are not a racer like me.  Like a frozen rib eye and a few brews.   

[bartspedden]

I typically just stick to the freeze dried scene for dinner but really started thinking about things after this years CTR.  I never had any problems finding/carrying enough water, and I never carried more than 100oz.  I don't really think that $5 for a dinner is a lot of money. I've found dinners that taste good to me. I'm fine carrying the 7gram graham cracker esbit stove plus the fuel tablet itself.  And my little ti mug with it's carbon lid is also perfectly acceptable to me.  So basically, there's really not much that I don't like about freeze dried dinners. But I looked at the calories and started thinking... A typical 1 serving freeze dried meal is roughly 600 calories. An apple pie is roughly 550 calories.  I'm a closet nutrition freak and in a non racing scenario would not ever really think about replacing a nutritious organic freeze dried meal with sugar laden, fried, apple pie.  But I'm gonna give it a shot next time because in the end my body seems to do just fine with the sugar.

I would NEVER try this for a typical endurance race, but for multi day stuff where your body turns into a machine the fuel to keep it going (for me) is simple carbs (i.e. sugars) - why take the time to boil water (even though I like the process), re-hydrate the food, and eat it (takes me about 10 minutes) - when I can just eat an apple pie, a few fist full ofs nuts/fruits, and fall asleep ASAP.  Not to mention, the trash is lighter too.

This idea sounds nuts to me, but it came to me the last night before Silverton.  I figured it was too late for me to get a room in Silverton so I camped outside of town.  While I was making dinner, all I wanted to do was fall asleep.  But I knew I should eat, so I staid awake and fed the machine.  I could even see 2 apple pies here for over 1100 calories.  That's some serious fuel that really easy for me to eat. And I can buy them almost everywhere (except leadville city market because they were sold out  )

I know apple pies probably isn't what folks want to here on a thread on food, but I'm gonna give it a shot!

[alirawk]

A few years ago I bought a food dehydrator. And let me tell you, total game changer. I live in Los Angeles and luckily have lots of awesome Mexican supermarkets around that sell killer seasoned/marinated carne and pollo asada. A few pounds in the dehydrator for about eight hours, no need to add anything else, and you got ample super-light, incredibly tasty, high protein fuel. I love chomping on a handful of dried almonds and homemade beef jerky, an instant shot of super power for me. NB: unrefrigerated homemade jerky can go bad in about 2 weeks, particularly in the desert (I'm thinking about long climbing/camping trips in Joshua Tree, Red Rocks, etc.)

Also if you're taking some pasta or couscous or quinoa throw the dried meat in with the water, the seasoning from the asada marinate adds flavor in a pretty awesome way as the meat is rehydrating. [I'm a big fan of couscous and quinoa, both excellent, super light, readily seasoned. In fact quinoa's "protein content is very high (12%–18%). Unlike wheat or rice (which are low in lysine), and like oats, quinoa contains a balanced set of essential amino acids for humans, making it a complete protein source, unusual among plant foods. It is a good source of dietary fiber and phosphorus and is high in magnesium and iron. Quinoa is gluten-free and considered easy to digest." (wikipedia)]

If you're looking for pasta sauce without the hassle of jars, containers, etc., you can dry it in the dehydrator into a sort of fruit leather that readily rehydrates in water. All of this can be done in a single cup (I use the Snow Peak giga power stove – 3.6 oz; titanium cup/lid – 4.4oz; fuel – 6.4oz.; light my fire spork - .2oz.; mesh bag for all of it - .1oz; altogether my kitchen weighs under 15oz and fits inside of the cup, and a single small giga power is ample fuel for several days in the back country for me. I’m sure I’ll eventually move on to an alcohol stove, but eventually is eventually.)

[paxton coyote]

Backpacker Magazine website has some great recipes for a lot of different dishes, nothing you'd mess with during a race but I'll be trying some out for some weekend trips, I believe you can find them under the skills section on their site

[mmeiser]

someone has to play devils advocate...

canned foods.

The truth is when you're on a bike and evening is approaching and you're going to drop for the night within two hours and sit and eat after sunlight... canned goods rule.  You'd waste more time looking for alternatives and cooking them then just buying some canned goods, riding with them for an hour or two and then heating them right in their can over a fire or alcohol stove. Huge variety of preprepared options from canned corn, soups, pastas, meats. As instant as it gets.

They really weigh no more then dehydrated food + carrying the water you're going to need to rehydrate them anyway. 

Obviously if you're going to carry several days rations by all means carry dehydrated or other light weight foods, but even on the divide you're going to regularly pass gas stations and grocery stores.

Now back to the normal staple goods...

I normally only cook one hot meal a day after I stop for the evening.

I also find I almost always find at least one place to eat breakfast or lunch while riding... so again, I only cook once a day.

For hot foods my goto foods are usually instant grits / oatmeal / farina... and whatever summer sausage, peporoni, butter, oil, margarine I can throw in them to up the calorie count.

Likewise packets of instant soup like chicken noodle, onion, etc, and whatever peporoni, sausage, ramen noodle noodles, etc, etc. I can throw in them.

Ramen, rice noodles, instant rice... anything quick cooking.

butter, margarine, olive oil... these raise the calorie count of anything i eat tremendously

tuna, whitefish... all these things now come in packets

Tea... I just love tea... favorite thing to just brew up and set back in the fire between sips before I go to bed.

Coffee turkish ground and brewed texas style... I really really don't give a crap about drinking grounds as long as the coffee is really really good and strong. I don't skimp on coffee on the trail.

almonds... highest calorie count of any nut...  but ANY nut will do.

fresh meat.... I'm not above buying a cheap piece of red meat... doesn't need to be grade A sirloin when you're biking... just for the joy of cooking it over the fire... aluminum foil or on a stick.

Cookware stuff...

I've taken to using wood 99% of the time in a glorified titanium fire ring / convection stove that weighs about two ounces. Tiny footprint, extremely hot, variable size and hence variable footprint. Sometimes I still grab a bottle of HEET or other gas line anti-freeze when I'm in a place where fires are not allowed... I can improvise a first rate stove out of a piece of aluminum foil.   Oh... and I carry a couple ounces of aluminum foil... slackware cooking.

Titanium light-my-fire sporks rule

Platypus bladders with the top cut off rule as bowls and cups.

Lightload towels in 1oz and .6 ounce sizes rule

Titanium stakes rule for all sorts of things cooking/ stoves... I always make sure a few are in my stake bag.