Food ideas

[sendoodoo]

Looking for new ideas on what food for both UL and loaded touring.  Snacks are obvious but what do some of you do for hot food?  Who dehydrates their own food?  What do you buy before a trip?  What do you look for at food stops?  etc.  What items are worth carrying even if they are heavy?  I will probably use either Ti pot or beer can pot mostly.

Thanks! ~jb

[Slowerthensnot]

I'm a big fan of ramen, Lipton cup I noodle, rice a roni, vamcum packs of tuna&chichen, microwave bacon

Some of this takes some practice over an alcohol stove.

Don't know where your at but vitimin cottage usealy has Pertty good prices on nuts and dried fruit

[FeloniousDunk]

Let me preface by saying I've done my overnighters (so far just backpacking and road bike touring) in the eastern US where you're never too far from stores, and I've only done out to 4 nights with out resupply.

I haven't given up hot dinners.  And, I don't like to do any cooking that involves more than boiling water with my alcy stove.  I tend to just spend the money for the pre packed dehydrated backpacking dinners.  Though, occasionally, I find a cheap dry soup mix.  With most all of them, I dump in an ounce or so of olive oil (light, tasty, healthy fat calories), and a foil pack of salmon, chicken, or dried tvp.  That's often not enough for dinner, so I supplement with bars (I like candy bars, especially Pay Day or RiceCrispy Treats), nuts, dried fruit (which I do often dry on my own, apples and bananas are easy) and/or peanut butter.  On REALLY good trips, I'll supplement with a fish cooked on a campfire in aluminum foil!  I've tried drying my own dinner mixes, but it hasn't been worth it to me.  For breakfast, I like caffeine, oatmeal like stuff, jerky, and pb.  I've come to like this Quaker Simple Harvest oatmeal like stuff you can find with the instant oatmeals.  It's a little hardier than oatmeal.  I throw in some additional mixed nuts and dried fruit.  I've been heating water in the morning and making a cup or 3 or coffee with those tea bag coffee's, but I think I may try out the canned coffee drinks I've heard so many on here raving about.  Making coffee always seems to take up too much time in the morning.  I don't do much special for lunch's usually.  Lot's of trail mix, bars, homemaid "oatmeal energy ball" which is a lot of honey, oatmeal, pb, nuts, etc all smooshed into a lump in a ziploc bag.

I've done a couple road tours, and this may work for some mtb tours occasionally, where I'd try to plan some nights close to a restaurant where I could get breakfast the next morning.  Then I'd go there and eat a big breakfast and get more to go and have that for lunch.  I've had some nice trips like that.       

[ScottM]

Most of my trips have been "cold" food (no stove).  But lately I've added an alcohol stove to the kit.

So far I've mostly poached MikeC's freeze dried meals.  He made them by ordering ingredients separately (like rice, beans, veggies, bacon, bacon, and more bacon) and mixing them together into "experimental" mixes.  I think he pawned off the mixes he didn't like on me (I'm not complaining, freeze dried stuff is expensive!), but they were still pretty good and quite filling.

Otherwise, I've brought some organic freeze dried meals that are really good, but pricey.  I also do instant oatmeal and "easy" mac and cheese. 

On the last trip I left the stove and home, going back to the old standbys like a block of parmesan cheese and a dry salami.  I'm still debating whether the stove is worth the trouble/weight.  Depends on the trip, I guess.

[dave54]

I consider Ramen to be junk food and try to avoid it.  However, you may use it as base to make a real meal.  Add minute rice and dried veggies to expand it.  Regular ramen seems to have more than enough salt and seasoning so I do not add more after the addition of rice/veggies.  There are several different kinds of instant rice on the market nowadays.

I prefer hot meals, as cold meals get boring in a hurry.  If meals get boring you lose your appetite and not consume enough calories to get you through the day.  The military calls it 'ration monotony'.  So variety is necessary.  A 2-3 day trip is short enough you do not need to be overly concerned about any vitamin deficiency.  You body most likely has enough stored for a few days.  Calories are a big concern, though, and electrolytes.  Keep the food tasty and interesting enough so you will eat heartily.  Alternate oatmeal with cream of wheat or cream of rice, use different flavors or different brands.  Add a daily multivitamin if you wish, but avoid those mega-dose pill packs.

Life is to be enjoyed, so a small flask of the adult beverage of your choice may find room in your pack.  A wee dram to sip while watching the sunset at the end of hard day makes it all worthwhile.

If you do pass by a store or restaurant, go ahead and treat yourself.  We all get junk food withdrawals now and then.

[sherpaxc]

I really like the Borelli brand pasta's.  They are pre-cooked so all you have to do is dump them in some hot water and let them "cook".  Pour in some olive oil, parmasean cheese, maybe some BACON and you've got a meal fit for a king. 

[cartographer]

Thinking back to a remote 10-day backpacking trip, breakfast was the usual oatmeal with powdered whole milk, dried fruit, nuts, brown sugar, cinnamon, etc to vary the flavor a bit and add texture, nutrition, etc.  Dinner was often a dried soup base with freeze dried veggies (you can buy all sorts now) thickened with mashed-potato flakes into a thick glop...surprisingly tasty and pretty filling after a long day.  Supplement with chocolate, cookies, etc.  I think it's the small treats that really make it feel like you are dining, rather that just subsisting, if that makes sense.  This fits the one-pot, just boil water style; and can be parceled out into pre-mixed baggies that are light and pretty compact.

I'll probably look at the dried bean flakes and instant rice as well next time I'm out.

For a short trip, though, I think leaving the stove is tempting.

[Eric]

This summer I re-learned cooking on fires, while in some parts this is not a good way to go due to forest fire risk and land issues. But in Alaska it sure is. So the food planning changed a bunch. A good mix of meals that you can eat without cooking at all and more long cook meals. If fuel is an issue - couscous, potato flakes are great.
Dried coconut milk found in asian stores is cheap and makes excellent easy curry.
For breakfast and ride food I've switched exclusively to cookie dough. Most calories per dollar by far of anything else. After 3 weeks on the gulf coast we were still plowing down a pound a day and loving every bit of it really. soo good.

An important thing is water weight. Really the only acceptable place for it in my view is in butter & cheese. Everything else can be totally dry. Tuna packets are out, as are most other things. Those expensive freeze dried packets are still just dried starches mostly, so in the end you can get the same amount of calories from simple dry starches and your choice of fats as if you spent 5 x as much money. Tortillias are worth it sometimes on short trips even though they are a bit heavy.

Sherpaxc - precooked bacon is so good, just don't tell the bears you have it.

 and one more thing - don't completely diss Ramen - it has its place. It can be eaten uncooked (and is quite good) and is amazingly yummy mixed with potato flakes and butter. Yep not the most healthy - but you can be healthy later.

[FeloniousDunk]

Where do you all get the pre cooked bacon, or is it dried?  Am I just not sending enough time looking around the pre cooked meat section (?) of the grocery store?  I'd like to try it. 

And even though I use them for my short trips, I agree with Eric that the salmon foil packs are heavy. 

Eric, what kinds of slow cooked things are you doing on a fire?  I've gotten pretty good at cooking fresh caught fish on one.

[Eric]

I just cook bacon at home and throw it in a ziploc, that's it. great for cooler weather and to add to potato flakes, never tried dehydrating it - anyone else?

for fire cooking - basically spaghetti, but I've done quinoa too. fish is the best for sure.

[DaveC]

I prefer olive oil to butter/marg, I always have a few fl oz along on overnight trips (if I have hot food).

Here in Missoula we're fortunate enough to have a yuppie grocery store that has the best bulk food section I've ever seen.  They have 5 different kinds of dehydrated beans (like dehydrated, powered, refried beans  ), and all the stuff to go with it.  I buy beans, potatoes, veggies, and the like in bulk, then mix individual meals in ziplocks, adding spices to suit my fancy.  Heat water, pour in, seal, mix, wait, eat.  Cheap, and no dishes to clean.

My favorite from a backpacking trip last month:

~3/4 cup potato flakes
~3/4 cup dehydrated refried beans
~1/8 cup dehydrated veggies
sea salt, pepper, sage, oregano, garlic powder, lavender
olive oil added in the field

Yum.  I'm pretty fussy about having good food along, it bums me out eating bar after bar and tasteless dinners.

Should be noted, inadequately rehydrated dry foods will suck a ton of water out of you.  Be ware.

[sendoodoo]

Thanks for all the comments everyone!  Keep them coming!

[Andrew]

Although heavy I think MRE's are a good option if broken down and repacked. I don't have much experience with extended backcountry travel, but I have eaten quite a few MRE's.

[scuppy]

I've done up to 2 weeks between resupply. Here are my opinions:
- I stick to easily available foods.
- I use canned tuna in oil and rice as a staple.
- The oil is as important as the tuna, I try to eat 20 - 50gm of fat per day.
- I'll eat 300 - 400gm carbs and 30 - 50gm protein a day. I'm 38 years old and 75kg.
- I'm used to eating like this and could eat camp food ad-infinitum.
- If you have to carry water anyway, fancy freeze dried stuff is a bit pointless.
- I use rice instead of pasta because the same weight packs into a smaller space.
- I have museli with a UHT milk packet for breakfast.
- At dinner I have rice with extra things like peas corn etc with a small can of tuna.
- I change flavours around eg curry, chilli, garlic but mostly stick to the same basics.
- On rest days when theres a store, I'll have high protein days, like steak or eggs.
- I never eat junk food.

[FeloniousDunk]

You've all got me thinking outside the freeze dried cook bag!  Good topic JB. 

Other than re using the bags from dehydrated camp foods that you can dump boiling water in, does anyone know what other bags can be used this way?  I've heard about freezer bags, but wouldn't think a ziploc freezer bag could take it. 

Also, apparently I have been neglecting the pre cooked bacon section of my local grocier.  They have a whole rack of the stuff, all differant flavors...seems a little strange to me though. 

How long do the bean flakes take to cook in the boiled water in a bag method? 

And finally, has anyone tried a "bag cozy" to extend the cooking time in the boil bag method?  I've heard about it, but not with any results mentioned.

[Pivvay]

Mary Jane Farms dehydrated stuff is pretty tasty. I like hot meals but can also go without. Between esbit and cookfires there is no real good weight excuse not to carry a stove IMO.

Olive oil on everything adds good calories, nuts too.

If you want to go fast, make sure you aren't toooo heavy on the fats.

[FeloniousDunk]

I've been trying out some ideas I gathered from this thread.  BTW, I've finally gathered all my nessasary gear and have done a couple over nighters. 

Here are three things I've found that I really like, have a fairly high caloric density (<100 calories/ounce), easy to clean up, light, and cooks quickly in a bag with a little boiling water added.

For breakfast, I've always done oatmeal with nuts and dried fruit, but now I've found dehydrated whole milk that really makes it a lot nicer.

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.

For dessert, pudding with whole powdered milk.  More calories than I realized.  Premix the pudding powder and milk powder then just add water. 

BTW, I asked if a standard ziploc freezer bag is what folks are doing the boiling water in a bag cooking in.  Turns out it is.  They hold up okay, but not as well as reusing some of the commercially available dehydrated camping meal bags.

[Pivvay]

yea whole milk powder makes everything better! Did you find a bulk supplier? I've gotten it in 4oz packets from REI but I'd like to find something better. Supposedly Nido works good but I can't find it.

[FeloniousDunk]

I didn't find it in bulk, but at someone here's suggestion, I went to a Mexican grocery store and they had Nido.  I also saw that Backpackers Pantry makes it, but Nido was a little cheaper.  Now I'd like to find and try some of that dehydrated soymilk a few people mentioned.

[craig]

This is how I start out for long distance grubbing. I carry $1 worth of "ramien" noddles
1 can of (21 oz?size not 15 oz size) beef stew, 1 can of cheap pork & beans, 1 can of cheap tuna, & 1 metal coat hanger. The beef stew can becomes a stove: without the lid, a few holes via a "church key" top & bottom, and coat hanger halved & bent into 2 "U" for a grill thru the top holes. Bean can with about an inch of lid still attached: folded into a 1 wide strip, & bent to a curved handle like a coffee cups'. Tuna can holds some HEET for fuel (methole alcohol) 'bout 2 capfulls for a can of boiling water or whatever. Also burns twigs or pine cones. As needed I buy food supplies enroute, and recycle my cookware after my trip ends.

Pedal plenty
Craig