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Camping, Hiking and Outdoor Activities Camping, hiking, and other outdoor activities within. |
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#1
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Camp food sucks, suggestion for ultralight food?
I brought mountain house pro, the ones that are dehydrated and compressed, and they were terrible.
But Idaho dehydrated taters were good. Any other suggestion for a hot meal that tastes good? Im doing just boiling water hydration for food and dry snacks. |
#6
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I usually like piping hot food when it's 50 degrees outside, as it was last night in the national forest. But I prefer off season camping as the cold discourages crowds. Last edited by ERdept; 11-15-2012 at 7:33 PM.. |
#7
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Exactly, back packed in, back pack out. Can only carry water and light food, as well as light gear.
I thought I mentioned "ultralight" in the title. Usually when I car camp, I have twin burner butane and other comforts. Im just using a Whitebox stove (alcohol). |
#8
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Ultralight and good food don't usually go hand in hand. For hot breakfasts try instant oatmeal packets, dinners try the Knorr sides??? http://www.knorr.com/product/category/245726/sides
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#9
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Take along a can of Dinty Moore Stew or Campbell Chunky Soup. If you're going to carry water anyway, one can isn't going to be that much more weight. Cook it and add it to rice to add some more calories and carbs to it.
The stew is available available in a vacuum sealed plastic tray under the Hormel Compleats product line, if you don't want to pack the can in and out. There are some other really tasty meals in the Compleats line. If you've been hiking all day, you'll probably want more than one as a meal. They're not that big.
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NRA Life Member (Benefactor level) "Those who give up some of their liberty in order to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty, nor safety." B. Franklin Calguns Community Chapters (C3) in Your Community Calguns Community Chapters (C3) and Appleseed Event Calendar The 2nd Amendment is not about hunting or competition shooting. It's all about your inalienable rights to life and liberty. |
#10
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__________________
NRA Life Member (Benefactor level) "Those who give up some of their liberty in order to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty, nor safety." B. Franklin Calguns Community Chapters (C3) in Your Community Calguns Community Chapters (C3) and Appleseed Event Calendar The 2nd Amendment is not about hunting or competition shooting. It's all about your inalienable rights to life and liberty. |
#14
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I go no-cook these days. WAY better. I cut 10 pounds off my pack. dry milk and whey protein powders for shakes and as much junk food as I care to carry. cheese is the best, and salami, nuts, dried fruits, 100% cocao chocolate, crushed crackers, etc. 2 lb per day of food cause I don't carry food on my waist. I don't have enough meat on me to go John Muir style (no food at all for a week at a time). 2 lb per day is plenty. I also carry food for the last day even though they say that's a no-no too. Just in case.
Try no-cook. You'll never go back to a camp stove and white gas again. |
#15
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OK, good suggestions guys.
No cook, I understand getting enough calories to stay warm and have energy, but a warm meal is so inviting. Maybe I'll sub out some meals for some GNC protein powder and the other suggestions. Cheese, sounds good, doesn't it start to go bad in temps at 70's? Like the National forest can be mild in the day and cold at night. Thanks Whiterabbit. |
#16
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I like them a lot, very convenient too with something like a Jetboil. Which flavor did you try OP? I thought the beef stew was pretty good. |
#17
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Um, how about a couple of MRE entrees with the water activated chemical heaters? If you're going to carry some water anyway to reconstitute the freeze dried stuff, why not carry something ready to eat and easily heated?
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#18
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Get away from the packaged stuff and make your own. There are some books on the subject, the titles escape me.
This should get you on the right path. http://www.backpacker.com/december_0...t/skills/11066 |
#19
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When I was a no-good rotten kid in New Mexico, a box of 22, a trotline and a canteen would suffice for a week or so. Sitting Bull Falls had enough fish and game to keep us happy.
Probably more but vacation only lasted so long.
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Real G?s move in silence like lasagna |
#20
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I always go with pre-cooked bacon, which you can get from Safeway in sealed packages, and lasts at least 3 months with no fridge. Just drop in a pot or a pan, add a small bit of water so they don't burn, and heat up.
Try dehydrating your own food, at least snacks. My brother's wife dehydrated maraschino cherries for him on our last trip together and they were like freaking candy. I'm sure you can come up with some meals this way. Spam Singles taste fantastic heated up after you haven't had real food for 3 days. Flavored tuna packs are good too. Safeway sells pre-cooked and sealed chicken packs in the same area as the tuna. You can come up with your own meal ideas with those. I did a snow backpacking trip, brought the chicken packs, some cheese, cooked it on some tortillas in a pan, and seasoned it all with a taco seasoning packet. Was absolutely fantastic after 5 days of freeze dried in below freezing temps! The Mountain House Teriyaki Chicken and Backpacker's Pantry brand Pad Thai are both excellent freeze dried meals. The Chicken rib meat with mashed potatoes from Mountain House is another good one. Hot and Sour Soup packets you just add to water are available at Safeway and are pretty good while weighing nothing. I always freeze some good meat I've marinated for the first night's meal. In the winter, after the first day's hike it will be defrosting but still at least fridge cold by the time I make it. Last edited by stix213; 11-16-2012 at 2:37 AM.. |
#22
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Most supermarkets have lots of dehy soups these days. You just gotta repackage them. They are often over-flavored, and you can bulk them up with dehy potatoes. I also carry Hormel bacon bits, Spam singles, and billtong and salami. Breakfast is usually grits and instant oatmeal, with the aforementioned meats.
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#25
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Of course, OP could always gather, build a small fire and heat from there. As for the snack/junk food, Hostess twinkies and ding dongs are always good, but those will be in short supply following the liquidation. Get 'em now, they're known to last a while |
#26
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If nobody has mentioned instant hot cocoa yet it has always been one of my staples, as well as bite size Snickers bars. For bread bagels and tortillas are pretty dense, pack well and go well with most toppings especially peanut butter. As for dehydrated meals I find most of the simpler fare more appealing, the fewer ingredients, less gourmet and simpler preparation the better. If you can't just throw all the ingredients in a pot and cook it like a soup, stew or casserole it might taste funny.
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#27
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building fires isn't on my list either. I want no impact.
Cheese doesn't go bad. Not in 5 days, anyways. I take cheese if I'm going to 100 degree+ weather areas. NEVER underestimate the joy of eating a hunk of cheese or salami when the body is drained, 10 miles behind you and 5 in front for the day. Something filled with fat, salt, and calories. Like eating straight fuel. If you really think it's gonna go bad, then vacuum seal it. You have to pack out a wrapper anyways, vacuum bags weigh nothing. Cheese is ALWAYS on my list for backpacking. Always dense semi-hard or semi-soft cheese. Anything from a gouda-stringcheese level up to a dubliner cheddar. No exotics on the trail, it would be wasted on my tastebuds. I save that for the dinner party when I get home. My go-to's are gouda, cheddar, and pre-packs like baby bells and the like. I dont like the mess, but snickers makes awesome no-cook food also. |
#28
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My absolute favorite....Bear Creek Soup mix and a can of cooked chicken. Bear creek makes delicious dehydrated soups.
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"If you love wealth more than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, depart from us in peace. We ask not your counsel nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you. May your chains rest lightly upon you and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen." - Samuel Adams |
#29
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There are some that are lousy, but I generally like Mountain House stuff. That said, my favorite freeze dried meals are the Jamacian Chicken & Rice and Indian recipes like vindaloo from Backpackers Pantry.
None of the Mountain House meals that have rice in them are particularly good. The Backpackers Pantry meals with rice are much better.
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My personal blog: The Damn True Experiment |
#30
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Ramen noodles. Spurge and get the $1 package instead of the 24 pack/$2.89.
Add in your favorite dried vegetables, meat and seafood. Dried shrimp and stretched squid are good. I knew some guys who would buy the cheap ramen and bring their own dried 'bulk' vegetables from some guys drier. Try Picante Lime Shrimp with a couple tablespoons of jarred "Patek's Hot Lime Relish"(get the 'hot', not reg) sold in Indian food stores. Not dried but I don't think it will go bad in a small gladware mini-tub. SO good. |
#31
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invest in a food dehydrator. the best meal ive made so far for backpacking is dehydrated chili.
40 oz ground turkey 16 oz can tomatoes 1 can black beans 1 can kidney beans 1 can chili beans 1 can corn 1 pepper 1 onion 3 jalapenos 6 garlic cloves chili spice paprika cayenne pepper salt pepper cook turkey then cook everything in a crock pot, then dehydrate. this if for my 4 night backpacking trip coming up this week. i also add dehydrated pasta. on the trail put in freezer zip lock bag and add boiling water and let sit for 15 minutes insulated in something. or get a pot and simmer. its all crusty, doesn't go bad and its lightweight. there are so many things you can dehydrate for backpacking its great. i rarely ever but freeze dried foods unless i don't have time to prepare everything. Last edited by Beantown; 11-16-2012 at 9:58 AM.. |
#32
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I've been taking the Knorr sides for years. Cheap, lightweight and quick.
__________________
Perhaps the irony of § 32310 escapes notice....With Colonists still hurting from the wounds of war, the Second Amendment guaranteed the rights of new American citizens to protect themselves from oppressors foreign and domestic. So, now it is ironic that the State whittles away at the right of its citizens to defend themselves from the possible oppression of their State. - Judge Roger T. Benitez |
#33
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http://hawkvittles.com/
I haven't tried them myself but have heard nothing but good reviews of them, price is comparable to Mountain House
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#35
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buy a dehydrator and read a book
I would suggest "lip smacking back packing"
No prepackaged camp food compares to the stuff you make your self. The dehydrator is also good for saving the good stuff you grow or find as well. I originally bought mine when I got into mushroom collecting. Now it is used all year particularly for drying food from the garden. Peace |
#36
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x2 I like the Mountain House. There are a few I don't like, but overall, their dinners are very good. Freeze dried food has come a long way in the last 20+ years.
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#37
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I bring salami, different cheeses, pepperoni, packaged rice, packets of tuna, nuts, dry fruit, tortilla's (quesadilla's or fish tacos if I'm fishing), ramen, asian ramen(Spicy), crackers, smoked salmon, jerky, candy bars, granolla bars, and I will bring a few Mountain House's. I will also bring powdered gravy, garlic, salt, pepper, hot sauce, etc. for seasoning.
I also like bringing Crystal Light packets of Fruit Punch, Pink Lemonade, etc. Nothing like having ice cold lemonade in the morning, along with a cup of coffee. Also, if your forced to drink interesting water the Crystal Light makes it more bearable. |
#40
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One option is to go to the store and buy dried food and put things together, such as instant rice, soups, sun dried tomatoes, etc. to make a nice meal. This type of food is typically much cheaper than backpacking foods.
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Kemasa. False signature edited by Paul: Banned from the FFL forum due to being rude and insulting. Doing this continues his abuse. Don't tell someone to read the rules he wrote or tell him that he is wrong. Never try to teach a pig to sing. You waste your time and you annoy the pig. - Robert A. Heinlein |
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