Trail and Backpacking Food..... What do you take?

Marion David Poff

Marion David Poff

Joined
Oct 8, 1998
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5,403
OK,

That thread about iron rations and my reading of the new Tactical Knives and the article that speaks about Cliff Jacobson's requirement regarding peanut butter, got me thinking about trail food and backpacking food, and there were some suggestions that were new to me...

So, let's talk about what we eat in the outdoors, with emphasis on things people don't normally take, or things that are especially good to take, for various reasons like how well it fuels the body, etc....

Sesame Snacks - A morale booster, and the glucose is really good for your brain, if you are in a less than ideal circumstance.

Normally I take boil meals, ramen sometimes, tea and cider, Gatorade, oatmeal in packets, among other things.

I am gonna start taking peanut butter, I have never thought about it, I like peanut butter, but never took it.

Maui Onion Bold Almonds, I like those.

Crunch bars for some reason, I like those on the trail, but not at home so much....

What do you take that is unusual?

What do you take for very good reasons?

Do you know of anyone who takes different food stuffs? What do they take?

Marion
 
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I have gone and 3-5 day trips with something called Uncle Joe's Moose Goo. It's a mixture of corn flour(mais), honey, and peanut butter. You can pack it in a tube. I just squirt it on a tortilla and go. In cold weather I squeeze it between wax paper and wrap it up like a Bit o Honey candy bar. I'll try and find the link to it.
 
I saw something recently that was pretty nifty and I tried it out at home and it was pretty good.. pack chicken boullion granules with minute rice in a container.. you boil it and you have chicken flavor rice. no protein though, but the video I saw it used in the guy boiled frog legs in it as well. I normally carry a couple cans of chilli in my bag as well.. I've warmed them beside the fire(or in the coals of an almost burnt out fire) and that worked out well.
 
Ken i done the rice with chicken or beef boullion cubes and it came out great. If you carry some dry vegtables. Boil some water with the veg in there then add one cube, Bring it to boil and again and add some rice but no more then a hand full.. now you got Veg soup with rice and its realy good and fills you up. You can add some dry shrimp and it would be good enough to impress your GF\Wife with your cooking.

Sasha
 
sasha said:
Ken i done the rice with chicken or beef boullion cubes and it came out great. If you carry some dry vegtables. Boil some water with the veg in there then add one cube, Bring it to boil and again and add some rice but no more then a hand full.. now you got Veg soup with rice and its realy good and fills you up. You can add some dry shrimp and it would be good enough to impress your GF\Wife with your cooking.

Sasha
Click to expand...

Thanks for the suggestion, I'll have to give that a shot too.. sounds pretty interesting.

only cooking for 1 though:thumbdn:
 
Usually dried venison sausage and clif bars. I also will throw in sunflower seeds, jerky, and a couple cans of tuna or chicken. I like to mix it up, especially on a longer trek so that I am not eating the same stuff every friggin meal. I am trying to find some way to pack PB better to reduce the weight as well...
 
I seem to find myself repeating Snickers bars and Ramen when hiking.I have also started mixing in some of those precooked chicken pouches. One of those mixed in with some rice or Ramen makes for a nice meal :)
 
I always tried to bring a tin of smoked oysters and some saltines. Salty ocean goodness out in the middle of some grizzley infested wilderness.

Packets of spiced cider; was good boiled on a cold night by the campfire, or just diluted in a canteen to "spice" up the water on the trail.
 
Byrd's custard (ready made in a carton) - love the stuff! Great for a sugar fix.

Mattessons's smoked pork sausage - more useful if there are two of you because eating a whole one yourself is a bit greedy. Good because they are shrink wrapped, last ages and can be eaten cold, boiled in their bag, skewered and roasted etc etc.

Pot Noodles - taken out of their pots and sealed in plastic bags. Just make up in a mug.

Squeezy condensed milk - for making strong, sweet tea or coffee.

Small tins of mackerel in chili sauce.
 
For lunch: trail mix (oats, nuts & dried fruit). Keeps well, light to carry, provides vitamins as well as calories, proteins and tastes good. BTW the fibre helps keep the bowels moving too :D

Dinner: Tortillas as a base for folded pizzas, with cheese, dried salami and capsicum stir fried with garlic as filling ...
Dinner1.jpg


Foldedpizza.jpg

provides Carbs, fat, protein, vitamins and tastes good :thumbup:

This is supplemented by locally harvested greens like stinging nettles stir fried with garlic
Nettlestirfry1.jpg




Kind regards
Mick
 
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cmgray said:
I have gone and 3-5 day trips with something called Uncle Joe's Moose Goo. It's a mixture of corn flour(mais), honey, and peanut butter. You can pack it in a tube. I just squirt it on a tortilla and go. In cold weather I squeeze it between wax paper and wrap it up like a Bit o Honey candy bar. I'll try and find the link to it.
Click to expand...

I use to make something similar when I was younger. I use to just call them peanut butter balls. It had a mixture of oats, powdered milk, peanut butter and honey...these little guys were packed with energy!

We usually have the normal stuff for snacks...gorp/trail mix, mixed nuts, beef jerky, Clif bars.

I like a big'ol summer sausage/pepperoni :D With no refrigeration, we down that the first day.

For dried fruit, I like mango slices, apricots and figs.

Tony mentioned tortillas; my wife has read they are the perfect backpacking accessory as they pack well and can be used for several different meals, sandwiches, etc.

Our first night, we plan for my wife's Tex-Mex Burritos...which are awesome. We pack in the tortillas, my wife makes a mixture of black beans, mex corn and spices in a Ziploc. We have done both chicken and beef (both come in a foil packet); and we pack along a few packets of minute rice. We partially freeze the shredded cheese and pack in Ziploc as well. After a long hike in, these are quite a morale boost!

Something that's a little odd that I want to try out is quinoa...sounds like a nutritional gold-mine and would be a good rice alternative.

My wife was Girl Scout Leader and used several pretty cool recipes. One that many know is just the simple omelet in a Ziploc. Mix everything up at home and freeze it a Ziploc and it will last until you cook it the first morning; all you do is boil it in a pot.

Another is the English muffin pizzas...English muffins of course, small foil packet of tomato sauce/seasonings, pepperoni and shredded mozzarella cheeses. Using a frying pan and you have mini pizzas!

We also do the several dehydrated meals...instant soup, ramen noodles, oatmeal, grits and Mt. House entrees.

I like to take smoked oysters at times as well along with some Wheat Thin crackers.

My kids like those little jellied fruit candies.

SouthernCross is making me hungry for breakfast!:D

ROCK6
 
I take bagels and summer sausage-they make great sandwiches. I get some condiment packets at a fast food restaurant. Of course trail mix as I love the stuff. I usually try to bring some different dehydrated meals and use my sons as determiners as to whether the meals are good. We discovered that spaghetti and mexi-omletes are delicious and filling. Just add boiling water to the bag, stir, wait, and eat. Yum.
 
I take short hikes in cool weather. Not more than a few hours. I usually have an orange and some sort of granola bars.
 
-Cliff bars
-aluminum foil for wrapping trouts in
-bread
-Bisquick for making pizza with
-Stove Top Stuffing
-Ore Ida instant potato mix
-steaks
-jerkey
-beer
-oatmeal
-Lara Bars
-pop tarts
-tea
-Vitamin T
-a few loose garlic and onions for the foil trout
-fruit bars
-cookies
-fig newtons

This is off the top of my head. I only eat freeze dried in extreme situations.

CHEERS
 
Mick you and me would get along just fine.... I like your style of cooking. Garlic makes everything taste so much better. Now if you got an egg put it in there as well...
If i go hiking alone then i mostly dont eat anything untill i get back home in the evening. On group hikes when every one stops for lunch thats one of my favroit lunches.
IMG_2933.jpg


Backpacking dinner, Rice veg meat and spices
096.jpg


Here instead of rice i used mashed potatoes with lots of veg and some beef
153.jpg


A small packet of Miso soup at the end of day on the trail goes a long way.

Sasha
 
I am trying to find some way to pack PB better to reduce the weight as well...[/QUOTE]

Go to your local backpacking store and buy some empty tubes for your peanut butter. Kinda like a reusable toothpaste tube, it is how I carry PB in the woods and it is a very convenient dispenser.;)

Cheers, Shane
 
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