What's your favorite quick and fire-less trail lunch?

Peanut butter spread out thin on a flour tortilla and rolled up. A one gallon zip bag will hold a load of them. That is my survival pack for air travel, the price of airport food is ridiculous. If you don't like peanut butter use hummus or some other spread. Tortillas do a great job three meals a day. In the woods you can even hold them on a roasting stick over the fire if you need them warm. Being flat they are already squish proof so in a backpack or carry on bag they don't get beat up. Add yourself some of your favorite citrus or apples and you can sit down, recharge and get back to hiking, fishing, hunting or a five hour layover in an airport. The fire at supper time will be that much more relaxing. To bad they don't have a firepit lounge in any airports, that's where I would be.
 
I like to wash out 1 litre wax milk cartons, fill them with leftover pasta and leave a fork inside it, then a big freezer bag.

I graze on it throughout the day with some wax beybell cheese's and some jerky/trail mix.
If its cold I will heat half on a small fire with a little pot I always have, pretty easy to make a fire with some of the waxed cardboard from the top even if the wood is damp.

If it is a hot summer day I will fill the carton half full the night before and freeze, then fill it up in the morning from the fridge. Wrap it in an old space blanket and it will not spoil for hours in your pack. If I bring a chocolate bar it goes in the ziploc with the cartoon and does not melt.
 
For a big lunch I like turkey and Swiss cheese on a bagel with mayo.

It gives you protein and 500-600 calories to burn from the bagel.

Mayo instead of mustard because, surprisingly, it keeps better.

I don't get the point of cooking on a day hike.
 
Cant believe no one has yet to mention our old deer camp standby, vienna sausage and saltine crackers...

or beanie wienies
 
Peanut butter and honey, separate or pre-mixed, hardtack and water, but I think next time I'm gonna take some coconut water too.
 
Fruit, usually an apple or two (not too much now ;)), granola bars, candy (for low bloodsugar which almost never gets too low). If I am going on a long hike, I will most likely have something waiting back in the truck, or will stop somewhere after the hike, thereby discounting all the exercise I got. Water always. The most I've done lately is a couple miles. When I was a kid, and not fat, I would hike about ten miles out to the sub shop on the highway, drink a Gatorade and eat a hamburger sub, and hike back the ten miles. Wish I kept hiking to subshops, instead of driving to them :D.

I'm going to try trail mix in one bag, and something like Reese's Pieces in another (a much smaller quantity). Beef jerky is good too, but I would eat it before I "needed" it and get a salt headache.
 
If its the first day then it would be half a bagel with mayo spread one of those small red cheese things, Half of a russian hunters sasuage and a tomato. I try and eat a small lunch as i find if i eat too much I get lazy. The bagels i dry to save on weight and you can pick up lots and lots of condiments in fast food places. Anything from mayo to dressing butter, salsa and honey. I also carry honey sticks in an easy to reach place so if i want some energy for a long climb I would have some honey. a fresh apple would last a couple of days and it would be what I would have on the second day with the sasuage and bagel. After that its dry fruits with my lunch but i carry lots of cut and dry bagels.

Sasha
 
At home mix 2 parts balsamic vinegar to 1 part olive oil. Add some pepper and garlic salt to taste. This is your dipping sauce so put it in a container that's water proof but will allow dipping. Cut some salami and some cheddar goat cheese into slices. Then cut a baguette or sandwich roll in 1/4-1/2 inch thick slices and then cut each slice in half(depending on how big the bread is. You may need to quarter.)
To eat, take a piece of bread and swish it around your dipping sauce and then add cheese and salami to the top and eat. The olive oil adds fat and the balsamic adds a tart. Eaten with a sliced apple it's one of the best tasting things you can take on the trail. Quality of ingredients matter though cheaper ingredients will work if you're on a budget.
 
For me cooking is something usually done at a destination or a base camp. I'll sometimes brew up some bullion while still on the move in cold temps but that's about it. My favorite snacks on the trail are a hunk of some kind of cheese; guda, edam, cheddar, whatever, and some sort of bread or sometimes crackers. For meats either summer sausage, smoked oysters, smoked clams, or tuna in the foil packs. Sometimes I'll take along peanut butter. There are those solitary hikes in the winter where I will find a spot I like and shoot something and roast it over a fire and have that with some cheese and bread, but those are getting rare these days.
 
Some great ideas coming in, luckily I just ate lunch or I would be slobbering on my keyboard :D Sasha, your story reminds me of hiking and mountain biking when I was younger. We'd end up at In N Out Burger after every outing. Dirty, sweaty and hungry!
 
Hummus is good spread on your favourite bread or dipped. Sometimes a half smoked mackeral wrapped in foil, keeps well and gives good energy&protein. Corned Beef slices or Pastrami are always welcome. Of course, hard cheese and salami are tasty and reliable. For sweet thing, a good chunk of rich home-made fruitcake with different dried fruits&nuts, easy to carry and very satisfying too.
 
I find Kraft Foods' Pepearmi really practical and savory. It's a good option over typical salami.

Sandwiches are also a classic.

Pop Tarts if I want something sweet. Not really healthy, but they're tasty and take nearly no space on my pack. Trail Mix would be a healthier option.
 
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Typically I do a little salami, chunk of cheese, nuts, peanut butter, pita bread, apple, jerky if I have it. When I'm feeling crazy I've sauteed mushrooms, roasted garlic, mashed it into a paste, spread it between dense sourdough bread, slapped on some stinky cheese, wrapped it and and packed it. Seems to keep well and is so freakin' good. Beano required.
 
Smoked oysters, sardines, cheese, crackers, summer sausage are all favs. Often I walk a paved trail near my house that ends near a Dairy Queen and I'll treat myself to a dipped cone. Yum!
 
All this food talk is making me want to vomit. For day hikes, I eat a big meal before, and after. I like to treat myself to a good meal at a fast food joint after my hike. I tend to hike alone or only with friends that I personally know and like. They're not hardcore trail blazers. They see the fun in stopping to eat or even cook a meal.
 
summer sausage is one of my all time faves.
 
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