Backpacking Food

[std7mag]

Day trips for me usually consists of some granola bars, jerky, water.
For longer trips i have water, outmeal (add what you like), jerky, granola bars and MREs.

 

[R.K.]

Great menu!

A few other thoughts: I always bring a small jar of peanut butter to supplement all meals and it's gone by the end of the week. Angel hair pasta is easier than dehydrated pasta and cooks up the same because of the high surface to volume ratio. Drink powder also works great to mask treated water taste. Would suggest diversifying fruit: like adding dehydrated pineapple, apricots, or cranberries.

Be very, VERY careful with your dried apricot consumption. If you aren't used to eating a bunch of them, you'll run out of mountain money. Not a good position to be in.

Haven't done any backpack hunts, just backpacking (mostly on a college budget), but-
Instant mashed potatoes are a staple, especially with sliced landjaeger or crispy cooked bacon.
Cous cous is pasta, but only takes 5 minutes after adding boiling water. Add a packet or two of tuna to the mix (sun-dried tomato is the best one). Cheap, faster than freeze-dried food, filling, and tasty. Re-pack the cous-cous & seasonings into a ziplock instead of the cardboard to reduce trash.
Bear Creek dry soup mixes, if you have a small army to feed, a sodium deficiency, and lots of fuel.
Dry Lipton Rice side dishes (creamy chicken).

Tortillas with peanut butter and banana are great, but need to be made day-of (so day hikes only).
Cheese, if it's cold. Crackers don't hold up in a pack, so chuck it on a tortilla, maybe with some salami.
Jerky, salami, chex mix, trail mix (ok, just M&Ms), pecans, dried fruit (limit apricots & prunes), lara bars, protein bars, granola bars, irish bars, etc. for whenever the mood strikes you.
Two packs of instant oatmeal for breakfast.

Try to steal hot-sauce packs from wherever you can. Mustard, too. Single-serve jelly can be a nice addition and sugar-boost if you need it (clean out the Cracker Barrel).

And of course, copious amounts of tea and squinchers.

 

[Witherall13]

How much does all that weigh out to? Trying to refine my packing list for this fall.

 

[Festus]

 

[Outdoor Junkie]

I really like the mountain house blueberry and granola for breakfast, dried cherries, wheat thins and justin's nut butter, jerky and the single serving granola packs from Costco. Also, I pack 2 candy bars ( snickers, baby ruth, etc.). There are few things that taste better than a candy bar when you've been hiking a long distance.

 

[Pucky Freak]

Be very, VERY careful with your dried apricot consumption. If you aren't used to eating a bunch of them, you'll run out of mountain money.

Haha, yeah they are no different than prunes, or "dried plums" as they are now often marketed. It's not necessarily a bad thing to stay regular when on these kind of trips, but too much of a good thing can also be disastrous.

 

[wyoboypt]

I love mountain house. They taste fantastic, cus it’s real. 1 for breakfast 1 for dinner. Homemade jerky,probars,kippered herring,macadamia nut bread w jelly (3000 calories per loaf, 2 slices =800 cal. Almost 100% macadamia nuts, eggs, and coconut oil), pbj, tuna/salmon sandwich, butterfinger, and or gummy snacks cus they’re awesome! Bold flavor Chex mix is also a good daytime snack, but I’m trying to do more protein and fatty foods.

 

[BrokenArrow]

Man, I'm actually hungry now reading all your posts. Some great ideas in here that I want to try. Below is my standard stuff and acouple new tryouts.

Dinners:
I bought a bunch of Heather's Choice at the Hunt Expo this year. I am bringing those for lunch at work and they have been really good. Dehydrated and not freeze dried. Way less sodium and doen't make you feel like MTN house does after a few days. I really considering adding a few of these per trip.
Peak Dinners are killer. Also mixing a couple of these in.
Otherwise I dehydrate a lot of elk Italian sausage spaghetti sauce. There are a slightly more expensive types of "fresh" dried pasta noodles that cook in half the time (4mins).
These are my mains.

Breakfast: Bob's Redmill grits and sausage gravy mix from a $0.50 pouch. Add some "real" bacon bits or jerky and it feels like a energy brick in your stomach. I sometimes add dehydrated egg powder or veggies to this. Good lord.

Snacks:
All the bars on the market, jerky, Haribo sour bears, and dark chocolate. Heathers Pack-a-roons are amazing.
The ultimate staple is dehydrated strawberries, blueberries, and any other fruit I can get. Buy everything on sale during the summer. You can make so much for so little it will blow your mind.
Add some hard nuts to this and I rarely take a full lunch to prepare in the field.

 

[jnagel32]

For you guys using the tortillas, what kind do you find holds up the best in your food bag/backpack?

 

[Pucky Freak]

Mission. They don't stick together as much, and tend not to crumble too bad. I fold them in quarters and repackage in ziplocks.

 

[lodgepoleJoe]

I'm terrible at food packing. I just don't like it I think and it's always a cluster of random crap with me. I need a good food plan.

I'ii have to agree with you. All year long I think up these great meals for huntin camp and when season starts I end up with a case of top ramen and a dozen cans of chili.

 

[JLS]

I'ii have to agree with you. All year long I think up these great meals for huntin camp and when season starts I end up with a case of top ramen and a dozen cans of chili.

All it takes is being a little bit intentional about it. If you're making a meal, double it and freeze or dehydrate some leftovers. I hate eating shitty food. It’s even worse on a difficult/bad weather hunt if you’re struggling to keep morale up.

 

[TerraPrey]

I can give you so many answers I think it would make the server would shut down. Let me think... Well, I definitely have a sweet tooth. Since I was little, I had this love for anything that is food and sweet. Then again who doesn't like yummy sweet foods? Somewhere deep in my memories, I can still remember this one cake that my mum would make our family. Just from memory, I wasn't top sure on how to re-create it. Reading up on https://under-the-open-sky.com/five-great-food-ideas-for-your-outdoor-adventure/ I remembered the "chocolate berry pound cake" recipe. For, me it's a must-have for any vegan that respects himself. Especially if you are like me and eating the cake isn't just for joy but for the memories. It's actually quite easy to do. I mean anyone could make this cake on their first try, and I am more than sure it would taste amazing. Side note: never eat too much cake.

 

[jnd1959]

When backpacking or climbing, I preferred anything I could eat out of its container for supper. That way the cleanup was easier and when camping in bear country the meal area is cleaner. Also meals I could dump Idaho instant potatoes in. Freeze dried rehydrate better than dehydrated in my opinion. The peak meals we have tested are excellent. I avoid gateraide or similar products when I'm above 10,000 feet. Gives me the runs. If you've ever needed to make an emergency pit stop at 13,000 feet you'll find there's not alot of secluded areas.

Last time up I switched lunch and dinner. Stopped and heated a freeze dried meal for lunch and just pulled out some ready made tortillas for supper. This worked well as I could eat my snack supper, hang the bear bag and just go to bed. No water run or dish clean up. Plus, I didn't have that full stomach feeling at bedtime. That always made it harder for me to sleep when at altitude.

 

[Flatlander3]

I see bacon in a few post. How long does cooked bacon last un refrigerated?

 

[Treeshark]

Each day is the same, makes packing/planning easier:

Breakfast: x2 Starbucks instant coffee packs

Lunch: Cliff bar (Oatmeal Raisin usually, as long as there is no chocolate involved), package of honey roasted peanuts and a tuna packet

Dinner: Mountain house and a few pulls of bourbon

 

[danwolf]

I see bacon in a few post. How long does cooked bacon last un refrigerated?

I'll used pre cooked bacon 2-3 days un refrigerated. Often hunting when its cooler anyway. One of my bacon favorites is Tortilla, nutella and precooked bacon. Don't knock it till you try it!

Another different option I like is a packet of tuna or chicken and mix in a packet of mayo with ritz crackers for a quick meal.

 

[NVDesertHunter]

Narrowing down my food list for the season, trying to dehydrate or make everything myself. I drew some great tags this year and hoping to spend roughly 30-40 days camping so I still have a lot of dehydrating ahead of me. Theres no way I could afford 40 bags of Peak Refuel or Mountain Houses lol...Feel free to share any go-to meals that you make yourself! Good luck this season.

Dinner:

-curry rice with ground venison

-rice w/ mushrooms
-Butter, garlic, mushrooms, onions, thyme, bone broth packet, onions, soy sauce

-mashed potatoes with gravy, butter and mushrooms, chicken

-spaghetti w/butter
-mushrooms, venison, parmesan cheese

-Boxed stuffing (guilty pleasure while camping)

-macaroni with powdered cheddar cheese w/butter
-hot sauce, bacon bits
-tomatos, venison

-quinoa
-mushrooms, peppers, black beans, corn, spices, venison

-bone broth packet for after dinner drink

Breakfast

-fig bars

-granola w/berries and milk

Lunch

-protein cookies and bars

-oranges

-kiwis

-mangos

-bananas w/chex mix

-fritos

-almonds, chocolate, macadamia nuts, cranberry trail mix

-Macaroons

-salami

-bagel w/bacon & PB

-cheese & crackers

 

[Ledanek]

Not sure if we're just new to dehydrated food, but, curious if possible: can we strain the contents to reduce the spices?
We tried Heather's Choice Smoked Sockeye Salmon Chowder....mainly because it had the LOWEST Sodium between other well known dehydrated food.

We just found the taste overwhelming. General consensus was the rum, sea salt and dill was overpowering.
We love the fact that the ingredients are mostly natural versus competition. The lowest in sodium...we love that.
We only finished maybe less than a three-four tablespoons before we gave in.

Are there secrets on how to overcome the spiciness and after taste?

 

[longbow51]

Wow, my wife and I did many 7-10 day backpack trips with noodles, rice, cheese, tortillas, oatmeal, and trail mix supplemented by trout (and grouse in the fall). Svea 123 (which still works fine btw) and Sigg pot (use lid for frying trout). Guess we were cave people.

Gourmet fare for sure!