ack32

Do you have tips for lightweight (i.e. rehydratable) food for camping/backpacking needs? There's a ton of freeze-dried stuff out there that can be made with boiled water when you're out in the wilderness, but does anyone have any tips on some more tasty home-made recipes that can last a week in a backpack without breaking my back?

Chingal0

Malt-o-meal, rice, crackers, tuna-canned, soups, instant potatoes, top ramen, candy bars, trail mix, raisins.... im sure there are lots more.

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bundy

well... first thing is to mix your own trail mix... with your fav tid-bits.

i usually take a bunch of two-minute noodles for evening snacks.. and for dinner i usually get those freeze-dry dinner packs (but i take along some good sausage/cabanossi or even some good herbs to make things a little different). obviously these come in polystyrene or paper packs - not tin cans.

i know that if you cook up a whole bunch of corn fritters (or whatever flavour you prefer) they can be kept easily and they are also flat and easy to squash into packs. whats more they´re great for any meal.

i recommend flat bread (pita bread) ... its really yum, and once again its easy to pack.

its easy to add dried fruit to your dessert... makes it nice... just rehydrate for a little while and add to some instant custard or tubed cream ... and they´re light and packable.

and obviously, it doesn´t really matter if you pack too much food... because you packs going to get lighter as the trek goes along.
(if you´re sharing the load with someone - its always prudent to carry the food .. but its a wee bit selfish).

as for lunches, well, we get really good tuna/salmon in thin plastic sleeve like packages...light and easy... with the flat bread.

as for home-cooked food ... well, its just a matter of how you pack it... good stews and such are a good option, but i´d make sure you eat them on the first few nights... to lighten the load.

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JadziaDax

Hey, I've got some tips...

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'nuff said.

Chingal0

Haha JadziaDax, you crack me up!

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davik

Personally I go for pasta when hiking; grab a can of unseasoned tomato sauce, throw some spices in a bag (basil, oregano, dried onion, garlic powder, little salt, black pepper), and grab some of the pepperoni that doesn't have to be refrigerated until opened for meat. Boil some water, heat up the sauce with the spices and pepperoni, mix and eat. For breakfasts oatmeal packets always work well (just heat water and dump the oatmeal in). Some people get MRE's, but from what I've seen of them they aren't terribly tasty and cost too much. Other than that, for orienteering races and the like where time and weight are an issue grab a bag of bagels and a bunch of harvest powerbars, throw in some protein bars if you think you'll need protein; they all have a ton of calories and can be eaten on the move.

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chavos

dehydrated pasta sauce is good, i often use the knorr dried mixes...pretty tasty, especially when hungry. to add, pepperoni is good, as is dehyrdated beef.

homemade jerky is also a must...which brings me to to the point that if you want to outfit yourself, get a food dehyrdator. it will be very useful.

breakfast for me is usually oatmeal, add in some dried fruit and spice (2 parts cinnamon to 1 part nutmeg).

for lunch, sandwiches on pita is good-i usually mix pb/j with summer sausage and cheese. mozzerella and pepperoni also tastes pretty good.

dinner, i try to do mostly pastas or rice recipes: and sauces that need to be used can generally be dehydrated.

orange monkeyee

GEt a dehydrator and make several pounds of beef jerkey. With beef jerkey, noodles, some kind of vegatable and vitamins you can survive indefinately .

sleepingbeauty

Dehydrators are great for making lightweight high energy foods. If you don't have one, you can use an oven with a heat lightbulb and have the door cracked open with a fan blowing in. You can dehydrate almost anything, and then add some water and herbs, or salt, whatever suits your tastebuds, and there you go.
I like to sprout wheat (takes about three-four days)and and put it through and food processor and add rehydrated dried fruits, nuts, cinnamon or ?, make small loaves, about 2/3 inch thick, and spread out, and dehydrate those until desired moisture is achieved, probably about 10-12 hours, flipping once. Great energy food!

nirol

Try to avoid too much of the dehydrated foods designed specifically for backpacking (Mountain House dinners always did funny things to my insides) unless you are going for more than 8 days. You can find plenty of decent foods at the regular grocery store that dont use up too much weight.

I like to use Lipton Noodles n Sauce, Rice n Sauce as a base for suppers. Add canned chicken or tuna if you like, the weight of one can wont kill you. Pasta is great, provides good carbs for hiking.
Grits or Oatmeal if you like a hot breakfast, otherwise try breakfast bars and I love trail mix (aka GORP).
Cheese and peanut butter on crackers usually suffice for lunch, but Lipton Cup of Soup is nice on a cold day if you want to fire up the stove.
Main thing to remember, keep it simple. One pot meals are the best and minimize the need for carrying lots of pots.

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JoenOcoee

I like to get a can of chicken and a allfredo pasta mix or some other cheesy rice meal. You have to use powdered milk for the meal, but after a day hiking I never notice any difference. I find that buying a store brand instant noodle mix for about a dollar or so is more favorable than a 5 dollar MRE.

Silver Turtle
If a bit more wieght won't bother you take 2 pieces of tinfoil about 12 inches square and slice up a good size potatoe, a onion, a can of chicken, some salt and pepper, and one of those wax covered cheese thing-a-ma-bobs. Make the tinfoil into an envelope where there is little air inside with the food. Make sure that the seams are shut well enough you can move it and nothing spills out. Then just put it on the embers of a fire and rotate 4 times so every side gets closest to the fire and presto a great meal that doesn't require you to bring and pots or pans.

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