Backpacking Food...

[JC785]

I was wondering what type of food everyone takes with them backpacking. I know there are a lot of freeze dried meals out there but they can get expensive. I have a dehydrator that we use to make jerky. Any hints or recipes?

[Tacky Hiker]

I would like to know as well.


Hey Josh,
I started a General Gear Discussion in the Hiking and Backpacking Gear section. Feel free to ask questions you have too. Its for all to use !

[Old Hickory]

I found Mary Janes Farm organic, dehydrated meals about a year ago. I've never touched a Mountain House pouch since then.

This is the best tasting, most nutritious backpacking food I've ever eaten. Well worth $5 a pouch.

My trail diet is:

Breakfast: 2 cups of coffee and two Clif Bars
Lunch: Trail mix and home made beef jerky
Dinner: A Mary Janes Farm entree, some sort of sweet snack (candy bar, etc)
Nightcap: Miniature of Scotch or Bourbon.

KISS. Makes meal planning easy.

[Nalgene Ninja]

B'fast: OAtmeal or Cream of wheat and coffee
Lunch: Cheese, summer sausae, salami, pepperoni, crackers
Dinner: Lipton Side w/ chicken pouch

Snacks: Gorp, Fig newtons, Snickers

[auwesman]

Mac N Cheese baby!

[JC785]

Mac N Cheese baby!

HAHA.... I hear ya! I love that stuff!

[Graceless]

http://www.backpackingchef.com/index.html
http://www.freezerbagcooking.com/
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/ITr1Ht4ndnY&rel=0" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/ITr1Ht4ndnY&rel=0</a>
http://www.minibulldesign.com/
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/jhzdYzqraEM&rel=0" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/jhzdYzqraEM&rel=0</a>  (tinny does tons of dehydration check out the rest of his stuff)



spaghetti
dehydrated hash browns
burrito stuff dehydrated
gritts
pancakes
ramen noodles( kids request)
quesadias
 and on and on and on.....

[Pointman]

Breakfast: Oatmeal cookies or a breafast bar and 2 cups of coffee. (add Motrin as needed)
Lunch: Like Nalgene I like cheese, summer sausage, and crackers
Dinner: Mountain House Meal or Red Beans and Rice (Walmart) or a dehydrated meal from this book:

http://www.amazon.com/Lip...qid=1233149943&sr=8-1

Snacks: GORP, dehyrdrated fruit

[Magic City Matt]

2 of our favorite things are the Bear creek potato soup. Which goes great with a little cheddar and pepperoni in it. Then there is the dry packs of 3 cheese tortellini you find in the pasta section with some pesto sauce and Parmesan (NOT the powdered stuff). 

[JC785]

Reading these posts are making me hungry. Ill have to check out some of those videos on youtube. thanks!

[Lostsheep]

I've posted it many times, but will be glad to share again...

Freezer Bag Cooking - www.freezerbagco oking.com

One Pan Wonders - www.onepanwonder s.com

A Fork in the Trail - www.aforkinthetr ail.com

One Pan Wonders does not require a dehydrator, but the other two do. Great easy meals too. Most are add 1-2cups boiling water and let steep. Works great, tastes great, and has many many ways of modifying the recipes.

Typical breakfast - eggs/bacon/cheese, wraps, granola bars, oatmeal
Typical lunches - wraps, pouch chickens, tunas
Typical dinners - Chicken & dumplings, biscuits, chicken and rice, fish, burgers, wraps, meatloaf, mountain house, freezer meals, etc.
Typical snacks - gorp, nuts, raisins, granola bars, m&ms, etc.

All great places to get ideas from!

[Graceless]

Hmmmmm we need a Backpacking Food Sticky ??

[Old Hickory]

I've posted it many times, but will be glad to share again...

Freezer Bag Cooking - www.freezerbagco oking.com

One Pan Wonders - www.onepanwonder s.com

A Fork in the Trail - www.aforkinthetr ail.com

One Pan Wonders does not require a dehydrator, but the other two do. Great easy meals too. Most are add 1-2cups boiling water and let steep. Works great, tastes great, and has many many ways of modifying the recipes.

Typical breakfast - eggs/bacon/cheese, wraps, granola bars, oatmeal
Typical lunches - wraps, pouch chickens, tunas
Typical dinners - Chicken & dumplings, biscuits, chicken and rice, fish, burgers, wraps, meatloaf, mountain house, freezer meals, etc.
Typical snacks - gorp, nuts, raisins, granola bars, m&ms, etc.

All great places to get ideas from!

The One Pan Wonders was new to me. Thanks for the link!

[Haveuseen1]

I have tried all sorts of things and have decided that for me conveinence is more important.  Therefore I threw my dehydrator away as it was way to easy to just buy stuff.

That being said:

I am a fan of Enertia trail foods, and a few mountain house.  I frezzer bag cook by buying prepared rice or pasta mixes and then add pouch chicken.  I eat a fair amount of pouch tuna as well.  I like the easy mac, that is simple enough.  I also take mini bagels, and the regular snacks that everyone carries (gorp, trail mix, etc...).  I am a regular fan of hard cheese and sometimes cheese in a can (man I love that stuff).  I almost always take grits.

I will expand later, work calls.

-CB

[sam4msu]

I dehydrate all of my evening meals.  I have not carried a freeze dried meal in a long time.  Anytime I make red beans and rice or chili for dinner, I dry the left overs.  I also like ground beef and frozen mixed veggies(dried separately.)  After rehydrating just add some potato flakes and you have a quick trail shepherds pie!!!  When drying leftovers of red beans and rice, make sure to remove any sausage as it never quite loses all of the grease.

[JC785]

After you dehydrate it. How do you cook it? Add boiling water or?

[Lesley]

To Share with People:

Breakfasts: Oatmeal
Snacks/Lunch: Pnut Butter (lunch sized jiff tubs) and dried fruit, cheese/hard meats (salami etc) and crackers... Trail mix, dried veggie chips
Dinner: Dried soup of some sort, mac and cheese + jerky and taco bell fire sauce, more meat/ cheese and crackers
Hot Beverages: 1/2 coca pack + instant espresso, more coca, hot tea

Lesley Only (extra baggie for oils and smell; oh- and crackers)

Sardines+chic-fil-a mustard packets
smoked oysters
potted meats (deviled ham, vienna sausages)
tuna packets+lemon pepper from home

[jedbear]

When I grill steaks, I cook an extra one or two and freeze them til I have enough to make a good
dehydrating batch. I then thaw and slice into proper sized pieces for the dehydrator. These are
marinated and already fully cooked (or grilled) and when chewed to allow one's saliva to re-hydrate
the bite-sized treats, all the flavor returns. I have given pieces to reluctant hikers who are pleasantly
surprised by just how great the taste. At first the steak pieces chew like cork until they moisten.
Try it and see if this adds to your selections of backable goodies.


                           jedbear

[highlife]

We have dehydrated just about everything, even tried to dehydrate crab one time.
I'll jot down a few ideas here...
 Make you some chili,spaghetti,goulash at home, dehydrate the leftovers.

Dehydrate any can beans...corn..st uff like that
Chicken dehydrates decently.
Ground beef, get you some lean stuff...cook till brown, drain and rinse the meat with cold water to remove more grease..pat with paper towels..throw on dehydrator trays..the meat will be like small crunchy gravel when its dry.

There are tons of dehydrator meal recipes online, or grab you some books off Amazon.

Some other meal ideas..

Hard boiled egg.. Stays good for awhile..you can eat it just as a egg..or take you small pack of mayo..crush up egg mix with mayo..throw on tortilla..egg salad wrap...  (horsey sauce from Arbys adds a nice taste)

instant potato mix, and instant pancake mix...do equal parts of each...mix with water to make a potato pancakes...yummy

[Lostsheep]

Don't forget the Lipton Dinner Sides at the grocery store. Their cheap and pretty easy to deal with too.

Plus, they can usually feed two!