weight = bad! water = weight Conclusion: Don't buy/carry food with water.
Universal cooking instructions:
heat one pot of water
add ingredients
stir
eat
You should be able to find all backpacking foods you need in supermarket.
Cooking is NOT an exact science, don't worry about:
exact measurements
substitutions
there are no refrigerators, meaning: no eggs, butter, meat, milk, cheese, etc.
keep packaging to a minimum. you will have to pack out non-burnable trash.
eating utensils:
Cool Whip bowl (or Frisbee)
plastic cup (measured)
spoon
jack-knife
use pre-packaged pre-measured ingredients in baggies (do the pre-packaging at home)
Think of 'what you want to eat?', then then figure out how to make it.
Carbs are good (cheap, light, high energy), E.G. pasta, rice, instant mashed potatoes, noodles, etc.
fresh fruit/veggies are good, but hard to backpack
food/trash needs to be secured at night (to keep away from critters) in a “Bear Bag”
beware of bulky/fragile foods
Freeze-dried foods are TOO expensive.
MRE's are OK, but they're: expensive, heavy, not readily available, limited selections, bulky, produces a lot of non-burnable trash
MEAL |
Day 1 |
Day 2 |
Day 3 |
---|---|---|---|
Breakfast |
Oatmeal w/fruit |
Breakfast bars |
Grits w/bacon bits |
Lunch |
Beef jerky, fruit rollups, potato sticks, granola bars |
Devil'd ham, crackers, Pringles, trail mix (gorp)* |
Instant Breakfast*, Peanut butter crackers |
Dinner |
Chili* |
Tuna-Mac* |
Pasta* |
Desert |
's'more pop-tarts' |
cream pie in a bag* |
candy bar |
Drinks |
Hot cocoa/Crystal Lite/Kool-Aid/coffee/tea/Gator-Aid/etc. |
||
Emergency Food |
'Cliff bars', power bars* (each person carries their own) |
2 2/3 cups boiling water
1 beef bouillon cube
3 1/3 cup of Worthington GranBurger (available at Shaw's)
1 package of Wick Fowler's chili mix (or Shelby's or ...)
1 4.5oz tube of tomato paste
add more water as needed
Optional: Instant Mexican Refried Beans (add more water)
Tuna-Mac (feeds 3)
1 package of Lipton/Knorr vegetable soup (or 1 can of veggies)
1 package of Kraft Mac & cheese DELUXE
1 can of tuna (or ham or chicken)
(Please note: a pouch of tuna is too expensive)
1 chicken bouillon cube
1 package of Barilla Tortelloni (or other pasta ... )
1 package of instant pesto sauce (or tomato sauce or ... )
1 package of lipton vegetable soup
at home put following in a sealable baggie:
2 Tbs peanut butter (chunky is good)
2 Tsp soy sauce
1 Tsp chinese hot oil
1 Tbs sm ginger chunks (available Xmas time @Trader Joes)
cook 3 packages of Raman chicken noodles
add 2 3oz cans of chunk chicken
add sauce from baggie
2 packages of instant pudding
1 package dried milk (makes 1 qt of milk)
1 qt (32oz) COLD water
put above in a 48oz containter, shake well for 2 minutes,
serve into cups,
then add Oreo cereal/granola/etc.
examples: chocolate pudding & rice crispies, cheesecake filling, crushed graham crackers & wild blueberries, banana cream & grape nuts
mix in a large bowl (make this before the trip):
2 cups white sugar
2 cups margarine
1/2 cup KARO syrup
9 1/2 cups rolled oats (AKA oatmeal)
stir in:
1 cup sliced almonds, coconut, chocolate ships, etc.
spread 1/2" think on a greased pin, bake @ 350F for ~18 mins until golden brown
cut into 12 bars
in a 1 quart wide mouthed water bottle, add:
2 packages Carnation Instant Breakfast
1 package of dried milk (enough to make 1 quart)
1 qt cold water
shake
3 oz. cream cheese
1 stick butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 lb powdered sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
1 large Ziploc freezer baggie
Mix all ingredients together in the bottom of the baggie. Once all the ingredients are sticking together in a ball and is pulling away from the bag, it's done. Grab a spoon and eat right out of the bag. Seal bag and refrigerate leftovers.
put in sealable freezer baggie:
M&M's
shelled roasted salted nuts (peanuts, almonds, walnuts, pecans, etc.)
granola cereal (or non-sugar'd cereal like: Chex, Cheerios, etc)
optional: dried fruit (like: raisins, cherries, apricots, etc.)
optional: small crackers (like: goldfish, etc.)
remnants from the bottom of cereal/cracker boxes
go to a supermarket (like Victory/Demoulas/Shaws/Trader Joe's/ etc.) and make lists of:
non-refrigerator meats or meat substitutes (proteins):
sources of carbs:
non-canned/non-refrigeratorable veggies (dried):
breakfast options:
deserts: