[pct-l] Pct-l Digest, Vol 7, Issue 47

[Ellen Shopes]

Five days isn't bad.  Depends on how light you want to go.  Do you plan on 
cooking?  The grocery stores have an abundance of usable items.  Couscous 
has already been mentioned, but stuffing mix works well, too; neither 
requires much clean-up.  Many stores carry dried veggies (ie, mushrooms).  I 
found that if I cut up jerky into pieces, then soaked it for 5-10 minutes 
before cooking it with the rest of the meal, that it tenderized pretty well. 
Foil-packaged meats are tasty but heavy, good for the first day or two.  You 
can order cans of freeze-dried meats (chicken, turkey, beef, etc) and add 
them to meals.  (I used Wildernessdining.com.)
As others have mentioned, put the meals together before you leave on a trip. 
this has several advantages:
    1.  You won't forget any ingredients, or carry something you end up not 
needing
    2.  You can weigh the meals, so you eat the heaviest ones first
    3.  You get rid of extra packaging that just adds weight and takes up 
space.  I use quart size ziplocks for most meals, and write the directions 
and weight on them.
I also found most of the potato meals (ie, herb and sour cream scallop 
potatoes) will cook up in 1/2 the time if I soak it for about 15 minutes 
before cooking.  And the scallop potatoes clean up alot easier than the 
mashed potatoes so many are fond of.
Good luck and have fun.
Ellen
>
>
> ---- Chrystal Pendzich <ach.mensch at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> =============
> I'm getting ready to go on a 5 day hiking trip - this is the longest I've
> hiked before and I'm unsure how to prepare and organize my food. Does 
> anyone
> have any recommendations? Someone suggested bringing pre-cooked rice with
> me, and I was thinking tortillas and peanut butter, some dried fruit and
> nuts...you know, the usual. Any ideas would help!Thanks,
> Marzipan
>