[pct-l] Eating while backpacking...

[Jim & Jane Moody]

Peanut butter w/ honey on a bagel / tortilla / pita/ English muffin. 
Pack of tuna or salmon w/ small packs of mayo and relish. 
Black bean or refried bean mix w/ f-d cheese, olive oil, and chopped, shelf-stable bacon [this reconstitutes well w/ cold water while you hike]. 
Freeze-dried fruits (also great for snacking while walking). 
Pepperoni; baby bel cheese on a bagel w/ small pack of mustard. 

Or mix things up. As Dicentra used to say (inaccurately), "There are no rules". Actually, there is one rule. you can't put sugar on grits. 

Mango 

----- Original Message -----

From: "Scott Diamond" <scott.diamond.mail at gmail.com> 
To: "Jeffrey Olson" <philos56 at live.com> 
Cc: "Pct Mailing List" <pct-l at backcountry.net> 
Sent: Tuesday, November 3, 2015 8:44:09 PM 
Subject: Re: [pct-l] Eating while backpacking... 

Thanks for the suggestions Jeffrey. I'm sorting out my food plans for 
2016. I'm actually OK with the vast selection of freeze dried food for 
dinner and I think I have enough options for breakfast but I'm really 
struggling with enough variety for lunch/day snacking. I have fear of 
packing the food in boxes and after 4 weeks on the trail getting sick of my 
meal plan. I'm brainstorming on everything I can think of for lunch. You 
got any good suggestions for that? 

-Scott 



On Mon, Nov 2, 2015 at 6:20 PM, Jeffrey Olson <philos56 at live.com> wrote: 

> I contributed this in 2004. I thought it worth sharing again.. 
> 
> My favorite dinners are a compilation of cheap, healthy components. There 
> are four basic levels. 
> 
> The first level is the base; pasta, instant rice, cous cous, polenta 
> (grits) 
> or potato flakes, my favorite. 3 oz for the first couple weeks, 4-6 oz for 
> the rest of the hike. 
> 
> The second level is a dehydrated soup; split pea, black bean (with extra 
> salt) or my favorite, curried lentil. 2 -3 oz is enough. 
> 
> The third level is the "binder." I never knew about binders until I got 
> disgusted with prepackaged freeze dried food - mostly price. The binder is 
> the ingredient that ties everything else together. Rice and black bean 
> soup 
> mix gets old real fast. 
> 
> The bind I favor is parmesian cheese - Kraft or some other generic version. 
> The stuff lasts forever and has good fat content. For the first two weeks 
> - 
> 2oz, and 3 oz for the rest of the hike. You can carry oil or margarine, 
> fake and tubbed, but I've found that good old Kraft Parmesian makes me 
> smack 
> my lips as I wolf down dinner. Depending on the meal I include an ounce of 
> 4% dehydrated milk as another binder. 
> 
> The fourth level is where you get creative, and can use the dehydrator. 
> Anything goes. An oddity I like is to include dehydrated blueberries, an 
> ounce or two, in a dinner once in a while. Vegetables, etc. Whatever the 
> imagination can concoct. If you use potato flakes, include fake margarine 
> and about three ounces per person of soy baco bits. That's a lot of baco 
> bits, believe me... They are salty and absolutely wonderful. Potato 
> flakes 
> makes the greatest volume per weight, but there are some issues with the 
> hypoglycemic spike some people might have to consider. 
> 
> I package dinners at home in the same manner. Use a quart freezer bag and 
> in it put all the ingredients. Secure with a small strip of duct tape. 
> You'll put 
> in two to three cups of boiling water, let ist, and eat. Some meals fill 
> the 
> freezer bag. Most don't 
> 
> You can vary your dinners so you don't have the same dinner but twice a 
> month. I found I preferred more curried lentil dinners and fewer black 
> beans. I really liked potato dinners once a week. They make a LOT of food 
> for the weight, and taste so, so, good with the margarine and baco bits. 
> I'm a little suspect about the potato dinner's nutrition, hence they are a 
> treat - once a week. 
> 
> This stuff is all bought in bulk. The idea of shopping as you go has its 
> fans, but I don't like leaving the trail, and I know what I will eat on the 
> trail. Mac and cheese it ain't... My package disappeared from the Big 
> Lake 
> Religious camp and I had to hitch into Sisters for a resupply at the store 
> at the edge of town. $50 for five days (1995 dollars). I figured that I 
> was spending 
> about $4 a day if I ate nothing but bulk food. My folks live in the bay 
> area and shipping the food was not that expensive. I so appreciated my 
> next 
> food drop at Timberline Lodge... The store bought stuff just wasn't the 
> same. Where were the baggies? 
> 
> When I added the mealpack bars, or power bars, or any of the "someone else 
> does the work" foods, the cost easily doubled. That said, I'm a convert to 
> the 4oz bars you can buy for less than a buck at http://mealpack.com/. 
> You 
> get 440 calories for less than a buck!!! You have to buy a minimum of 50 
> bars, but that's not a big deal. 
> 
> Jeffrey Olson 
> Laramie, WY 
> 
> 
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