Food

Share your advice and personal experiences, post a gear review or ask any questions you may have pertaining to outdoor gear and equipment.
User avatar
dave54
Founding Member
Posts: 1327
Joined: Fri Oct 28, 2005 10:24 pm
Experience: Level 4 Explorer
Location: where the Sierras, Cascades, and Great Basin meet.

Re: Food

Post by dave54 »

Ramen is junk food. OK as a snack or a single overnight meal, but do not make them the basis of your diet.

MRE's are the emergency food I keep under the seat in my pickup. And cans do not make sense.

A 4 day trip is on the edge of being concerned about proper nutrition. 3 days or less your body has enough reserves to handle your nutrient needs, except for carbs -- you need adequate carbs every day or you will bonk. Beyond 4 days I can feel the effects of poor nutrition.

So if you want to use ramen or powdered soup mixes, improve on it with added extra dried vegetables, some minute rice, grains or whole grain noodles, and some extra dried protein such as dried meats (Note -- boullion is not a protein source. Read the label.). And pack a daily multivitamin. Do not discount powdered milk as a nutrition source, it can be added to almost anything and not merely used as a beverage. (FYI -- a growing body of research in the U.S. and other countries shows that ordinary chocolate low-fat milk is as good or superior recovery drink as the heavily advertised and overpriced 'sports drinks').

I agree the mountain House stuff is overpriced and over processed. You are paying for name and convenience. You can do just as well and cheaper packaging your own stuff at home.
User avatar
gary c.
Topix Fanatic
Posts: 1479
Joined: Tue Jan 24, 2006 4:56 pm
Experience: N/A
Location: Lancaster, CA

Re: Food

Post by gary c. »

On our last trip I brought along along an instant breakfast drink that my buddy found on line and it really hit the spot. All that it took was a regular instant breakfast and 2tbls of Needo whole powdered milk and 2tbls of instant expresso. It really helped the instant oatmeal go down and a nice kick start to the day. Next time I think I'll add a little protein powder to go with it.
"On this proud and beautiful mountain we have lived hours of fraternal, warm and exalting nobility. Here for a few days we have ceased to be slaves and have really been men. It is hard to return to servitude."
-- Lionel Terray
User avatar
Wandering Daisy
Topix Docent
Posts: 6641
Joined: Sun Jan 24, 2010 8:19 pm
Experience: N/A
Location: Fair Oaks CA (Sacramento area)
Contact:

Re: Food

Post by Wandering Daisy »

Lunch for backpacking usually is an on-the-go snack. You perform better by nibbling all day instead of sitting down for a big lunch. I use 1-oz cheese sticks (the individually wrapped sticks keep better than a chunk of cheese), nuts (I prefer almonds or honey roasted peanuts), dried fruit (my favorite is Mango slices - get at Trader Joes), and jerkey. I get really tired of trail bars but they are fine for a short trip - buy them in the natural food section, or exercise food section of regular grocery stores. I find that a sport drink like Cytomax is good if I will be hiking in hot condtions. If you cannot find Cytomax, powdered Gatoraid is available in most stores. I prefer Cytomax because Gatoraid has lots of sugar. This is not a "recovery" drink, but rather keeps your electrolytes in balance as you sweat.

Read the label on freeze dried dinners. Many contain a lot of "textured vegetable protein". You can buy TVP in the health food section of grocery stores in those big bins, for much less. Put a tbs in each dinner and breakfast for added protein. Same with powdered milk.

I always take margarine or olive oil. You have to re-pack it. I use those screw-top plastic food storage containers. An old plastic peanut butter jar works too.

Nothing wrong with taking a deli sandwhich for the first day. Or an apple. Get a sandwhich without mayonaise or eggs just to stay safe in case it gets hot. Tortillas with bean dip make a good first day lunch too.
Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 41 guests