Current Freeze Dried Meal Favorites

[Tom_H]

Well, my favorite trail meal came with only some of the ingredients freeze dried but bought in bulk individually: Shrimp Creole. Fry rice in butter. Partly reconstitute freeze dried shrimp, garlic, onions, mushrooms, tomato paste, sun-dried tomatoes. Mix in pot with appropriate amount of water, add salt, pepper, red pepper, perhaps a little paprika/chili powder, other desired spices, boil in covered pot until reconstituted. It's good stuff on the trail.

A couple of other favorites from scratch: beef stroganoff, chicken curried rice, and pizza made from scratch and baked in coals or in an Optimus/Optima oven (1 lb) on gas stove.

Damn, now I'm both hungry and lusting to be on the trail.

[longri]

Ideally the meal should be good enough that you'd want to eat it at home.

[gary c.]

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I don't understand the powdered peanut butter thing. Unless you want it in powdered form for some specific reason (e.g. sprinkling on oatmeal), or you're a survivalist interested in long shelf life of your food, it just doesn't make sense. Regular peanut butter is so much more calorie dense that it weighs quite a bit less on a per calorie basis, even when you take into account that a heavier container is generally needed for a butter than a powder.

I do bring regular peanut butter that comes in individual bags along with jelly in same from places like packet gourmet most of the time. On longer trips it just ends up being more weight and bulk than I like to carry. I can just dump a bunch in a Ziploc and have it every morning with breakfast and with any other meal I feel like.

[longri]

I do bring regular peanut butter that comes in individual bags along with jelly in same from places like packet gourmet most of the time. On longer trips it just ends up being more weight and bulk than I like to carry. I can just dump a bunch in a Ziploc and have it every morning with breakfast and with any other meal I feel like.

I suspect that if you actually measured the weight and bulk with respect to the calories you'd find that the powder was less efficient. But maybe calories aren't what you're mainly interested in. Maybe it's a serving size that matters most to you?

Unlike regular peanut butter which is already dehydrated, jelly has so much water in it that a dehydrated form makes sense. I've carried powdered jelly on a number of trips. It's pretty easy to prepare the powder, rehydrates fairly quickly, and tastes great. It's kind of expensive though.

[Wandering Daisy]

I tried some dried peanut butter and did not like it. However, I see it could be used, like you do, as a supplement- spoonful in meals. Do you add it for extra protein/calories or for the taste?

I just saw a large jar of powdered peanut butter in Walmart yesterday. It was placed among the energy drinks (odd palce to put it). I prefer to just add nuts and seeds to my meals- these add a nice crunch/chewyness that is missing from a lot of backpack meals. By the way, peanuts are legumes, not nuts.

Commercial peanut butter usually has sugar added. In many stores, you can grind your own peanut butter (or any nut butter for that matter). Pure peanut butter is mostly fat with some protein. If you also grind the skins, you get more fiber. Do not discount fiber; it is really needed to keep your digestive system moving. Without fresh fruits and vegetables, backpack diets usually need a bit more fiber.

[sambieni]

Wandering Daisy - What about dried fruit? Does that not provide same fiber as fresh?

For PB-lovers, if unaware of them, Justin's packets work really well. Small and dense calories with number of different varieties/flavors.

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[longri]

For PB-lovers, if unaware of them, Justin's packets work really well.

Unfortunately for people who love unadulterated peanut butter Justin's packets include added palm oil.

[Wandering Daisy]

Sambieni- not sure how many fresh fruits and vegetables you eat at home, but for me, the equivelent dried fruits I eat backpacking is far less than I eat at home. Everyone is different; I think a good approach to backpack meals is to eat similarly as you do at home. That is what your gut is used to and probably will do better than completely changing your diet. I think this is why a lot of people do not do well on day after day of mostly freeze dried food.

REI used to carry freeze dried sausage patties. I really liked those. I would break them up and add a little to each meal. They also used to carry dried eggs in small packets (these were just eggs, not as a part of a FD breakfast meal). Unfortunately they no longer carry these.

I do not think it is totally freeze dried, but I like the "Darned Good Chili" soup mix that you can buy at most stores. I add some FD corn and top with grated cheese and it is great! I also noticed that in Safeway's organic food section they have some good (but expensive) fd soups.

[maverick]

Unfortunately for people who love unadulterated peanut butter Justin's packets include added palm oil.

http://www.artisanaorganics.com/squeeze-packs/

[mcgenes]

I enjoy https://hawkvittles.com/. I just took the organic buffalo pasta and the cowboy pasta on a trip and both were spicy and very flavorful. I have been long addicted to their breakfast grits that include bacon and cheese.


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