For single night trips, I migth even take a can of something if I haven't planned ahead, but freeze dried is the lightest way to go for dinner on longer trips. I prefer bagels and cream cheese for breakfast for short trips where its cool enough so they don't go bad quickly.

Btw, I saw that on REI Outlet, they have lots of full freeze dried dinners way below normal cost, something about "seconds packaging." But these are regular dinners some for under $3 and most for $3-4. Might be good to stock up for the summer's trips. All are Backpacker's Pantry which I think is a decent brand. This is the link.

(Hope that link works)

drm, I haven't used the commercial freeze-dried meals for about 10 years now, but the last Backpackers Pantry stuff I bought required extra cooking (just rehydrating in the bag with boiling water didn't do the job, and the directions said to cook for 5 minutes). If, like me, you're allergic to scrubbing your pan, you might want to check to see if this is still true.

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May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view.--E.Abbey

I think the directions call for over 10 minutes on those.  Last one I tried worked fine.  I also insulate them while they cook to trap in the heat.

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Dan - Site Cartographer

I'm a relative newbie, having only begun backpacking last summer and haven't been at it long enough to get sick of freeze dried dinners. Last spring, before our first of two week-long outings, I tried several different meals to see if they were edible. I discovered Mary Jane's line of food and definitely find it the best of all the meals I tried. I bought these online from their website. I also discovered that a two serving packet really is two servings for my appetite.

I've always loved noodles, so some kind of ramen type of thing was often my breakfast. I have found many different varieties, Thai, Phillipino, Indonesian. Some are soupy and some with sauces but no broth. Add some freeze dried chicken and vegetables and I'm good to go. I have always carried chopsticks when I'm camping which come in very handy for stirring whatever's cooking on my pop can stove.

The other day I found some dried tomatoes at Trader Joe's. I put some of them in my blender with garlic powder, onion powder, oregano and thyme and gave 'em a good pulverizing. Then I put two tablespoons of the powder into a half cup of boiling water. Voila! It made a downright passable pasta sauce. I know that will be in my camp kitchen this summer. Weighs nothing: tastes good.

During the day, we never had an official lunch. We just grazed on dried fruit, jerky, nuts and bars of some kind. Here again, TJ's comes in handy. I think their bars are way better than most of the others I've had. As for drinks, tea and powdered lemonade were the only other things besides water in my pack.

My challenge this summer is to learn how much to carry. Our first week out last year saw me lugging three extra days of food by the end, probably four pounds too much! The second week I still had a couple of pounds extra. This year I hope to nail the amount and have the perfect weight in my pack. Funhog

I never cook them, as long as I'm not at high altitide. I got my start backpacking in the Sierra, and usually had campsites around 11,000 feet and they needed some cooking. But at low altitude (east coast, Utah, Alaska), with boiling temps high, I add the water and it does the trick. I don't know what altitude the cutoff is at. Also, I've heard that if you pre-soak in a small amount of water for a while, then add boiling water, you can sometimes avoid cooking.

Another possibility is putting the pouch, with the hot water already in it, in a pot of hot water, to keep the insides hotter for longer.

I use the Jetboil (standard personal size) system and find it to be a great backpacking tool. lightweight too. Works well in cold (35-45 f) and windy conditions. My companions have various other systems and mine seems to be the most efficient. Not saying that yours is not to par..

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I don't have to out run the bear... I just have to out run you.

-Movie: "without a paddle"

For one-night trips or times when weight is not an issue I love to get some good beef and cube it up and then marinate it in a Nalgene bottle for the day until we get to camp.  I then cut up some onions, bell peppers and mushrooms and put them on a skewer and roast the kebobs over coals.  I also usually add a side of couscous (very easy backcountry food).  This is my absolute favorite backcountry meal.  Of course, if you're in an area where fires are restricted or there are a lot of bears then this isn't the best option.

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"It appears my hypocrisy knows no bounds." -Doc Holiday (Val Kilmer) in Tombstone

rawdon:

I have tried most all of the dehy brands and found Mountain House to be the most flavorful.

 

Jerry

 i usualy use mountain house stuff too

if by chance you are taking pancake mix of some sort then you can put fresh huckleberries off the trail in the mix. it adds more flavor

huckleberries rock!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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jamey pyles

Now that the topic has come up again, I discovered something new for lunch: Hummus mix! I carry olive oil in a 1/2 oz. squirt bottle (bought at REI). I put the correct amount of hummus mix for a serving in a ziplock sandwich bag. Add just enough water to mix and a squirt of olive oil and knead it GENTLY until thoroughly mixed. Then spread onto pita bread (which keeps quite well even when squashed in a bear canister). Both my son and I gobbled this up on our Shi-Shi Beach trip last August. The grandkids preferred peanut butter and jelly on their pita bread.

I still think the commercial freeze-dried foods are yucky. It doesn't take much to mix instant rice or cous-cous, a dried broth or soup mix for flavoring, maybe a few dried herbs, onions, garlic, some freeze-dried veggies from "Just Tomatoes" and some TVP for flavoring in a quart freezer bag. Add hot water, let sit for 10-15 min (15 min for the instant rice, 10 for the cous-cous) in a cozy, and voila! Dinner! If you're willing to do some dehydrating, the possibilities are endless!

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May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view.--E.Abbey

Dehydrating is definitely the way to go.  We bought a cheap one this summer, and used it constantly.  We dried all leftovers, and bought vegy's in bulk.  It literally ran around the clock for weeks on end.  our freezer is now half full with dried everything.  A wonderful book we use for many of our recipes is Lip Smackin Backpackin by Christine Conners.  Its the best designed, most practical backpacking recipe book we have seen.  It even has tiny cards for trail directions that you can copy. 

Some things we learned:  Chicken does NOT rehydrate well.  we will likely not use it again.  It must be soaked for at least a couple hours before you can cook with it (when backpacking, we don't think that far ahead).  Ground beef  and tuna fish is the easiest and fastest meat to rehydrate.  Leek is surprising one of the best vegy's to dry.  It dries well, rehydrates quickly, and adds flavor to pretty much anything.  We add a pinch to almost all dinner recipes.  Also, instead of regular powdered milk (usually skim), we use powdered whole milk (made by Nestle Nido). Its sometimes hard to find, but usually can be located in the hispanic section of the grocery store.  whether making cereal for breakfast, or a creamy sauce for dinner, it really makes the difference. 

Chicken has to be pressure-cooked before dehydrating unless you want chicken jerky. It's easiest to use canned chicken--drain, crumble, dry and it rehydrates just fine.

I've found that TVP (soy protein) works just fine in many dishes; it takes up the flavor of whatever you cook it in.

This and many other hints can be found on the Freezer Bag Cooking website. I've become a convert to this type of outdoor cooking--no dishes to wash in camp!

My worst camp food experience was dehydrating a casserole dish consisting of regularly cooked chicken, rice, peas and cream sauce. The chicken finally rehydrated enough to chew, but even after over 15 minutes of boiling, the peas were like buckshot--hard enough to break a tooth. In the meantime, the rice was complete mush. Moral: always test dried meals at home first!

I've found that cooking regular rice (I always use brown rice) in vegetable or chicken or beef broth or in tomato sauce (for "Spanish" rice) and then dehydrating it results in an extremely tasty product. It rehydrates as fast as the instant rice. You can do this with other grains like quinoa or one of my favorites, the Kashi 7 Whole Grain Pilaf.

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May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view.--E.Abbey

Hey everyone, I had not noticed this thread until I realized that many moons later a lot of you come through to our site to visit :) I appreciate it!

If anyone has question on dehydrating, that is one area we have added a lot more in the past year to the site. Lots of photos as well to show you how!

Responding for SEM, I haven't been on a pack trip in a couple years but I used to take the Lipton packages -they have different noodle dishes that are pretty quick and easy & light. A bit heavier are cans of chicken but it is worth it. Get the pop top cans so you dont have to fuss with a can opener.

Some of the small mexican pastas cook up quickly and you can add what every sauce you want to that or like a friend used to do she'd just bring sun dried tomatoes and stuff like that to add to her pasta.

 

I dont know if this helps but it get's me thinking I need to do a pack trip soon.

Have fun!

D