07-31-2011, 05:49 PM
For backpacking food I have done just about it all. Freeze dried is marginal at best and expensive. Fine to carry a meal or two for when your cold, wet and miserable and you just want to eat something hot in a hurry. I do just as well off the shelf and for 1/2 the price. If Dawn can eat a whole packet, count on a guy my or Tubedude's size to still be hungry after both servings.
I dehydrate most of my own food for backpacking. Potatoes, peas, corn, mixed vegtables, apples, pineapple, apricots, squash and hamburger.
Along wiht these foods I pack Raman noodles, rice, instant potatoes, pasta, cereals, Bisquick and flavoring packets like Knoor gravies and soups.
The bulk area of Smiths can also yeild some great backpacking food like beans, refried beans powder, hummus mix, dried tomatoes, papaya and other fruits.
Don't forget peanuts, hard candies mac and cheese and anything else that is not canned or refridgerated. (tuna envelopes).
Lastly, preperation and planning is important. I carry a couple of spare nalgene bottles to rehydrate in. If I want beans and rice for dinner, I put the beans in the Nalgene bottle 24 hours before cooking. Same with dehydrates vegtables I dried myself. Put them into water in the morning and they are ready to go at dinner time.
If you want more info read "The Complete Walker" by Colin Fletcher or get your hands on a NOLS (National Outdoor Leadership School) cookbook. Both are full of backpacking food information.
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I dehydrate most of my own food for backpacking. Potatoes, peas, corn, mixed vegtables, apples, pineapple, apricots, squash and hamburger.
Along wiht these foods I pack Raman noodles, rice, instant potatoes, pasta, cereals, Bisquick and flavoring packets like Knoor gravies and soups.
The bulk area of Smiths can also yeild some great backpacking food like beans, refried beans powder, hummus mix, dried tomatoes, papaya and other fruits.
Don't forget peanuts, hard candies mac and cheese and anything else that is not canned or refridgerated. (tuna envelopes).
Lastly, preperation and planning is important. I carry a couple of spare nalgene bottles to rehydrate in. If I want beans and rice for dinner, I put the beans in the Nalgene bottle 24 hours before cooking. Same with dehydrates vegtables I dried myself. Put them into water in the morning and they are ready to go at dinner time.
If you want more info read "The Complete Walker" by Colin Fletcher or get your hands on a NOLS (National Outdoor Leadership School) cookbook. Both are full of backpacking food information.
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