The steel cut oatmeal will stay with you longer than the instant.Takes a few more minutes to make,but well worth it.Add a pack of the flavored instant or a bit of brown sugar.
I tried that Mountain House stuff on pack trip this past summer.I took one of each of the four dinners they market. One of the four was alright.None were great.One pack was not enough for one,and two were too many.Way over priced at $9-$11 per pack for what they tasted like.
I'd sure test them out on your kids before the trip.Kids usually have a better sense of taste than adults.
Another side to this... never paid anywhere near that price, usually buy them in bulk around 6-7 each. Did see them in rural AK around 11 a pack though...
There are some that are not all that great, but depedns on how picky you are. There are a lot of them we really like. Like I said we are not food snobs though.
Chicken and rice, beef stronganoff, chicken and noodles, some kind of jambalaya, lasagna are a few that really go well. Beef stew too.
Wife and I eat one between us. In fact I can NOT eat one by myself ever. Its just to much. If we have to pack a moose out on our backs or such we might eat more. But we eat something like oatmeal in the AM, mountain house at noonish, and then sausage/crackers/cheese, snacks before bed.
