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Sweet and sour pork; too sweet. A back-up, joining the lasagna.

Backpacker Pantry stuff all sucks. Absolutely terrible (and I tried several); all so loaded with salt that they are essentially inedible.

On to AlpineAire stuff now. Their "Rice Burrito Bowl with Chicken" is pretty damned good and good calories for the weight (620 at 6 oz).

Google up homemade hamburger helper - the recipe I used had a bunch of spices, corn starch and powdered beef buillion. Brown and dry lean burger to the consistency of gravel, dry some garden veggies to add by the handful (kale, beans, onions, zucchini, whatever), reconstitute the veggies and gravel with the water with which you boil your noodles, and add the seasoning/thickening mix once the noodles are almost cooked. Simmer then for a few minutes until everything looks like a nice flavorful pot of glop. Noodle and beef portions are measured, the rest are eyeballed. Not hard to figure out how much water to use if you're using a 500ml or 1-qt pot and have eaten a pot of food before.

Most folks don't like to sit and simmer for ten minutes at night, hence the MH meals. I kind of dig relaxing and warming my hands over the hissing whisperlite or simmerlite, nursing the cranky stove to simmer and smelling the forthcoming meal. One 22 oz bottle of white gas can cook this way for two guys for 16 days, i've found, including a half dozen morning warmups for buddy's oatmeal (I eat everything cold before dinner). A smart guy could probably use less fuel by utilizing a pot cozy and not simmering, but I'm not real smart.

Other meals worth simmering are some of the various packaged lipton or knorr noodles/sauce combos with bagged chicken and tuna. It's easy to conjure up tex/mex rice/beans with a bagged chicken breast, or cheesy noodles with fishy meat. Bagged crab is excellent with various parmesan noodly stuff. These all call for milk and butter or oil - it's not hard to use powdered milk and olive oil and a handful of dried veggies. Everything I make gets a big glop of olive oil. Weight vs. calories is no different than MH if you're starting with dry stuff.

New policy for me is that for trips less than five days solo, no hot food is planned besides stick-roasted tenderloin. This saves a lot of time and weight.

Premier Protein Bars were great in Alaska for 11 days this year. I didn't like the dark chocolate mint ones, but the yogurt/peanut and chocolate/peanut butter ones were winners.

Nice for a midday snack and energy boost.

Pro Bar "meal bars" and peanut butter lasts a loooooong time.

Trying to find some of those soon. I plan on one large, hot meal per day and snacking throughout the rest of the day with high calorie, high protein, high fat foods - and yes, those are on the "hit list".

Clif type bar frosted w/ vanilla bean Gu will get you home. I always carry this combo in an inside pocket for those special moments when it isn't fun anymore.

Idahoan bacon cheddar chipotle instant spuds w/ Spam slices are an elegant culinary event on a cold night.


mike r

MH for a meal. Otherwise just tea or coffee for me. Then of course, Babe Ruth candy bars can boost blood sugar in a micro second or two and they're easy (if not PC) to carry a fistful in your pack.

AlpineAire Thai Style Chicken with Noodles - not bad; a bit too sweet, but not bad. 500 calories at 5.1 oz.

AlpineAire Three Cheese Chicken Pasta - not bad; not great, but not bad. Actually tasted about like something you'd expect at Olive Garden, but less greasy/oily. Definitely filling.

You could try things like Instant Mashed Potatoes and a bit of sausage. Pretty light and a lot less expensive the MH etc

I suspect that will be on the menu as well.

The idea is one hot meal per day (at night), and snacking through the remainder.

I'd recommend staying away from any of the seafood MH meals, there's just something about freeze dried shrimp that makes my stomach turn.

If you haven't tried it yet, the MH granola with milk and blueberries is excellent and I can't stand granola. The Mac and Cheese is good too if you add in some tuna or a pack of the MH peas or both. Chicken A La King is also pretty good.

I havent tried the biscuits and gravy yet but that's next on the list.

Good suggestions, and yes, I'm steering clear of any seafood. The thoughts of getting a bad bit of shrimp while camped at 10k+ several miles in... <shudder>...

A bad batch of anything makes me shudder.

I got a hold of a tainted pork patty, courtesy of Uncle Sam, that ended up changing my religion.


Oh, God. Help me....

Anything Mexican. I do not eat dog.

That's funny, (not really) I had one of those in an MRE about 20+ years ago and I wretched so bad I thought I was going to burst my guts open. Never again.

One of my favorite quotes from the movie Cheyenne Social Club is spoken by Henry Fonda when he says "You know I've et some mighty fine food in my time, but this weren't part of it."



One of the best meals that I ever ate was a fresh caribou tenderloin, marinated in Montreal Steak Seasoning and cooked over the hot coals of a campfire.


BACKPACKING FOODS
I don't eat gormet foods at home and I'm even less discriminating when backpacking. All I want to do is refuel so I can get back to doing whatever it is that I came to do. So my criteria for backpacking food are lightweight, nonperishable, easy to prepare, and easy to clean up. I prefer a mix if freeze-dried and dehydrated foods.

DINNER
Tuna Casserole
Tuna Helper
Tuna (foil pouch)
Margarine (café Packs)

Beef & Noodles - freeze dried
Mountain House Beef Stroganoff

Fajitas - freeze dried
Mountain House Chicken Fajita Filling wraps
Tortillas

Turkey Casserole
Dehydrated Chicken Casserole Mix (Knorr or Lypton)
Turkey (foil pouch)
Margarine (café packs)

Mac & Cheese
Velveeta Shells & Cheese or Kraft Macaroni & Cheese
Summer Sausage - sliced & chopped
Margarine (café packs)

Burritos
Refried Beans (dehydrated, Mexicali Rose)
Rice (boil-in-bag)
Tortillas
Taco Sauce (café packs)

Sweet & Sour Chicken - freeze dried
Mountain House Chicken Polynesian


HOT LUNCH
Ramen Noodles
Cup-O-Noodles


BREAKFAST
Oatmeal
Quaker Fruit & Cream

Breakfast Cereal
Milk (1 quart dehydrated packet)
Cereal, Honey Nut Cheerios and Cinnamon Life

Breakfast Burritos - freeze dried
Mountain House Breakfast Skillet
Tortillas, Salt & Pepper

S. O. S.
Bread Rolls
Gravy Mix, White, Dehydrated
Summer Sausage - chopped
Additional Gear: Wire Wisk


BASE CAMP FOODS
When I'm base camping my criteria is the same except things don't have to be lightweight and I can keep some perishable foods in a cooler.

Pancakes
Bisquik Shake & Pour
Syrup (plastic bottle)
Margarine & Cooking Spray

Country Btreakfast
Ham Steak
Eggs fresh
Hashbrown Potatoes (dehydrated)
Margarine & Cooking Spray
Salt & Pepper & Salsa

Potato Pancakes & Sausage
Potato Pancake Mix (dehydrated)
Summer Sausage
Margarine & Cooking Spray
Syrup (plastic bottle)

Beef Stew
Dinty Moore Beef Stew or Chunky Soup
Bread

Chili Dogs
Hot Dogs
Hot Dog Buns
Chili Con Carne & Beans (canned)
Grated Cheese & Chopped Onion



This guy seems to be enjoying my cooking.

KC

Appears that his dog likes it even better......

AlpineAire Mesquite BBQ Seasoned Chicken with beans and rice - not good. Too sweet and too salty. Blech...