After a long day of hunting a warm meal is nice. However, I eat very little salt. I was surprised to hear how much sodium 1 MH meal contains! That explains a lot of things as it is all I have had in my limited backcountry hunting. I am not particularly interested in making my own but depending on ease of prep I won't rule it out.

Suggestions?

Ryan

If you do decide to make your own.
We bought a harvest right freezer dryer last year and while it wasn’t cheap. It’s very easy to use. We bought it to do in addition to canning stuff from the garden and preserving eggs from our chickens, but we have started just making a double batch of whatever my wife is cooking for dinner and freezer drying the leftovers. Even going RV camping it’s a huge weight saver vs ice chests full of food. Still experimenting with it but I’m surprised how much different stuff you can freeze dry at home and still taste good by just adding hot water. As an additional bonus my wife and son have food allergies that between the two of them would make getting a store bought freeze dried meal almost impossible but when we’re freeze drying home cooked meals it’s not a problem.

I take an electrolyte powder containing potassium, magnesium and other trace minerals to help the body regulate the extra sodium in the freeze dried meals. Unfortunately they all have high levels.

I also take fiber pills to help offset the stoppage.

Love to get a freeze dryer, guess have to start saving. I do dehydrate jerky ( I use 1/2 the salt and no nitrates) and fruits to take

Ramen? Throw in a packet of tuna for protein.

Now that's an idea, I carry the foil tuna packets anyway. Could just add the seasoning to taste.

they have chicken breast in the foil packs too now.

You could do the same (also with chicken as mentioned by whackem) with couscous.

couscous example

I like these better than ramen. I empty and throw in zip lock bags Add tuna from a pouch

https://www.costco.com/snapdragon-vietnamese-pho-bowls%2C-2.3-oz%2C-9-count.product.100750761.html

Good to go meals has quite a few meals that are pretty low in sodium vs most the other brands. Haven’t ever tried any of them though. Might be worth a try.

I have never considered how much salt is in my backpacking meals. I eat a lot of Mountain House. You seem opposed to Mtn House so, I have eliminated that from this list of lightweight and nonperishable foods. I have also eliminated Jerky because I think it has a lot of salt.

Oatmeal - Quaker Fruit & Cream (3 packs)

Breakfast Cereal & Milk - Honey Nut Cheerios, Cinnamon Life, Milk (dehydrated)

S.O.S. - Slider Rolls, White Gravey Mix (dehydrated)

English Muffins, Margarine & Jelly (café paks)

Cup-O-Noodles (I don't know how much salt is in Cup-O-Noodles. It's Ramen in a Styrafoam cup.)

Protein & Carbs - Peanut Butter, Honey, Tortillas

Chicken Casserole Mix (dehydrated), Chicken (small can), Margarine (café packs)

Velveeta Shells & Cheese, Ham (small can), Margarine (café packs)

Burritos - Refried Beans (dehydrated), Minute Rice (boil-in-bag), Tortillas, Salsa or Taco Sauce (café packs)

NO COOK SNACKS, such as;
Sandwich Crackers
Trail Mix (GORP)
Crackers
Granola Bars
Candy Bars
Cheese Balls, parafin wrap
Dried Fruit
Pop Tarts
Donuts

Thanks for the suggestions,

It was mentioned on another thread that there was somewhere in the neighborhood of 1500mg of sodium in MH meals.

I had only ever ate those in my limited backcountry trips. Always seemed my system would get out of whack. I always attributed it to the altitude. Had never considered salt is why I was curious. I think sodium affects the body differently considering the way it is prepared in meals? You mention Jerky and that is one of the cold items I took. Along with Bacon, and Adams peanut butter rolled up in tortilla shells.

Thanks

Ryan

I hated all of the salt in most of the store packaged meal too.

What I did and would recommend is buying home dehydrator and make your own. You know what you like, you know how much you like, and you know what is in them.

Plenty of sources on how to do it.

Just tried my idea, roasted garlic and olive oil couscous with a packet of Buffalo style chicken in it. 900 calories for about 4.50.

Versus a chicken fried rice mountain house with 800 calories for 10.50.....


Cheaper, less sodium, more calories, and probably lighter if you put the couscous in a zip lock.

Tasted alright too

couscous work great and easy and fast to make. Link for the buffalo chicken?

Chicken packets


Even though it may look like cat food when you open them, they arent too shabby...

Donuts? I think we can be friends!

I'll start with the caveat that I follow a high fat, low carbohydrate approach to nutrition, avoid grains in my diet, and am not averse to salt. YMMV.

I've made my own dehydrated food before but usually time constraints prevent this so I usually rely on various pre-made meals that I've listed below. Also, I rely heavily on egg based freeze dried meals since most of them (not all) tend to not have any added grains and are the best bang for the buck on a caloric basis in my experience.

In the back country I usually run a combination of an instant Keto/Bulletproof coffee, freeze dried meals, dried or smoked meats and pemmican, plantain chips and some nuts and dried fruits(very limited amounts), and a protein supplement to have with dinner. I also have experimented with taking butter, ghee, tallow, and butter of the gods in with me to add to freeze dried meals to up the fat content.

Freeze dried brands Brands I'm using this year.

Heathers Choice
Peak Refuel - double portions in each pouch and the chicken coconut curry is delicious.
Outdoor Pantry


Those I've used in the past

Packit Gourmet
Pinnacle Foods
wild Zora
Mountain House


Brands I'm aware of but have not tried or used yet.

Stowaway Gourmet
Backpackers Pantry
Good2Go
Trailtopia
Alpine Aire
Mary Janes Farm

If anyone can keep down the Heather's choice salmon chowder I can probably round up some for you. I would rather eat cat food.

Ryan: Check out freezer bag cooking. Make your own dehydrated from health food store (not freeze dried) ingredients. Don't last as long as freeze dried but are way cheaper and you control the salt.

I use a commercial freeze dried meal, divide it into two or three bags, add instant rice, beans, potatoes etc so I have a full meal. This reduces the salt/spice level.

I use plastic bags made specifically for adding boiling hot water.

I generally operate at a sodium deficit, so I would welcome the additional salt.

Unless you have health issues that warrant a limit on sodium, recognize that backpacking and hunting can be sweaty messes where a little more sodium for a few days can do more good than harm. There is a direct positive link between athletic performance and sodium levels. The trouble is there's no one-size approach, hence more buzz phrases such as "individualized hydration plan" that offer little real guidance.

When on a true ‘backpacking’ hunt, Too much salt is the last thing on my mind, you need sodium, it can be helpful.

Just returned from a 10 day hunt and dinners were MH, darn good hot meal for 4 oz’s.

Yup, I certainly get that some extra salt will aid in fending off dehydration. Probably why the daily bacon and jerky set me just about right. I too operate daily on low sodium. There is no salt shaker on the dinner table and I rarely season anything I am cooking unless someone else is going to eat it. As a kid growing up I can remember the salt shaker was passed around the table every meal! I can immediately tell when I have had too much such as when having dinner at a friends or a cookout. The MH meals left me feeling like I had a brick in my guts, that's why I am looking to find a happy medium.