My Food

Hiking food tends not to be of the gourmet variety. Generally meals are no cook or boil and eat. Pasta's instant rice, noodles, and powdered sauces are the basis of most dinners. The sealed foil packages of tuna, chicken, and crab are also used. Lunches may consist of hard cheeses, crackers, or granola bars. Breakfast may be instant oatmeal, granola bars, milk and cereal bars, fruit and grain bars, and pop tarts.

Nothing can be taken that requires refrigeration. That leaves out milk and fresh meat. Secondly, food cannot be heavy since it will have to be carried a long way. Fat is another consideration, especially in summer. Foods high in fat tend to spoil fast so my foods should be low in fat. Since fat is loaded with calories, avoiding it will practically guarantee a weight loss. I have determined that a can carry as much as 1 and a half pounds of food per day. If I start with 6 days worth of food the total will weight 9 pounds.

My meal plan will change depending on the weather but here are my initial choices:

Breakfast- Instant Oatmeal, granola bars, pop tarts, powdered milk and cold cereal, powdered milk and Instant Breakfast Beverage

Lunch- granola bars, crackers, foil envelopes of tuna, foil envelopes of chicken, individual packages of cheese and crackers

Supper- Pasta or rice mixed with instant vegetable soup mix, a little jerky, an occasional dehydrated backpacker meal (Mountain House or Backpackers Pantry). The backpacker meals are very expensive so I save them for a special treat.

Snacks- Animal cookies, my own trail mix made up of M&Ms and Cheerios