Take a Hike!

Take a Hike!

Food

Food has to be the one thing that concerns me on this trip. Do I have enough? Too much? The right mix of stuff?

I've heard that I'll lose between 30 and 50 pounds on this trip. Well I'm not sure that's all bad, but I don't look forward to being hungry all the time. I think I've put together a reasonably balanced trail diet - while trying to stay high in calories.

A few basic premises have led me to this list of food.

I will only cook one meal a day
I will only carry 2 pounds of food per day
I will use mail drops as my principal food supply

Breakfast

Breakfast is the same every day, with some minor variation based on the actual selection of items.

2 packages of instant oatmeal (300 calories)
1 package Pop Tarts (400 calories)
Lemon aid or Tang (1 Qt, every other day)
Hot Cocao or Hot Cider (a few available in extra food bag if needed)

The Pop Tart flavors are strawberry, blueberry, cinnamon and are all frosted.

The Oatmeal flavors are regular, maple and brown sugar, cinnamon & spice and apple & cinnamon. Believe it or not, cold instant oatmeal is quite good.

The drink mix has been on the list and off the list more times than I can tell you. It's currently on, but not daily. Drink mixes are very heavy for the resulting benefit.

Lunch

Lunch is the food eaten from Breakfast till Dinner. It is not likely to be eaten in an extended break, but it could happen. Lunch will be made up from a selection of the following items. Not all items are in the lunch packet each day, but lunch is always around 1000 calories.

Beef jerky (1/2 cup)
GORP (1/2 cup)
Cheese crackers with cheese filling (6 in a package)
Cheese crackers with peanut butter filling (6 in a package)
Dried fruit (1/2 cup)
Power Bar
Candy Bar
Granola Bar
Breakfast Bar

The GORP contains peanuts, dry roasted peanuts, macadamia nuts, almonds, cashews, dried cranberries, dried bananas, dried mangos, plain M&Ms, peanut M&Ms, raisins, dried apples, dried papaya, dried pineapple, carob chips, sunflower seeds and sometimes other stuff.

The dried fruit mix contains apples, pineapples, apricots, mangos, prunes, and papaya.

The candy bars on the list are; Snickers, Pay Day, Nutrageous, Baby Ruth.

Dinner

Dinner is the only meal I'll cook. Cooking actually starts at noon by placing the dried meat and vegetables into a small nalgene bottle and covering with water. When it's time to cook, the meat and veggie mix is dumped into a pot with a Rice or Pasta based dinner and the water needed to cook. Bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and cover with a pot cozy to continue cooking. In 10 minutes, eat. Food

Noodle or Rice Dinner
1/3 cup dried mixed vegetables
1/2 cup dried shredded meat
Squeeze Parkay
Brownie or Pudding for dessert

The Noodle or Rice dinners are really multiple brands with many different flavors. Some are of the Hamburger Helper variety split in half and repackaged, some are rice based, and some are pasta based, all cook in less than 10 minutes and only require water and meat be added. There are at least 20 different bases here of all imaginable flavors. Lipton's, Rice-a-roni and Pasta-roni make up the bulk of it, with generic brands mixed in.

The dried meats are shredded beef, pork, chicken and tuna. By combining the different meats with the different bases, a huge variety of flavors are available - no Mac-n-cheese every night for me.

One additional dinner, a Shepherd's pie is made from:

1 cup Idahoan brand instant mashed potatoes
1/2 cup dried shredded beef
1/2 cup dried corn
1 package instant gravy

Pudding is made by combining half a box of instant pudding with 1/3 cup powdered milk in a ziplock sandwich bag. Water is added and the mix is thoroughly blended in the bag. Cut one corner to eat. No dirty dishes!

Most food is packaged on a per-meal use basis, and sealed in Baby Bottle Liners using a food sealer from Pack-n-Save. This helps to organize things, keeps me honest (I don't eat all the GORP for a week on Monday) and has been very successful in the planning stages.

Here are the various flavors of noodle and rice meals, keeping in mind that dried tuna, beef, pork or chicken, along with 1/3 cup mixed dried vegetables, go into the pot as well.

Type Calories
Beef Stroganoff 800
Linguine with Chicken & Brocolli 740
Lasagne 700
Vermicelli with Garlic & Olive Oil 720
Noodles & Alfredo 660
Pasta Mushroom 640
Pasta Rotini 640
Angel Hair Pasta with Herbs 640
Noodle Stroganoff 600
Noodles & Butter & Herb 600
Cajun Rice with Beans 600
Noodles & Chicken 580
Rice & Chicken 560
Rice & Herb & Butter 560
Rice & Cheddar Broccoli 560
Noodle & Beef 560
Rice & Beef 540
Pasta & Garlic & Olive Oil 540
Rice Medley 540

Type	Calories
Beef Stroganoff	800
Linguine with Chicken & Brocolli	740
Lasagne	700
Vermicelli with Garlic & Olive Oil	720
Noodles & Alfredo	660
Pasta Mushroom	640
Pasta Rotini	640
Angel Hair Pasta with Herbs	640
Noodle Stroganoff	600
Noodles & Butter & Herb	600
Cajun Rice with Beans	600
Noodles & Chicken	580
Rice & Chicken	560
Rice & Herb & Butter	560
Rice & Cheddar Broccoli	560
Noodle & Beef	560
Rice & Beef	540
Pasta & Garlic & Olive Oil	540
Rice Medley	540

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