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marienbad
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marienbad
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PostFri Jun 24, 2011 12:35 pm 
Ray Jardine’s PCT Hiker’s Handbook proclaims that the most important part of trail nourishment is the spiritual/psychological component (what’s appetizing), which is easy to agree with, but also makes some dubious fact-claims such as that that tomatoes have more energy than meat. 1. What do you think about the psychological vs calories question? 2. What are your favorite compact/lightweight sources of energy on the trail? I’m a bean-freak at home and a voracious oatmeal-eater too. These both seem like good bets for the long-haul. Disagree?

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Slugman
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PostFri Jun 24, 2011 12:46 pm 
I subsist mainly on tomatoes. embarassedlaugh.gif My favorite lightweight energy source is the lithium-ion battery. embarassedlaugh.gif OK, you asked a serious question. I like to eat interesting and tasty food more than boring food, but backpacking is when the difference is least important to me. Especially after the first night, where normal refrigerated food isn't in the cards, partly due to no refrigeration, and partly due to weight. So I will often bring "real food" for dinner the first night, and eat dehydrated stuff the rest of the time. For lunches I almost always eat finger food like corn chips, beef or turkey jerky, maybe some cheese. One of my favorite energy dense foods is Trader Joe's organic peanut butter crackers. 150 calories per ounce. But it isn't wise to completely ignore taste, or to ignore nutrition at all. Convenience is fine, but food must still be palatable and meet the body's needs. So I usually bring a couple of lemons or limes, and make fresh lemonade, that goes down really nice in camp after a hard day of hiking.

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marienbad
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marienbad
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PostFri Jun 24, 2011 2:02 pm 
Speaking of lemons and limes (though not of freshness), the co-op grocery where I live sells... Citric Acid powder It could be great for the trail because you need about 1 milligram to get intense citrus flavor.

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Slugman
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PostFri Jun 24, 2011 2:36 pm 
Citric acid powder? That sound interesting. hmmm.gif My lemonade is pretty weak-tasting, I make it mainly for the vitamin C, and to have at least some fresh fruit on a trip. But adding some more of the citric acid stuff, plus some sugar, would likely make a more palatable form of lemonade. Thanks for the tip. up.gif

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Allison
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PostFri Jun 24, 2011 2:59 pm 
Sluggy, et al, try these: True Lemon, lime, orange, grapefruit, et al.

www.allisonoutside.com follow me on Twitter! @AllisonLWoods
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Slugman
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PostFri Jun 24, 2011 3:26 pm 
That's great! I've never heard of those. I'm buying some right now. I hate lemonade mixes because they are mainly artificial, and too sugary. That stuff sounds perfect. Hmm, no need to buy it online, I see my local Fred Meyer and QFC carry them. biggrin.gif Thanks, Allison. up.gif

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Altitude Junkie
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PostFri Jun 24, 2011 3:59 pm 
In Colorado, I learned to make all my own protein bars. Except they were actually delicious because I left out that crappy protein powder. Nuts have plenty of protein on their own and in the right ratios with other enzymes and amino acids that the body needs to break it down. Protein isolates sold in a powder have been stripped of everything but the protein so the body has to steal what it needs from other places inside you to make use of it, usually places you don't want to lose it from. The body can only process so much protein at a time, the rest it just discards as waste. That's some pretty expensive waste. Anyway, when you are hiking at a good clip, you need a higher carb ratio to keep the glycogen stores in your muscles topped off. Your big protein meal would be best consumed at the end of the day when those muscles are repairing themselves. Also, it will help you sleep better (carbs can jump start your heart rate when you least need it.) Custom Made Protein Bars Grab your blender or high speed food processor. Blast 1/2 cup of almonds until they are flour, pour out into a bowl. Then blast 1/2 cup of pecans the same way and pour them into the same bowl. Pit about 5 dates and puree them in the blender with 1/2 cup dried apple until it is a good-smelling goo. Scrape into the bowl with the nut powder and mash together with your hands. Add a dash of cloves or cinnamon if you like. Experiment with the ratios until you get the consistency you need. Shape into golf ball sized bon bons and freeze in snack-sized zip lock baggies, three to a baggie. Now, you're set for a quick hike anytime. Experiment with pistachios, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, cashews, all different colors of raisins, dried cranberries, mission figs, dried pineapple, etc. You can add a little chlorella, powdered kelp, wheat germ, etc. to provide extra health benefits. Hmm, I'm getting hungry already. agree.gif Peanut butter Balls Peanut butter balls are another good one. You start with a peanut butter base, maybe one cup. Add pretty much whatever you want to this until you get a molding consistency and repeat the golf ball procedure. We went ape sh!t for these things when we were kids. A good combo to add is: GrapeNuts, carob chips, raisins, rolled oats, and a little honey. Another good recipe would be chocolate chips, chopped peanuts, puffed rice, and a dash of cinnamon. Cinnamon will warm you in the winter and cloves will cool you in the summer, so use accordingly. The nice thing about these particular recipe combinations is that they side step a common digestion problem. Nuts and breads or nuts and fresh fruit are a bad combo in the gut, producing all sorts of unpleasant side effects for you and your hiking partners. But dried fruit goes just fine with nuts. AJ

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Allison
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PostFri Jun 24, 2011 4:07 pm 
They sell them at Safeway too. Very easy to find, and useful as heck for cooking as well. up.gif

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sarbar
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sarbar
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PostFri Jun 24, 2011 4:46 pm 
Sluggy, look for it in the sugar aisle, it is often sold there. BTW, you can easily make lemonade with it as well.

https://trailcooking.com/ Eat well on the trail.
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veronika
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PostFri Jun 24, 2011 5:06 pm 
Allison wrote:
True Lemon, lime, orange, grapefruit, et al.
Man, that girl sure is happy on that website. lol.gif

Take risks not to escape life, but to prevent life from escaping I may not have anyone rocking my world right now but, I don't have anyone messing it up either.
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