[Tom]

Which do you love, which do you hate? So far my general assessment on a scale of zero (hurl) to 4 thumbs up: Mountain House 1/2 Cup Of Noodles Backpackers Pantry 1/2 MSR Eco Cuisine* 1/2 Alpine Aire* *For sure avoid MSR Corn Salsa, Alpine Aire Chicken Gumbo

[Hiker Boy]

Enertia Trail Foods

[Allison]

Backpacker's Pantry, Enertia, lots of stuff from de grocery store, incl my favorite backcountry bfast, Cup o Noodles.

[sarbar]

Enertia rocks! Some Mountain House ...just DON'T EVER eat the polynesian chicken It is so nasty!! It smells like medical sterilizer.... I eat a lot of Lipton's now, I used to be known as "StoveTop Stuffin' Sarbar" because I was so lazy and obsessed with going ultralight last year, that all I ate was StoveTop out of ziploc bags. All I had to carry was my tea kettle and spoon! Alpine Aire food-yuck It never rehydrates! The one made by Richmond foods-Natural High? I love their stuff, but it isn't the easiest to find! I love their turkey, mashed taters and gravy Backpackers Pantry Camp Food line-cheap and filling and it isn't fancy. It's good grubbing food to put in a tortilla! Red beans and rice and chicken and rice are my favs.

[Tom]

Marylou, I must have missed the food tasting results / summary but if I recall the worst one we tried was an Enertia trail foods 4 bean thingy? I remember being surprised by that since I had generally heard good things about Enertia.

[sarbar]

The sampler box thingie from Enertia is neat! But, yeah, not everything they make is great

[Allison]

Tom, it was NOT Enertia. That thing was Adventure Foods. We all loved all of the Enertia thingies. The 4 Bean chili from Enertia was liked by all, including you, though the AF Beans and Rice was universally reviled. You said, "it makes that sound when it hits the plate" about the Beans and Rice. If you email me your address (you too PBear) I'll send you a copy of the magglezine, complete with a picture of all of you chowhounds mugging for the camera. Quark has a certain "heroin chic" thing going in the photo.

[Slugman]

Natural High makes some good entrees, and most Mtn House are at least pretty good. The new Mtn House packaging is an improvement over those crazy plastic bags with cardboard choker ring.

[kiliki]

Mountain House IS pretty good. The beef stew especially. I was disappointed to see what Enertia makes after hearing such good things about the quality of the product. None of the dinners sound good.

[Allison]

You really ought to try the Enertia stuff before saying it doesn't look good. It is!

[forest gnome]

Check out Adventure Foods... back east , a small co. that has HONEY Powder, and other natural foods. How many here pre-hydrate the pasta before boiling? I found that it cuts the fuel use a lot ( try warm water?) I have tried the Mountain house turkey tetrazinni (it rocks!!!!) and the meat lasagna is great allso.for brkfast the hash browns are great.

[kiliki]

Yeah, I guess there's a few things that look good, like the potatoes and the macaroni. I'll have to try them.

[Hiker Boy]

Enertia Foods The Allegheny Alfredo noodles are excellent, especially with the addition of some bacon bits. The Moosilauke Goulash is da bomb and my favorite. The Max Patch Mac & Cheese, Switchback Spagetti, and the Parker Pass Potatoes are pretty good as well. The Grand Canyon Cheesecake makes a really nice dessert, especially with the addition of some blueberry jam or even fresh berries. The only meal I'm not so fond of so far is the El Capitan 3 Bean Chili. Some advice here, if you are going to eat this one, don't use all the pepper flakes, take some Beano, and definitely don't sleep upwind of anyone else! I have ordered another shipment with two of their new meals included but haven't had time to pick it up yet.

[Newt]

I lean towards Mountain House myself. Funny tho, I thought the Polynesian was not too bad. Chicken Teriyaki + Rice? Tried a couple of Alpine Aire pull the string types that were ok. Haven't tried other brands yet. NN

[sarbar]

I think it comes down too what one craves at night I have had nights where I have made a dinner, I am starving-and the food is just nasty, my stomach shrivels at the the thought of consumption But I always eat it, because the thought of packing out 12 oz's of wet garbage is an incentive to eat it My problem with a lot of freezedried that has meat, is it seems to never fully "cook"-even using a fleece pouch for it to sit in for 10-15 minutes. Then my tummy doesn't feel so well afterwards! I love Mountain House freezedried veggies, I love freeze dried deserts, but I am careful with the meals.