Forum Index > Food & Grub > Trail culture series: gourmet vs. grab-a-root-and-growl?
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Tippet
precisely nebulous



Joined: 27 Jan 2009
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Tippet
precisely nebulous
PostTue Feb 03, 2009 6:11 pm 
Didn't think I'd be starting this one so soon, but anyway I'll start: When I'm solo or with one or two guys: hot drinks, instant mashed potatoes, salami, cheese, bagels. Plus any fish I catch. Now and then I kill a bird or a rabbit with a wrist-rocket, if it's in season. With my wife or groups up to 9: Man, we pack in all kinds of crap. One of the guys is a chef and he'll prepare fine food in seal-a-meals; we'll take eggs and steaks and plenty of other decadent fare, with care to length of trip and expected temps. None of us ever got sick from food that went bad. No birds or rabbits, out of respect for a couple of those people who object. One unique characteristic of the group I hike with is the "hog-line" as I call it. At night everyone's sitting around in thermarest seats kinda bundled up passing a bottle...cumfy. At intervals the stoves get to blasting (I get tired of that) and water gets heated up for the sole purpose of filling nalgene bottles for the women to hold in their laps to stay warm. Soon as they cool off, here come the stoves again. I could do with otu the stoves all the time, but it's so fun to be with this crowd. I should scan some old pics. Anyway, it's espresso and omelets for breakfast, all kinds of tasty snacks throughout the day, man I'm tellin' ya this isn't like most people do it. Once John made eggs benedict for 6 people.

"If you hold a cat by the tail, you learn things you couldn't learn otherwise" -Mark Twain
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sarbar
Living The Dream



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sarbar
Living The Dream
PostTue Feb 03, 2009 6:14 pm 
It all depends on the miles and who I am with. On very hard trips I often cannot eat much, it suppresses my appetite. On a 3 mile flat hike...yeah, pretty easy to carry my wok and make Lo Mein tongue.gif

https://trailcooking.com/ Eat well on the trail.
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Tippet
precisely nebulous



Joined: 27 Jan 2009
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Tippet
precisely nebulous
PostTue Feb 03, 2009 6:24 pm 
Ooh lo mein that's a good thing smile.gif I forgot to say, with that group we usually hike in 12-20 miles and set up a base camp, then take day trips from there- either to hi-points or lakes/creeks.

"If you hold a cat by the tail, you learn things you couldn't learn otherwise" -Mark Twain
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Dane
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Dane
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PostTue Feb 03, 2009 6:33 pm 
Pretty basic: Freeze-dried entrees, energy bar lunches, and lately I've been skipping breakfasts. After a long trip last summer where I got really sick of my food I think I'm gonna go a little more gourmet in the future. I try to keep fuel consumption to a minimum though, and cooking is not something I enjoy, so I'll likely just be adding spices and hot sauce and mixing in more food options rather than increasing the complexity of recipes. I've gotta figure out my breakfasts. Oatmeal, granola, and cold cereal make me feel sick. I think the simple sugars upset my stomach. I hope to try cous cous and potato flakes on future trips. Oh, and I may never hike again without ClifShot Bloks. Soooo delicious, even after you've been eating them for weeks.

Without judgement what would we do? We would be forced to look at ourselves... -Death
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sarbar
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sarbar
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PostTue Feb 03, 2009 6:47 pm 
Dane, I often take soup for breakfast or things like cheesy mashed potatoes. Yeah, not so big on "traditional" ones myself either. Or....I nibble on some crackers as I pack up then eat a couple hours or miles later smile.gif

https://trailcooking.com/ Eat well on the trail.
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jimmymac
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jimmymac
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PostTue Feb 03, 2009 6:56 pm 
Dane wrote:
...Oatmeal, granola, and cold cereal make me feel sick. I think the simply sugars upset my stomach.
Same here regarding typical breakfast food. down.gif On summer trips, I've found I don't need or want a ton of food at night. So I squirrel away half my dinner entre in some snow. At breakfast, I eat part two of the previous dinner cold, and I down some junky carbs while I eat the entre. No simple carb overdose feeling, and it keeps me from flaming out mid morning.

"Profound serenity is the product of unfaltering Trust and heightened vulnerability."
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kbatku
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kbatku
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PostTue Feb 03, 2009 7:17 pm 
Breakfast
I make pancakes. Yummy. And scrambled eggs (scramble some eggs, add milk, freeze in a baggie -wrap in aluminum foil and down vest, eat first morning out). And bacon ( the microwaveable type in the plastic sealed pouches - stir fry it!). Always bagels (once the pancakes run out). Instant rice, butter and sugar. Pudding. Yum.

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wamtngal
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PostTue Feb 03, 2009 9:03 pm 
Dane wrote:
I've gotta figure out my breakfasts. Oatmeal, granola, and cold cereal make me feel sick. I think the simply sugars upset my stomach. I hope to try cous cous and potato flakes on future trips.
So are you buying instant oatmeal and pre-made granola? How about making your own blend (instant oats, add in whatever you like...craisins, brown sugar, etc. - same with the granola). Years ago, Trader Joe's sold instant cups of a breakfast porridge using cous cous. Of course it was sweet - they used dried peaches and I think a bit of dried cream, but you could make your own breakfast blend, similar to oatmeal...hmmm, I might even have to try that!

Opinions expressed here are my own.
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sarbar
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sarbar
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PostTue Feb 03, 2009 9:31 pm 
wamtngal wrote:
So are you buying instant oatmeal and pre-made granola? How about making your own blend (instant oats, add in whatever you like...craisins, brown sugar, etc. - same with the granola). Years ago, Trader Joe's sold instant cups of a breakfast porridge using cous cous. Of course it was sweet - they used dried peaches and I think a bit of dried cream, but you could make your own breakfast blend, similar to oatmeal...hmmm, I might even have to try that!
Easy to do! I know I have recipes for all of those up on the website smile.gif

https://trailcooking.com/ Eat well on the trail.
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Bedivere
Why Do Witches Burn?



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Bedivere
Why Do Witches Burn?
PostTue Feb 03, 2009 9:46 pm 
I try to eat well on my trips, but much depends on the destination and overall goal. If it's a solo peak bagging trip or a weekender with a couple of people and we have an agenda and a lot of miles to cover, I'll skimp on the food to save weight. When I go for a 6-7 day jaunt with my old-school hiking buddies we bring along all kinds of crap and do it up right. Not really gourmet like Tippet describes, but good, filling and heavy food. I've found that if you freeze lunch meat then wrap it up in butcher paper with a chunk of dry ice and pack it down inside your pack where it's well insulated, it'll stay frozen for 2-3 days. The dry ice just sublimates too, doesn't get anything wet. Pack along a package of sliced roast beef, a packet of mushroom gravy mix, instant mashed potatoes, and freeze dried green beans and you've got a really yummy and filling meal awaiting you on the 3rd or 4th night of your trip. On a trip I took last summer I poured 4 raw eggs into a plastic bottle and froze them, took along a bag of Progresso Italian seasoned bread crumbs, a couple small lemons and one of those REI squeeze tubes full of butter. Caught a mess of trout the first night out, dredged them through the eggs, rolled them in bread crumbs, fried them up crisp and drizzled lemon juice on them. Man that was good. I have one of those 10" aluminum skillets with the folding handle that I take on trips like that. We've also done spaghetti feeds. Just take along spaghetti sauce mix packages and cans of tomato paste, pre-cook some spicy Italian sausage then vacuum pack and freeze it, black and green olives, capers, fresh garlic, an onion, maybe some mushrooms, and a small bottle of EVOO. Use angel hair pasta, put it in a pot of water about an hour before you cook your sauce, then all you have to do is get the water up to a boil and it's done. One time we even took steaks and a folding grill and cooked them over a fire.

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Tippet
precisely nebulous



Joined: 27 Jan 2009
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Tippet
precisely nebulous
PostTue Feb 03, 2009 10:12 pm 
hey good idea about the dry ice, never thought of that up.gif

"If you hold a cat by the tail, you learn things you couldn't learn otherwise" -Mark Twain
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kbatku
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kbatku
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PostTue Feb 03, 2009 10:42 pm 
Aluminum skillet w/folding handle?
My experiences with "camping skillets" has been very poor. The aluminum is too thin to fry well (tends to burn) or the good ones are too small (MSR makes a good little pan) for a serious fry session. I wandered the local Fred Meyer until I found a frypan that was the right mix of thickness, size and weight. It cost about fifteen dollars as I recall. I sawed off the bulky, heavy plastic handle and use my pot grabber in it's place. It is ten inches or so, big enough, and really doesn't weigh that much considering the return in pancakes, trout, biscuits etc... smile.gif

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Malachai Constant
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Malachai Constant
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PostTue Feb 03, 2009 11:00 pm 
I a flat aluminum nonstick griddle for frying, trout and pancakes, the usual pans for backpacking are just too thin.

"You do not laugh when you look at the mountains, or when you look at the sea." Lafcadio Hearn
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sarbar
Living The Dream



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sarbar
Living The Dream
PostTue Feb 03, 2009 11:04 pm 
The One Egg Wonder pan works perfect for hiking...it is a single egg non stick fry pan. And cheap!

https://trailcooking.com/ Eat well on the trail.
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Tippet
precisely nebulous



Joined: 27 Jan 2009
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Location: San Diego
Tippet
precisely nebulous
PostTue Feb 03, 2009 11:06 pm 
ya I hate aluminum for cooking. I do like my stainless steel sigg tourist. Might be worth looking into a better pan. one-egg wonder? hmm...

"If you hold a cat by the tail, you learn things you couldn't learn otherwise" -Mark Twain
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