[forest gnome]

my new friends who I'm trying to get out with this summer are generally vegetarians....she is a strict vegan.... sarbar may have ideas for recipies?...can ya'll comment or tell me story's about your vegan friends and experiences related to food??

[Yana]

How strictly vegan? It's really not that hard to feed vegans on trips, especially backpacking trips where lots of animal products wouldn't do well anyway. I am vegetarian, not vegan, but my parents are mostly vegan and they have used this book, which I also own and have used. Even if you don't have a dehydrator, you can get some good ideas. Lots of easy ways to substitute for the meat dishes (and the author even gives you ideas for these).

[Malachai Constant]

Lynda is a pescatarian (fresh trout always good) and we have little or no problems. Do not use much freeze dried as Ramen (Kim Chee best) and couscous etc always works. Vegan is a bit more of a stretch as cheese provides lots of calories and protein. you have to be more careful but lots of beans work well. BTW avoid Snowdried tofu as it never seems to rehydrate.

[MtnGoat]

This is a good question for this forum, I think there are more than a few veggie folks here.

[Ingunn]

We use a lot of MaryJane's since they're tasty and suit our laziness - once in a while they'll be on sale at REI and we'll stock up.

[grannyhiker]

Sarbar has plenty of recipes on her "Freezer Bag Cooking" website that can easily be adapted for vegan cooking. While I'm not a vegetarian, I eat quite a few vegetarian meals and limit my meat use. One item that I use a lot as a protein source for backpacking is TVP (textured vegetable protein). Sounds gross, but it actually takes up the flavor of whatever it is cooked with. At home I use it in spaghetti sauce instead of greasy hamburger. For backpacking, I cook it with the dishes I'm dehydrating. Bean and lentil dishes dehydrate well and reconstitute easily. That seems incredible when you think of how long it takes to cook dried beans, but it's true! Be sure to try out small amounts any new dish at home before dehydrating lots of it. The only thing worse than finding yourself out on the trail with a bunch of inedible meals is knowing that you have a dozen more servings of the inedible stuff left at home!

[Malachai Constant]

I used to use TVP until I mived it with powdered soup and ramen at Hundred Island Lake in the Sierra and nearly passed out. Most TVP has a lot of MSG in it which affects me like a Mickey Finn. Check the label.

[wamtngal]

I'm a vegetarian (gotta have the ice cream!), but most of my trail food is vegan. The only thing that isn't would be cheese...and you can get soy cheeses. They won't last as long as a hard cheese, but you could substitute the cheese for hummus, PB, other nut butters, etc. and still fill up that stomach. I used TVP on my Wonderland Trail trip this summer and found it to be a good addition to most any dinner meal - plus it's lightweight! And every dinner we had on the 12-day trip was vegetarian and even my non-vegetarian dad enjoyed them. Highly recommend getting a food dehydrator too. Dinner ideas: pasta, stuffing w/ almonds, spanish rice w/tofurkey jerkey, dried soups and bread, lipton noodles (check ingredients), mashed potatoes...there's so many options, really. On the WT trip we had about 4 different dinners and just rotated through them a couple times...but we're not too picky...I did not go to bed hungry a single night and neither did JustTodd or my dad.

[Kat]

I'm not vegetarian, but I do buy some freeze-dried vegetarian meals, "cook" them up in the bag, & serve into the individual ti cups. Then I add a bit of meat to the cups afterwards & mix up. I would think this would work if vegetarian & non-veg. were backpacking together - the vegetarian just wouldn't add the meat. Vegan is more difficult with watching all the ingredients... Those 1.5 serving sizes of Mary Janes are handy - one bag with trout works for 2 people - I always pack 2 bags tho in case the fishing is lousy. Haven't had to use the 2nd bag yet!

[wolffie]

Does anyone market decent vegetarian freeze-dried meals? I like the convenience of just buying a case of Mountain House at Costco, and repackaging. I don't have time for a lot of home food prep. I want just-add-hot-water (and vegetable oil). There's go to be a market for that. I'm talking about long-distance multiweek backpacking with resupply. Inquiring vegetarian minds want to know.

[cryptobrian]

Mary Jane's Farm Outdoor Herbivore Food for the Sole Fernweh And of course all of the regular suspects, Mountain House, AlpineAire, Patagonia, PackitGourmet, Backpacker's Pantry, Peak Refuel ... all have vegetarian selections.

[Slim]

This WTA page has lots of options for restricted diets including vegetarians.

[cdestroyer]

ya veggies have been around for a long time but I never have understood how eating enough grass can keep you alive, you only gonna live so long and I have not seen stats that say one way or the other your life is longer....just maybe a little thinner.

[kitya]

REI has decent selection of vegan dry backpacking foods. Also lots of popular trail bar brands have vegan options or are almost vegan. In fact it is often safer and easier to handle and carry vegan food. I'm vegan and never had problem with food on trails. It is really not that hard at all.

[timberghost]