I'm going to start backpacking....I can't wait ...too hot here in AZ now But it gives me plenty of time to do all the research I need...I used to live in Oly too.... anyhow I don't know what would be good eating for backpacking but I wanna say some homemade pepperd jerky.....and if I was going only for a day I'd wanna find a way to bring some chicken marinated in teriyaki sauce and cooked over an open flame! Hmmmm
I enjoy food immensely...guess growing up hungry as a kid will do that to ya! 🌮 Anyhow have you ever tried kimchi? It's Korean....very delicious and incredibly healthy for you and a great probiotic too! Try some.....I think they sell it at Walmart....they brand they sell hear is called king's..... anyhow happy hunting.....or hiking I meant😆😆😉
One tip, a McDonalds straw holds just over 1.5 teaspoons and can easily be sealed with a lighter so for ingredients like soy sauce and sesame oil you can fill a few straws and have an ultralight and compact storage container. Also works for spices though they're harder to fill the straw with!
This idea works really well and I have done it in the past. I need more straws so I checked Walmart on line today and I can't believe the price of straws. The kind I used to pay $1 or $1.5 per package is now almost $9.00. I couldn't believe it when I saw the price.
@@tommysimmons3258 Not if there's a fire ban in the area you're traveling in. This is when having a backcountry stove is pretty handy, unless you'd rather cold soak. Personal preference.
I never cook hot meals or hot drinks on a trek, even if it covers multi-days & nights during all seasons. It saves me carrying gas stoves and cooking gear. I also never make fires, even during winter.
I'm so glad you mention calories. I made the mistake of bringing food that was healthy but not calorically dense my first time and I was hungry the entire trip.
Bonking on trail is no fun. I speak from experience. When I expend a bunch of calories hiking and backpacking, my body wants all the carbs and calories. So I give my body whatever it wants. I hate being hungry. hahahahaha!
Load up on the calories when you're out there. Same thing if you're sick....dump the diet and give the body what it needs for the temporary task at hand.
@@jkdbuck7670 I agree! There's no dieting for me when out on trail. It's the one time I let myself eat whatever I crave because I know I'm going to burn it all off.
Here’s another hack for measuring water: use a Sharpie and mark your plastic water bottle at 1/2 cup intervals, that way you can pour/measure straight from the bottle. Super convenient. Thanks for the fun food ideas! Happy trails. 🗺⛰🪵🌿🏕
After a while you can pretty much eye ball the amount of water you need if you use the same pot to cook in all the time and you can adjust any recipes it's not like we are baking on the trail precision is up to your taste
DeSoto Firesweep58 Thanks for pointing out the obvious. Sometimes those markings are obscured by what’s in the pot, like your dehydrated food, or by low light, etc. Much easier to see your water bottle, which never gets obstructed by the contents.
Thank you for these great ideas! Here's one for you. If you ever want to pre-soak something to save fuel, or cold soak, just add a thin piece of food grade silicone sheeting between your pot and lid and hold the pot and lid together with rubber bands from the produce section or an x-band. The little red lentils will cook pretty quickly if you pre-soak them. Once I surprised my cousin and his three boys with ice cream about 6 miles in at about 5:30 p.m. after hiding it in a peanut butter jar inside a very beefed up cozy inside my bear canister. I kept the whole thing in our chest freezer until about 9:00 a.m. when we left. The ice cream was perfect and they still talk about their surprise! All the best, Scott
I've never had a desire to cold soak while on trail. I'm one of those hikers who really looks forward to a warm meal at the end of the day. The idea of eating a cold, mushy meal just doesn't sound appetizing to me at all. The ice cream surprise sounds awesome. Trail magic is on trail is always such a treat!
I work in a grocery store and amazed at the stuff we sell and never thought to use this back packing.. Wow. Next time you cook ramen noodles add a slice of American cheese to it.. What a difference.. Learned this from Korean lady while serving in the Army . 😊
The grocery store has so many options! As a former PCT thru-hiker, I had to learn how to get creative when resupplying from the grocery store on trail in order to prevent food fatigue.Thanks for the suggestion! I'll have to check that one out! For any of the spaghetti, lasagna and/or chili mac freeze-dried meals, I'd also add in a package of string cheese and let it melt. What a tasty luxury it turned the meal into!!
I've been hiking and camping since I was a teen. I've never eaten a freeze dried meal. All of my meals have been just like this. I'd add tuna in the foil pouch to your list. That's an easy get at stores too. Great in mac n cheese. Once in a while I splurge on cubed chicken breast in a foil pouch as well. I can't recall the brand I get, but natural and organic with a weight penalty so a good first night or two meal I like with rice and beans. I like to take a few meals that have some pack weight to eat at the beginning of the trip. Really makes the pack feel light after you eat them. Vacuum sealed frozen steaks when I can have an open fire. They usually last a couple days in the middle of my pack depending on weather. My typical night two meal. Then kick ass on mileage day three.
just want to say the zatarains red bean and rice, and black bean and rice mix they sell is so good i can eat it by its self.. super easy to make just need to boil it in water... so good
Great ideas. A few staples i keep handy for backpacking trips are velveta cheese packets, tomato sauce packets, and chata chilorio, my best description of it is a Mexican pork BBQ. It’s generally available at Walmart, but it’s in the international foods isle not with the other prepackaged meat. A cheese packet added to a Knorr pasta sides packet, plus a packet or two of chicken tastes a lot like the cheesy lasagna freeze dried meals. The tomato sauce packet+ tortilla shell, pepperoni, bacon bits, and cheese makes for a tasty trail side pizza wrap. The Chata Chilorio is heavy, therefore generally a lunch or supper the first day on trail. But it’s almost a meal on its own, it’ll make two or three burritos.
Love those tasty bite meals! For my last backpack in Jan, I froze a ribeye that was $8-9 dollars. Since freeze dried meal bags are that price, I figured it was worth it. By the end of the hike that day, it was mostly thawed. Heated pan on fire, threw on salt and pepper, got a nice sear on it...it was amazing.
You can do the same thing in summer, just double bag the meat and bury it in your sleeping bag/quilt for refrigerator-like insulation, it stays cool for a day.
I'm just getting into overnight camping. In one video you've answered almost all my questions about food, calories and prep. Can't thank you enough. Well done.
Adding the gravy packets was something I started doing when I was out thru-hiking the pCT. I had to do something to switch up the flavor of all the instant mashed potatoes I kept eating out on trail.
@@TheHungryHiker the older i get the more im willing to bring the weight of extra spices and packets of seasoning ect to dress up these backpacking meals .
People really need to look into buying freeze dried vegetables in bulk. It's pretty cheap actually, and just excellent way to get your veggies on trail.
These are great meals you cooked up. I used to take Mountain House meals which were calorically great; also, expensive. I ate Mountain House meals during my camping excursions with the Boy Scouts. This is really good food btw. I like the options you picked and you are getting the most bang for your buck on these meals. My fav is the chili
Having proper meals is hugely important outdoors, and not everyone can afford to buy freeze dried meals in a bag for several days. This video will also help those with very limited cooking experience at home, too. Subscribed.
Wow, what a great video! As much as I admittedly do LOVE Mountain House meals and often use them on overnight trips, having something like these for longer trips makes so much more sense! Especially pre-portioning them like you do. Thank you!
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed the video. I love Mountain House meals every now and then as well, but it's always nice to mix things up with different textures and flavor profiles. Food fatigue was a real thing for me out on the PCT. Happy you got some good tips from this one.
Great ideas. Years ago I backpacked on Isle Royale with a friend. He only wanted the expensive freeze dried meals. I talked him into something from the grocery store, Lipton Chicken Soup with Real Chicken packets. It was easily our best meal. The freeze dried meals were all a bomb.
I used Mountain House freeze dried meals as a treat when hiking the Washington section of the PCT in 2018. It pretty much rained on us the entire time. Nowadays, I've found there are so many more tasty and cheaper options in the grocery store. I like to mix it up. Variety is the spice of life, especially out on trail. It's so easy to get food fatigue out there.
Those ramen bombs look like the perfect guilty pleasure dinner after a long hike. I’d love to see more of those untraditional recipes, the mish mash of things you’d never think to mix.
Thank you for a back packing food video that is not about Mountain House or surplus MRE's. Here is a tip from this old cheapskate, buy everything at Aldi's ! Bear Creek cream of potato soup is like $5 + at Walmart but the Aldi brand is only $2 same for the rice and pasta sides super cheap. The quality is identical to the major brands because they are rebranded . I hope you have Aldi in your part of the country.
Great ideas! I'll be making a grocery list to keep in my phone for my PCT adventure this year. That way when I get to town to resupply I won't be wandering through the stores aimlessly.
Excellent! Thank you, I've cycled across the US three times and done a few of these, but the "Ramen Bomb" sounds perfect for this summer and the Great Divide Mtn Bike Route. Bomb On!
This video came up in my feed, checked it out! Love camping and now getting into backpacking, this 62 year old can use all the tips and tricks I can learn! Thank you so much for an outstanding video, and Tucker is cool!!!! Subscribed!!!!
SUCH a good video I did a 500 mile bike tour in my 20s I wonder how much easier it could be with instant food : ) good options out there today, fiber, nutrients
So simple when you actually break it down. Some really great ideas. Beautiful, smart, and a love for the out doors……Your significant other sure is lucky! Thanks for the idea’s .
One thing I do is throw some cooked turkey or chicken in a food processor to crumble it up then I dehydrate it and add it to stuffing or instant mashed potatoes with dehydrated vegetables that I buy in bulk! I’ve done that with ham too and made ham salad wraps with Mayo packets.
They're sooo good. Little heavy and the prices options in the video, but they're worth it! Still cheaper than the freeze-dried meals you'd find elsewhere.
They are heavy unless you are going on a short trip. I have had them in my camping box in case I want a super easy meal. You can boil them in the bag and save on clean up!
This was an excellent video on trail food. I have backpacked and canoe camped for fifty four years and I applaud your cheap no no nonsense grocery store menus. You have a couple of additions I have not considered. I have some you have not mentioned. I have a question about your aidelells sausage and how it lasts not refrigerated. Thank you so much for your channel.
Awesome! Glad you enjoyed this one and got a few ideas from it. As for the sausage, since they're precooked, they can last for a few days out on trail before going bad. Any sort of perishable item, whether its precooked or not, I always try and eat it first within the first couple of days out on trail. Hope that helps!
Not every pot has measurement markings inside it. I use an orange Lexan spoon where I put markings on the handle of the spoon to denote 1, 2, & 3C of water. I place the handle side in the pot and fill the pot to the appropriate level. No muss, no problem. With the spoon being orange in color, I'm less likely to lose it. I have different spoons for different pots. Just be sure you take the correct spoon with your pot.
Using the Stove top stuffing , a foil pack of chicken and a pack of instant gravy. My version of chicken/turkey hash. Put everything in a freezer bag and add the proper amount of hot water , stir , seal and let it sit in a cozy for a few minutes. Meat & potatoes ....Using the instant potatoes ( Roasted garlic ones ) add dehydrated hamburger and a packet of instant gravy , all in a zip lock bag , just add hot water , stir , let it sit in a cozy and then enjoy. I like the freezer bag style of cooking. It's simple , easy , quick and clean up is a matter of licking the spoon. The 1st bag , after the meal becomes the trash bag for the others.
@@TheHungryHiker ... I realized I forgot the best one. Back in the dark ages Mountain House had a Rice and Hamburger meal , it was really good. As in life the good got discontinued. Necessity being the mother of invention and wanting a Rice , Hamburger and gravy meal on the trail. I make one using Minute Rice in place of the instant potatoes. Plus I add dehydrated Onions & Black pepper to it.
O my gosh.. I'm sitting here in my office at work at the beginning of the day and watching you make trail dinners - I'm getting hungry and my stomach is growling! It's _so_ bad when you realize you're a visual eater.. ;-) Many thanks! J
Love your videos! Letting people see that the cheep grocery store stuff is exactly the same or better than the crazily priced "camping food." Also showing people that you can be creative and do it your way hiking. Heck, the sherpas used to hike up Everest in sandals and blankets for crying out loud, they didn't have any "gear."
That home made stove cozy is amazing and something I never thought of an I am happy I clicked on this video now to see that, gonna make one for sure myself
@@TheHungryHiker I went an got all the items then followed your how to make video, now to just wait for when I can go use it. Never been so excited to put a hot pot into something an see how hot it stays haha
I'm so jealous to see so many varieties of Idahoan! The easiest one to find in the grocery stores here is the plain variety and if I'm lucky I have stumbled on the cheesey ones!
Thank you! Just sharing what works for me. I know these options might not work for everybody, but then again, I'm not everybody. Hahahaha! Thanks for watching!
Hey! Thank you for this! I'm getting ready for my first thru-hike and figuring out grocery store trail meals has been the most daunting task, but this helps!
Asian markets are a great place to find a wide variety of dried grains, beans, lintels, flour from all kinds of grains and beans, a wide variedly of sizes of cous cous and small pasta shapes. And dried sea plants and things that swim like dried shrimp and little dried fish. As well as powdered drinks.
Hi! Thanks for posting this! I'm getting back into hiking again after a break of a few years. When I went out before I used to have a pretty good supply of military rations, but that's dried up now. A lot of the brands featured here aren't available in my country, but you've still given me some great ideas, thank you! 😁
easy boost for 'just ramen take 1 pouch of 1 cup style soup with a complimentary flavour to the ramen through it all in the pot give it a dry stir then add water you can depending on brand and flavour up the calories in your cup by 60 -80 % also you end up with a thicker more flavourful btoth and using no extra water
Hello. Very tasty food options and cheap. In many cases, it is appropriate and delicious. It can be kept for a long time. I wish you a good appetite for the food.
I used to buy heavy grocery store food, now I'm buying freeze dried meals. Next year I want to play with a dehydrator to make my own meals. Thanks for sharing, definitely gonna have to try a few of these and remember to look in other isles at my grocery store
I've been dehydrating a fair amount of my favorite meals and love it. So much more cost effective and it leaves you in charge on what you want to put into those meals. :)
Hi, I have been hiking a little in the last 10 or so years but I love it and feel so grateful to have come across this video with you and Tucker. Thank you! by the way, he has one of the coolest names ever. Haha And you are beautiful, I look forward to seeing more videos Thanks
If you're counting calorie totals, I noticed something interesting this morning. I recently bought some new knorr sides at the store for this years trips, and also cleaned out my bear cannister of some packages of food I'd left there from last year It so happened that I had some new and old packages of knorr sides from both the can and the store, and I noticed as I was looking at them that the listed calories in the new stuff is cut in half for the equivalent older product. The package contents and serving sizes are unchanged from last year, but the listed calorie values are literally half of what they were last year. Just something to take into consideration this year, if you've done your daily calorie counting based on the values in last years Knorr packages.
Your video came up and I thought it looked interesting. You have some great ideas here. I had to subscribe to your channel. I look forward to more of your videos.
Yay for you and your wallet! Sorry Mountain House! It was Mountain House meals that got me through a very rainy and cold Washington along the PCT, but it’s nice to know that there are lots of other options. 😀
I love this! Before my first PCT thru-hike, I bought the big canisters of Mountain House meals and sent them to myself on trail. Within the first 100 miles, food fatigue hit me hard. Now I try to mix it up as much as I can.
In metal cups, bowls and pots, using an electric metal scribe pen, measure liquid then mark the inside. If you are good, you can mark a line AND what the level represents, "3 T", "2 cup," etc. I like to use levels I can eyeball half the amount (i.e., 1 cup [or C] from 2C, using the most common measures. Even write the figures upside down as this is easier. Thanks for the video.
Love that chili recipe. I use either the Ramen Chili or Teriyaki seasoning packets to season a steak I cook on a fire the first night when leaving town. My favorite, although hard to find outside Texas, is to use 1/2 cup Dehydrated Refried Beans, 1/3 cup minute rice, 1/2 TBSP Tomato Bullion, 1/2 TBSP Taco Seasoning, and 1 cup boiling water. Then I add cheese and Fritos to the meal.
@@bikeislife8405 No. I marinate the steak in a freezer bag and cook it the first night. Also, I backpack in spring & fall when weather is cooler. Precooked sausage keeps for a couple days.
I am so glad I found your channel. I'm not a backpacker but I always had problems planning meals for the campsite. These are things I never thought of! And this would eliminate the need to pack an ice chest. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS VIDEO! I will be sure subscribe and follow you. Again, Thank You.
Mac and cheese, throw in one of those small cans of salmon, tuna, chicken or ham. Classic wienie beanie, can of beans, I like pork n beans in tomato sauce, slice up a can of Vienna sausage, simmer for 5 to ten minutes. I also like just canned beef and Irish stews, take the paper label off, open the top, heat in the can on low heat with stirring, biscuit or tortilla. Biscuits or small bannocks are good camping and hiking food you can make ahead of time at home. Keeps ok for up to 4 days without refrigeration. Try using Cheez Whiz instead of lard or shortening. Use up to 4 or 5 times as much Cheez Whiz as you would lard or shortening. Just work the cheese goo into the flour same as shortening. No salt since the cheese has lots. Just flour and baking powder, or self rising flour, Cheez Whiz and water. Can also be made from pre prepared flour mix on the trail, lasts weeks. Just leave the last step, adding water and kneading for camp fire side. Make thin patties, cook on hot rocks or in a dry fry pan with flipping. Or make a long thin rope, wind it around a stick in a spiral, roast like a wiener. Hard Boiled eggs are also an excellent trail food you can cook ahead of time, keep for days. One of my fave no cook meals is boiled eggs, bannock, a few inches of kobasa sausage and a freshly sliced tomato. Just make a big pot of tea to go with. Quick, easy and satisfying when you're pooped at the end of the day. beef jerky or pepperoni sticks sun dried tomato flakes dry onion flakes some kind of small pasta salt and pepper Slice or chop up the dried meat finely. Put in a boiling pot of water with tomato, onions, salt and pepper. Simmer for about ten minutes, set aside for about 20 minutes. You may have to repeat this to soften the meat and get it to give up some flavor to the broth. Optionally add beef bouillon powder. Mind the total salt content, maybe don't add salt if adding bouillon. When the meat is softened to your liking, bring to a boil and add the pasta. Simmer until pasta is cooked. Don't use a lot of water, just enough to make thick soup. You can play around with proportions of ingredients and amount of water until you get something you like. Maybe try at home a couple times first.
Super nice video. I've been testing receipes for the couple last weeks and I must admit I'm pretty excited about what I will eat on my next trip. Just found out Knorr soup mix can be a really tasty way to put flavour in rice and couscous. Adding dehydrated vegetables in the water too. I tried to take off the water from ramens to turn it into chow mein works well too.
Great content as usual "Famous". Another way to measure your water is to use your spoon as a dip stick. Mark with 1 ,2 cups. If you dont loose your spoon. Hahahaha
Tasty Bites meals are amazing, my mom showed me them lol. Even my friend I hike with, who is a VERY fussy eater, like their lentils curry. But good lord that weight can get to you, they are such heavy meals in your pack. I brought them on a multi day snowshoe trip and the weight was tough, but the meals were so worth it.
a camping recipe that i have used for years for breakfast along the lines of a ham& cheese omlett. start with 2 hard boiled eggs leave in shell till ready to use. 1 can hormel smoked ham, 1 jar kraft old english cheese spread. 2 zipp lock style bags sandwich size. to make peel & mash the hard boiled eggs as you would for a egg salad sandwich, add to first zipp lock bag. open the can of ham, add to mashed eggs in zipp lock bag & break up solid mass into pieces by mashing & mixing in the bag. next add about 2 tblsp cheese spread to zipp lock bag. continue mashing & mixing together until throughly mixed. purge all air from bag an seal. place first bag inside of 2nd bag, again purge all air from 2nd bag & seal. while doing this place a pot of water on to boil. once water is boiling, place double bagged zippies in boiling water till heated through. about 10 minutes. serve with salt & pepper.
I love my stove cozy! It's super easy and cheap to make. Here's the video I watched where I learned how to make mine. I also made the backpacking meal bag cozy as well: th-cam.com/video/NQqV-y8TvqQ/w-d-xo.html
@@mehchocolate1257 Sadly its not very often I get to have a fire at camp when I'm backpacking. Where I go, fires are usually banned or not allowed. Trust me, I love roasted marshmallows and Smores!!!
Just discovered your channel, and these are some good ideas - I've been looking for food ideas that are more packable and offers lots of calories (been using Mountain House stuff for 20 years which is fine for a few days, but starts taking up a lot of space quickly). I also really like that pot cozy idea, I had never seen that before and I'll definitely be making some. Subbed.
Yay! Glad you discovered my channel and enjoyed this video. I dealt with a lot of food fatigue after both of my PCT thru-hikes. I've been on a quest ever since to discover new-to-me trail food options...anything other than Mountain House. Don't get me wrong, Mountain House meals can be delicious, but when you eat some for several months in a row, you get tired of them and want to find different and less expensive options. I've been really into dehydrating my own meals lately too!
Pre-cooked food pouches are great for car camping, but too heavy for backpacking in California. I have to pack a bear canister. Freeze dry food pouches are great. Thanks for food tips, like the pot cozy. I will make one for my pot. I usually use cook pouche.
Agreed. The precooked food pouches are a bit on the heavy side. This is why I like to mix them up with lighter food options for any given trip or stretch of trail. I also tend to eat my heavier food first when out on trail. That way I carry less weight towards the middle and end of my trip(s). The pot cozy is my favorite! I used this on every single trip I've gone on this season.
Hahahaha! Hilarious! What the people who “dislike” don’t understand is that they’re still engaging with my video and the more engagement I get on my videos, the better the chance my video has by being picked up by the algorithm so either way I win. 😀
@@constancemiller3753 I never had a problem with the biscuits and gravy. I think it was eating it for a month straight while thru-hiking the PCT that made it so I can't eat this one again for a very long time.
I've been buying backpacking food at the grocery store for years... but you HAVE to read the labels to know what you're buying. I bought a box of chili mac for one trip, and it wasn't until I was on the trail and making dinner that I realized it was just noodles and a packet of sauce mix... it didn't come with the hamburger! But to be fair, this WAS 1971 and I was a wee bit younger. I also buy bell peppers or 5 pound bags of frozen mixed veggies from Walmart, and dehydrate them. I'll just toss a handful into whatever I'm cooking, and take a big Ziploc bag camping just to add to whatever I'm making. EVERYTHING'S better with bell peppers.
100% - gotta read the packages!! I also experiment with my food BEFORE I get out on the trail, just to make sure it will be easy enough to cook on trail and that I'll like eating it.
The problem with many of these is, they require cooking as opposed to just rehydration. That means using lots of fuel. Many of your ideas though are spot on, except I would pour the boiling water into the food pouch rather than dirty the pot. You can do that in a zip lock bag as well. I let them sit in a food pouch coozy rather than a pot coozy. I know you were just covering dinner, but for breakfast I like instant grits. Just add them to your freeze dried eggs and you have a breakfast that will last you will into your hike. If you are able to fish, nothing is better than pan fried or aluminum foil baked fresh fish served on a plate of cheese grits. Trust me. Great video--keep it up.
I completely agree with you! Cooking these does take a bit of fuel and you're spot on about using a freezer Ziplock bag to let these sit and rehydrate in once the water has boiled. This is something I'm going to try this year in an effort to keep my pot clean on trail. As for breakfast, I made a video with some of my favorite breakfast options. Check it out here: th-cam.com/video/8OI6P3WH_Z0/w-d-xo.html Glad to hear you enjoyed the video! :)
@@TheHungryHiker I'll be sure to check it out. BTW-the packet the grits comes in, will hold boiling water as well. It doesn't look like it would, but the instant grits do just fine in their own pouch. Happy hiking . . . and eating.
Love the video's and great idea's. IThese meals look delicious. Question: How do these meals compare weight wise versus freeze dried? On long trail hikes, how safe are these types of meals long term?
The freeze dried meals might be a little bit lighter, but the packaging they come in makes them awkward and sucks up a lot of space in my food bag. I plan on doing both a gear and food video for each big trip I go on this Spring/Summer and will be sure to weigh my food bag this time, giving everyone an idea on how much the food I bring on my trips weighs. As for long trips, these foods are all safe for storing in your pack. No refrigeration needed or required. I would recommend if you opt to carry "fresh" items like eggs, avocado, cheese and sausage - make a point to eat those first since they're also heavier. They are usually the foods I want to eat first anyways because "fresh" food is hard to come by when out long distance backpacking and thru-hiking.
I have tried and used most of the basic recommendations you have but the stir in add ons were great! I will have to try them. One question- the sausage you showed, (the Aidells) does it not need to be refrigerated? Or is that something you use on the first day before it goes bad? On to your breakfast and lunch videos!
Perishable items like the sausage, cheese and salami will be the items I eat first on trail. I also store my food deep in my pack, far from sunlight as much as possible. Hope that helps!
People can get sick from anything. I personally haven’t had any issues. Do whatever works for you and is right for you. Remember these are just mere suggestions. I’m sharing what has worked for me on trail.
@@TheHungryHiker that’s a terrible reply. If you study food-born illness as I have you’d know recommending “refrigeration only” proteins on a backpacking trip is a terrible idea. Study temperature danger zone. If I was you I’d delete this video asap.
GREAT ideas, thanks! I'm just going to be car camping, but I want to make food preparation easy, and I like the "less is more" approach. My sister actually prepared the Idahoan loaded mashed potatoes last year for Thanksgiving and I was so impressed with how good they are, I've been cheating at home and using these instead of making the real thing.
I recently came back from a backpacking trip and vowed to never again buy another freeze dried meal. While making my way down the trail, I recalled watching your videos about trail food… Today while grocery shopping, I was drawn to some of the items from your videos. I finally feel satisfying my hunger on trail by being lazy, and willing to pay for it are over… You know its bad when you truly hate what you packed for dinner - and gotta eat it.
Join my Channel: th-cam.com/users/TheHungryHikerjoin
I dont know how this was recommended..I dont backpack or hike. I thoroughly enjoyed this👌🏽
But we all eat!!! Even though you don’t hike or backpack, I’m stoked you still enjoyed my video. Thanks for watching!
I'm going to start backpacking....I can't wait ...too hot here in AZ now But it gives me plenty of time to do all the research I need...I used to live in Oly too.... anyhow I don't know what would be good eating for backpacking but I wanna say some homemade pepperd jerky.....and if I was going only for a day I'd wanna find a way to bring some chicken marinated in teriyaki sauce and cooked over an open flame!
Hmmmm
I enjoy food immensely...guess growing up hungry as a kid will do that to ya! 🌮
Anyhow have you ever tried kimchi?
It's Korean....very delicious and incredibly healthy for you and a great probiotic too!
Try some.....I think they sell it at Walmart....they brand they sell hear is called king's..... anyhow happy hunting.....or hiking I meant😆😆😉
@@davidschmidt270 Yes. We eat kimchee regularly in home.
One tip, a McDonalds straw holds just over 1.5 teaspoons and can easily be sealed with a lighter so for ingredients like soy sauce and sesame oil you can fill a few straws and have an ultralight and compact storage container. Also works for spices though they're harder to fill the straw with!
Great hack! Thank you!
Get a cheap plastic condiment bottle and use the top as a funnel.
This idea works really well and I have done it in the past. I need more straws so I checked Walmart on line today and I can't believe the price of straws. The kind I used to pay $1 or $1.5 per package is now almost $9.00. I couldn't believe it when I saw the price.
@@MiLittleCorner Great Value brand 100 count is $0.98 in store near me.
@@andrewfidel2220 Good to know. I think I'll check the $ store tomorrow.
Thank you for showing how you cook the meals on trail! No other channels I’ve seen show that part
Happy to share my experience and knowledge. :)
Pretty self explanatory, camp fire.
@@tommysimmons3258 Not if there's a fire ban in the area you're traveling in. This is when having a backcountry stove is pretty handy, unless you'd rather cold soak. Personal preference.
@@TheHungryHiker it be indoor cooking, stoves aren't used in High risk areas. I'm outside a national park what I was told.
I never cook hot meals or hot drinks on a trek, even if it covers multi-days & nights during all seasons. It saves me carrying gas stoves and cooking gear. I also never make fires, even during winter.
I'm so glad you mention calories. I made the mistake of bringing food that was healthy but not calorically dense my first time and I was hungry the entire trip.
Bonking on trail is no fun. I speak from experience. When I expend a bunch of calories hiking and backpacking, my body wants all the carbs and calories. So I give my body whatever it wants. I hate being hungry. hahahahaha!
Load up on the calories when you're out there. Same thing if you're sick....dump the diet and give the body what it needs for the temporary task at hand.
@@jkdbuck7670 I agree! There's no dieting for me when out on trail. It's the one time I let myself eat whatever I crave because I know I'm going to burn it all off.
@@TheHungryHiker ha,ha, that means something completely different over this side of the water!
Oh boy. I don’t even want to know! 😂
Here’s another hack for measuring water: use a Sharpie and mark your plastic water bottle at 1/2 cup intervals, that way you can pour/measure straight from the bottle. Super convenient. Thanks for the fun food ideas! Happy trails. 🗺⛰🪵🌿🏕
Great hack!!
👍 or just use that number scale and those marks on the inside of your cup you know 8 oz is 1 Cup 2 cups is 1 pint
After a while you can pretty much eye ball the amount of water you need if you use the same pot to cook in all the time and you can adjust any recipes it's not like we are baking on the trail precision is up to your taste
DeSoto Firesweep58 Thanks for pointing out the obvious. Sometimes those markings are obscured by what’s in the pot, like your dehydrated food, or by low light, etc. Much easier to see your water bottle, which never gets obstructed by the contents.
Just eyeball it. 😂😂😂
Everything about this is helpful: The price, the idea combos, the calorie count and clear concise info and editing. Thank you so much !
Yay! Glad you enjoyed the video!
@@TheHungryHiker I do video production myself; it's well done and doesn't waste time. ;) I like to hike too, so good times...
Thank you for these great ideas! Here's one for you. If you ever want to pre-soak something to save fuel, or cold soak, just add a thin piece of food grade silicone sheeting between your pot and lid and hold the pot and lid together with rubber bands from the produce section or an x-band. The little red lentils will cook pretty quickly if you pre-soak them.
Once I surprised my cousin and his three boys with ice cream about 6 miles in at about 5:30 p.m. after hiding it in a peanut butter jar inside a very beefed up cozy inside my bear canister. I kept the whole thing in our chest freezer until about 9:00 a.m. when we left. The ice cream was perfect and they still talk about their surprise!
All the best, Scott
I've never had a desire to cold soak while on trail. I'm one of those hikers who really looks forward to a warm meal at the end of the day. The idea of eating a cold, mushy meal just doesn't sound appetizing to me at all.
The ice cream surprise sounds awesome. Trail magic is on trail is always such a treat!
I work in a grocery store and amazed at the stuff we sell and never thought to use this back packing.. Wow. Next time you cook ramen noodles add a slice of American cheese to it.. What a difference.. Learned this from Korean lady while serving in the Army . 😊
The grocery store has so many options! As a former PCT thru-hiker, I had to learn how to get creative when resupplying from the grocery store on trail in order to prevent food fatigue.Thanks for the suggestion! I'll have to check that one out! For any of the spaghetti, lasagna and/or chili mac freeze-dried meals, I'd also add in a package of string cheese and let it melt. What a tasty luxury it turned the meal into!!
And some green stemmed onions and an egg if you are at home!
I've been hiking and camping since I was a teen. I've never eaten a freeze dried meal. All of my meals have been just like this. I'd add tuna in the foil pouch to your list. That's an easy get at stores too. Great in mac n cheese. Once in a while I splurge on cubed chicken breast in a foil pouch as well. I can't recall the brand I get, but natural and organic with a weight penalty so a good first night or two meal I like with rice and beans. I like to take a few meals that have some pack weight to eat at the beginning of the trip. Really makes the pack feel light after you eat them. Vacuum sealed frozen steaks when I can have an open fire. They usually last a couple days in the middle of my pack depending on weather. My typical night two meal. Then kick ass on mileage day three.
Sounds amazing!!
just want to say the zatarains red bean and rice, and black bean and rice mix they sell is so good i can eat it by its self.. super easy to make just need to boil it in water... so good
Great suggestion! Thank you!
I add hot sausages (like Aidells) to Zatarains.
@@maxsdad538 now thats when you take it up a notch!! yeahh
@@maxsdad538 @the hungry hiker how long can you keep those sausages in the pack without refrigeration?
Great ideas. A few staples i keep handy for backpacking trips are velveta cheese packets, tomato sauce packets, and chata chilorio, my best description of it is a Mexican pork BBQ. It’s generally available at Walmart, but it’s in the international foods isle not with the other prepackaged meat.
A cheese packet added to a Knorr pasta sides packet, plus a packet or two of chicken tastes a lot like the cheesy lasagna freeze dried meals.
The tomato sauce packet+ tortilla shell, pepperoni, bacon bits, and cheese makes for a tasty trail side pizza wrap.
The Chata Chilorio is heavy, therefore generally a lunch or supper the first day on trail. But it’s almost a meal on its own, it’ll make two or three burritos.
Love this content and the zero nonsense presentation of info.... definitely taking away some new ideas for the next Backcountry trip. Cheers!
Yay! Glad you enjoyed this one.
Love those tasty bite meals!
For my last backpack in Jan, I froze a ribeye that was $8-9 dollars. Since freeze dried meal bags are that price, I figured it was worth it. By the end of the hike that day, it was mostly thawed. Heated pan on fire, threw on salt and pepper, got a nice sear on it...it was amazing.
Nice!!!
You can do the same thing in summer, just double bag the meat and bury it in your sleeping bag/quilt for refrigerator-like insulation, it stays cool for a day.
and so ws your sprint once the bears arrived heh heh
Yeah, having your sleeping bag smell like meat might not be the best idea in the backcountry. 🤷♀️
@@Lauren-vd4qe Nice to hike in Ohio - no bears (except the ones that once in a blue moon wander in).
I'm just getting into overnight camping. In one video you've answered almost all my questions about food, calories and prep. Can't thank you enough. Well done.
Yay! Happy to help!
The stores are carrying a incredible selection of fast fix meals, at good prices. Love Knorrs, and Bear creek soups are delicious.
Totally agree!! Bear Creek is a new find for me and I've quickly fallen in love with their dry soup and chili mixes. Yum!!
I do a stuffing, mashed, gravy trail dinner too.
Glad someone has made an official video on it
One of my all-time favorites and it's easy to make!
love how available these items are and how flexible these recipes are. thanks for these ideas and hacks!
That’s the point of these types of videos! Easily accessible and affordable. Getting outside shouldn’t be difficult and expensive. 😀
Uncle Ted once said, "Once you billtong, you'll never jerky again!" 😉👍
Not sure what this means, but okay?
love that your adding gravy packets to instant mashed potato. been doing it for years and it really helps with the bland mealy potatoe texture.
Adding the gravy packets was something I started doing when I was out thru-hiking the pCT. I had to do something to switch up the flavor of all the instant mashed potatoes I kept eating out on trail.
@@TheHungryHiker the older i get the more im willing to bring the weight of extra spices and packets of seasoning ect to dress up these backpacking meals .
People really need to look into buying freeze dried vegetables in bulk. It's pretty cheap actually, and just excellent way to get your veggies on trail.
Buying freeze dried vegetables in bulk is a really good idea!
I loved the Knorr meals on my last hike. Brought along some freeze dried chicken and veggie soup mix, deeelicious.
Those are pretty good and easy to get at grocery stores too!
So here I am hollering at my screen "where were you when I was in the scouts...?"
Hahahahaha!! Love it!
These are great meals you cooked up. I used to take Mountain House meals which were calorically great; also, expensive. I ate Mountain House meals during my camping excursions with the Boy Scouts. This is really good food btw. I like the options you picked and you are getting the most bang for your buck on these meals. My fav is the chili
Awesome! Thank you!!
Having proper meals is hugely important outdoors, and not everyone can afford to buy freeze dried meals in a bag for several days.
This video will also help those with very limited cooking experience at home, too. Subscribed.
Thanks!
Great video. Well edited with no extra bull. Meal ingredients, cooked on camera , price and calories. Top notch.
Thank you so much!! 😀
Wow, what a great video! As much as I admittedly do LOVE Mountain House meals and often use them on overnight trips, having something like these for longer trips makes so much more sense! Especially pre-portioning them like you do. Thank you!
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed the video. I love Mountain House meals every now and then as well, but it's always nice to mix things up with different textures and flavor profiles. Food fatigue was a real thing for me out on the PCT. Happy you got some good tips from this one.
I’ve been looking for this video for years. Actually showing how and what it looks like. Thanks. Liked and Subscribed!
I love this! Glad you enjoyed the video and thanks for subscribing!
Great ideas. Years ago I backpacked on Isle Royale with a friend. He only wanted the expensive freeze dried meals. I talked him into something from the grocery store, Lipton Chicken Soup with Real Chicken packets. It was easily our best meal. The freeze dried meals were all a bomb.
I used Mountain House freeze dried meals as a treat when hiking the Washington section of the PCT in 2018. It pretty much rained on us the entire time. Nowadays, I've found there are so many more tasty and cheaper options in the grocery store. I like to mix it up. Variety is the spice of life, especially out on trail. It's so easy to get food fatigue out there.
Those ramen bombs look like the perfect guilty pleasure dinner after a long hike. I’d love to see more of those untraditional recipes, the mish mash of things you’d never think to mix.
I Really Enjoyed These Ideas. I Am Getting Addicted To Those Instant Breakfast Pouches. So Versatile, I Add It To My Morning Black ☕ Coffee.
Awesome! I love it!
Hi there here's one , One packet of noodles( you call them ramen) then have one packet of cupo of soup the dry kind .... mix together and enjoy
Thank you for a back packing food video that is not about Mountain House or surplus MRE's. Here is a tip from this old cheapskate, buy everything at Aldi's !
Bear Creek cream of potato soup is like $5 + at Walmart but the Aldi brand is only $2 same for the rice and pasta sides super cheap. The quality is identical to the major brands because they are rebranded . I hope you have Aldi in your part of the country.
Unfortunately there isn't an Aldi near me, but I do appreciate the suggestion!!
Would love a low carb version of this video. Thanks for posting it. Now I’m hungry. lol
Creating the food videos ALWAYS makes me hungry. Hahahaha
Great ideas! I'll be making a grocery list to keep in my phone for my PCT adventure this year. That way when I get to town to resupply I won't be wandering through the stores aimlessly.
Good idea!! Stay focused and don’t let the hiker hunger overfill your food bag. That was ALWAYS my problem going into town. 😂
Excellent! Thank you, I've cycled across the US three times and done a few of these, but the "Ramen Bomb" sounds perfect for this summer and the Great Divide Mtn Bike Route. Bomb On!
Glad you liked this one!
This video came up in my feed, checked it out! Love camping and now getting into backpacking, this 62 year old can use all the tips and tricks I can learn! Thank you so much for an outstanding video, and Tucker is cool!!!! Subscribed!!!!
Yay!! Glad you enjoyed the video!
Thanks for sharing your ideas. I'll be using this for military training exercises.
I love it! Glad you found this one useful.
SUCH a good video
I did a 500 mile bike tour in my 20s
I wonder how much easier it could be with instant food : )
good options out there today, fiber, nutrients
Thank you!
I always found the pie iron sandwich makers useful. I could have a cheese and onion toastie with a brew from my flask in minutes. Game changer.
Awesome!
I love putting French's fried onions (cheddar flavor) in my mashed potatoes bits sooooo good
Heck yes!!!
Love this! My favorite yet I think. Thank you for showing us how you do this with your set up.
You are so welcome! Glad you enjoyed this one.
Really great options, I am looking for some meals for a week long paddle trip to Maine. Thanks for sharing!
Awesome! Glad you found this one helpful!
So simple when you actually break it down. Some really great ideas. Beautiful, smart, and a love for the out doors……Your significant other sure is lucky!
Thanks for the idea’s .
Thanks for watching!
One thing I do is throw some cooked turkey or chicken in a food processor to crumble it up then I dehydrate it and add it to stuffing or instant mashed potatoes with dehydrated vegetables that I buy in bulk! I’ve done that with ham too and made ham salad wraps with Mayo packets.
Yum! Sounds delicious!!
Great video, lots of good ideas to try!! Those Indian food pouches caught my attention. Never noticed them in the market before... lol...
They're sooo good. Little heavy and the prices options in the video, but they're worth it! Still cheaper than the freeze-dried meals you'd find elsewhere.
They are heavy unless you are going on a short trip. I have had them in my camping box in case I want a super easy meal. You can boil them in the bag and save on clean up!
This was an excellent video on trail food. I have backpacked and canoe camped for fifty four years and I applaud your cheap no no nonsense grocery store menus. You have a couple of additions I have not considered. I have some you have not mentioned. I have a question about your aidelells sausage and how it lasts not refrigerated. Thank you so much for your channel.
Awesome! Glad you enjoyed this one and got a few ideas from it. As for the sausage, since they're precooked, they can last for a few days out on trail before going bad. Any sort of perishable item, whether its precooked or not, I always try and eat it first within the first couple of days out on trail. Hope that helps!
I was wondering the same thing about the sausage. Good to know!
Not every pot has measurement markings inside it. I use an orange Lexan spoon where I put markings on the handle of the spoon to denote 1, 2, & 3C of water. I place the handle side in the pot and fill the pot to the appropriate level. No muss, no problem. With the spoon being orange in color, I'm less likely to lose it. I have different spoons for different pots. Just be sure you take the correct spoon with your pot.
Not a hiker; a moto camper and this is great! Will be using these ideas on my next tour.
Thank you!
Glad it was helpful!
Great idea with the Ramen bombs! I can carry enough to last a few days with that nugget of information.
Not the healthiest food option, but when you need calories and are boring a fair amount of calories each day, it works.
Thanks for your ideas! Not only do I like how you show how to make the food, I like the fact that you include calorie information.
Yay! Thanks for the feedback!!
Using the Stove top stuffing , a foil pack of chicken and a pack of instant gravy. My version of chicken/turkey hash. Put everything in a freezer bag and add the proper amount of hot water , stir , seal and let it sit in a cozy for a few minutes. Meat & potatoes ....Using the instant potatoes ( Roasted garlic ones ) add dehydrated hamburger and a packet of instant gravy , all in a zip lock bag , just add hot water , stir , let it sit in a cozy and then enjoy. I like the freezer bag style of cooking. It's simple , easy , quick and clean up is a matter of licking the spoon. The 1st bag , after the meal becomes the trash bag for the others.
Sounds delicious!!!!
@@TheHungryHiker ... I realized I forgot the best one. Back in the dark ages Mountain House had a Rice and Hamburger meal , it was really good. As in life the good got discontinued.
Necessity being the mother of invention and wanting a Rice , Hamburger and gravy meal on the trail. I make one using Minute Rice in place of the instant potatoes. Plus I add dehydrated Onions & Black pepper to it.
@@Oldsparkey Really good suggestions. I'm going to have to add these to my "must try" list!! Thank you!
The Hungry Hiker has a fur-baby called Tucker, perfect! :)
O my gosh.. I'm sitting here in my office at work at the beginning of the day and watching you make trail dinners - I'm getting hungry and my stomach is growling!
It's _so_ bad when you realize you're a visual eater..
;-)
Many thanks!
J
I’m the same way!! 😂
Thank you fer the hot tip's.
All of em looked great.
Big smile yer way"
Thanks for watching!
Love your videos! Letting people see that the cheep grocery store stuff is exactly the same or better than the crazily priced "camping food." Also showing people that you can be creative and do it your way hiking. Heck, the sherpas used to hike up Everest in sandals and blankets for crying out loud, they didn't have any "gear."
Happy to help!!
That home made stove cozy is amazing and something I never thought of an I am happy I clicked on this video now to see that, gonna make one for sure myself
It was SUPER easy to make!! It has saved me a whole lot of fuel too.
@@TheHungryHiker I went an got all the items then followed your how to make video, now to just wait for when I can go use it. Never been so excited to put a hot pot into something an see how hot it stays haha
@@ryawncawdor6381 That is awesome!!!
Now this is a video I was looking for. Love it. Great job!
Thank you!
I'm so jealous to see so many varieties of Idahoan! The easiest one to find in the grocery stores here is the plain variety and if I'm lucky I have stumbled on the cheesey ones!
There are so many varieties, but maybe because I’ve eaten so many of them - they all kind of taste the same to me. 🤷♀️
I’ve watched a ton of backpacking/bikepacking videos and this is fantastic. Thank you! Love the straight forward approach also.
Thank you! Just sharing what works for me. I know these options might not work for everybody, but then again, I'm not everybody. Hahahaha! Thanks for watching!
Wow thanks so much for these awesome non mountain house $10 meals. Lol!
You're welcome. LOL!
Yup, sick of em. 😄
Great video! I’ll be trying some of these creations. Thank you,
Awesome! 😀
Hey! Thank you for this! I'm getting ready for my first thru-hike and figuring out grocery store trail meals has been the most daunting task, but this helps!
Super happy to help! Good luck on your thru-hike and have fun!! Which trail will you be hiking?
@@TheHungryHiker the Colorado Trail!
@@JustaWagon That one is on my hiking bucket list! Have fun!!
Asian markets are a great place to find a wide variety of dried grains, beans, lintels, flour from all kinds of grains and beans, a wide variedly of sizes of cous cous and small pasta shapes. And dried sea plants and things that swim like dried shrimp and little dried fish. As well as powdered drinks.
That bear creek minestrone soup is amazing with ground beef.
Great suggestion!
Hi! Thanks for posting this! I'm getting back into hiking again after a break of a few years. When I went out before I used to have a pretty good supply of military rations, but that's dried up now. A lot of the brands featured here aren't available in my country, but you've still given me some great ideas, thank you! 😁
Glad you found this one helpful. Thanks for watching!!
easy boost for 'just ramen take 1 pouch of 1 cup style soup with a complimentary flavour to the ramen through it all in the pot give it a dry stir then add water you can depending on brand and flavour up the calories in your cup by 60 -80 % also you end up with a thicker more flavourful btoth and using no extra water
Love me some ramen boosts!!
Hello. Very tasty food options and cheap. In many cases, it is appropriate and delicious. It can be kept for a long time. I wish you a good appetite for the food.
Thanks for watching!
I used to buy heavy grocery store food, now I'm buying freeze dried meals. Next year I want to play with a dehydrator to make my own meals. Thanks for sharing, definitely gonna have to try a few of these and remember to look in other isles at my grocery store
I've been dehydrating a fair amount of my favorite meals and love it. So much more cost effective and it leaves you in charge on what you want to put into those meals. :)
Hi, I have been hiking a little in the last 10 or so years but I love it and feel so grateful to have come across this video with you and Tucker. Thank you! by the way, he has one of the coolest names ever. Haha
And you are beautiful, I look forward to seeing more videos
Thanks
Glad you enjoyed the video. Tucker is such a good boy!! I love it when he wants to stars in my videos. hahahaha!
Great ideas! Thank you so much!
You are so welcome!
If you're counting calorie totals, I noticed something interesting this morning. I recently bought some new knorr sides at the store for this years trips, and also cleaned out my bear cannister of some packages of food I'd left there from last year It so happened that I had some new and old packages of knorr sides from both the can and the store, and I noticed as I was looking at them that the listed calories in the new stuff is cut in half for the equivalent older product. The package contents and serving sizes are unchanged from last year, but the listed calorie values are literally half of what they were last year. Just something to take into consideration this year, if you've done your daily calorie counting based on the values in last years Knorr packages.
Your video came up and I thought it looked interesting. You have some great ideas here. I had to subscribe to your channel. I look forward to more of your videos.
Thanks for watching and for subscribing. :)
Great alternatives to the mtn house! Great video 👍
Thank you!
This channel is top tier food ideas for the trail.. I often reference you for meal planning for my own hikes.
Yay! Thank you! I appreciate that!
@@TheHungryHiker
Thank you for making these videos! Because of you, I'll never bring a mountain house on the trail again.🤣😎
Yay for you and your wallet! Sorry Mountain House! It was Mountain House meals that got me through a very rainy and cold Washington along the PCT, but it’s nice to know that there are lots of other options. 😀
I used to buy the cases of them. Then, I discovered your channel and realized that there were so many more options.
I love this! Before my first PCT thru-hike, I bought the big canisters of Mountain House meals and sent them to myself on trail. Within the first 100 miles, food fatigue hit me hard. Now I try to mix it up as much as I can.
Awesome video! You popped up in my feed. And I am sooo thankful! You are going to make this camping season my best yet.
OMG!! I love that! This is my favorite kind of feedback!! I cannot wait for camping season this year!! So excited!!
In metal cups, bowls and pots, using an electric metal scribe pen, measure liquid then mark the inside. If you are good, you can mark a line AND what the level represents, "3 T", "2 cup," etc. I like to use levels I can eyeball half the amount (i.e., 1 cup [or C] from 2C, using the most common measures. Even write the figures upside down as this is easier. Thanks for the video.
GREAT idea!!!
Love that chili recipe. I use either the Ramen Chili or Teriyaki seasoning packets to season a steak I cook on a fire the first night when leaving town. My favorite, although hard to find outside Texas, is to use 1/2 cup Dehydrated Refried Beans, 1/3 cup minute rice, 1/2 TBSP Tomato Bullion, 1/2 TBSP Taco Seasoning, and 1 cup boiling water. Then I add cheese and Fritos to the meal.
YUM!!!
Fritos are a chili essential
Does the steak need to stay chilled? 🤔
@@bikeislife8405 No. I marinate the steak in a freezer bag and cook it the first night. Also, I backpack in spring & fall when weather is cooler. Precooked sausage keeps for a couple days.
nice, i just learned a ton of stuff thanks so much!!
Glad to hear it!
I am so glad I found your channel. I'm not a backpacker but I always had problems planning meals for the campsite. These are things I never thought of! And this would eliminate the need to pack an ice chest. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS VIDEO! I will be sure subscribe and follow you. Again, Thank You.
Awesome! Thank you!
Mac and cheese, throw in one of those small cans of salmon, tuna, chicken or ham.
Classic wienie beanie, can of beans, I like pork n beans in tomato sauce, slice up a can of Vienna sausage, simmer for 5 to ten minutes.
I also like just canned beef and Irish stews, take the paper label off, open the top, heat in the can on low heat with stirring, biscuit or tortilla.
Biscuits or small bannocks are good camping and hiking food you can make ahead of time at home. Keeps ok for up to 4 days without refrigeration. Try using Cheez Whiz instead of lard or shortening. Use up to 4 or 5 times as much Cheez Whiz as you would lard or shortening. Just work the cheese goo into the flour same as shortening. No salt since the cheese has lots. Just flour and baking powder, or self rising flour, Cheez Whiz and water. Can also be made from pre prepared flour mix on the trail, lasts weeks. Just leave the last step, adding water and kneading for camp fire side. Make thin patties, cook on hot rocks or in a dry fry pan with flipping. Or make a long thin rope, wind it around a stick in a spiral, roast like a wiener.
Hard Boiled eggs are also an excellent trail food you can cook ahead of time, keep for days. One of my fave no cook meals is boiled eggs, bannock, a few inches of kobasa sausage and a freshly sliced tomato. Just make a big pot of tea to go with. Quick, easy and satisfying when you're pooped at the end of the day.
beef jerky or pepperoni sticks
sun dried tomato flakes
dry onion flakes
some kind of small pasta
salt and pepper
Slice or chop up the dried meat finely. Put in a boiling pot of water with tomato, onions, salt and pepper. Simmer for about ten minutes, set aside for about 20 minutes. You may have to repeat this to soften the meat and get it to give up some flavor to the broth. Optionally add beef bouillon powder. Mind the total salt content, maybe don't add salt if adding bouillon. When the meat is softened to your liking, bring to a boil and add the pasta. Simmer until pasta is cooked. Don't use a lot of water, just enough to make thick soup. You can play around with proportions of ingredients and amount of water until you get something you like. Maybe try at home a couple times first.
Nice! I agree. I always try out new recipes and food combinations at home first before bringing them out on trail with me.
Super nice video. I've been testing receipes for the couple last weeks and I must admit I'm pretty excited about what I will eat on my next trip. Just found out Knorr soup mix can be a really tasty way to put flavour in rice and couscous. Adding dehydrated vegetables in the water too. I tried to take off the water from ramens to turn it into chow mein works well too.
Sounds delicious. I want to try that!!
Great content as usual "Famous". Another way to measure your water is to use your spoon as a dip stick. Mark with 1 ,2 cups. If you dont loose your spoon. Hahahaha
Oh I see what you did there!! BTW, I got a new long handled spoon! Let’s see how long I can keep this one this summer. 😂
Tasty Bites meals are amazing, my mom showed me them lol. Even my friend I hike with, who is a VERY fussy eater, like their lentils curry. But good lord that weight can get to you, they are such heavy meals in your pack. I brought them on a multi day snowshoe trip and the weight was tough, but the meals were so worth it.
a camping recipe that i have used for years for breakfast along the lines of a ham& cheese omlett. start with 2 hard boiled eggs leave in shell till ready to use. 1 can hormel smoked ham, 1 jar kraft old english cheese spread. 2 zipp lock style bags sandwich size. to make peel & mash the hard boiled eggs as you would for a egg salad sandwich, add to first zipp lock bag. open the can of ham, add to mashed eggs in zipp lock bag & break up solid mass into pieces by mashing & mixing in the bag. next add about 2 tblsp cheese spread to zipp lock bag. continue mashing & mixing together until throughly mixed. purge all air from bag an seal. place first bag inside of 2nd bag, again purge all air from 2nd bag & seal. while doing this place a pot of water on to boil. once water is boiling, place double bagged zippies in boiling water till heated through. about 10 minutes. serve with salt & pepper.
How did you make the pot cozy? You have convinced me that I need one :)
I love my stove cozy! It's super easy and cheap to make. Here's the video I watched where I learned how to make mine. I also made the backpacking meal bag cozy as well: th-cam.com/video/NQqV-y8TvqQ/w-d-xo.html
@@TheHungryHiker don't forget the marshmallows for roasting
@@mehchocolate1257 Sadly its not very often I get to have a fire at camp when I'm backpacking. Where I go, fires are usually banned or not allowed. Trust me, I love roasted marshmallows and Smores!!!
Just discovered your channel, and these are some good ideas - I've been looking for food ideas that are more packable and offers lots of calories (been using Mountain House stuff for 20 years which is fine for a few days, but starts taking up a lot of space quickly). I also really like that pot cozy idea, I had never seen that before and I'll definitely be making some. Subbed.
Yay! Glad you discovered my channel and enjoyed this video. I dealt with a lot of food fatigue after both of my PCT thru-hikes. I've been on a quest ever since to discover new-to-me trail food options...anything other than Mountain House. Don't get me wrong, Mountain House meals can be delicious, but when you eat some for several months in a row, you get tired of them and want to find different and less expensive options. I've been really into dehydrating my own meals lately too!
Pre-cooked food pouches are great for car camping, but too heavy for backpacking in California. I have to pack a bear canister. Freeze dry food pouches are great. Thanks for food tips, like the pot cozy. I will make one for my pot. I usually use cook pouche.
Agreed. The precooked food pouches are a bit on the heavy side. This is why I like to mix them up with lighter food options for any given trip or stretch of trail. I also tend to eat my heavier food first when out on trail. That way I carry less weight towards the middle and end of my trip(s). The pot cozy is my favorite! I used this on every single trip I've gone on this season.
Awesome video!! Love that you give directions. Thanks 🐾🐾❤️❤️👍🏼👍🏼😎😎
Yay! Glad you enjoyed this one. Thanks for watching!
A can tour? I’m not sure I follow...
The one dislike is the CEO of mountain house ...
Hahahaha! Hilarious! What the people who “dislike” don’t understand is that they’re still engaging with my video and the more engagement I get on my videos, the better the chance my video has by being picked up by the algorithm so either way I win. 😀
After what they did with biscuits and gravy....🙄
@@constancemiller3753 I never had a problem with the biscuits and gravy. I think it was eating it for a month straight while thru-hiking the PCT that made it so I can't eat this one again for a very long time.
or those of us that strive to eat healthy, real food that isn't super filled with preservatives, MSG, salt and other nasty chemicals.
Great ideas, will use some of these on my upcoming bikepacking trip. Where did you get the cookpot cozy? Or did you make it? Thanks ....
I made it! I got the inspiration for my making my stove cozy from this video: th-cam.com/video/NQqV-y8TvqQ/w-d-xo.html
I've been buying backpacking food at the grocery store for years... but you HAVE to read the labels to know what you're buying. I bought a box of chili mac for one trip, and it wasn't until I was on the trail and making dinner that I realized it was just noodles and a packet of sauce mix... it didn't come with the hamburger! But to be fair, this WAS 1971 and I was a wee bit younger. I also buy bell peppers or 5 pound bags of frozen mixed veggies from Walmart, and dehydrate them. I'll just toss a handful into whatever I'm cooking, and take a big Ziploc bag camping just to add to whatever I'm making. EVERYTHING'S better with bell peppers.
100% - gotta read the packages!! I also experiment with my food BEFORE I get out on the trail, just to make sure it will be easy enough to cook on trail and that I'll like eating it.
The problem with many of these is, they require cooking as opposed to just rehydration. That means using lots of fuel. Many of your ideas though are spot on, except I would pour the boiling water into the food pouch rather than dirty the pot. You can do that in a zip lock bag as well. I let them sit in a food pouch coozy rather than a pot coozy. I know you were just covering dinner, but for breakfast I like instant grits. Just add them to your freeze dried eggs and you have a breakfast that will last you will into your hike. If you are able to fish, nothing is better than pan fried or aluminum foil baked fresh fish served on a plate of cheese grits. Trust me. Great video--keep it up.
I completely agree with you! Cooking these does take a bit of fuel and you're spot on about using a freezer Ziplock bag to let these sit and rehydrate in once the water has boiled. This is something I'm going to try this year in an effort to keep my pot clean on trail. As for breakfast, I made a video with some of my favorite breakfast options. Check it out here: th-cam.com/video/8OI6P3WH_Z0/w-d-xo.html
Glad to hear you enjoyed the video! :)
@@TheHungryHiker I'll be sure to check it out. BTW-the packet the grits comes in, will hold boiling water as well. It doesn't look like it would, but the instant grits do just fine in their own pouch. Happy hiking . . . and eating.
Love the video's and great idea's. IThese meals look delicious.
Question:
How do these meals compare weight wise versus freeze dried?
On long trail hikes, how safe are these types of meals long term?
The freeze dried meals might be a little bit lighter, but the packaging they come in makes them awkward and sucks up a lot of space in my food bag. I plan on doing both a gear and food video for each big trip I go on this Spring/Summer and will be sure to weigh my food bag this time, giving everyone an idea on how much the food I bring on my trips weighs.
As for long trips, these foods are all safe for storing in your pack. No refrigeration needed or required. I would recommend if you opt to carry "fresh" items like eggs, avocado, cheese and sausage - make a point to eat those first since they're also heavier. They are usually the foods I want to eat first anyways because "fresh" food is hard to come by when out long distance backpacking and thru-hiking.
I have tried and used most of the basic recommendations you have but the stir in add ons were great! I will have to try them. One question- the sausage you showed, (the Aidells) does it not need to be refrigerated? Or is that something you use on the first day before it goes bad? On to your breakfast and lunch videos!
Perishable items like the sausage, cheese and salami will be the items I eat first on trail. I also store my food deep in my pack, far from sunlight as much as possible. Hope that helps!
I was thinking same thing. People can get really sick with those sausages.
People can get sick from anything. I personally haven’t had any issues. Do whatever works for you and is right for you. Remember these are just mere suggestions. I’m sharing what has worked for me on trail.
@@TheHungryHiker that’s a terrible reply. If you study food-born illness as I have you’d know recommending “refrigeration only” proteins on a backpacking trip is a terrible idea. Study temperature danger zone. If I was you I’d delete this video asap.
😂
GREAT ideas, thanks! I'm just going to be car camping, but I want to make food preparation easy, and I like the "less is more" approach. My sister actually prepared the Idahoan loaded mashed potatoes last year for Thanksgiving and I was so impressed with how good they are, I've been cheating at home and using these instead of making the real thing.
Glad you found this one helpful and thanks for watching!! Have fun car camping. :)
This is one of the best backpacking videos ever! You rock!
Thank you!
I recently came back from a backpacking trip and vowed to never again buy another freeze dried meal. While making my way down the trail, I recalled watching your videos about trail food… Today while grocery shopping, I was drawn to some of the items from your videos. I finally feel satisfying my hunger on trail by being lazy, and willing to pay for it are over… You know its bad when you truly hate what you packed for dinner - and gotta eat it.
So very helpful and creative. I will be trying these. I'm super excited to have more food options thanks to you. Thank you so much
Awesome! Glad you found this video helpful and is inspiring you to get creative with your own backpacking food meal options. 😀
i have found if you reduce the water to 75% of the reccomended amount i get a thicker mashed potatoe with a better taste vs. a runny mix.
I love that you showed how to cook all of these with your gear