Headed up to Algonquin again, going in through Smoke Lake then doing a Lake Louisa / Bonnechere loop. At 7 days it will be one of my longer trips. Can't wait!
You certainly eat good, tasty, and nutritious food when camping, as one outght, Love it. And it would seem we have quite similar preferences when it comes to what to eat and how to prepare and pack it. And like you, we always come home with extra food, but in our case, it's deliberate; having been badly windbound on some canoe trips, we always bring extra snacks and one extra entré just in case it happens at the very end of our trip. Cheers, -Martin
Ha ha! Imagine my surprise once it was all packed up! Just over 9 lbs and my pack was barely closing! Lol! The tent weighs just over 2 lbs! Because I put all the food in ONE bag, I couldn't even divide it between us. Live and learn, my friend! The good thing was that the packs were carried from the car to the canoe and then from the canoe to the camp site, so it didn't break my back! We had a great time!
Hi Christine! Sorry I havn't been around much these days. I have so much catching up to do. All my subs have been cranking out great new videos, and I just can't seem to keep up. It looks like you are very well prepared when it comes to the amount of food that you carry, and your menus sound quite yummy. I read that you didn't eat all of your snacks, but in my humble opinion, that's a good thing. I'd much rather have too much, as opposed to not having enough. Keep up the great work girly girl!
You're an organisational ninja! Yeah, I've hit that wall where I'm sick of over priced backpacker food that isn't that great and want to start dehydrating my own stuff. Thanks for some good ideas!
I totally agree Bill! It's great to look forward to meal time in the backcountry. I wouldn't be able to go for days eating just oatmeal for breakfast and ramen noodles for dinner. I need variety in my menu! BF5's pesto is amazing! You can have it as a snack on crackers like he suggests, or I will have it with pasta. Hot or cold. I have been able to keep the weight down before to just over 1 lb per person per day. The snacks weigh the most as the meals are dehydrated. I need lighter snacks!
I like the idea of dehydrated hashbrowns, never tried that one. I think I'd love it! Unfortunately I don't have time to dehydrate more before my trip on Thursday. Oh well, something to prep for next year!
Always do Donald! :-) I try not to repeat meals on any given trip. Breakfast seems to be where I have a harder time to vary meals. I'm always on the lookout for new recipes. They have to be delicious, nutritious, light and of easy preparation at camp. Thanks for stopping by!
Hi Tom! I won't actually be making a video of the trip itself. I have just a few reviews and other videos that I made, but not of the trip itself. Not enough footage for that especially because all we did was canoe in and canoe out. We stayed put for the 3 days. Just relaxing! I might add some little videos to Facebook if I have any miscellaneous clips. I don't even remember what I have anymore. Lol! Need to go back out there :-) Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment!
I've missed you Steve! I was also kind of M.I.A. on YT for 4 months too. Hey, life gets busy! I take these kind of snacks because I'm not too keen on them and will only eat them if I'm really hungry or if I need to because I'm not making dinner for whatever reason (arriving late at camp, raining...) If I had taken bread, cakes or cookies, I would have polished them off, lol! So, they're extras, but they're heavy. I need to find lighter snacks! Thanks for stopping by! Don't be a stranger!
:-) We certainly did Todd! Yummy, filling, healthy, lightweight and easy to prepare. That's my criteria for the food I carry! Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment! Btw, you've got me fiddling with "Breadcrumbs". Seems interesting. I wish I had found it before my 8 night trip in July. Somehow after day 5 (which is when I actually started taking more pictures) my camera and the GPS weren't synchronized and I didn't even think about it. :-(
Last year I always carried an extra meal on our trips, but I noticed that we always have leftover snacks anyway. So this year I stopped taking the extra meal and am looking to cut down on the snacks.
I already have the meal plan set in stone and the dehydrator will be running non stop til then, have a batch of beef jerky going in tonight and some lamb "gravel" to do for my shepherd's pie the next night.
Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it! I got the freeze dried chicken and shrimp from Mountain Equipment Co-op. The brand is "Outdoor Gourmet". I've bought chicken, shrimp and beef from this brand. I'm not 100% satisfied with the product, but the alternative (dehydrating my own) is not that great either. I've found that shrimp becomes chewy after being re-hydrated and chicken is nearly inedible. I think beef is better if you just dehydrate your own as long as it is ground. Thanks for watching!
Critters up the tree! I hung my Peak1 pot set loosely attached under my bear bag and used 50' of 3mm static cord from MEC climbing dept to haul the bag up. A bear definitely tried to get at it as there was a large clanging in the middle of the night. (Adirondack High Peaks). We woke up to our bear bag safely in tact where we had strung it. A couple of other backpackers weren't as fortunate... too bad! :( (what grocery store did you buy your foil packed tuna? Can't find that in Montreal. Thanks!)
Thursday is 4 days away! Lol! For my 8 night trip I went on at the end of July, I started dehydrating food with less than two weeks to go. The dehydrator was working 24/7 until the day before I left. I'd come home from work, cook a meal and put it in the dehydrator, then cook another one to put it in the dehydrator in the morning before leaving for work (my dehydrator only has 4 shelves). It was insane which is why I didn't have time to make videos about it. Try it! You'll love it!
Oh...and my wife would like to know how the rice and lentils dish turned out. She's specifically curious about the texture of it once it's rehydrated. That's the sort of meal we eat at home all the time, but we've never tried dehydrating it for camping. Thanks, -Martin
No, I haven't actually. Does it have to be refrigerated? I bought grape seed oil once and I didn't like the fact that it had to be refrigerated. I do like pumpkin seed butter! That's awesome! However, I'm Portuguese and my boyfriend is Italian. Olive oil is a staple, like salt.Lol! I needed it here especially for the trail pesto and the shrimp pasta. Could probably have carried a smaller container though!
The shrimp I used was the Outdoor Gourmet Freeze-Dried Shrimp, that I ordered from MEC. The texture was definitely better, but we found it somewhat salty. As I was not expecting that, the mix for the rest had salt in it. It was ok, though! The Mountain House Cold Potato Salad was actually quite good. It was a bit on the sour side, but it could have been from the freeze-dried beef that I added to it. I enjoyed it and would buy it again. Let me know what you think of it when you try it.
Hello CampSmarts, just the type of menu that I like enjoying during my trips, I'm trying to change from fresh food to freeze dried to cut out space and weight.... I'm hoping you can help me a little with a question I have... I see that you are using freeze dried beef and free dried chicken in two of your recipes, where did you get those? Thanks!
Hmmmmm... By the size of that stuff sack you had behind you in your last video where you said your food was stored, I expected much more than what I see you have. Just goes to show... things appear larger on tv (pc) than they really are LOL but how much did it all weigh? I think I would opt to carry the tent next time LOL Thanks for the videos! Hope you had fun on your trip :)
How was the shrimp? Also, how was the Mountain House cold salad? We just ordered that and will try it in a week or so, and just wondering what you thought of it.
On my last trip (10 day) I actually kept the sponge in a cell phone sized loksak, and found that that worked even better. Not only did I not have to roll up the sponge but it also weighed significantly less. It still kept it neat and somewhat odour proof. Thanks for watching!
I don't understand when you talked about dehydrating pasta in cold water? Does this mean that the pasta has been cooked once and then dehydrated? before dehydrating in cold water on the trail? :)
Just wondering why you cook & dehydrate your pasta when you could just bring it as is? Also, why all of the dehydrated items period? Why not bring things like canned foods, spam, ham, soups, canned vegetables, & hormel dinners? Bread, Peanut butter & jelly? Mac & cheese, Ramen noodles? Must be you are trying to save space?
The main reason I dehydrate food is so that it is lighter. It does also save space and a lot of unnecessary garbage (i.e. cans, which are actually prohibited in most provincial parks along with bottles). Dehydrating food also allows me to eat healthier and tastier meals without all the preservatives and sodium. It reduces fuel consumption as many things just need boiling water and a few minutes in a cozy while re-hydrating. Some things, like pasta, will even re-hydrate in cold water. Pasta, "as is", is raw.
That's entirely too heavy. The idea here is to pack as light as possible, with a little variety. I get my base pack weight down to 8 lbs or less, depending on the conditions here in Washington State, and then add the food. The most I like to carry at that point is no more than 4 lbs, but I'm a grunt in the US Army and carry much heavier loads in Combat, training, etc...It's just nice to hike (or "ruck" as we call it) and not "suck" the entire time. Bottles and cans lead to litter, as some dishonest trailblazers and weekend warriors will discard, hide, or bury these items. The issue isn't just bears, but badgers, raccoons, and various rodents and other wildlife that are attracted to the smells in these containers. Search "Leave No Trace" to understand the preservation aspect of the Wilderness as well. I'm getting into the ultralight aspect, and have found that I enjoy hiking very far under little to no weight. Reducing my footprint and unneeded packaging makes for a light return as well, with very little trash to carry back.
Brisdad53 It's not a dick measuring contest, it's about being smart. Lighter is better. I eat a lot, I like to bring good, big meals. Work smarter, not harder.
Can’t you bring real eggs I do I bring milk that is not refrigerated. Steaks, bacon, real coffee. Green beans ,corn etc. Only some dehydrated food . I camp for 5 days etc.
On my last trip (10 day) I actually kept the sponge in a cell phone sized loksak, and found that that worked even better. Not only did I not have to roll up the sponge but it also weighed significantly less. It still kept it neat and somewhat odour proof. Thanks for watching!
Great setup! Thanks for turning me onto MrBabelfish5. Can't wait to try the pesto.
Headed up to Algonquin again, going in through Smoke Lake then doing a Lake Louisa / Bonnechere loop. At 7 days it will be one of my longer trips. Can't wait!
Inspirational... Will use some of these ideas for my coming cycle tour
Very interesting ideas. Thanks for the vid. I will have to explore more food options for the trail.
Hello Christine,looks like you had good yummy eats this trip, Donald
You certainly eat good, tasty, and nutritious food when camping, as one outght, Love it.
And it would seem we have quite similar preferences when it comes to what to eat and how to prepare and pack it. And like you, we always come home with extra food, but in our case, it's deliberate; having been badly windbound on some canoe trips, we always bring extra snacks and one extra entré just in case it happens at the very end of our trip.
Cheers,
-Martin
brilliant...great work on the food...I am impressed by what you have done.
Yeah, we always bring food back! I've learned that we don't tend to snack as much when we're outdoors as when we are at home.
Ha ha! Imagine my surprise once it was all packed up! Just over 9 lbs and my pack was barely closing! Lol! The tent weighs just over 2 lbs! Because I put all the food in ONE bag, I couldn't even divide it between us. Live and learn, my friend! The good thing was that the packs were carried from the car to the canoe and then from the canoe to the camp site, so it didn't break my back! We had a great time!
Hi Christine! Sorry I havn't been around much these days. I have so much catching up to do. All my subs have been cranking out great new videos, and I just can't seem to keep up. It looks like you are very well prepared when it comes to the amount of food that you carry, and your menus sound quite yummy. I read that you didn't eat all of your snacks, but in my humble opinion, that's a good thing. I'd much rather have too much, as opposed to not having enough. Keep up the great work girly girl!
You're an organisational ninja! Yeah, I've hit that wall where I'm sick of over priced backpacker food that isn't that great and want to start dehydrating my own stuff. Thanks for some good ideas!
I totally agree Bill! It's great to look forward to meal time in the backcountry. I wouldn't be able to go for days eating just oatmeal for breakfast and ramen noodles for dinner. I need variety in my menu!
BF5's pesto is amazing! You can have it as a snack on crackers like he suggests, or I will have it with pasta. Hot or cold.
I have been able to keep the weight down before to just over 1 lb per person per day. The snacks weigh the most as the meals are dehydrated. I need lighter snacks!
I like the idea of dehydrated hashbrowns, never tried that one. I think I'd love it! Unfortunately I don't have time to dehydrate more before my trip on Thursday. Oh well, something to prep for next year!
Always do Donald! :-) I try not to repeat meals on any given trip. Breakfast seems to be where I have a harder time to vary meals. I'm always on the lookout for new recipes. They have to be delicious, nutritious, light and of easy preparation at camp. Thanks for stopping by!
Hi Tom! I won't actually be making a video of the trip itself. I have just a few reviews and other videos that I made, but not of the trip itself. Not enough footage for that especially because all we did was canoe in and canoe out. We stayed put for the 3 days. Just relaxing! I might add some little videos to Facebook if I have any miscellaneous clips. I don't even remember what I have anymore. Lol! Need to go back out there :-) Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment!
I'll keep an eye out for it!
I've missed you Steve! I was also kind of M.I.A. on YT for 4 months too. Hey, life gets busy! I take these kind of snacks because I'm not too keen on them and will only eat them if I'm really hungry or if I need to because I'm not making dinner for whatever reason (arriving late at camp, raining...) If I had taken bread, cakes or cookies, I would have polished them off, lol! So, they're extras, but they're heavy. I need to find lighter snacks! Thanks for stopping by! Don't be a stranger!
:-) We certainly did Todd! Yummy, filling, healthy, lightweight and easy to prepare. That's my criteria for the food I carry! Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment! Btw, you've got me fiddling with "Breadcrumbs". Seems interesting. I wish I had found it before my 8 night trip in July. Somehow after day 5 (which is when I actually started taking more pictures) my camera and the GPS weren't synchronized and I didn't even think about it. :-(
Last year I always carried an extra meal on our trips, but I noticed that we always have leftover snacks anyway. So this year I stopped taking the extra meal and am looking to cut down on the snacks.
I already have the meal plan set in stone and the dehydrator will be running non stop til then, have a batch of beef jerky going in tonight and some lamb "gravel" to do for my shepherd's pie the next night.
Thanks, Nick!
Just getting into backpacking and too me the hardest thing is gauging how much food to bring, live and learn I guess.
this was a great vid ... thanx for sharing.
Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it! I got the freeze dried chicken and shrimp from Mountain Equipment Co-op. The brand is "Outdoor Gourmet". I've bought chicken, shrimp and beef from this brand. I'm not 100% satisfied with the product, but the alternative (dehydrating my own) is not that great either. I've found that shrimp becomes chewy after being re-hydrated and chicken is nearly inedible. I think beef is better if you just dehydrate your own as long as it is ground. Thanks for watching!
Looks good to me!! I love Bablefish5's channel!! I cant wait to see the vid of the trip!
Critters up the tree! I hung my Peak1 pot set loosely attached under my bear bag and used 50' of 3mm static cord from MEC climbing dept to haul the bag up. A bear definitely tried to get at it as there was a large clanging in the middle of the night. (Adirondack High Peaks). We woke up to our bear bag safely in tact where we had strung it. A couple of other backpackers weren't as fortunate... too bad! :( (what grocery store did you buy your foil packed tuna? Can't find that in Montreal. Thanks!)
Thursday is 4 days away! Lol! For my 8 night trip I went on at the end of July, I started dehydrating food with less than two weeks to go. The dehydrator was working 24/7 until the day before I left. I'd come home from work, cook a meal and put it in the dehydrator, then cook another one to put it in the dehydrator in the morning before leaving for work (my dehydrator only has 4 shelves). It was insane which is why I didn't have time to make videos about it. Try it! You'll love it!
Oh...and my wife would like to know how the rice and lentils dish turned out. She's specifically curious about the texture of it once it's rehydrated. That's the sort of meal we eat at home all the time, but we've never tried dehydrating it for camping.
Thanks,
-Martin
No, I haven't actually. Does it have to be refrigerated? I bought grape seed oil once and I didn't like the fact that it had to be refrigerated. I do like pumpkin seed butter! That's awesome! However, I'm Portuguese and my boyfriend is Italian. Olive oil is a staple, like salt.Lol! I needed it here especially for the trail pesto and the shrimp pasta. Could probably have carried a smaller container though!
Some good ideas there. Thanks for making that video! Where do you get the freeze dried chicken and shrimp?
Have fun on your trip! Where are you off to?
That will be beautiful! How many days? How many kms? Will you be camping? You should make some videos!
The shrimp I used was the Outdoor Gourmet Freeze-Dried Shrimp, that I ordered from MEC. The texture was definitely better, but we found it somewhat salty. As I was not expecting that, the mix for the rest had salt in it. It was ok, though! The Mountain House Cold Potato Salad was actually quite good. It was a bit on the sour side, but it could have been from the freeze-dried beef that I added to it. I enjoyed it and would buy it again. Let me know what you think of it when you try it.
Hello CampSmarts, just the type of menu that I like enjoying during my trips, I'm trying to change from fresh food to freeze dried to cut out space and weight.... I'm hoping you can help me a little with a question I have... I see that you are using freeze dried beef and free dried chicken in two of your recipes, where did you get those? Thanks!
Southwestern Ontario, from Hamilton to Lake Erie shore, London, pinery on Huron, then across to Elora and home,
Hmmmmm... By the size of that stuff sack you had behind you in your last video where you said your food was stored, I expected much more than what I see you have. Just goes to show... things appear larger on tv (pc) than they really are LOL but how much did it all weigh? I think I would opt to carry the tent next time LOL Thanks for the videos! Hope you had fun on your trip :)
How was the shrimp? Also, how was the Mountain House cold salad? We just ordered that and will try it in a week or so, and just wondering what you thought of it.
Great Presentation!
I'm thrilled to hear that :-) Let me know what you try out and how it works out for you. Where are you doing this cycle tour?
On my last trip (10 day) I actually kept the sponge in a cell phone sized loksak, and found that that worked even better. Not only did I not have to roll up the sponge but it also weighed significantly less. It still kept it neat and somewhat odour proof. Thanks for watching!
Small sandwich bag works great and is lightweight.
Thank you for taking the time to watch and comment!
Yes, much more practical! But I think my food tastes better ;-) Thanks for watching!
I don't understand when you talked about dehydrating pasta in cold water? Does this mean that the pasta has been cooked once and then dehydrated? before dehydrating in cold water on the trail? :)
Listen you put the hot water on the dehytrated pasta you not need to cooked saves time, fuel , like those soups in cups (nissin , I think)
Just wondering why you cook & dehydrate your pasta when you could just bring it as is? Also, why all of the dehydrated items period? Why not bring things like canned foods, spam, ham, soups, canned vegetables, & hormel dinners? Bread, Peanut butter & jelly? Mac & cheese, Ramen noodles? Must be you are trying to save space?
The main reason I dehydrate food is so that it is lighter. It does also save space and a lot of unnecessary garbage (i.e. cans, which are actually prohibited in most provincial parks along with bottles). Dehydrating food also allows me to eat healthier and tastier meals without all the preservatives and sodium. It reduces fuel consumption as many things just need boiling water and a few minutes in a cozy while re-hydrating. Some things, like pasta, will even re-hydrate in cold water. Pasta, "as is", is raw.
No bottles or cans in a park? I never heard of such a thing? You must live in a state that has a lot of bears.
That's entirely too heavy. The idea here is to pack as light as possible, with a little variety. I get my base pack weight down to 8 lbs or less, depending on the conditions here in Washington State, and then add the food. The most I like to carry at that point is no more than 4 lbs, but I'm a grunt in the US Army and carry much heavier loads in Combat, training, etc...It's just nice to hike (or "ruck" as we call it) and not "suck" the entire time.
Bottles and cans lead to litter, as some dishonest trailblazers and weekend warriors will discard, hide, or bury these items. The issue isn't just bears, but badgers, raccoons, and various rodents and other wildlife that are attracted to the smells in these containers. Search "Leave No Trace" to understand the preservation aspect of the Wilderness as well.
I'm getting into the ultralight aspect, and have found that I enjoy hiking very far under little to no weight. Reducing my footprint and unneeded packaging makes for a light return as well, with very little trash to carry back.
Oh, I see, I didn't realize you were back packing. LOL makes sence. I thought you were camping.
Brisdad53 It's not a dick measuring contest, it's about being smart. Lighter is better. I eat a lot, I like to bring good, big meals. Work smarter, not harder.
What is the babble channel that you mentioned?
Can’t you bring real eggs I do
I bring milk that is not refrigerated.
Steaks, bacon, real coffee. Green beans ,corn etc. Only some dehydrated food . I camp for 5 days etc.
how much did that weigh?
Cool food ideas! I love bablefish5's channel. Wish he would do more.... Subscribed to your channel..
I do back country bushcraft
Ever hear of Mountain House???
garbage
And EXPENSIVE
Awful and small portions!
I think you had more fun packing this little gay pretty picnic than actually camping.
On my last trip (10 day) I actually kept the sponge in a cell phone sized loksak, and found that that worked even better. Not only did I not have to roll up the sponge but it also weighed significantly less. It still kept it neat and somewhat odour proof. Thanks for watching!