Good trail meals can be found at grocery stores. It is not necessary to buy prepackaged backpacking meals.
You can spend a lot of money on prepackaged meals they sell for backpacking. They taste ok, but it has been many years since I had any on the trail.
I didn't really care for the cost of them ($4 to $6 dollars a dinner), but what finally ended my using them was more than once finding the wrappers stuffed under trees in the backcountry. I picked them up and packed them out.
My meals have stayed pretty much the same the last few years. I prefer a quick rice dinner with some tomato soup mixed in. I have found a rice and red beans mixture that tastes awful good. Once in a while I bring along some packets of tuna or salmon
I often carry along nuts for munching, and I bring oatmeal or dried cereal and some dried milk for my morning meal. I usually have some hot chocolate and cookies to finish off my meal, just before bedtime.
None of these things costs very much, and are things I have found at my local grocery store. When you are hungry from all day on the trail, rice and beans and hot chocolate and cookies for desert tastes downright delicious.
Thats the beauty of backpacking - it is an inexpensive hobby, once you have acquired your backpack and sleeping bag and tent and stove.
After that all you need is the food for your time on the trail. You would be spending some money on food even if you were at home.
The copyright of the article A Simple Meal Idea in Backpacking, Hiking & Camping is owned by James E. Ratzloff. Permission to republish A Simple Meal Idea must be granted by the author in writing.
Comments
Aug 24, 2006 7:07 AM
Jodi Gallegos
:
I've wondered about the prepackaged meals. I've never tried them although I have eaten military MRE's and assumed they would be similar. The price seems to high to justify. For meal prep, how much does the campstove weigh that you pack in? It seems like, with the equipment and water, you pack in a lot of weight.
Aug 24, 2006 11:47 AM
Jill Florio
:
great ideas Jim!
If I am backpacking alone I never even bring a stove. If with someone else I MIGHT, since we can share the weight. But between stove, fuel, stove repair kit, stove wind reflector and cooking pots, i'd rather go without. Most people don't like to go without hot food but I prefer traveling easier (I'm a smallish person and go ultralight by choice).
Aug 24, 2006 11:56 AM
James E. Ratzloff
:
My MSR Whisperlite is very lightweight 11 ounces. In wintertime I acually bring a spare, since having a warm stove then is so important.
I use a Katadyn Pocket Filter to filter my water up there - which means I need to have access to a stream or a lake when camping. The Pocket Filter weighs a little more - 20 ounces.
Aug 25, 2006 9:27 AM
Jill Florio
:
I beat ya weigtwise there too, Jim - I use iodine. I don't mind the taste and it's just another streamlining thing for me. Call me ultralight girl. Here's something I wrote about that:
Intro to lightweight backpacking: http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art25683.asp
PS I've also used MREs/ they are okay. I like your ideas better.
Aug 27, 2006 12:38 AM
Alan Sorum
:
There are a lot of options with food at the store now. Tuna and salmon come in retort pouches. Red beans and rice is great. You can use perishables during the first couple days of a trip, especially if the weather is cool. I still would prefer my filter pump over treatment. Good article!
Aug 31, 2006 9:14 AM
Evelyn Kanter
:
I never leave home without my homemade trail mix - a handful of each of these -- raw almonds, dried pineapple, dried papaya, m and ms. Ziplocs are the best invention since sliced bread!
Sep 3, 2006 9:05 PM
Jennifer W. Miner
:
yeah, Evelyn, I read your blog about ziploc bags and I agree wholeheartedly! James, I just read that a new product is going to be made available; self-heating lunches and dinners for on-the-go meals. The idea was invented for the Army, and what it is, is that the package that the food comes in, can heat to 140 degrees, to cook whatever was presealed inside. This does away with the need for a portable stove! Pretty cool, huh? Jen
