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Favorite Mountain House meals

Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2014 6:41 pm
by MattC
And go...btw. im vegetarian with minor pescatarian tendasies

Re: Favorite Mountain House meals

Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2014 7:35 pm
by Ingo
Funny you asked, I have a spreadsheet :D https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc ... sp=sharing. Only a couple vegetarian options from Mt House.

Re: Favorite Mountain House meals

Posted: Sat Jun 07, 2014 4:34 am
by Tightlines01
Funny that you should post this.... Getting ready to go buy some shortly for my trip in a few weeks. Good starting point and I love the scale


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Re: Favorite Mountain House meals

Posted: Sat Jun 07, 2014 5:54 am
by Tom
Ingo, that list is awesome. I agree with you on many of your evaluations of the meals, too. I've been keeping notes on the meals I've had over the years, and probably should compile them into a similar spreadsheet. Right now I just a spreadsheet of my current inventory, so each season I don't have to go down and see what I already have...
I think MH Beef Stroganoff ProPak remains my favorite. There are a few, too, that are more of a miss than a hit.
MattC - As noted, the vegetarian/pescatarian options are limited from MH. However you have many other options when it comes to general instant foods, like potatoes, rices, tuna packets, etc.. I've found that over the years I've started to reduce the number of MH style meals I bring, having snagged/stole many great ideas from fellow hikers on this forum, as well as other backpacker forums.

Re: Favorite Mountain House meals

Posted: Sat Jun 07, 2014 10:10 am
by MikeT
Nice list Ingo. My absolute favorite was oriental chicken, but they stopped making it. My new favorite is now the Seafood Chowder.
A tip on Lasagna, find a small stick and shave it for stirring the Lasagna. Like you say, it is almost impossible to get the cheese off the spoon and the stick solves this.
Another thing I do is bring a bag of MH beef stew and corn and throw some of it in my ramen noodles to "jazz" it up a bit.
We usually do an every other day of MH and Ramen. We use a bag for MH and, the next day, use that same bag for Ramen thus getting a bit of flavor from the previous MH and reusing the bag. Plus, if you cannot finish you MH the previous night, you can eat the leftovers with the Ramen.

Re: Favorite Mountain House meals

Posted: Sun Jun 08, 2014 12:45 pm
by MattC
Great list. Thank you!

Re: Favorite Mountain House meals

Posted: Sun Jun 08, 2014 1:56 pm
by Ingo
I started the list a couple years ago to make sure I was getting enough calories--yeah, dessert is a good thing. Then decided I should try all their meals--haven't quite finished yet. The ratings were a natural by-product.
I think MH Beef Stroganoff ProPak remains my favorite.
My first favorite! I mostly stick to the ProPaks too, but a couple other favorites aren't available.
My new favorite is now the Seafood Chowder.
I picked up some many years ago, brought it on a few trips, but it always made it home. For some reason I was hesitant to try it after that. Finally, and well past it's expiration date, I took it on a short overnight with a backup. I liked it! Now I can't find it in a store, although they still make it last time I checked.

Re: Favorite Mountain House meals

Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2014 6:05 am
by Lucky Chicken
Mountain house... I've have a couple, but for the price I can make the same thing at home and do the freezer bag method of cooking. Yes I am a cheapscate ;)

They are convienent and have a long shelf life!

Re: Favorite Mountain House meals

Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2014 10:12 am
by hooky
If you like to cook at home, just get a cheap dehydrator and make your own meals. Even a boxed meal like Rice a Roni can be prepared and then dehydrated. I've done Mountain House and others, but I enjoy my dehydrated stuff a lot more.

That being said, I do take MH desserts with us. It would be hard to dehydrate cheescake and ice cream.

Re: Favorite Mountain House meals

Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2014 10:41 am
by Lucky Chicken
you cant dehydrate them at home... but you can freeze dry them... slightly less complicated and less efficient method to what MH uses, but it can be done!

Re: Favorite Mountain House meals

Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2014 8:55 am
by hooky
Lucky Chicken wrote:you cant dehydrate them at home... but you can freeze dry them... slightly less complicated and less efficient method to what MH uses, but it can be done!
Great. Now I'm going to spend the week on google figuring this out.


:wink:

Re: Favorite Mountain House meals

Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2014 9:03 am
by tree rattt
Take notes and share :)

Re: Favorite Mountain House meals

Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2014 11:33 am
by Lucky Chicken
you're welcome ;) happened to me before... had to share

Re: Favorite Mountain House meals

Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2014 8:48 pm
by gwpruitt
Lucky Chicken wrote:you cant dehydrate them at home... but you can freeze dry them... slightly less complicated and less efficient method to what MH uses, but it can be done!
To clarify - I think you have it backwards...you can only dehydrate at home - not freeze dry unless you have some very special equipment...Freeze drying involves not only freezing the food - but also holding it under vacuum while slowly increasing the temperature of the food to create the drying process. Same process health companies use to make vaccines (my job).

Re: Favorite Mountain House meals

Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2014 2:43 pm
by hooky
Lucky Chicken wrote:you're welcome ;) happened to me before... had to share
Did some googling on this and I think i'll just keep buying MH deserts. Seems easier than breaking out the seal a meal and all that goes with it.

:mrgreen: