Favorite lightweight trail meals

[isleroyaleguy]

We are going on a 9 day hiking trip which includes the Minong Ridge Trail.
We are trying to go as light as possible but still need nourishing meals to make this trip.
So we are looking for favorite lightweight recipes.

thanks
IRG

[Kevinl]

Do you have a dehydrator?

Last year I made corn maque choux and dehydrated it. You take fresh corn and slice it off the cob and milk that cob to get all the sweet juice out. You mix that (the corn and juice) with chopped onions, peppers, and Rotel. Saute it all together, then dehydrate. Goes really well in tortillas, which are easy to pack. I suppose you could add some kind of dried meat or packaged fish if you wanted to.

I'm also a big fan of the Mountain House sport packs. They're small. I love the chicken and rice. Comfort food.

Bagels and peanut butter. Kashi Pilaf is my new favorite, not the lightest but you don't have to cook it.

Have a great trip.

[Keweenaw]

Check out your local natural food store for dehydrated soups. Ours has split pea and lentil soups and both are really delicious after a long day on the trail with some crackers thrown in. Very light and just add boiling water.

Couscous - add boiling water and let sit 5 minutes; add a pack of tuna and maybe rehydrate some dried vegetables. Dried onions come out really sweet and good.

Dehydrated refried beans - add boiling water and let sit. Serve on tortillas with some cheese. Snag some salsa packets from Taco Bell.

Bob

[DonNewcomb]

It's pretty simple. I don't have the formula right now but you get X hundred Cals per ounce of carbos and Y hundred per ounce of fats. You can only utilize a certian percentage of fats. Other than that, get rid of all the water until it's time to eat, then you want stuff that puffs up as much a possible. Beyond just the carbos and fat the other major requirement is for fiber. You need that stuff to keep you regular. After that it's just taste and texture.

[Kevinl]

You need that stuff to keep you regular.

On the other hand, all that TP is just extra weight. Couldn't resist.

[DonNewcomb]

On the other hand, all that TP is just extra weight. Couldn't resist.

It weighs a lot less than several days worth of undeposited BMs.

Just to show you guys what a geek I am. I'm on my netbook, brother's driving, as we're headed north out of Nashville.

[Kevinl]

Don, we might cross paths on our trips. It looks like we'll be near each other on several days. If we do, please carry some of my stuff for me.

Have a great time. the car is packed and I'm out.

[DonNewcomb]

If we do, please carry some of my stuff for me.

No problem. I'll carry the Scotch.

[Nitsirk]

My absolute favorite trail meal is tortellini with red sauce and ground beef.

Pre-trip:
1. I dehydrate a jar of spaghetti sauce into a leather. I rip it up into roughly 1 inch square pieces. It weighs practically nothing.
2. Cook, drain, rinse in hot water, blot out fat with paper towel and dehydrate 1lb of ground sirloin. Also weighs practically nothing.
3. Purchase one small bag of Barilla cheese and spinach tortellini.

On the trail:
1. Heat approximately 2 cups of water until hot. Add in dried sauce squares and ground sirloin. Cover and let stand approximately 15 minutes stirring occasionally. (A jetboil thermos works perfect for this.)
2. While sauce is standing cook tortellini according to package instructions. Boil 10-11 minutes and then drain.
3. Pour sauce/meat over tortellini, mix and eat.
4. Yummmmmmmmmm!

*** If you are concerned about weight/cooking time you could easily substitute angel hair pasta for tortellini since it takes only 5 minutes to boil and weighs less.
*** The sauce and ground sirloin rehydrate a lot better than what you would think.

[Backpacker534]

Nitsirk, sounds a lot like what my buddy and I do. We dehydrate a jar of spaghetti sauce and a pound of hamburger at home. We pack along bowtie pasta and then cook it all up on the trail...makes quite a hardy meal. We also cook up hamburger and add the packaged taco seasoning and then dehydrate that. In camp we rehydrate the taco meat and fill up a tortilla with the meat and add some shredded cheddar cheese that we bring along. Good eatin'!!!

[mihiker]

We have been using the individual chicken/tuna/salmon packages for some time.
Not as light as dehydrated, but easy to obtain and more palatable then the re-hydrated proteins.
(I have not invested in a dehydrator)
Of course my favorite is the Spam singles.