OT: dehydrated walking foods? (Needs to be veggie)

On Sun, 16 Jan 2005 21:28:25 +0000, Peewiglet <[email hidden]>
wrote:

[...]

Quoted message said:

I've never really used the backpacking foods. [...]

I meant the commercially produced packages available in shops etc as
'backpacking food'.

Best wishes,
--
,,
(**)PeeWiglet~~
/ \ / \ pee AT [guessthisbit].co.uk

"Peewiglet" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

I've never really used the backpacking foods. I'm not planning to take
them for the whole trip, but I think it might make life easier to be
able to pack some, so I'd be very grateful for any recommendations.

I picked up a packet of Reiter stuff from Field and Trek the other week on a
whim because it looked like it gave a lot of energy for the weight and I
thought it was just an add water kind of thing. But (a) the quoted weight
obviously didn't include the hefty packaging, (b) the potato and bacon stuff
I picked also needed lengthy frying after adding water to reconstitute it,
(c) it made a mess of my frying pan and (d) it tasted [censored]. I'll be
sticking to chocolate and jam [censored].

AndyP said:

"Peewiglet" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

I've never really used the backpacking foods. I'm not planning to take
them for the whole trip, but I think it might make life easier to be
able to pack some, so I'd be very grateful for any recommendations.

I picked up a packet of Reiter stuff from Field and Trek the other week on a
whim because it looked like it gave a lot of energy for the weight and I
thought it was just an add water kind of thing. But (a) the quoted weight
obviously didn't include the hefty packaging, (b) the potato and bacon stuff
I picked also needed lengthy frying after adding water to reconstitute it,
(c) it made a mess of my frying pan and (d) it tasted [censored].

Yuk, sounds horrible :-(

Quoted message said:

I'll be
sticking to chocolate and jam [censored].

Mmmm....

Best wishes,
--
,,
(**)PeeWiglet~~
/ \ / \ pee AT [guessthisbit].co.uk

Peewiglet said:

TBH, I don't think this is really OT in a walking NG, but I put that
in just to be on the safe side 🙂

I can't see how this could possibly be considered OT.

Quoted message said:

I'm wondering whether anyone can recommend any brand(s) of dehydrated
backpacking foods. I've been juggling with the idea of buying a
dehydrator and trying to prepare my own, but a quick assessment of
what is/is not likely to happen between now and May persuades me that
that's unlikely to happen.

I need to take about 12-14 days' worth of food on my Scotland trip in
May. I'm not going to try to carry it all at once: I'll be sending a
few packages ahead to be collected at Post Offices etc. However, it
needs to be light and compact if possible.

This may surprise you, but Scotland has many outlets where they'll
happily exchange some of what your English "pounds" for some edible
produce :-)

Seriously, I'd look to develop a menu based on ingredients you'll likely
come across on your travels. There are many, many examples of suitable
menus in various guidebooks - especially from those who have completed
similar longish trails.

Maybe I'm not so paranoid about the weight thing, but I find that pasta
and rice are pretty much invaluable. You can add all sorts of cheese,
veg (dried veg is usually available in supermarkets - just make sure you
reconstute it in advance. I often put some in a small water bottle in
the morning so that it's ready for dinner), tuna (if you're that sort of
vegetarian), even veggie sausages if you're within a day or so of the
shops.

Porage is a great breakfast - especially if you're happy to make it with
water, though adding dried milk does add to the overall flavour. My
favourite additive is honey, though this is relatively heavy and dried
fruits (esp dates - yummy) are recommended.

Pitta bread keeps well for lunches / snacks. You can buy little squeezy
containers of jam, or use the cheese spread in tubes (Pr*m*l*).

Quoted message said:

However, it also needs to be veggie, and ideally it would taste really
good too 🙂 I'm willing to carry a little extra weight and/or bulk or
spend a little extra money if necessary, to have some decent food.

As a special treat, I'll go out of my way to find fresh fruit and bread
- always worth a small detour.

Quoted message said:

I've never really used the backpacking foods. I'm not planning to take
them for the whole trip, but I think it might make life easier to be
able to pack some, so I'd be very grateful for any recommendations.

I'd just get a couple to have "in case". Regardless of taste, you might
find you are delayed, or change plans, or just arrive too late for a shop.

Quoted message said:

Many thanks for any help 🙂

Best wishes,

Peewiglet said:

I'm wondering whether anyone can recommend any brand(s) of dehydrated
backpacking foods. I've been juggling with the idea of buying a
dehydrator and trying to prepare my own, but a quick assessment of
what is/is not likely to happen between now and May persuades me that
that's unlikely to happen.

Quoted message said:

However, it also needs to be veggie, and ideally it would taste really
good too 🙂 I'm willing to carry a little extra weight and/or bulk or
spend a little extra money if necessary, to have some decent food.

If you don't mind cooking long (which means carrying more fuel...): I have
used dried tofu lumps when walking in Norway. Don't know where you can buy
them in the UK though. They are very light, a small hand gives a pan full,
and they turn out really nice. Soak and stew for a while (you can probably
use they 'cook and then store in towel & sleeping bag approach rather than
cook for 15 minutes) and then use with dried curry mix like you (or
someone else) would use chicken: fry, add mix and water, heat, eat.
The spicy mixes you can just buy at any supermarket.
Tesco also sell some dried veg, like onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, carrot
mix, but it is spread all over the place. If you have instant mash
potatoes with cheese a handfull of this can make a big difference.

Roos

Roos Eisma said:

Peewiglet said:

I'm wondering whether anyone can recommend any brand(s) of dehydrated
backpacking foods. I've been juggling with the idea of buying a
dehydrator and trying to prepare my own, but a quick assessment of
what is/is not likely to happen between now and May persuades me that
that's unlikely to happen.

Quoted message said:

However, it also needs to be veggie, and ideally it would taste really
good too 🙂 I'm willing to carry a little extra weight and/or bulk or
spend a little extra money if necessary, to have some decent food.

If you don't mind cooking long (which means carrying more fuel...): I have
used dried tofu lumps when walking in Norway. Don't know where you can buy
them in the UK though. They are very light, a small hand gives a pan full,
and they turn out really nice. Soak and stew for a while (you can probably
use they 'cook and then store in towel & sleeping bag approach rather than
cook for 15 minutes) and then use with dried curry mix like you (or
someone else) would use chicken: fry, add mix and water, heat, eat.
The spicy mixes you can just buy at any supermarket.
Tesco also sell some dried veg, like onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, carrot
mix, but it is spread all over the place. If you have instant mash
potatoes with cheese a handfull of this can make a big difference.

Roos

You probaly mean these
http://www.goodnessdirect.co.uk/cgi-local/frameset/detail/699122.html -
excellent for camping as you only need about 25g dry weight to have
enough for a meal. Very good in a curry with rice or couscous. Works
well with pasta also as the cooking time for the soya chunks is about
the same as for pasta so you can just boil them up together with half a
stock cube then add some tomato puree and herbs.

I used to use dried packet food (e.g. safeway pasta pronto) but they are
all very samey and end up being boring. Always better to cook your own IMHO.

Tony

Peewiglet <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

I'm wondering whether anyone can recommend any brand(s) of dehydrated
backpacking foods. I've been juggling with the idea of buying a
dehydrator and trying to prepare my own, but a quick assessment of
what is/is not likely to happen between now and May persuades me that
that's unlikely to happen.

However, it also needs to be veggie, and ideally it would taste really
good too 🙂 I'm willing to carry a little extra weight and/or bulk or
spend a little extra money if necessary, to have some decent food.

I made up a mix from some Uncle Ben's instant brown rice and dried veg I
got from Tesco. This included onions, mixed veg, tomatoes, peppers and
chillies (basically everything I could find). I also added some veg stock
powder but that might not be necessary as it was quite tasty. I brought it
to the boil in the Ketley thing and put it in a cozy for 20 min.

John

Peewiglet said:

I'm wondering whether anyone can recommend any brand(s) of dehydrated
backpacking foods [snip] it also needs to be veggie

I'm veggie too, but I rarely buy the dehydrated foods sold for
backpacking. I'm planning an eight-day wild-camping trip in the Lakes for
April, and intend to take the following:

breakfast:
Redi-Brek/dried milk mix, add hot water, butter and maple syrup!
Complan or similar hot drink
coffee

snacks:
cereal bars (Eat Natural do a delicious but expensive range)
dried fruit bars

lunch:
oatcakes with either Primula or Tartex (there's also a delicious tofu
pate with tomatoes, and I don't normally like tofu!)
home-made fruit cake

supper:
instant soup (cup-a-soup type, but good quality)
main course: see below
pudding: instant custard and dried fruit (blueberries, cranberries,
mango, whatever)

plus herb tea and whisky as required!

I get my dehydrated main courses from supermarkets: Tesco do a nice
pasta with mushrooms and a creamy sauce, and their "vegetable biryani" is
good if you put some almonds with it for protein. Couscous (which is widely
available with different flavourings) is good, too.

It's odd: I'm a keen cook, and frequently spend a Saturday making a
proper meal with (say) lots of spinach, cream and fresh herbs. But I never
seem to want to bother when I'm wild-camping. Fresh spinach also seems hard
to get on the fells these days! So I basically just open packets.
The advantage is that real food tastes *fabulous* when you start eating
it again!

Hope this is useful!
Mark
--
Mark Manning [email hidden]

beaker said:

Quoted message said:

I used to use dried packet food (e.g. safeway pasta pronto) but they are
all very samey and end up being boring. Always better to cook your own
IMHO.

Last year I took the 2 yr past its best before date packet of Bachelor's
Pasta'n'Sauce that had been at the bottom of my box of hiking food for some
time. It was supposed to be red and taste something like tomatoes, in fact
it was a dark brown and tasted of marmite. Now I try and rotate the food in
my box a bit better :-)

In the Beacons, in November, I decided to finally eat my
well-past-its-best-before-date tin of Vegetable Korma. It was already
dark when I tipped it into the pan, so I don't know what colour it
was, but it smelt vile and didn't taste very nice. I ended up tipping
it back into the tin and throwing it away.

It was only afterwards that I remembered that I've never really liked
Korma, so I haven't a clue why I bought it. Perhaps it wasn't "off"
after all?

Judith

beaker said:

Quoted message said:

I used to use dried packet food (e.g. safeway pasta pronto) but they are
all very samey and end up being boring. Always better to cook your own
IMHO.

Last year I took the 2 yr past its best before date packet of Bachelor's
Pasta'n'Sauce that had been at the bottom of my box of hiking food for some
time. It was supposed to be red and taste something like tomatoes, in fact
it was a dark brown and tasted of marmite. Now I try and rotate the food in
my box a bit better :-)

In the Beacons, in November, I decided to finally eat my
well-past-its-best-before-date tin of Vegetable Korma. It was already
dark when I tipped it into the pan, so I don't know what colour it
was, but it smelt vile and didn't taste very nice. I ended up tipping
it back into the tin and throwing it away.

It was only afterwards that I remembered that I've never really liked
Korma, so I haven't a clue why I bought it. Perhaps it wasn't "off"
after all?

Judith

beaker said:

Quoted message said:

I used to use dried packet food (e.g. safeway pasta pronto) but they are
all very samey and end up being boring. Always better to cook your own
IMHO.

Last year I took the 2 yr past its best before date packet of Bachelor's
Pasta'n'Sauce that had been at the bottom of my box of hiking food for some
time. It was supposed to be red and taste something like tomatoes, in fact
it was a dark brown and tasted of marmite. Now I try and rotate the food in
my box a bit better :-)

In the Beacons, in November, I decided to finally eat my
well-past-its-best-before-date tin of Vegetable Korma. It was already
dark when I tipped it into the pan, so I don't know what colour it
was, but it smelt vile and didn't taste very nice. I ended up tipping
it back into the tin and throwing it away.

It was only afterwards that I remembered that I've never really liked
Korma, so I haven't a clue why I bought it. Perhaps it wasn't "off"
after all?

Judith

beaker said:

Quoted message said:

I used to use dried packet food (e.g. safeway pasta pronto) but they are
all very samey and end up being boring. Always better to cook your own
IMHO.

Last year I took the 2 yr past its best before date packet of Bachelor's
Pasta'n'Sauce that had been at the bottom of my box of hiking food for some
time. It was supposed to be red and taste something like tomatoes, in fact
it was a dark brown and tasted of marmite. Now I try and rotate the food in
my box a bit better :-)

In the Beacons, in November, I decided to finally eat my
well-past-its-best-before-date tin of Vegetable Korma. It was already
dark when I tipped it into the pan, so I don't know what colour it
was, but it smelt vile and didn't taste very nice. I ended up tipping
it back into the tin and throwing it away.

It was only afterwards that I remembered that I've never really liked
Korma, so I haven't a clue why I bought it. Perhaps it wasn't "off"
after all?

Judith

beaker said:

Quoted message said:

I used to use dried packet food (e.g. safeway pasta pronto) but they are
all very samey and end up being boring. Always better to cook your own
IMHO.

Last year I took the 2 yr past its best before date packet of Bachelor's
Pasta'n'Sauce that had been at the bottom of my box of hiking food for some
time. It was supposed to be red and taste something like tomatoes, in fact
it was a dark brown and tasted of marmite. Now I try and rotate the food in
my box a bit better :-)

In the Beacons, in November, I decided to finally eat my
well-past-its-best-before-date tin of Vegetable Korma. It was already
dark when I tipped it into the pan, so I don't know what colour it
was, but it smelt vile and didn't taste very nice. I ended up tipping
it back into the tin and throwing it away.

It was only afterwards that I remembered that I've never really liked
Korma, so I haven't a clue why I bought it. Perhaps it wasn't "off"
after all?

Judith

beaker said:

Quoted message said:

I used to use dried packet food (e.g. safeway pasta pronto) but they are
all very samey and end up being boring. Always better to cook your own
IMHO.

Last year I took the 2 yr past its best before date packet of Bachelor's
Pasta'n'Sauce that had been at the bottom of my box of hiking food for some
time. It was supposed to be red and taste something like tomatoes, in fact
it was a dark brown and tasted of marmite. Now I try and rotate the food in
my box a bit better :-)

In the Beacons, in November, I decided to finally eat my
well-past-its-best-before-date tin of Vegetable Korma. It was already
dark when I tipped it into the pan, so I don't know what colour it
was, but it smelt vile and didn't taste very nice. I ended up tipping
it back into the tin and throwing it away.

It was only afterwards that I remembered that I've never really liked
Korma, so I haven't a clue why I bought it. Perhaps it wasn't "off"
after all?

Judith

beaker said:

Quoted message said:

I used to use dried packet food (e.g. safeway pasta pronto) but they are
all very samey and end up being boring. Always better to cook your own
IMHO.

Last year I took the 2 yr past its best before date packet of Bachelor's
Pasta'n'Sauce that had been at the bottom of my box of hiking food for some
time. It was supposed to be red and taste something like tomatoes, in fact
it was a dark brown and tasted of marmite. Now I try and rotate the food in
my box a bit better :-)

In the Beacons, in November, I decided to finally eat my
well-past-its-best-before-date tin of Vegetable Korma. It was already
dark when I tipped it into the pan, so I don't know what colour it
was, but it smelt vile and didn't taste very nice. I ended up tipping
it back into the tin and throwing it away.

It was only afterwards that I remembered that I've never really liked
Korma, so I haven't a clue why I bought it. Perhaps it wasn't "off"
after all?

Judith

beaker said:

Quoted message said:

I used to use dried packet food (e.g. safeway pasta pronto) but they are
all very samey and end up being boring. Always better to cook your own
IMHO.

Last year I took the 2 yr past its best before date packet of Bachelor's
Pasta'n'Sauce that had been at the bottom of my box of hiking food for some
time. It was supposed to be red and taste something like tomatoes, in fact
it was a dark brown and tasted of marmite. Now I try and rotate the food in
my box a bit better :-)

In the Beacons, in November, I decided to finally eat my
well-past-its-best-before-date tin of Vegetable Korma. It was already
dark when I tipped it into the pan, so I don't know what colour it
was, but it smelt vile and didn't taste very nice. I ended up tipping
it back into the tin and throwing it away.

It was only afterwards that I remembered that I've never really liked
Korma, so I haven't a clue why I bought it. Perhaps it wasn't "off"
after all?

Judith

beaker said:

Quoted message said:

I used to use dried packet food (e.g. safeway pasta pronto) but they are
all very samey and end up being boring. Always better to cook your own
IMHO.

Last year I took the 2 yr past its best before date packet of Bachelor's
Pasta'n'Sauce that had been at the bottom of my box of hiking food for some
time. It was supposed to be red and taste something like tomatoes, in fact
it was a dark brown and tasted of marmite. Now I try and rotate the food in
my box a bit better :-)

In the Beacons, in November, I decided to finally eat my
well-past-its-best-before-date tin of Vegetable Korma. It was already
dark when I tipped it into the pan, so I don't know what colour it
was, but it smelt vile and didn't taste very nice. I ended up tipping
it back into the tin and throwing it away.

It was only afterwards that I remembered that I've never really liked
Korma, so I haven't a clue why I bought it. Perhaps it wasn't "off"
after all?

Judith

beaker said:

Quoted message said:

I used to use dried packet food (e.g. safeway pasta pronto) but they are
all very samey and end up being boring. Always better to cook your own
IMHO.

Last year I took the 2 yr past its best before date packet of Bachelor's
Pasta'n'Sauce that had been at the bottom of my box of hiking food for some
time. It was supposed to be red and taste something like tomatoes, in fact
it was a dark brown and tasted of marmite. Now I try and rotate the food in
my box a bit better :-)

In the Beacons, in November, I decided to finally eat my
well-past-its-best-before-date tin of Vegetable Korma. It was already
dark when I tipped it into the pan, so I don't know what colour it
was, but it smelt vile and didn't taste very nice. I ended up tipping
it back into the tin and throwing it away.

It was only afterwards that I remembered that I've never really liked
Korma, so I haven't a clue why I bought it. Perhaps it wasn't "off"
after all?

Judith

beaker said:

Quoted message said:

I used to use dried packet food (e.g. safeway pasta pronto) but they are
all very samey and end up being boring. Always better to cook your own
IMHO.

Last year I took the 2 yr past its best before date packet of Bachelor's
Pasta'n'Sauce that had been at the bottom of my box of hiking food for some
time. It was supposed to be red and taste something like tomatoes, in fact
it was a dark brown and tasted of marmite. Now I try and rotate the food in
my box a bit better :-)

In the Beacons, in November, I decided to finally eat my
well-past-its-best-before-date tin of Vegetable Korma. It was already
dark when I tipped it into the pan, so I don't know what colour it
was, but it smelt vile and didn't taste very nice. I ended up tipping
it back into the tin and throwing it away.

It was only afterwards that I remembered that I've never really liked
Korma, so I haven't a clue why I bought it. Perhaps it wasn't "off"
after all?

Judith