Lunch ideas?

[daved]

OK, bit of a vague title so I will elaborate...

I'm looking for a few food ideas for a multi-day backpacking trip. For a day trip I would usually just take a sandwich but I need something that can survive a few days in a rucksack without being reduced to crumbs, going stale or turning in to a moldy manky mess without a refigerator. I don't really want to have to fire up a stove during the day if I can help it.

Just to complicate things a little, I am not a meat eater so I'm afraid salami/jerky/tinned fish etc are off the menu.

Any favourite lunch time nibbles to recommend?

 

[scanker]

Pitta breads are fairly versatile. The ones I buy tend to have at least a week on the BB date so they don't go off, they're fairly hardy and also fairly compact. Great with a hot filling such as cheese (and bacon if you're not veggie), but are edible cold. It's not particularly nice, but Lidl sell processed cheese slices that don't need refrigeration.

Veggie ration packs could be eaten cold I suppose...struggling to think of anything else...

...rice cakes...oat cakes...?

 

[outdoorgirl]

I usually just use trail rations - nuts, seeds and dried fruit - whatever takes your fancy. I never use sandwiches for day trips or lunches when hiking...

If you don't like the idea of them loose in a bag, buy any of the many and varied cereal bars that are now available.

ODG

 

[Buckshot]

We had crackers and cheese at the moot.
Light, easy and quick.
Might have to adjust it a little though to carry them without having crumbs on day 2! A tupperware pot would work .

Mark

 

[AJB]

Oatcakes and cream cheese in a tube – no cutlery required (which, incidentally, was the working title for a dodgy 80’s Phil Collins album!).

 

[lou1661]

try bagels they are quite dense and dont squash or seem to break up, My local ethnic shop sells tins of Kraft cheese ( and before anyone asks it is just like the old rat-pack cheese possesed)

 

[JonnyP]

If you are going somewhere were there is plenty of water then noodles are an easy dried food to carry and you can add what you like to them........

 

[fred gordon]

I have always found the dry French sausage that you find in most Deli counters very good. The kind that looks a bit like a turd (sorry) and doesn't need refridgerating. Its a great basic and stand up well to being beaten up in a rucksack. You can slice it thin, put it in pasta with a little Perso sauce for a main meal, slice it into pitta bread or rolls as a lunch. It also tastes good added to cuppa soup.

 

[pteron]

I have always found the dry French sausage that you find in most Deli counters very good. The kind that looks a bit like a turd (sorry) and doesn't need refridgerating. Its a great basic and stand up well to being beaten up in a rucksack. You can slice it thin, put it in pasta with a little Perso sauce for a main meal, slice it into pitta bread or rolls as a lunch. It also tastes good added to cuppa soup.

That's a good idea, I love those sausages.

 

[pteron]

If you are going somewhere were there is plenty of water then noodles are an easy dried food to carry and you can add what you like to them........

We took noodles to the moot, cooked them in the billy then added a sauce my wife made up - garlic, fresh root ginger, kechap manis, soy, chilli oil, oyster sauce and fish sauce, all put into a little nalgene bottle. I fried this in the wok as I'd brought it along to try out after some discussion on here but it'd probably work in the billy too.

We stuffed ourselves

If you have a Chinese supermarket anywhere near you, get the unbadged generic noodles they often carry - much more meaty than the thin jobbies you get from Tesco and don't turn to mush so easily. They taste way better too.

 

[Toddy]

OK, bit of a vague title so I will elaborate...

I'm looking for a few food ideas for a multi-day backpacking trip. For a day trip I would usually just take a sandwich but I need something that can survive a few days in a rucksack without being reduced to crumbs, going stale or turning in to a moldy manky mess without a refigerator. I don't really want to have to fire up a stove during the day if I can help it.

Just to complicate things a little, I am not a meat eater so I'm afraid salami/jerky/tinned fish etc are off the menu.

Any favourite lunch time nibbles to recommend?

Good muesli bars Go heavy on the chopped fruit when you make them and they won't break up so easily. Also, if you cook an evening meal them cook extra veggie burgers or the like and fill a pitta with them, gather fresh greenery as you go and stuff the remaining space of the pitta with it for lunch.
Take a small flask, boil up at breakfast and fill the flask, use that for cooking couscous, quinoa or noodles or smash, add some chunks of cheese or cheesley and it's good food, specially with a squirt of tomato puree from a those tube.
Buy a pizza, toast it on the fire/ stove at night, fold it in half and let it cool.....it's a good sandwich the next day and doesn't crumble to birdfood.

Cheers,
Toddy

 

[scruff]

f you have a Chinese supermarket anywhere near you, get the unbadged generic noodles they often carry - much more meaty than the thin jobbies you get from Tesco and don't turn to mush so easily. They taste way better too.

"Quick Cook Noodles" - They usually have a red, yellow and white label. They are indeed fantastic.

I sometimes take Instant Ramen (Noodle Soup) but have to say its not especially filling.

Chorizo is the way forward. No refridgeration required as its cured, but packed with flavour. Lidl do an excellent one which will keep you going for a couple of days. Fine cold but cooks really well and you don't need any oil as the fat in the sausage melts down. Great with rice or cous cous (my no1 bushwhacking staple - despite the fact its dull).

If you check in your supermarkets, health shop or international store you should be able to find "Mushroom Pate". Comes in a metal tube an iirc that doesn't need refridgeration.

Haloumi is great and stuffs well in pittas especially when heated. I reckon you could get away with it for a couple of days.

Mixed olives and feta can be good too. Just make sure you've got a well sealed container for them.

 

[Ratbag]

I've done a few mountain marathons (fell races with an overnight camp) and what to take for eating during the day is always a tricksy choice (and in my experience, during a race you need to eat frequently too).

Sweet things are the easy and obvious choice but you quickly become tired of them and they can be hard to get down, but it can be difficult to find savoury things with the right qualities (fairly light, resistant to turning into a pile of crumbs, not requiring refridgeration). I also find that on trip I spend a lot of time looking forward to the next thing I'm going to eat, so it can be worth it from a morale point of view to carry a bit more weight or take more care in order to have decent scoff to look forward to. And take a variety so you don't get bored.

So, here are my suggestions for lunch items from a mountain marathon perspective (some of which are covered above), make of them what you will:

Sweet things
Snack size chocolate bars
Jelly babies
Tangfastics / Super sours
Muesli bars
Nutrigrain bars
Dried fruit (raisins, apricots, bananas)
Condensed milk (in tubes - good for putting in a brew too)

Savoury things
Bagels (quite heavy though)
Oatcakes
Pittabreads
Nuts (salted ones replace the salt you just sweated out)
Ritz / TUC cheese crackers

For veggies
Peanut butter
Yeast extract
Tinned mushroom pate
Cheese (can be long-life type or can be normal cheese - just gets a bit sweaty!)

For carnivores
Salami / Peperami
Tinned pate / meat pastes
Tinned tuna, pilchards etc

Drinking things
Electrolyte drink powder
Vitamin C and multivitamin tablet

None of this is new but I hope its useful

Regards

Rat

 

[daved]

Thanks for all the suggestions so far - plenty of food for thought (sorry, couldn't resist)

I like the oatcake suggestion - they seem to be about the most robust of the cracker/biscuit family (and taste nice too ) Pitta bread sounds like it would survive a bit of punishment in a bag and I don't think they would taste too different stale anyway. Thanks for the ideas.

Just had a look around the local shops and found some long life pitta breads with use-by dates about a month away. I also came across some German rye bread with a long shelf life. It isn't to everyone's taste but I quite liked it last time I was in Germany (tastes a bit like a savoury cross between malt loaf, flapjack and a cork dinner mat!) - very filling.

Had a look at the tubes of yeast pate - they seem quite promising. Peanut butter might be good too, if I transfer it to a lighter container.

What is that tinned cheese like? I seem to remember a few rude comments in another thread ...

Does the squeezy cheese in a tube need to be kept in a fridge? (didn't spot any today)

Toddy, does a flask really keep the water hot enough to cook with?

Sadly, those dried sausage/salami things are off the menu for me (not a meat eater) although I can vouch for how good they taste (or rather used to taste). Still love the smell of them when you walk around a French supermarket though.

Thanks everyone
Dave

 

[Toddy]

The flask keeps water hot enough from breakfast to lunch to cook instant spuds or noodles, or make up most cup-a-soups. One of my flasks keeps the water hot enough to scald, for over twelve hours, the others don't. A wide necked flask loses more heat but the kind sold for kids lunches (Aladdin used to do them) let you make the food in the flask too and that saves time, heat, dishes, etc.

Cheers,
Toddy

 

[Greywolf]

I'd go with Toddy's suggestion of a flask, make sure its an idestructable one tho

I would go with plenty of cous cous, its bland enough to add flavour to ( e.g. Oxo, dried herbs, tomato puree and garlic paste... Yummy!)

You can even add a few crumbled muesli bars before adding the hot water for a sweet meal instead of a savoury one.

Instant mash can be used as a thickener for packet (cuppa) soups and will make them more filling. Just dont add too much or you will have to slice it

Failing that, Pot Noodle?

Greywolf

 

[swyn]

My two favorites are; Uncle Bens EXPRESS Tomato and Basil Rice. This packs away easily and is quick to make. The other will go with pittas or bread or dampers; Marigold Swiss Vegetable Bouillon powder. Just add boilling water. Ah I've just thought of another; President Emmental slices, Yummy cheese Gromit!
Making me hungry for supper now.
Swyn.

 

[fred gordon]

Having read all these great ideas we'll all b putting on weight next time out trying them!!

 

[fred gordon]

Ratbag,
Do you remember Creamola foam? I was heartbroken when it came off the market. It was such a thirst quencher and I've been looking for a replacement ever since. What is the electrolyte drink powder, is it at all similar? Can you give us a trade name to try?

 

[Bunnerz]

When I go away to Wales for a few days I always take the same kind of stuff.

Breakfasts I go for a tin of beans with little sausages in, but you can go without the sausages.

Lunch times I would go for pitter breads with somethin like peanut butter or cheese in, sounds bland but does the job.

Dinners I go for the good old rashin packs. I get mine from millets and they have a wide variety of meat and non meat meals, plus deserts like chocolate pudding (its not good though )

As for snacks to keep me going i go for seeds and cereal bars