Trail snacks

[Nightfall]

Hi all. I was just wondering what everyone eats while on trail. Not as a meal where one has to set up a stove or start a fire, just a quick snack at a stop. I like dried cranberrys and raisons, dried blueberrys and pine nuts. When in season blackberrys and huckleberrys are always good.

[leon-1]

Yep, dried fruit, nuts, biltong or jerky any of those tend to find thier way ino my pockets for trips :-)

[jamesdevine]

Much the same as above and I always seem to find large quantities of chocolate in my pockets and pack. (Cadbury Whole nut MMmmmmm).

James

[TheViking]

Chocolate, dried bananas, candy and best of all: pistachio nuts! :o): :biggthump

[hootchi]

I do like a bit of neat jelly. Cereal bars, fruit or chocolate.

I find eating nuts and raisins a bit of a chore coz you cant get a proper handfull with gloves on and end up eating some of the fleece from your glove :roll: , then bag splits and :cry:

[NickBristol]

Always nice to have chocolate in your pockets - until it melts :roll:

I like to carry a few small packs of macadamia nuts from Tesco in my pockets - loads of energy in even a small pack, plenty of salt to replace what's lost in sweat and the best tasting nut ever. If only they grew on trees... i mean on tree's round here :roll:

[tomtom]

Green and Blacks! :biggthump

[Hellz]

Honey dipped dried banana is a favourite of mine. Chocolate is popular too :mrgreen:

Next time I'm out I'm taking a ziplock bag of a cereal I found in Sainsburys (own brand). It's a sort of honey nut corn flake, almonds, dried cranberries and some yoghurt coated flakes... makes a nice nibble and is small and fiddly enough to stop me eating it all in one go :wink:

Hellz

[arctic hobo]

Honey and dark chocolate - Honey because it's useful for cuts as well as having health benefits, and dark chocolate (70% or over) cleans your teeth (it's true!) and increases iron takeup. Iron stops you getting tired and most importantly helps your muscles recover for the next day. Plus they taste gorgeous :o):
If I'm in Devon I never miss picking blackberries too.

[Justin Time]

hmmm, Green & Blacks (insert droolling Homer icon here)

Tesco also used to do a bag of peanuts, raisins and choc drops which hit the spot nicely... on a slightly different tangent I've discovered a passion for Oatcakes with Sardine & tomato paste ( dog likes them too!)

[RovingArcher]

I like the trail mix that my wife brings home once in a while. Usually has a bit of granola, pieces of date, sunflower seeds, almonds, dried banana, chocolate covered raisins and lots of other things.

I like Fig bars and they'll come with me once in awhile.

When I have it, I'll go to the trail food my ancestors carried and grind up some buffalo jerky and add it to parched corn that's ground into a coarse flour. It's an excellent trail food if eaten sparingly. A couple of tablespoons full and chased with drink, swells in the belly and fills me up. Any more than that and I experience discomfort like I ate a whole hog by myself. Energy, nutrients and burns clean with no ill effects if I have to live off of it for a month or more.

I also like taking honey with me. The list of medicinal benefits are extensive, plus it's pure energy and burns efficiently without ill effects for most people. However, raw honey does contain botulism spores and shouldn't be eaten by very young children (infants/toddlers) or those with a weakened immune system. If for no other reason, I think the fact that bacteria can't exist in honey at all, makes it worth packing along.

I used to carry the so called power bars, but when compared to the more natural methods of obtaining energy they aren't worth the expense or ill health effects they offer.

[alick]

Yep to honey - I take it as a better replacement for sugar.

Chocolate / mars / topic / marathon / double decker bars too i'm afraid.

Dried fruit. Nuts - esp cashews and pistachios.

Bombay mix. Anything along these lines depending what I have in the house.

I sweat copiously when exercising hard so I like salty snacks.

I also take good concentrated cordials to liven up a drink of water. Brands like Belvoir and Bottle Green do decent flavours like elderflower to drink cold and ginger or a mulled wine type cordial (without the wine) to drink hot. The key to these is no artificial sweeteners (yuk).

[hobbitboy]

Oatcakes with Sardine & tomato paste

I do hope you mean Staffordshire oatcakes (savoury pancakes absolutely fantastic as breakfast before you leave for the hills/woods) and not the poor Scotish version of an oatcake, which is blatantly a biscuit.....

Always chocolate in my pack! Always! Would die without!

[Ed]

Dried fuit and nut mix (useful ingredient for cooking with aswell) along with chocolate that seems to somehow end up in my pack ;-)

Ed

[Nightfall]

Thanks for replying everyone. Some of the posts are making me hungry. Gives me some new ideas.

[Justin Time]

I do hope you mean Staffordshire oatcakes (savoury pancakes absolutely fantastic as breakfast before you leave for the hills/woods) and not the poor Scotish version of an oatcake, which is blatantly a biscuit.....



Sorry Hobbitboy, I am Scottish, so......

[match]

For me, its almost always fruitbread - either something like malt loaf, or something closer to Christmas cake. Chocolate is often in there - particularly the Scottish favourite the Tunock's wafer :)

I also like taking mixed fruit and nuts, but for a bit of energy I sometimes make sugar-roasted peanuts as follows:

2 Cups Peanuts
1 Cup Brown Sugar
1/2 cup Water
1/2 tsp Cinnamon (optional)

Put the sugar and water in a pan and heat until the sugar is completely dissolved. Add the peanuts and cinnamon (if using), and keep cooking until the peanuts are well coated in the syrup and there is very little syrup left in the pan (i.e its all stuck to the nuts!). Pour the syrupy nuts onto a baking tray (ungreased) and bake at 150 degC for about half an hour, mixing occasionally to ensure even drying.

These will keep for a long time if stored in a jar, and are a tasty high-energy snack - provided you have a toothbrush in your camping equipment ;)

[hobbitboy]

:roll: oh well.....interesting idea though, might have to try it :lol:

[simonsays]

[QUOTE=NickBristol]Always nice to have chocolate in your pockets - until it melts :roll:


Or freezes :yikes: The damage that a frozen mars bar can do to to the teeth of the unwary is extreme....

simon

[SteveUK]

One version of trail mix I use covers all the bases - peanuts, dried fruit and M&M's. Others I have tried, Kendal mint cake, Peanut brittle, Barley sugars, and various chocolate bars.

[Carcajou Garou]

Trail food: salted peanuts, dried raisins, apricots, cranberries, sunflower seeds, and jerky. Small chocolate bars (snickers)
just a thought

[ScottC]

I love taking fruit with me especially satsumas or clementines

[Keith_Beef]

I like to forage what I can get in the late summer, early autumn; apples, blackberries, walnuts, chestnuts.


In the spring; hawthorn and beech leaves, small amounts of willow and holly bark.

I carry apples, dried beef, dry or smoked sausage, black pudding.


No matter how many times I look at the thread title, I still see it as "snail tracks".


Keith.

[Hellz]

No matter how many times I look at the thread title, I still see it as "snail tracks".
It's not just me then... phew :rolmao:

I'm hungry after reading this thread again... damn.

Hellz

[bambodoggy]

lol...I read it as Snail Tracks too and thought it sounded interesting, still seeing as I'm here now....

I tend not to eat as I go along a trail....but I always have snickers bars with me....I like the chocolet but an old scout leader told me nuts were better for me, I figured I'd split the difference and with a snikers I get both.... a party fun sized one at the top of a hill or when just back at camp is yummy! I also love beef jerky but don't confine myself to only eating it while out and about...I'm quite happy to sit by the fire at home watching tv and munching my way through a bag. I got some from "Outdoor world" while in florida earlier this year in a little tin, when I opened it it was all shreaded and looked like dried tropical fish food...still tasted yummy and I munched it all the way from Orlando to Miami by car....mmmmmmm, jerky.... :lol: Actually for all I know it may well even have been fish food.....come to think of it I did pick it up from very near the fishing section.....can any of our american members shed any light on this?

[jamesdevine]

Snickers I remeber when they used to be Marathon's. Like Wagon wheels they seemed bigger then.

James

[bambodoggy]

Yer, although I call them snikers now for ease of communication, they will always be marathons to me too :o):
Don't know if they were bigger....maybe we were just smaller! :super:

[Nightfall]

Bambodoggy, I think I know what you are talking about. If I remember right they used to make a finely shreaded jerky. They called beef jerky snuff or something like that. It used to come in a chewing tabacco like tin. I havent seen it for a long time.

[bambodoggy]

:o): Thank goodness for that....was starting to worry for a minute that I might have been eating fish food!!!!
Thanks Nightfall....that sounds like the stuff I got... Got it in "outdoor world" which has the website of www.basspro.com
cheers Mate,

Phil.

[jstyles]

macadamia nuts from Tesco in my pockets - loads of energy in even a small pack, plenty of salt to replace what's lost in sweat and the best tasting nut ever. If only they grew on trees... i mean on tree's round here :roll:

Definitely the best-tasting nuts available! (imho, that is!!)

[Toddy]

I do hope you mean Staffordshire oatcakes (savoury pancakes absolutely fantastic as breakfast before you leave for the hills/woods) and not the poor Scotish version of an oatcake, which is blatantly a biscuit.....

Always chocolate in my pack! Always! Would die without!

Are those the cheugh tasteless pitta bread shaped things? That's not an oatcake lad, that's for shoeing soles! Me I love oatcakes with butter and good cheese or jam or honey....and I can cook them from scratch over a campfire :) smells wonderful too.

In my pack, (okay, so it's girlie thing, but in my handbag too :o ) Maya Gold chocolate or Galaxy Fruit and Nut, and I always have home made muesli bars and dried apples & apricots & usually some almonds.

Cheers,
Toddy

[ronsos]

on the hill for me its dried fruit -mangoe and papaya in particular, so tasty they cant possibly be good for you .after ive left the car park however, its choclate etc as snacks. SCOTS oatcakes with just about anything on them ,for lunch stops.i keep a power bar in the fetid depths of my rucksack for emergencies-and trust me it would have to be a real emergency(eg power bar v a lepers leg) before I ate it.

[ChrisKavanaugh]

Smoked salmon and cornbread along with the usual trailmix, chocolate and dried fruit. Trouble with this stuff is every alpha predator from a male squirrel in rut to a mountain lion wants to engage in symbionic relationships not taught in Biology 101 :eek:

[Squidders]

I actually read that as "snail tracks" and I thought tracking snails... strange.

Trail foods... eat a mars bar, then a banana and then an apple.

The mars bar gives instant fuel, the banana gives a slow release fuel and the apple is nice and refreshing after ;o)

Works for me anyway ;)

[Bob Hurley]

One of the best I've used is dried melon made in my cheap store-bought dehydrator. Just slice a cantelope or honeydew melon fairly thick (thin enough to clear the next tray) and dry for a day or so. Believe it or not, even as wet as it is fresh it dries well - it shrinks a lot, and is incredibly sweet and full-flavoured when done. I have some that's been stored in a cloth bag at room temperature for six months now, and except for getting a bit darker it's as good as the day it was made. I stop drying when it gets tough like leather, I don't dry it until it breaks easily.

[FeralSheryl]

Japanese instant Aka (red) Miso Soup (http://www.okinami.com/products/small/red_instant_miso_lg.jpg) made by Kikkoman.
Soothing, savoury, nutritious, very tasty.
Dried - just add hot water.
Give it a stir, its fasinating to watch.:)

If you can't get it locally you can buy it online from Okinami (http://www.okinami.com/php/list.php?cat_id=Miso%20Soups)

[moduser]

For me the one thing that is always in my pack in Jordans Special Muesli bars, simply the best of it's type.

Also I always have a tube of honey for sweetning tea (or a spoonful because it's lovely), Cadbury's chocolate (if the weather's not too hot - I hate soggy chocolate), nuts and sultanas (better than raisins) and a pcket of Waitrose Tomata and Basil cup a soup.

Fresh fruit is always good for a stop over as well.

[Eric_Methven]

Can't beat GORP.

[FeralSheryl]

For me the one thing that is always in my pack in Jordans Special Muesli bars, simply the best of it's type. Hmmm, nice. Ever tried Hobnob Flapjacks? tasty-gorgeous if you can find them.
Err.. they only grow in supermarkets though ;)

[raskusdrotti]

hmmm, Green & Blacks (insert droolling Homer icon here)

Ehh?? :confused:

Wossat?

[Nyayo]

Can't beat home-made flapjacks (from the Winnie-the-Pooh cookbook...), and fruit 'biltong', with hazelnuts, raisins, chocolate drops, dried apple and banana bits, sunflower and pumpkin seeds and freeze-dried blueberries. Pumpkin (or watermelon seeds) are great, 'cos in the warmer parts of the world, you can plant them in each camp you make, and next year you might be pleasantly surprised...

[moduser]

Hobnon Flapjacks?

Being a huge fan of choccy Hobnobs (kept in the fridge - of course) I'm ashamed to say I've never tried them.

Have to keep a good look out. Sound yummy :)

[FeralSheryl]

Hobnon Flapjacks?

Being a huge fan of choccy Hobnobs (kept in the fridge - of course) I'm ashamed to say I've never tried them.

Have to keep a good look out. Sound yummy :)Bowdie got some from Somerfields in Wales. He brought a stash home. Haven't spottend them in any other supermarket yet. If you do, please let me know.

[Hellz]

This thread has popped up again and I was still convinced it said Snail Tracks! :rolleyes:

I've discovered that our local Farm Shop sells mini Kendall mint cakes, fit neatly into a possibles pouch :D

Hellz

[Justin Time]

Ehh?? :confused:

Wossat?
Green & Blacks... the most glorious dark organic chocolate...get it in supermarkets in the organic section.. even the milk version is quite dark... no going back to cadburies once you've tried this stuff... FairTrade too... unfortunately the company has just been sold to Nestle.... edited for accuracy.. actually it's Cadbury Schweppes who've taken over, thanks Sheryl.

[raskusdrotti]

Ohhh!

I'll be off to the shops tomorrow to have a butchers!

All in the name of research don't-you-know :D

[FeralSheryl]

Green & Blacks... the most glorious dark organic chocolate...get it in supermarkets in the organic section.. even the milk version is quite dark... no going back to cadburies once you've tried this stuff... FairTrade too... unfortunately the company has just been sold to Nestle....It's OK Andrew, according to Green & Black's website (http://www.greenandblacks.com/news.php) they've actually been taken over by Cadbury Schweppes. *relief*

You really had me worried there. We've been boycotting Nasty-Nestle for a number of years now and the (Expletive deleted) evil giant just keeps swallowing up one previously sound company after another! I couldn't believe it when I spotted their logo on After Eights a couple of years ago, my favourite chocolates in all the world. They even own water! Try buying a bottle of water without the Danone logo on it and Danone are now owned by, guess who...? :(

At least they haven't got their grubby little hands hands on Green & Blacks after all :)

[Justin Time]

thanks for putting me right Sheryl, I won't have to go without... my midwife friends would have tortured me with strange midwifery type tools if I'd bought Nestle stuff.

let's hope that Cadbury don't mess it up.

[morch]

I saw an interview with the former owner of Green & Black's, and from what i remember, part of the deal was that Cadburys were going to leave the existing management team in control and no changes to the product were to be made what so ever. You know how these things sometimes turn out though, but we live in hope

[raskusdrotti]

I just went to Sainsburys to get some Green & Blacks!

It's lovely! I can't eat a whole bar - which is a first!

Very Rich!

That's it - back to the fridge :eek:

BTW - It's 30p off a bar at the mo :D

Neil

[Toddy]

I was given a box of assorted Green & Black's chocolates at Xmas......the white stuff is excellent :) but it's still hard to beat Maya Gold :cool:

Cheers,
Toddy

[JimH]

I just went to Sainsburys to get some Green & Blacks!

It's lovely! I can't eat a whole bar - which is a first!

Try the one with butterscotch chips in - bet you can!

Re: Cadbury takeover: I hope they mean it (about not touching the product OR its ethical sourcing of RMs[1] I'll be watching and fully prepared to withdraw my custom :cool:

Jim.

[1] Raw materials, not R*y M**rs

[FeralSheryl]

Cadbury certainly used to be good guys themselves. Quaker origins, Worker Vilage, Worker Health Care etc... Haven't researched them lately but I've heard nothing to the contrary. I confess I don't know anything about the Schweppes background but I'm hopeful they'll leave G&B to their own devices, pretty much.