What food would you take with you on a 2 day hike? No food pakets [Archive]

FreshMint

30-06-2005, 09:40

Heya
I wonder what food would you guys take with you on a two day (one night sleeping outside) with you.
Not the artifical packet food you get in the outdoor shops.

Here is what i have thought of so far:

1x Salami
4x Apples
1/2 bread
2x Banana
2x Cans of Red Kidney beans (high in complex carbs and relativly delicious)
4x Protein Bars (you get them in any BB shop)
3x Can of Tuna

raskusdrotti

30-06-2005, 09:52

4x Protein Bars (you get them in any BB shop)

Not the artifical packet food you get in the outdoor shops.

IMHO Breaking your own rules :D

I would replace protein bars with homemade mixed nut muesli bars or mixed nuts.

I would also include a small amount of brown rice (maybe half a cup) to make a kidney bean and tuna hotpot - adding some complex carbs.
Add a clove of garlic and some crushed chillies and a veggie stock cube.
LOVELY :)

Also swap the bread for brown pitta bread

Neil

FreshMint

30-06-2005, 10:11

IMHO Breaking your own rules :D

I would replace protein bars with homemade mixed nut muesli bars or mixed nuts.

I would also include a small amount of brown rice (maybe half a cup) to make a kidney bean and tuna hotpot - adding some complex carbs.
Add a clove of garlic and some crushed chillies and a veggie stock cube.
LOVELY :)

Also swap the bread for brown pitta bread

Neil

sounds good.

jamesdevine

30-06-2005, 10:35

My Wife has wonderful receipe for Fig bar which is really tasty. I'll post the reciepe later. Also making your own Jerky is a good Idea was well.

James

RovingArcher

30-06-2005, 15:38

A few spices, a leather pouch of parched corn and even though this method isn't lawful in the UK and other countries, to make the meat, I take my bow with a quiver of arrows.

Brynglas

30-06-2005, 16:13

I often take cous cous which is extremely quick and easy to prepare, just add boiling water and some seasoning, leave for 10 - 15 minutes whilst you prepare the rest of your meal and it's done, also it's extremely lightweight when dried and bulks up considerably when cooked.

Oats and pearl barley are another favourite of mine, excellent when added to soups and stews.

If you're happy to carry the weight of tins, why not take some fresh vegetables, a clove of garlic, an onion or a leek, a couple of carrots or potatoes, easy to cook and no packets to carry out when you're done.

tomtom

30-06-2005, 16:15

i would take a block of cheese!

but thats just me :rolleyes:

i would also personaly replace the bread with rice or pasta.. only because a hot meal is always nice!

Stuart

30-06-2005, 16:15

I second cous cous, fantastic stuff for backwoods cooking

sandbender

30-06-2005, 18:15

I carry one of those small sigg bottles filled with olive oil and amongst other things I pour it onto bread as a butter substitute.

Doc

30-06-2005, 19:23

Lots of options here. I like to keep pack weight down so tend to go for dehydrated.

Pepperami salami - cheap, light,about 50% fat so calorie dense, pasteurised so no need to refrigerate, strongly flavoured so a useful ingredient to 'forager's stew'.

Pasta - tasty, cheap, dehydrated so low pack weight. Get the 3 minute cook version.

CousCous - see pasta.

Wayfarer pouch meals - effectively the same as tinned but in a pouch instead of a tin. Very hassle free and quite tasty but portions small, expensive, and as not dehydrated you're carrying unnecessary water.

Instant mash- Calvin Rustrum raves about it - I guess it was new technology in 1950 :) Still useful and rich in (artificially added) vitamin C.

If you're cooking over fires and fuel is no problem, rice is good too.

I'd avoid tinned food on weight grounds. You have to carry the tins out as well as in of course.

Again, if you're cooking with a fire consider a plastic bag of bannock mix and you just add water. Cooking utensils not required - you roll it into a long sausage and wind it round a peeled green non-toxic stick (birch is good) and prop it over the fire. No-one showed me this - I just read about it and tried it. Very easy and very tasty - nothing like hot freshly baked bannock when outdoors. Try it over the barbie at home.

anthonyyy

30-06-2005, 20:47

I second cous cous, fantastic stuff for backwoods cooking

I second that seconding.
Great thing is it is easy to clean pots afterwards, it is quick, dosent waste water like pasta.
I like to warm some olive oil in a pan and toss the cous cous in this before adding hot water.

Tastes great with feta cheese.

Bumblebee

02-07-2005, 11:10

I second that seconding.
Great thing is it is easy to clean pots afterwards, it is quick, dosent waste water like pasta.
I like to warm some olive oil in a pan and toss the cous cous in this before adding hot water.

Tastes great with feta cheese.

Mmmmm, nice. If you can find it try bulgur instead of cous-cous. More taste, less refined (helthier) and same weight/cooking time. Olive oil in a small Sigg botttle was an excellent idea!

neo_wales2000

05-07-2005, 00:47

I just take an Army 24 hour ration pack, its got everything you need.
If my lad comes with me we take more fresh food and knock up stuff like corned beef stew.

Dried veg, onions, peppers, mushrooms are good, about 85p a packet for the Batchelor stuff; pre soak if you can to save on cooking time, add hot dogs/corned beef, (and things like garlic, curry powder etc) for a hot meal with smash. 5 minute rice/pasta with sauce, pepperami, couscous, don't forget stock cubes or packet soup (chicken, mushroom and ox tail are good for stock also). Small zip lock bags of herbs, galic powder make a big difference, as does a small bottle (panda pop type) of good oil, and some sachets of brown/red sauce. I recently got some emtpy 'Tooth paste' type tubes you can fill at home, ideal for jam, butter etc.

A current favouite at present in 5 minute rice and a curry made with dried onions and tinned pilchards yum yum

Graham_S

05-07-2005, 02:08

i was out at the weekend. lunch was cous-cous with 1/2 a stock cube, 2"of garlic paste and a generous shake of chilli flakes. washed down with a cup of green tea with honey.
ready in 15 mins (this includes time spent looking for fuel and then lighting my volcano kettle)

zackerty

05-07-2005, 05:10

Three tins...two baked beans, one salmon.
1 habenero chilli, three Rooibos teabags, one bottle Montieth's Black Beer. :)

simonsays

05-07-2005, 07:22

Breakfast in the outdoors for me is nearly always a cup full of oats pre-mixed with milk powder, sugar and some dried fruit

For a really quick hot lunch I tend to go for a block of noodles (Currently retailing for 9 pence in Quicksave) with a packet of cup-a-soup mix thrown in once they are cooked. You can easily make this more interesting by adding things like garlic, chilli flakes, salami, dried veg/peppers/mushrooms/onions.

Given time and sufficient access to fuel I would tend to go for a stew as an evening meal. Spuds, carrots, turnips (All chopped really small), some ready made dumpling mix. herbs/spices and either some tinned meat or home made jerky.

Or a couple of ration packs :rolleyes:

simon

Rod

06-07-2005, 17:37

As much homemade beef jerky as I can carry! (very moreish). Will munch/chew/suck on this throughout the day
Uncle Ben's boil in the bag rice x2 - carbs
super noodles x2-6 carbo/stodge
oxo cubes - flavour
sundried tomatoes/mushies/peppers - flavour
dried chorizo sausages - yum
oatcakes - carbs
primula cheese in a tube fat + protein
tinned mackeral x2 omega3's ++
broth mix - filling protein from pulses with carbs too
fruit leather - dried 'flat' fruit - from a healthfood shop

These are some of my current 'flavourites'

Remember, if you're not dining like a king - you ain't doin' it right!

stoddy

06-07-2005, 19:34

Egg Banjos!! :D

Jamie

06-07-2005, 20:48

raskusdrotti

06-07-2005, 20:58

primula cheese in a tube fat + protein

Hey I forgot all about that stuff!!

I gotta go get some :D

Neil

Gripper

10-07-2005, 12:34

I'd 2nd the cous-cous. Always have some homemade Roo jerky and some bannock pre mixed and just needing some water mixed in. Kidney beans are a good one and I have been making some pretty good curries from chunky veg soup with instant mash and indian spices added. We also have some great soup mixes down here made by Trident foods that tast fantastic and just need water adding - perfect for my snowpeak 700, trangia clikstand combo.

Mark

Brixton

10-07-2005, 20:58

Thread starter said no packets
Yet nearly everyone has gone for some kind of containerised or pre-prepared food.
Packets, tins, etc. even pasta's prepared by someone else from flour.
Don't know what cous cous is made from but I bet there isn't a cous cous tree (indigenous to the UK at any rate).
Me I like Oatso-simples for breakfast and pasta-n-sauce for supper; containerised sure but burnable packets and for lunch potato farls(cos they don't mush up like sarnies) containing bananas and plain crisps.
I mainly like these because my wife will not let me eat such crap in the house :)

a hidden bonus with the plain crisps is that if you get the original style Walkers as opposed to the new healthier ones they make brilliant firelighters even when damp.
Hula hoops taste OK but are pants at burning.

Toddy

10-07-2005, 21:25

Oatcakes
Home made muesli bars
Bag of home made dried stock/herbs; salt/oregano/sage/lovage/dill/f.l.parsley/mushrooms/ etc.,
Pre-steamed and dried barley.
Dried fruits
Hazelnuts & almonds & sunflower seeds
Cheddar cheese or maybe caerphilly or a white stilton
dried herbs for tea; spearmint, chamomile......

Breakfast; tea and muesli bars
Elevenses; fruit & oatcakes & cheese
Dinner; Savoury barley with any wild foods available, i.e. steamed vegetables & mushrooms
Nuts & fruit for pudding
Supper; tea & muesli bar

No cooking except to boil water :) Everything *home* grown too.

Cheers,
Toddy

Firewyre

11-07-2005, 14:43

Very new here, and only camped out once (so far) so here goes.

Meal 1 - Rice and Tuna.
Can of tuna.
Uncle Bens boil in the bag rice x1
Small tub of mayonaise.

Meal 2 - Fahitas.
2/3 tortillas.
Sachet of spice and salsa that comes with it.
Thinly sliced quorn burger and some sliced peppers in a sealable bag.

I've found (in my limited experience) that the little bottles you can buy for toiletries in Muji (Birmingham high street, Japanese 'stuff' shop) are excellent for putting things like cooking oil in to squirt into the pan. Also, if you buy the little boxes of sushi from Tesco they come with a little plastic fish-bottle for soy - reusable and just small enough for one meal's worth of soy (or vinegar, or other thin condiment).

moduser

11-07-2005, 15:24

For herbs and spices I normally use the 7 day pill dispensers with a piece of duck tape over it to avoid accidental opening.

I recently tried, for the Dartmoor meet, the screw together containers from Boots, used for holiday cosmetics.

The look good in clean hard plastic (almost unbreakable) however I found that you can overtighten them to the point you need two pairs of pliers to get them undone and granular items such as salt, garlic salt etc can get caught in the threads making them almost impossible to undo even with pliers.

I won't be using them again. Back to the pill dispensers. It's also worth inversting in a set of travel bottles from Nalgene
http://www.nalgene-outdoor.com/store/subcategory.asp?categorysubcat egorycode=19
for less than a tenner you get bottles that are ideal for olive oil, (my preference) cider vinegar, washing up liquid (the pack includes to lids with fold down spouts), and small canisters for whatever.

Great stuff. You can never have enough seasoning. It gives you variety even if the basics are pretty much the same each day.

grahoom

11-07-2005, 15:25

flat bread is a good one to take, as it packs down very small - and its light and not bulky but tastes great. ideal with home mad houmous.

also i generally take some apples and carrots as they are great for eating while on the move.

here is a good link of some flat breads
http://www.efn.org/~sundance/FlatBreads.html

NickBristol

11-07-2005, 15:37

Also, if you buy the little boxes of sushi from Tesco they come with a little plastic fish-bottle for soy - reusable and just small enough for one meal's worth of soy (or vinegar, or other thin condiment).

M&S ones are the best from the high street stores are they are of a bit more generous size. It doesn't have to be just thin runny sauces dressings that go in a sushi soy bottle.. just use a syringe (body only, no needle!) to inject it into the bottle - you can get much thicker condiments in, my favourites are tomato sauce, mayonaise, honey, mustard, jam and lighter gel (not in the same bottle!). Obviously make sure you label these properly and dont try putting lighting gel on your chips. When it comes to using the condiment, just give the bottle a good squeeze and it comes out no problems with a lovely gloopy sound :)

Yes I eat too much sushi and yes I have too much time on my hands to think of how to fill the little bottles...

Graham_S

11-07-2005, 19:36

i found a "poundland" type shop selling re-useable plastic bottles similar to nalgene ones. 7 tubs for £1. bargain i bought 2 packs.

ideal for spices, oils, and other stuff.

dtalbot

11-07-2005, 20:46

Dried TVP mince is a good one, add water some suitable fungus and some dried chilli and you have the makings of a good meal.

spamel

13-07-2005, 16:37

JimH

19-07-2005, 11:04

Maybe somebody from Sheffield/Rotherham can shed a bit of light on Savoury Duck? I had it at my parents and thought it was ideal for bushcraft as it expands so much. I had it with mashed spuds, but I imagine you couls use other stuff.

Spamel

It's a kind of skinless haggis arrangement, but pork, not mutton.

Rather like faggots, but with oatmeal in - about 1/2 way between a sausage and a white pudding, with added liver.

Been a while, mind you, as my Nan died in 1991.

Jim.

spamel

19-07-2005, 13:31

There's liver in it?!! I asked my dad what was in it and he said he didn't have a clue, so we asked in Rotherham where he gets it from, and the lass behind the counter didn't know either!

Do you think it would be suitable for bushcraft? I'm not too sure how well it keeps.

ilovemybed

27-07-2005, 13:59

I can't believe nobody's mentioned porridge :confused: . Can you get a better portable breakfast? You can stick almost anything in porridge if you want to have variation: berries, dried fruit, jam, honey, sugar, salt, chocolate, you name it!

My favourite is wild sorrel leaves (a trick from the Tenements in Glasgow, rather than the wild woods!). They wilt a little bit and add a really nice sharp apple taste to it.

Oh, and if Restaurant magazine's #1 Restaurant in the world (http://www.fatduck.co.uk/) is to be belived, Snail porridge (http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/snailporridge_74858.shtml) goes down a treat!

Phil562

27-07-2005, 14:46

Dont't forget the tabasco sauce :eek:

Lithril

27-07-2005, 14:47

If you want a decent breakfast, vacuum packed bacon last a lot longer than artificial atmosphere packs, you can also freeze it and use it as a cool block.

Shepherd

07-08-2005, 23:40

I just take an Army 24 hour ration pack, its got everything you need.

Has it got one of these in?... :)

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn6185

arctic hobo

08-08-2005, 10:53

Has it got one of these in?... :)

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn6185
Hmmm. If you urinated on it you'd get a very high concentration of salts. This would dehydrate you, so you'd need a lot to drink with the meal.... and if water isn't available to rehydrate the food I can't imagine it'd be available to drink :rolleyes:

JimH

08-08-2005, 17:02

There's liver in it?!! I asked my dad what was in it and he said he didn't have a clue, so we asked in Rotherham where he gets it from, and the lass behind the counter didn't know either!

http://bbc.net.uk/dna/ww2/A3004787
(para. 2 reveals all)

There are INCREDIBLY few web.references to it. I think it was a wartime expedient for "stretching" small quantities of tasty food with stodge, and purely Northern, to boot...

...and YES there is liver in it ( :eek: or :D , depending)

Do you think it would be suitable for bushcraft? I'm not too sure how well it keeps.

If it's part offal, it'd get pretty rank after a day or 2 in summer...

I'd consider carrying a little salt-pork, onion[1] and oatmeal and making a sort of white pudding. If an unlucky rabbit or pigeon came your way, it's liver and lights into the mix would make the real thing, I guess.

I'll ask my ma to dig out Minnies old wartime cookbook. This could be the start of an extremely bland experience...

Jim.

Jim.

[1] Or use ramsons/ hedge garlic in season...

isotonicpies

15-08-2005, 15:57

Salami (Protein & Fat)
Waxed Cheese (Protein & Fat)
Pitta Bread (Carbs)
Curry Powder (Flavour)
Jerky (Protein)
Milk Powder (All good stuff in here)
Cupasoups (Quick fix)
Salt (Flavour)
Pepper (Flavour)
Oats (Carb)
Dark Chocolate (Sugar)
Apples (Healthy stuff)
Small bottle of Soda Stream Fruit Juice Concentrate & Small Bottle of Everclear (95% Alcohol) - (Entertainment)

Grez

15-08-2005, 17:12

Home made muesli bars

Out of interest Toddy what recipe do you use?

Cheers

Grez..

falling rain

15-08-2005, 18:31

for the evening meal in winter. This warms the old cockles a treat

Stew 1 - 2 people depending on how hungry you are

I med sized leek or onion
2 potatoes
1 large carrot
1 sweet potato or squash
1 ring of Mattesons smoked sausage or other 'Bockwurst' or 'hot dog' type sausage or some chicken (fried in the bottom of the pot first) or any meat you fancy really. Diced pork is also good.
1 Small tin of chopped tomatoes
Vegetable stock powder or cube
Cornflour to thicken the stew
Tabasco sauce (optional but I love it) add after cooking

Peel the sweet potato, the other veg can just be cut up and dosn't need peeling. Fry the meat in your cooking pot if using raw meat, add the chopped up veg and some water and start heating it up. Add some cornflour and vegetable stock powder mixed first with cold water otherwise it goes lumpy if you stick straight in hot water. Boil till the veg is soft. The sweet potato will disintegrate a little but it adds to the taste of the liquid. When nearly done add the tinned tomatoes, and sausage if using already cooked meat. serve and add tabasco. Absolutely delicious and will warm you a treat on a cold night in the woods