Some Backpacking Recipies & Gear Lists
Friday, 11. July 2008, 05:09:26
When I hiked the south half of the John Muir Trail (see my blog post archive) in 2003, my preparations included careful measuring & trials of various homemade backpacking foods. The following blog is a table of all the experimenting I did. I put it together rather quickly and my notes weren't good enough to know which recipies were the best and which needed improvements. So, you'll need to do some experimenting on your own, but these should give you a place to start. For all my recipies, all you need to do is add about 2 cups of boiling water & let it sit, covered, for a minute or two. All the recipies were made from items that can be bulk purchased, so are much less expensive than pre-packaged, freeze-dried backpacking foods. I have to admit, the calorie intake for these foods is pretty low for the amount of activity required, so if you're trying to loose weight it'll be good, but if not then take more or maybe take a stick of butter and add a spoonful to each meal. I was hungry & lost weight, so I prolly should have taken more food.
This was a 10-day trip over 140 miles at high elevation (started south of Mount Whitney and ended at Florence lake). My hiking partner and I split the meals, so we each made 5 dinners each. The quantities listed in my recipies are for 1 person. Read the "General Info" section for some other details.
The second part of the blog below is a nearly complete list of stuff I took, including some item weights. This was a fairly light weight trip, but not the crazy lightweight that's popular these days. We took a tarp instead of a tent and fortunately had good weather so we didn't even use the tarp.
Please let me know if you find anything good here, if you have any improvements or suggestions, or if you have trouble reading the table below.
This was a 10-day trip over 140 miles at high elevation (started south of Mount Whitney and ended at Florence lake). My hiking partner and I split the meals, so we each made 5 dinners each. The quantities listed in my recipies are for 1 person. Read the "General Info" section for some other details.
The second part of the blog below is a nearly complete list of stuff I took, including some item weights. This was a fairly light weight trip, but not the crazy lightweight that's popular these days. We took a tarp instead of a tent and fortunately had good weather so we didn't even use the tarp.
Please let me know if you find anything good here, if you have any improvements or suggestions, or if you have trouble reading the table below.
Link to my previous blog entry about the trip is here.
Link to Part 2 of this blog entry, which has my GEAR list is here.
You can download a spreadsheet version of these blog tables in OpenOffice or MS Excel format below: Backpacking Recipies.ods Backpacking Recipies.xls
Sheet 1: Food
| FOOD | ||||||
| General Notes: | ||||||
| The variations on the themes, in general, were improvements, so I think I went with the final version as the recipe I took. | ||||||
| I tend to like pretty mild (a.k.a “bland”) foods, so adjust your spices accordingly. | ||||||
| For lunches, I took “Moose Goo” which I spread 3 or 4 strips on a tortilla. You can Google this recipie on the internet. | ||||||
| For dinners, about 1 ½ cup of dried food (to which 2 cups of boiling water was added) seemed to be filling during my “testing” phase. I was hungrier in the later days of the hike since my reserves were gone. | ||||||
| I started the hike weighing 121 and exited weighing 117 lbs. Todd started the hike weighing 220 lbs and exited a lot lighter. I finished 100% of my food on the last day, Todd had some emergency food left. | ||||||
| Both Todd & My total food weights (10-days of breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and snacks) were 18 lbs each (1.8 lbs per day, including packaging which were mostly plastic produce and zip lock bags) | ||||||
| 1 handful of Fritos was my biggest food pleasure each day. I kept from crushing in my lightweight plastic (ziploc) food bowl. I had read somewhere that Fritos and Pringles have high calorie to weight ratio. | ||||||
| Weight info given in tables are from measurements I made. | ||||||
| Carbs, calories, and protein info are from what's reported on package & are adjusted based on the relative amount that I put in. | ||||||
| My final food inventory: | ||||||
| Lunches | ||||||
| Days 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 | Tortilla + Moose Goo (took 2 large toothpaste-sized tubes with me) | |||||
| Dried Fruit (4 large pieces per day?) | ||||||
| Chips (1 handful of Fritos per day) | ||||||
| Beef Jerky (1 strip, approx 1”x3” per day) | ||||||
| Days 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 | Crackers (about 10 triscuts?) | |||||
| Cheese (x3) Hummus (x2) | ||||||
| Dried Fruit (4 large pieces per day?) | ||||||
| Chips (1 handful of Fritos per day) | ||||||
| Beef Jerky (1 strip, approx 1”x3” per day) | ||||||
| Snacks | ||||||
| Bars (2 per day) | ||||||
| Nut/M&M/sesame stick gorp mix (5 palmfuls per day) | ||||||
| Dinners | ||||||
| Day 1 | Ramen (3 packets for 2 people; used only 2 flavor packets in the pot) | |||||
| Fresh veggies (broccoli, zucchini) | ||||||
| Beef Jerky | ||||||
| Cookies (famous amos!) | ||||||
| Day 3 | Black Beans & Rice | |||||
| Chocolate | ||||||
| Day 5 | Ramen (3 packets for 2 people) | |||||
| Freeze dried veggies | ||||||
| Beef Jerky | ||||||
| Cookies (famous amos!) | ||||||
| Day 7 | Mashed Potatoes, Chili + Cheese | |||||
| Chocolate | ||||||
| Day 9 | Ramen (3 packets for 2 people) | |||||
| Freeze dried veggies | ||||||
| Beef Jerky | ||||||
| Cookies | ||||||
| Breakfasts | ||||||
| Homemade granola (hich calorie with lots of oil) and Crackling Oat bran (1 cup) & powdered milk (½ cup worth) | ||||||
| RECIPIES (I can't remember which ones turned out best, see “general notes” above | ||||||
| Rice & Beans | ||||||
| Qty | Item | Wt (g) | Calories | Carbos | Protein | Approx $ |
| 2/3 Cup | Fantastic Instant Back Bean Mix | 102.5 | 320 | 58 | 20 | 1 |
| 1 Cup | Uncle Ben's Instant 5-min rice | 98.9 | 380 | 86 | 6 | 0.5 |
| ½ tbs | Lawry's season salt | 2.5 | 0.2 | |||
| 2 pinches | cumin powder | (weight includes all spices) | ||||
| 2 pinches | basil | |||||
| 2 pinches | dried cilantro | |||||
| 203.9 | 700 | 144 | 26 | 1.7 | ||
| Instructions: | ||||||
| Add 2 cups boiling water & let sit covered. | ||||||
| Notes: Can use 1 tsp of chicken stock powder or ½ a bullion cube instead of season salt. | ||||||
| Comparison with Chili Mashed potatoes w/ Cheese: 1.61x heavier, 1.84x calories, 2.48x carbs, 1.13x more protein. | ||||||
| 10-day weight: 2.039kg = 4.5 lbs | ||||||
| Variation on Rice & Beans 1 (less beans, more spices) | ||||||
| Qty | Item | Wt (g) | Calories | Carbos | Protein | Approx $ |
| ½ cup | Fantastic Instant Back Bean Mix | 73.7 | 262 | 47 | 16 | |
| 1 Cup | Uncle Ben's Instant 5-min rice | 94.1 | 380 | 86 | 5 | |
| large spoon/small handfull | onion flakes | 3.8 | (weight includes all spices) | |||
| 3 pinches | garlic powder | |||||
| 3 pinches | basil, dried | |||||
| 3 pinches | cilantro, dried | |||||
| 3 pinches | cumin powder | |||||
| 2 shakes | Lawry's season salt | |||||
| 171.6 | 642 | 133 | 21 | |||
| Instructions: | ||||||
| Add 2 cups boiling water & let sit covered. | ||||||
| Variation on Rice & Beans 2 [with Textured Vegetable Protein (TVP]) | ||||||
| Qty | Item | Wt (g) | Calories | Carbos | Protein | Approx $ |
| ½ cup | Fantastic Instant Back Bean Mix | 77 | 262 | 47 | 16 | |
| ¾ cup | Uncle Ben's Instant 5-min rice | 75.1 | 287.6 | 62.3 | 6.39 | |
| ¼ cup | TVP | 19 | 102.1 | 11.1 | 19 | |
| large spoon/small handfull | onion flakes | 3.8 | (weight includes all spices) | |||
| 3 pinches | garlic powder | |||||
| 3 pinches | basil, dried | |||||
| 3 pinches | cilantro, dried | |||||
| 3 pinches | cumin powder | |||||
| 2 shakes | Lawry's season salt | |||||
| 174.9 | 651.7 | 120.4 | 41.39 | |||
| Instructions: | ||||||
| Add 2 cups boiling water & let sit covered. | ||||||
| Chili & Mashed Potatoes | ||||||
| Qty | Item | Wt (g) | Calories | Carbs (g) | Protein (g) | Approx $ |
| 2/3 Cup | Albertson's Mashed Potato Flakes | 56 | 140 | 32 | 2 | |
| 4 tbs | Instant Milk Powder (enough for ½ cup of milk) | 13.9 | 40 | 6 | 4 | |
| ¼ cup | Fantastic FoodsVegetarian Chili Mix | 38.6 | 100 | 20 | 10 | |
| 1” cube | Pepper Jack Cheese | 17.8 | 100 | 0 | 7 | |
| 126.3 | 380 | 58 | 23 | |||
| Instructions: | ||||||
| Add 2 cups boiling water & let sit covered. | ||||||
| Notes: Optional Ingredients: | ||||||
| ¼ tbs | salt | 1 | ||||
| ¼ tbs | Pepper | |||||
| 10-day weight: 1.273kg = 2.8 lbs | ||||||
| Chili & Mashed Potatoes Variation 1 | ||||||
| Qty | Item | Wt (g) | Calories | Carbs (g) | Protein (g) | Approx $ |
| ¼ cup | Fantastic FoodsVegetarian Chili Mix | 33 | 100 | 20 | 10 | |
| ¼ cup | Idaho premium instant potatoe flakes | 82 | 285.2 | 60.6 | 7.1 | |
| 1 tbs | parmesan cheese | 8.2 | 25 | 1 | 1 | |
| 3 pinches | garlic powder | |||||
| 123.2 | 410.2 | 81.6 | 18.1 | |||
| Instructions: add boiling water | ||||||
| Chili & Mashed Potatoes Variation 2 (I think this is the final recipie I used) | ||||||
| Qty | Item | Wt (g) | Calories | Carbs (g) | Protein (g) | Approx $ |
| 1 Cup | Idaho instant potatoe flakes | 66.2 | 230 | 52 | 5.7 | |
| ½ cup | Fantastic FoodsVegetarian Chili Mix | 61 | 200 | 20 | 10 | |
| 3 tbs | Powdered Milk (enough for ½ cup milk) | 13 | 40 | 6 | 4 | |
| 1 tbs | parmesan cheese | 8.2 | 25 | 1 | 1 | |
| 148.4 | 495 | 79 | 20.7 | |||
| Instructions: add boiling water | ||||||
| Annie's Mac 'n' Cheese (microwaveable variety for quick heating, 1 package) | ||||||
| Qty | Item | Wt (g) | Calories | Carbs (g) | Protein (g) | Approx $ |
| 1 package | Annie's Mac 'n Cheese | 64.1 | 230 | 40 | 9 | |
| Mexicali Rose instant refried beans & rice | ||||||
| Qty | Item | Wt (g) | Calories | Carbs (g) | Protein (g) | Approx $ |
| 2/3 Cup | Mexicali Rose beans | 69.5 | 300 | 40 | 16 | |
| 1 Cup | instant rice | 96.1 | 380 | 86 | 6 | |
| 165.6 | 680 | 126 | 22 | |||
| Optional: | ||||||
| 1” cube | Pepper Jack Cheese | 17.8 | 100 | 0 | 7 | |
| 183.4 | 780 | 126 | 29 | |||
| Instructions (can't remember, probably just add 2 cups boiling water) | ||||||
| Refried Bean Variation 1 | ||||||
| Qty | Item | Wt (g) | Calories | Carbs (g) | Protein (g) | Approx $ |
| ¾ cup | instant refried beans | 49.8 | 171.7 | 32.6 | 8.6 | |
| ¾ cup | instant rice | 75.1 | 287.6 | 62.3 | 6.39 | |
| ¼ cup | TVP | 19 | 102.1 | 11.1 | 19 | |
| ¼ tbs | salt | 1 | ||||
| spices or ½ bullion cube (see other recipies) | 4.6 | |||||
| 149.5 | 561.4 | 106 | 33.99 | |||
| Instructions (can't remember, probably just add 2 cups boiling water) | ||||||
| Notes: This doesn't appear to be the Mexicali rose instant beans, based on calories, etc. Also something is wrong with the calorie calculations between the Refried Beans Variations 1 and 2 and I'm not sure which one is correct. | ||||||
| Refried Bean Variation 2 | ||||||
| Qty | Item | Wt (g) | Calories | Carbs (g) | Protein (g) | Approx $ |
| 1 Cup | instant refried beans | 60 | 100 | 38 | 12 | |
| 1 Cup | instant rice | 98.9 | 380 | 86 | 6 | |
| ¼ tbs | salt | 1 | ||||
| spices or ½ bullion cube (see other recipies) | 4.6 | |||||
| 164.5 | 480 | 124 | 18 | |||
| Instructions (can't remember, probably just add 2 cups boiling water) | ||||||
| Notes: This doesn't appear to be the Mexicali rose instant beans, based on calories, etc. Also something is wrong with the calorie calculations between the Refried Beans Variations 1 and 2 and I'm not sure which one is correct. | ||||||
| Miscellaneous Food Items | ||||||
| Qty | Item | Wt (g) | Calories | Carbs (g) | Protein (g) | Approx $ |
| 1 | flour tortilla | 67 | 180 | 31 | 5 | |
| 1 | Snickers bar w/ wrapper | 60.7 | 280 | 35 | 4 | |
| 1 | Zip-lock baggie | 2.7 | ||||
| 1 package | Maruchan Ramen | 91.4 | 380 | 52 | 8 | |
| Raisin Bran & Powdered Milk (Breakfast) | ||||||
| Qty | Item | Wt (g) | Calories | Carbs (g) | Protein (g) | Approx $ |
| Approx 1 cup | Raisin Bran | 81.8 | 200 | 47 | 6 | |
| 1/3 cup | Powdered Milk (enough for 1 cup milk) | 23.4 | 80 | 12 | 8 | |
| 105.2 | 280 | 59 | 14 | |||
| Instructions: | ||||||
| Mix ½ cup water in bowl with powdered milk FIRST, then add cereal (or else cereal gets soggy with water as it is mixing) | ||||||
(100%)
