Depends on the sort of camping. But if we are carrying our food its mostly homemade dehydrated meals with the usual backpacking snacks. Semi-perishable foods (fruit, cheese, etc) work well for the first couple days. Shelf-stable stuff left in its original packaging will last forever.
Glenn McAllister’s website and his book Recipes for Adventure is great – seriously, check it out. I used his style of food prep to fed 6 people for 11 days on a 160 mile canoe trip last year. It was better food and a hell of a lot cheaper than the off-the-shelf stuff.
Another calorie dense trail food is Hudson Bay Bread, especially if you pair it with jelly/jam and peanut butter.
GORP (trail mix) is an essential snack between meals on strenuous trips or as treat. Fruit leather is also a favorite.
“Just add water” pancake mix is a nice mid-trip treat on a rest day. You can make a passable maple syrup substitute by adding 1/2 tsp “Imitation Maple Flavor” (Mapleine) to 1 cup cane sugar. On the trail add 2 cups water and heat until it dissolves. Serve with with shelf stable pre-cooked bacon (boxed, not canned) and rehydrated butter powder
Quick cook steel cut oats with powdered milk, brown sugar, granola, and dried fruit.
“Trail Pizza” is a no-cook meal good for lunch on group trips. Pita bread, tomato sauce (the “box with a screw cap” packaging for weight/space), dry oregano, shredded cheese (rehydrated freeze dried or fresh), and pre-sliced pepperoni. Assemble into Lunchable style “pizzas”.
Replying because this seems to be the most backpacker related comment in the post.
My recent backpacking discovery, was that if you coat eggs in a thin layer of oil, they’ll keep in the cupboard for weeks/months. I tested it myself, ate 3 month old eggs that were stored in my cupboard. I tested one every few weeks as they got older.
So now for backpacking, I oil a few eggs and bring them with me on 2 or 3 day trips. Makes for a nice breakfast with a tortilla cooked over the fire.
As mentioned here, I’ve also done just add water pancakes. Great for kids, and kids at heart.
Usually we do freeze dried meals, for the simplicity. But they’re so expensive, a 3 day trip costs $30-40 in dinner alone, double if your doing breakfast too.
I’ll still bring the occasional freeze dried meal, I do like them. But I discovered Idahoan makes a bag of instant mashed potatoes with added protein. The bag is almost water tight, so if you hold it with a sock you can pour you water straight into it and stir it up. No cleanup!
I add a can of turkey gravy, heavy, but a tasty addition. Toss it in the fire to burn off the leftover gravy remnants, then pack it out.
Honestly the whole meal is almost too filling. If I plan that, then I’ll eat a light lunch.
But it’s only like $3 for the whole shebang!
And finally, I’ve been known to pack in frozen steak bits and fry them up in my titanium pan, for a first night dinner.
Depends on the sort of camping. But if we are carrying our food its mostly homemade dehydrated meals with the usual backpacking snacks. Semi-perishable foods (fruit, cheese, etc) work well for the first couple days. Shelf-stable stuff left in its original packaging will last forever.
Glenn McAllister’s website and his book Recipes for Adventure is great – seriously, check it out. I used his style of food prep to fed 6 people for 11 days on a 160 mile canoe trip last year. It was better food and a hell of a lot cheaper than the off-the-shelf stuff.
Another calorie dense trail food is Hudson Bay Bread, especially if you pair it with jelly/jam and peanut butter.
GORP (trail mix) is an essential snack between meals on strenuous trips or as treat. Fruit leather is also a favorite.
“Just add water” pancake mix is a nice mid-trip treat on a rest day. You can make a passable maple syrup substitute by adding 1/2 tsp “Imitation Maple Flavor” (Mapleine) to 1 cup cane sugar. On the trail add 2 cups water and heat until it dissolves. Serve with with shelf stable pre-cooked bacon (boxed, not canned) and rehydrated butter powder
Quick cook steel cut oats with powdered milk, brown sugar, granola, and dried fruit.
“Trail Pizza” is a no-cook meal good for lunch on group trips. Pita bread, tomato sauce (the “box with a screw cap” packaging for weight/space), dry oregano, shredded cheese (rehydrated freeze dried or fresh), and pre-sliced pepperoni. Assemble into Lunchable style “pizzas”.
Bookmarked this, good ideas here.
Replying because this seems to be the most backpacker related comment in the post.
My recent backpacking discovery, was that if you coat eggs in a thin layer of oil, they’ll keep in the cupboard for weeks/months. I tested it myself, ate 3 month old eggs that were stored in my cupboard. I tested one every few weeks as they got older.
So now for backpacking, I oil a few eggs and bring them with me on 2 or 3 day trips. Makes for a nice breakfast with a tortilla cooked over the fire.
As mentioned here, I’ve also done just add water pancakes. Great for kids, and kids at heart.
Usually we do freeze dried meals, for the simplicity. But they’re so expensive, a 3 day trip costs $30-40 in dinner alone, double if your doing breakfast too.
I’ll still bring the occasional freeze dried meal, I do like them. But I discovered Idahoan makes a bag of instant mashed potatoes with added protein. The bag is almost water tight, so if you hold it with a sock you can pour you water straight into it and stir it up. No cleanup!
I add a can of turkey gravy, heavy, but a tasty addition. Toss it in the fire to burn off the leftover gravy remnants, then pack it out.
Honestly the whole meal is almost too filling. If I plan that, then I’ll eat a light lunch. But it’s only like $3 for the whole shebang!
And finally, I’ve been known to pack in frozen steak bits and fry them up in my titanium pan, for a first night dinner.