Need to vote for both option 2 and 3.  Certainly not 4.

Easy, basic, dehydrate my own.  Out there food is 90% practical & a chore.  I'd much rather be paddling, fishing, hanging out than cooking & dishes.  I love to cook at home, hate it in the bush.

I mix a 3 and 4. Some are fast meals, some are embellishments. Food can break a trip down or it can make a trip; a part of the journey. Sustenance looks a lot of different ways, or rather tastes a lot of different ways, looks a lot of different ways...and then there is the possibilities in anticipation embellished by the process, and gathering the ingredients.  I start planning a balance diet and I include fat, carbs., and protein cuz its important...we are what we eat, right... And then there is the how much to bring; I also bring extra cuz I have run short and that is not fun, its horrid. But then again I am a nut that likes nuts

I'm also between #3 and #4.

My goal is to do most of the hard work at home to make my meals appealing so that I don't have to waste too much precious vacation time on my trip cooking and cleaning up.  That said, there are still a few favorites on my typical menu that take some time or effort on the trail.

Simple meals for travel days, more demanding meals for layovers.  It all depends on what the goals of the trip are, however.  If we're travelling fast and far I try to pare down both weight and cooking time.  A more leisurely trip will see me bring a few more gourmet items.

At home, I pre-mix and pre-pack everything possible.  I'm fussy about bringing my own granola bars which I make with my own granola.  They are much healthier and more nutrient-dense than anything I can buy at a store.  I mix many of my own trail mixes.  I par-cook all my bacon at home beforehand to minimize weight, cooking odor, and grease which must be disposed of.  I make my own just-add-water whole-grain pancakes and cornbreads.  I make my own jerky.  

I also keep good records to minimize over-packing food.  I intentionally bring a little extra trail mix and jerky just in case but otherwise I've gotten portion sizes pretty well figured out.  I know that 2 oz. of (sugar-free) syrup per person per meal is plenty, for example.  I don't need or want to pack out half a bottle of syrup.  Same deal with oil.  I know pretty much exactly how much I'll need given my menu and that's what I pack.

It's time-consuming to say the least to do all this pre-trip while packing and simultaneously doing my share in a 2-income, 3-child household.  But it's worth it to me to eat foods that I really like and that are reasonably consistent with my dietary choices.  I don't like processed carbs, sugars, or preservatives in my diet at home and I am willing to put in extra work beforehand to avoid them on the trail.  

At home I am pretty strictly low-carb.  On the trail I add carbs sensibly.  Whole grains only and sub in sugar-free ingredients where possible.

We are in the last category as we consider our fishing license the larger half of our food bill.  A standard 7 day grocery list for 2 people looks like this:

14 breakfast bars
coffee
4-5 lbs trail mix
7 pre-packaged side dishes (noodles, rice or potatoes)
large bag of gatorade powder
bottle of squeeze butter

mastertangler wrote on Feb 28^th, 2011 at 8:46pm:


For about 30 minutes.  Then you crash and you're hungry again.  If you want more energy, eat more fish or bring some protien.