[at-l] Food stuff

[Tim Hewitt <thewitt@fairchildsemi.com>]

Here is my food primer - well, at least the stuff I'm taking on my hike
and why. This is also on my food page at http://wcha.org/hike for those
who perfer to browse. Comments are welcome, though everything is bought
and packaged so I'm not likely to change much a this time :).

A few basic premises have led me to this list of food. 

    1.I will only cook one meal a day 
    2.I will only carry 2 pounds of food per day 
    3.I will use mail drops as my principal food supply 

Breakfast is the same every day, with some minor variation based on the
actual selection of items. 

       2 packages of instant oatmeal (300 calories) 
       1 package Pop Tarts (400 calories) 
       Lemon aid or Tang (1 Qt, every other day) 
       Hot Cocao or Hot Cider (available in food bag if needed) 

The Pop Tart flavors are strawberry, blueberry & cinnamon and are all
frosted (higher calories than the unfrosted). 

The Oatmeal flavors are regular, maple and brown sugar, cinnamon & spice
and apple & cinnamon. Believe it or not, cold instant oatmeal is quite
good. 

The drink mix has been on the list and off the list more times than I
can tell you. It's currently on, but not daily. Drink mixes are very
heavy for the resulting benefit. 

Cocao or Hot Cider will probably be supplimental items. Right now there
are a few in the food bag, and in my first few maildrop lists, but not
in the June-August drop boxes. Mistake? Maybe. I can remedy ont he trial
if need be.

Lunch is the food eaten from Breakfast till Dinner. It is not likely to
be eaten in an extended break, but it could happen. Lunch will be made
up from a selection of the following items. Not all items are in the
lunch packet each day, but lunch is always around 1200
calories. 

       Beef jerky (1/2 cup) 
       GORP (1/2 cup) 
       Cheese crackers with cheese filling (6 in a package) 
       Cheese crackers with peanut butter filling (6 in a package) 
       Dried fruit (1/2 cup) 
       Power Bar 
       Candy Bar 
       Granola Bar 
       Breakfast Bar 

The GORP contains peanuts, dry roasted peanuts, macadamia nuts, almonds,
cashews, dried cranberries, dried bananas, dried
mangos, plain M&Ms, peanut M&Ms, raisins, dried apples, dried papaya,
dried pineapple, carob chips, sunflower seeds and
sometimes other stuff. 

The dried fruit mix contains apples, pineapples, apricots, mangos,
prunes, and papaya. 

The candy bars on the list are; Snickers, Pay Day, Nutrageous, Baby
Ruth, Mars. 

Dinner is the only meal I'll generally cook. Cooking actually starts at
noon by placing the dried meat and vegetables into a small nalgene
bottle and covering with water. When it's time to cook, the meat and
veggie mix is dumped into a pot with a Rice or Pasta based
dinner and the water needed to cook. Bring to a boil. Remove from the
heat and cover with a pot cozy to continue cooking. In 10
minutes, eat. 

       Noodle or Rice Dinner 
       1/3 cup dried mixed vegetables 
       1/2 cup dried shredded meat 
       Squeeze Parkay 
       Brownie or Pudding for dessert 

The Noodle or Rice dinners are really multiple brands with many
different flavors. Some are of the Hamburger Helper variety split
in half and repackaged, some are rice based, and some are pasta based,
all cook in less than 10 minutes and only require water and
meat be added. There are at least 20 different bases here of all
imaginable flavors. Lipton's, Rice-a-roni and Pasta-roni make up the
bulk of it, with generic brands mixed in when I found a sale. No plain
ramen, no mac-n-cheese.

The dried meats are shredded beef, pork, chicken and tuna. By combining
the different meats with the different bases, a huge
variety of flavors are available.

One additional dinner, a Shepherd's pie is made from: 

       1 cup Idahoan brand instant mashed potatoes 
       1/2 cup dried shredded beef 
       1/2 cup dried corn 
       1 package instant gravy 

Pudding is made by combining half a box of instant pudding with 1/3 cup
powdered milk in a ziplock sandwich bag. Water is added and the mix is
thoroughly blended in the bag. Cut one corner to eat. No dirty dessert
dishes! 

Most food is packaged on a per-meal use basis, and sealed in Baby Bottle
Liners using a food sealer from Pack-n-Save. This helps
to organize things, keeps me honest (I don't eat all the GORP for a week
on Monday) and has been very successful in the planning
stages. We'll see how well this actually works in practice...

Here are the various flavors of noodle and rice meals, keeping in mind
that dried tuna, beef, pork or chicken, along with 1/3 cup
mixed dried vegetables, go into the pot as well. 

 Type                                Calories 
 Beef Stroganoff                     800 
 Linguine with Chicken & Brocolli    740 
 Lasagne                             700 
 Vermicelli with Garlic & Olive Oil  720 
 Noodles & Alfredo                   660 
 Pasta Mushroom                      640 
 Pasta Rotini                        640 
 Angel Hair Pasta with Herbs         640 
 Noodle Stroganoff                   600 
 Noodles & Butter & Herb             600 
 Cajun Rice with Beans               600 
 Noodles & Chicken                   580 
 Rice & Chicken                      560 
 Rice & Herb & Butter                560 
 Rice & Cheddar Broccoli             560 
 Noodle & Beef                       560 
 Rice & Beef                         540 
 Pasta & Garlic & Olive Oil          540 
 Rice Medley                         540 

-Paddler
* From the Appalachian Trail Mailing List |  http://www.backcountry.net  *

==============================================================================