I am often asked the question "what is
your favorite menu?"
As far as a favorite meal plan goes - that changes so much for me
from trip to trip. The trail food I eat depends on the length of trip,
difficulty of the hike or paddle and the number of people coming with
me.
Here you will find two menus for the same length of
trip. The first menu (below) has some trail cooking techniques that
require a bit of additional gear such as a backpacking oven. Then,
if you scroll down, there is a second menu that has been modified
to be lightweight and use an alcohol stove.
Below the trail menus you will find some additional
tips and comments for backcountry meal planning.
(B=Breakfast, S=Snack, etc)
sample menu one
This menu requires a pot set, Outback Oven (or other
camp oven) and a small thermos.
Day One
B - Harvest Oatmeal Bars
S - Dried Fruit and Almonds
L - Tuna Salad Wraps
S - Dark
Chocolate
D - Spaghetti with Meat Sauce
Day Two
B - Blueberry,
Hazelnut Quinoa
S - Fresh apples and cheddar
L - Roasted
Tomato Dip and Pita
S - Pepperoni sticks
D - Chicken Potpie with Biscuits
D - Chocolate Cake (for a camp mate's birthday)
Day Three
B - Granola with fresh yogurt and fruit
S - Gorp
L - Black Bean Dip with Pita
S - Homemade
Energy Bars
D - Trail Pizza
Day Four
B - Homemade
Energy Bars
S - Frunola
Bars (these are purchased from Kettle Valley)
L - Citrus
Lentil Salad
S - Smoked Almonds and white cheddar
D - Black
Bean, Corn and Sweet Potato Soup
sample menu two
Now, as promised, the same menu but modified to suit a quick breakfast
and using a single pot instead of a pot set. It also removes the need
for a backpacking oven and thermos (used to make yogurt on the trail).
All of the lunches in this modified menu are easy and
don't require the use of a stove. I don't like to have to haul the
stove out of my pack at lunchtime. You could even get away with an
alcohol stove using the menu below.
Day One
B - Harvest Oatmeal Bars
S - Dried Fruit and Almonds
L - Tuna Salad Wraps
S - Dark
Chocolate
D - Chicken Stew with Dumplings
D - Caramel Apple Chai (this is a hot tea that doubles as dessert)
Day Two
B - Muesli with milk
S - Dried apples and cheddar
L - Roasted
Tomato Dip and Pita
S - Pepperoni sticks
D - Black
Bean, Corn and Sweet Potato Soup
Day Three
B - Blueberry Maple Granola with Nido
S - Gorp
L - Citrus
Lentil Salad
S - Homemade
Energy Bars
D - Minestrone
D - Chocolate Moosey Mousse
Day Four
B - Homemade
Energy Bars
S - Frunola
Bars (these are purchased from Kettle Valley)
L - Black Bean Dip with Pita
S - Smoked Almonds and white cheddar
D - Spaghetti with Meat Sauce
So as you can see it it pretty easy to switch it up to suit the trip
and person. Additional days are merely variations of the same but
with different recipes.
some general advice and comments...
- make sure you taste the meals at home to see
if you like them (everyone in your group should be included in this)
- homemade energy bars made with a high energy
cereal (Kellogg's Vector for example) will keep you going longer
than something like instant oatmeal and one batch can be split up
over a trip
- when cooking pasta on the trail you can rehydrate
your sauce in a container, cook your pasta in the pot and once drained
add the sauce to give it a quick heating
- if you don't want to cook pasta on the trail
then cook it at home and rehydrate it with hot water at camp (but
I still prefer to cook pasta at camp without dehydrating it as has
better texture)
- eat the heavier dinners earlier in the trip
(example the Chicken Stew with dumplings)
- save more complex breakfasts for layover days
or short hiking days
- supplement your trail menu with nuts, gorp, and other
snacks to ensure you are getting enough calories
- when drying foods you can always dry enough
for more than one trip and put it in the freezer so you have it
on hand for impromptu backpacking or padding adventures
- if you aren't big on desserts just omit those
entries (we like to spoil ourselves with desserts on trips - my
partner refers to it as his "essential luxury")
- be well aware of serving sizes when you are
planning the food so that the meals are hearty enough but you don't
have a lot of waste either
©
2008 Laurie Ann March
use without the author's written permission is prohibited.
