back country food

[7 REM MAG]

Just wondering what you guys do for food in the back country. We go in on horses but still go in pretty light, just wondering what some of you guys do for food? mountain house for 2 or 3 nights on a 10 day hunt wouldn't be the worst thing ever, but Id like to try and eating it every day.

Does anyone make their own freeze dried, or dehydrated meals on here? Ive found the MH meals do some terrible things to my guts, and would imagine that a home made one would be a little more friendly.

I just started looking for recipes like this online and have found a few resources to test out, any more help/info would be great.

Thx,

7

[nube]

I always like the Mountain house and other brand Freeze dried meals. I usually get the double portion and with so many different meals it's not hard to make a weeks worth and not get sick of them. They are real good in my mind and better than any meal I can make that is lightweight

[berta-04]

yeah, mountain house are awesome in my opinion. I also bring my own trail mix, I go to Safeway and mix my own bags up, take up little space, and are a good source of fat and energy with the nuts and such. I take granola bars too. oatmeal even though I hate it, its easy to pack and fills me up.

[cowmanbob]

If the horse is packing it, I'll take rib eyes,fresh veggies,salad kits, fruits, corn on the cob etc.
If I'm packing it, I'll take instant oatmeal, ichi-ban soups, sardines and pbj is always good.

[Dubious]

I dehydrate my own. it not very difficult and you can put what ever you want in. here are some examples http://www.backpackingchef.com/dehydrating-food.html they won't all turn out great you need to try a few things out to find your fav meals. found egg noodles seem to pop my freezer bags and "potato bark" made with chicken stock wasn't very good and dehydrated chicken breast just doesn't rehydrate well it stays like greasy leather.

[CNP]

Instant oatmeal for breakfast (3 pouches) and Mountain House for supper. Eatmore chocolate bars in between. I tried other freeze dried dinners but always go back to Mountain House. It's the best. So good I cooked dinner for my wife one night................ it was Mountain House cuisine

[Chief16]

Have yet to do a backpacking hunt, but when I go on hike in fishing trips it is 2 oatmeal pouches for breakfast, a mountain house for lunch, a mountain house for supper and carry other various snacks such as fruit cups, oysters, jerky, protein bars etc.

[Joe Black]

Kd

[Rock&Ice]

This stuff is made in Canmore. I have bought it at Campers Village and its great. https://backcountryfood.ca/

[nimrod]

The best thing I have done was get a chamber vac, vacume pack unit, now I buy number 10 cans of mountain house meals, then I can add as much or as little to my meals, I get around 15 to 18 meals from each number 10 cans, my favourite meals are 1 chicken stew ( hard to find}2 beef stew 3 lasagna 4 chicken and rice, 5 scrambled eggs with bacon, Im sure I missed a few but these are my first in the pack. oatmeal packs always in the pack

[warriorboy10]

House mountain does take some getting used to but I also take along some of the dehydrated deserts. I believe their from Backcountry Pantry or there’s another brand in a brown package. Different cakes and berries. Doesn’t look the greatest but sure is a great tasty treat after a so so meal. And taking along high calorie bars breaks the meals up too. Costco has some bars with chocolate and loaded with different nuts. A great through the day high energy snack. Also, I’ve added in dehydrated potatoes into the MH meals. Adds some good taste and substance. Good luck..

[Rockman]

I dehydrated my own. Not hard to do and I made sure it was well-balanced. Also brought ramen, a breakfast cereal mix, etc.

[muirsy]

Breakfast
- Instant coffee in a ziploc
- Instant oats

Mid day/snacks
- trail mix
- clif bars
- Gatorade powder in a ziploc

Dinner
- mountain house


I usually bring a couple extra mountain house meals in case I get hungry, and always have a few more snacks/supplies in the truck if I have to come back out

[wind drift]

A shortcoming of a lot of backcountry meals is they are carb dominant. Mostly ‘cause they lend themselves well to being rehydrated and keeping well. Eating a carb based diet on a strenuous hunt usually means chasing blood sugar spikes and crashes, meaning high risk of ‘running out of gas’ and need to eat lots of snacks. I think part of hunt preparation could include shifting to a ketogenic or similar diet which is more fat and protein based. The great thing about being in a ketogenic mode is that your body is able to readily utilize stored fat reserves if calories out exceed calories in. Most of us have a few meals stored onboard already. Fats and protein are usually heavier by volume but less volume is needed, so there’s a trade off. Dehydrated meats, eggs, cheeses will keep well. There’s a reason why pemmican was a staple food here 200-plus years ago. Nutritionists have come to understand it contains an ideal balance of what is needed. Food for thought.

[HIGHLANDER HUNTING]

Originally Posted by wind drift

A shortcoming of a lot of backcountry meals is they are carb dominant. Mostly ‘cause they lend themselves well to being rehydrated and keeping well. Eating a carb based diet on a strenuous hunt usually means chasing blood sugar spikes and crashes, meaning high risk of ‘running out of gas’ and need to eat lots of snacks. I think part of hunt preparation could include shifting to a ketogenic or similar diet which is more fat and protein based. The great thing about being in a ketogenic mode is that your body is able to readily utilize stored fat reserves if calories out exceed calories in. Most of us have a few meals stored onboard already. Fats and protein are usually heavier by volume but less volume is needed, so there’s a trade off. Dehydrated meats, eggs, cheeses will keep well. There’s a reason why pemmican was a staple food here 200-plus years ago. Nutritionists have come to understand it contains an ideal balance of what is needed. Food for thought.

I believe transitioning to a Ketogenic, fat utilization diet takes months. Carbs in moderation are a good source of fuel for endurance type activities like mountain hiking.

I tried pemmican in 2017. Used coconut oil. Turns out I really hate the smell of coconut oil! So I only ate it when I was really hungry.
Clif bars got eaten before the pemmican, so that's saying something!

Might try with some other oil this year because I like the idea of pemmican from a nutritional perspective.....

Cheers.
John
https://highlanderhunting.wordpress.com/

[Puma]

When we used to pack in the Panther area on horses and go light, we would take those Magic Pantry meals. They were very similar to a MRE. Basically a moist packet and a net bag of rice or noodles that could be heated/boiled up in one pot. You could eat these for a week and not get the squirts. Supplement meals with some apples, granola bars, oatmeal, fresh fish, a grouse , etc.

I have not seen them retailed for a few years now, but a friend told me the meals sold at diet places, Jenny Craig etc were the very same thing.

[ks.snow]

Originally Posted by HIGHLANDER HUNTING

I believe transitioning to a Ketogenic, fat utilization diet takes months. Carbs in moderation are a good source of fuel for endurance type activities like mountain hiking.

I tried pemmican in 2017. Used coconut oil. Turns out I really hate the smell of coconut oil! So I only ate it when I was really hungry.
Clif bars got eaten before the pemmican, so that's saying something!

Might try with some other oil this year because I like the idea of pemmican from a nutritional perspective.....

Cheers.
John
https://highlanderhunting.wordpress.com/

Keotogenic diet takes roughly a week to set in. Deep ketosis can take longer though. You can use a ketogenic supplement to get into ketosis even faster than the week it takes naturally. It is true that your enegry levels are more stable under a ketogenic diet, but its also harder to find foods that are ketogenic approved that are light for backpacking.

[ks.snow]

Offgrid food company has good food and so does heathers choice and you can find heathers choice in lethbridge at Urban Grocer. The problem with Mountain House and similar type meals is that they are loaded with salt. I usually take in heathers choice buckwheat breakfast, their packroons, almonds, jerky, pb and j sandwhiches, pro bars, my own dehydrated meals from the link above, and definatly some type of electrolyte like gatorade, emergen c, or a mtn ops product. Important thing is to not overload on carbs and get a good balance of healthy fats into your meals. I even add olive oil or coconut oil to my meals to get the calories up higher.

[CF8889]

Some of those protein "shakes" you can buy are nice. Bit of powder in a Ziploc bag and in the morning, just mix in with some water and get that extra vitamins/proteins before you start the day.

[muirsy]

Originally Posted by CF8889

Some of those protein "shakes" you can buy are nice. Bit of powder in a Ziploc bag and in the morning, just mix in with some water and get that extra vitamins/proteins before you start the day.

In a big bowl, I mix oats, protein powder, and some dried fruit/nuts - then shovel it out into however many days worth of ziplock for breakfasts. Definitely more calorie & nutrient dense than Quakers instant.

[Chief16]

Originally Posted by CF8889

Some of those protein "shakes" you can buy are nice. Bit of powder in a Ziploc bag and in the morning, just mix in with some water and get that extra vitamins/proteins before you start the day.

You can also get powder called mass gainer that works the same way. It is very high in calories and protein if you are someone that gets hungry a lot and/or hiking a long ways.

[58thecat]

Squirrels, black cap chickadee's, rabbits, and creek water.

[grouse_hunter]

Originally Posted by 58thecat

Squirrels, black cap chickadee's, rabbits, and creek water.

Nothing like a squirrel for breakfast!

I'm comfortable with eating the same food, three times a day for two weeks. Therefore I've been trying to find the one ideal mountain food and I think that pemmican just might be it. I've made it twice so far - once with lard and once with coconut oil. I prefer the lard.

[3blade]

http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/showthread.php?t=330735

Slightly different kind of thread, but a lot of good food ideas in there

Been hearing lots about MTN OPS supplements and Honey Stinger waffles, those are on my list for next year. Might have to look into pemmican as well.

As far as "meals" you can pre-cook bacon and get dehydrated hash browns in a carton at Costco. summer sausage, mustard and flat bread is great.

[Beached Whale]

Call me cheap but I just take the rice or noodle Lipton Sidekicks that only require water and oil. Butter is light so you can bring a bunch and mix it in for fat. It's obviously a very carb heavy diet but I also ad fish or grouse or lentils for protein. Mountain house varies from $8-12 each and the sidekicks i buy in bulk for a dollar each. they may not taste as good over a two week hunt but if you had two mountain house meals per day at $10 each for 14 days that's $280 vs $28 for the sidekicks.

My first sheep hunt i ate nothing but ichiban and instant oatmeal for a week and it began to come out of me looking suspiciously similar to the way it went in. Some veriety is good.

[slough shark]

Instant oatmeal, ichiban or side kicks, trail mix and jerky for me, store bought freeze dried meals have made me sick as a dog more often than not so I don’t touch them with a 10 foot pole, puking on the side of the mountains or the runs isn’t very appealing. Looking at the ingredients it’s no wonder, you need a chemistry degree to know what the heck is in the ingredients list.

[astepanuk]

Breakfast I like to go with oatmeal, Funny how I wont touch the stuff outside of a backpack hunt but live on it in the back country.

During the day I usually feed on Trail mix and cliff bars

Supper I will make a Mountain house also really enjoy powdered potatoes super light and very taste.

[calgarychef]

I'll second the powdered potatoes idea, with a bit of butter it's heavenly.

[Pekan]

Originally Posted by calgarychef

I'll second the powdered potatoes idea, with a bit of butter it's heavenly.

x3 for powdered potatoes. Also add fake bacon bits

[urban rednek]

Originally Posted by 58thecat

Squirrels, black cap chickadee's, rabbits, and creek water.

And a few MRE's for backup.