Tasty food for 1 night / 20 miles?

[Steve Davis]

Hey Guys,

So I'm doing my first backpacking trip this weekend with all my fancy lightweight gear. My bag weighs under 3 lbs, my sleeping bag 18 oz, and my tent just under 3 lbs… My cousin, his friend, and I are doing 20 miles one way through the Ohlone Wilderness in East SF Bay Area. It's just one night. 9 miles Saturday, and 11 miles Sunday.

So I've got all my gear, but now I need to think about food. I want TASTY food. All I have for cooking is a Jetboil and a titanium sea to summit spork. I figure I'll have a Mountain House meal for dinner, but what else for snacks and lunches?

I'm looking at salami, cheese, chocolate, nuts, etc… Since it's only 1 night I figure food weight doesnt matter that much. Gimme your ideas for a tasty fun trip! :)

Thanks!

[Link .]

You might want to post this in the Food Hydration and Nutrition section for the best responses.

[Jim H]

I've done a few weekend trips recently where I left the stove/fuel at home and just brought ready-to-eat food. One mind blowing discovery was that a packet of Justin's Chocolate Almond Butter spread onto a slide of honey-white bread from Whole Foods was a dead ringer for a frosted chocolate donut from a bakery near my house. Delicious snack.

[Steve Davis]

i couldnt find a food subforum, can someone point me there?

[Nick Larsen]

One night? Leave the stove at home and bring some leftover pizza.

[Link .]

Steven, look to your right under Forums click on Forum Index,look to your left and starting with Reader Gear reviews go 10 titles down,or the last sub forum under General forums.Or just click on my link .

[spelt with a t]

>>leftover pizza.

Preach. OP, on overnights I almost always just bring leftovers in a screwtop ziploc bowl, and heat them up over my stove. If I were really going to go all out I'd bring a steak, potato, onion, some mushrooms, and a beer. Put the sliced veggies in aluminum foil with olive oil and salt pepper and stick in the coals. Sear the steak. Open the beer. Indulge.

But I almost never get that fancy.

[D G]

footlong subway sandwich, a Burrito, or any other tak-out items come to mind. Even take-out chinese or Thai dish will work.

[Pete Staehling]

I find it odd that you say "I want TASTY food" and then say "I figure I'll have a Mountain House meal for dinner". Those two statements don't go together at all in my opinion.

[Steve Davis]

haha. true. i meant more for snacks and lunches/breakfast.

[Paul Wagner]

I vote for the MRE concept, too. Why take all that cooking equipment for just one meal? And you can afford the weight. Take fruit. Take a deli sandwich. Take chips and salsa. take a beer!

Save the cooking and freeze dried epicurean delights for longer trips.

[Curry]

Steven,

+1 to stove less. For an overnight, I would just bring things that don't need to be heated or cooked, even in close weather.

How about some sort of nut butter , for variety try almond or cashew instead of peanut butter, or even Nutella? other options include tortillas, hummus, packaged spice legumes, etc.

Also, some bars, treat yourself to a new one you'd like to try on the trail, but didn't before because it was "too heavy." Bring some instant coffee for the morning.

For one night, it's N opportunity to experiment with "heavier" food choices.

Have fun!

Oh, and for more food ideas, you can always check out the "Food and Nutrition" forum.

[Erik Basil]

Bring a Subway footlong, made without dressing. They'll give you mayo, oil and vinegar in packets you can bring along, keeping your sandwich from getting soggy during the hike. Get lots of onion and colorful vegetables, so that it's all the more crunchy and fragrant when you eat it.

Jiffy Pop in the stove-top shaker style, and use it either over a corner of your fire or the camp stove.

Stash a Dutch Oven in your buddy's pack and make cobbler, to share.

Freeze some cocktail sauce, horseradish and 6 big shrimp from the grocery, and make a shrimp cocktail in your cup. Bring a clear plastic cheapo cup, a hunk of celery and the fixings for a Bloody Mary, which you will ceremoniously create and then enjoy with your shrimp cocktail before dinner. THEN, make the Mountain House, "because it's just so easy". Ha ha!!

Pre-boil a Johnsonville Brat and pack it in with a skewer, some onions and a nice roll. Sear the dog over flame for heat and effect, and make yourself a nice, steaming sausage sandwich for lunch on the trail.

[Alasdair Fowler]

Loads of Nutella & Snickers. It's what fuelled us on the PCT. I miss eating Nutella straight from the jar with a spoon…

[Jason Torres]

+1 for stoveless.

I would definitely leave the stove at home. I usually bring a sandwhich (good one with LOTS packed in it minus dressings as I usually bring a couple mayo packs). For snacks I do pistachios (ready to eat) light, full of calories, and wont make a mess. also bring a hard cheese and crackers. honey on goat cheese is amazing so maybe bring small packs of honey

Are you wanting a warm meal? If you are going for something less "get you by" and something more "lets make a memorable meal" then I would suggest some pasta. Do angel hair or another pasta that is cut thin so it cooks quickly. pasta sauce can be taken out of its container and thrown in a zip lock (do the same for the pasta). great meal and lots of calories to keep you going. relatively light for a hot meal.

edit- I'd leave the chocolate at home as a chance of melting can become a huge mess you dont want. If it's cool enough outside you should be fine but in my experience it gets EVERYWHERE. At least even when I think I have eaten a bar clean I realize after that somehow the damn thing got everywhere

[Steve Davis]

What do you guys recommend for breakfast if you don't have a stove? What about if I DO take my jetboil? Thanks.

[Kevin Babione]

I normally don't bother lighting my stove for breakfast – my favorite cold breakfast is the Packit Gourmet Jump Start Fruit Smoothie.

They're quick and only require cold water. I've gotten pretty good at drinking them out of the ziplock bag.

[Jake D]

I bring dry cereal in a zip lock with Nido or powdered milk on trips of any length for breakfast.. pour water.. eat. you're done before the oatmeal and coffee people are even started hehe.

[Brian Johns]

I really like the Mountain House granola with berries and powdered milk. They are like a delicious cold cereal, no mess – eat right from the bag – and provide a little sweet cream for my coffee as well. I am sure this is easy to make, but for an overnighter, who wants to prep much food. Just hit REI (and maybe subway or a pizza joint) on your way to the trailhead. That said, nothing quite as satisfied as eggs scrambled in bacon grease with cheese and bread, and maybe a bowl of grits, in the woods.

[Erik Basil]

My no-stove breakfast would be granola with Nido, Tang and an instant-coffee to put between the cheek and gum. Not a pinch, the whole thing.

The MH granola is a good product, just expensive by the ounce. Tastes great.

[Peter S]

+1 for beer on very short trips. Beer on music festivals and in the outdoors is the best place for beer.

A good spaghetti bolognese is nice too. Make it a couple of days before, let it simmer for 4+hours, let it sit in the fridge for 24hours, boil it again, this time just for dehydrating it as much as you bother. Easy to hydrate on the trail. Start with the sauce. When it's just boiling, put the pot in a pot cozy. Boil water in another pot. Add quick boiling pasta. When it's ready to eat, serve it, and this is when you take the real Italian parmesan cheese and cut thin slices to drizzle on top. Now grap that beer you brought… Enjoy. Finish with a cup of Starbucks Colombia Via coffee, a cask strength Glenfarclas 105 Whisky, and a piece of 85% dark chocolate. Read, Sleep. Zzzz….

Edit: use freezer bags when you're just brining one stove.

[Hiking Malto]

Then brats and beer

[Author]

Posts