Packit Gourmet- What dishes are your favorites?

[Jim W.]

Since someone brought up Packit Gourmet, can we discuss favorites? I just recently read about them and the food sounds good. My family is leaving for the JMT in 28 days, which means only 3 weeks before we need to mail the resupplys. We have 100 person-days of food to prep!

My wife is trying to go organic and paleo, son is very finicky, daughter and I will eat anything.

Items that look good on a taste, calorie, & price basis:
Shepherd's Cottage Pie
Bangers & Mash
Chicken Salad (Both Curried Mango and Mesquite)
Creamy Italian Polenta
Happy Hour Pico de Gallo salsa and snack pack
Kickin' Chicken Hot Wings Wrap
***Migas del Sol*** looks amazing
Molten Chocolate Lava Cakes
Momma's Hot Fudge Sweetcakes
Santa Fe Breakfast Corn Pudding
Texas State Fair Chili
Tuscan Beef Stew
Wild Carrots Salad

What are your favorites?

[Stephen M]

For me its the Burger wraps, gumbo and Smoothies.

[Stuart .]

…but not the exploding hot sauce, right Stephen?

I still need to try a few of their offerings. Watching this thread with great interest.

[Philip Tschersich]

I'll get back to you…

[Richard Cullip]

I like their Jump-Start Yogurt Fruit Smoothies for breakfast. Also, I like the Texas State Fair Chili, the Kickin' Chicken Hot Wings wrap, Dottie's Chicken & Dumplings and, this weekend, I'm trying the Mesquite Chicken Salad for the first time.

[Stephen M]

I had forgotten that Stuart, it was explosive indeed :-)

[Jennifer Mitol]

I've loved everything I've tried from them so far:

The burger wrap
Dottie's dumplings
Fruit smoothies
Santa Fe breakfast corn pudding was awesome!!

Didn't care all that much for the Italian polenta for some reason…but I had a bad cold that day so I'm not discounting it just yet

[Brian Camprini]

Austintacious Tortilla Soup. I've tried about half or more of their offerings and keep coming back to this one. Surprisingly filling for a soup, but doesn't leave you stuffed.

FWIW my go to meal is cheaper and homemade. I just doctor up ramen (occasionally fancy baked ramen, not the cheapo fried stuff, or rice (want to try dehydrating cooked short grain brown rice), or a blend of ramen and a small bit of instant taters). I like to carry some fresh garlic and a bell pepper, and maybe some scallions, celery or whatever is in the fridge. Fire up the stove, add a dollop of olive oil (or a ketchup type packet if you can find them), slice or just scratch the garlic clove so the flavor comes out, slice tiny pieces of pepper in so they cook in seconds–no cutting board just cut knife against your thumb (or get really gross and bite and spit pieces into the pot). Once the veggies start to soften after a minute or two, add spices and cook a few seconds, add 12 oz of water, maybe some dehydrated veggies, then the ramen (minus the flavor pack or very little of it), a protein like chicken, TVP, or tuna if you want (not necessary unless you're really hungry), cover and cook til water is mostly gone or starting to boil, then slide a circle of reflectix around the pot and maybe throw something puffy on top. 10-20 min later you have a killer meal. People are seriously jealous when they smell fresh garlic and veggies. You can do all kinds of variations like curry, cajun, pesto, thai, southwestern, ranch. Maybe throw some fritos, potato chips, peanuts, basil, parsley or whatever on top. 3 or 4 drops of liquid soap from a dropper bottle afterward and a swirl of water, rub with fingers and rinse, and you are done. I fine it nearly zero effort over a freezer bag meal and can be done on any type of stove/fuel.

[Jim Colten]

For me its the Burger wraps, gumbo and Smoothies.

Stephen, a rule to live by … eat no cajun food prepared by a person born north of Interstate 10!

But I might give it a try, there's exceptions every rule.

[Stephen M]

Its made in Texas Jim, not sure whether its south of 10 though.

[Jim W.]

Thanks for all the ideas, keep them coming. I think I'll order a Packit meal for about 1/3 of the trip dinners plus some breakfasts and lunches.

Jim

[Randy Martin]

Their Jump Start Fruit Smoothie are Solid Gold for breakfast. Very easy to make (add water and shake) and they have a terrific taste and impressive nutritional profile.

[Philip Tschersich]

I deleted my earlier post because of limitations with the forum software.

I track my assessments of trip food to better prepare for future outings (portion size, preference, etc). Here is a partial screen shot of my take on some Packitgourmet entrees. Click on it for a larger size:

Here's what it all means:

The first 5 columns are self-explanatory.

Bulk refers to how large the food package is. A score of 1 is basically a "flat envelope" while 5 is a "bulging bag."

Fullness refers to how satisfying the meal is. Please note that most of these are 2-portion serving sizes. I am a 190 pound male in his early 40's and I have caloric needs. :^) A score of 1 is "I'm still hungry" while 3 is "totally stuffed."

Ease of prep refers to how complicated the rehydrate process is. A score of 1 is "add hot water to a single bag" and 3 is "multiple ingredients, multiple baggies, multiple steps."

Taste is how my palate received the chow. A score of 1 is "yuck" and 3 is "I'd eat it at home."

I have also tried the Market Pasta Puttanesca which was very yummy, but it requires you to boil the noodles and the whole affair got pretty messy, so for fuel conservation and cleanup reasons I don't consider it a viable option for me.

I also included a few basic notes on prep and such. If you have specific questions I can try to answer them.

Cheers

[David (Bleach)]

We use the freeze dried chicken as an UL alternative to the foil pouches and it works great in DIY FBC meals. And just a few min in cold water and it reconstitutes just fine for lunch (wraps or the like).

Side note about packitgourmet as a company…
I recently ordered 3qty 16oz bags of freeze dried chicken and they all showed up a bit short. They were 1.4oz, 1.4oz, and 0.9oz light. Normally I wouldn't bother mentioning this kind of error, but at this price point, that was nearly $10 worth of chicken I was shorted. I contacted packitgourmet and they apologized and immediately sent me 4oz to correct the issue. They also weighed all the other bags they had to make sure they didn't have a widespread issue. I'm very impressed.

[Rob Reynolds]

Texas state fair chili
Tortilla soup
Dottie's dumplings

Also love the lemon pudding and the ramen enhancers

[Brad Rogers]

Tortillia Soup
Gumbo
Kickin Chicken

[Brandon M]

For dinner, the tortilla soup and burritos are both definite winners, and I really enjoy the samosas and the chicken wraps if I'm going stove-less. On the rare occasion I eat something other than a bar for breakfast, the polenta w/ sausage is probably my favorite. All in all, I've been happy with all the meals I've tried perhaps with the exception of the beans and rice. I just found it to be a little bland.

[Jim W.]

Thanks all for the suggestions. Just made a big order.

[Megan P]

Hey Jim,

After your big order what's your take on the Pack It Light options? Which were the best and which were the worst?

THANKS!

[Brian Crain]

Everything that we have bought from there has been awesome. Here are our favorites that make it on most outings with us:

-Shephard's Pie
-Tuscan Beef Stew
-Kickin Chicken wraps
-Buttermilk pancakes (w/ blueberies)
-Cranberry griddle scones
-Happy Hour pico de gallo
-Cheddar Jack cheese spread (the BOMB… I have to hide it from the wife before we go or it will never make it to the trailhead)

[Edward Z]

The Pinto Bean Burritos with the Green Chili sauce.
And the Texas State Fair Chili

Both will keep your tent mates warm

[Jeff Sims]

GUMBO and Tortilla soup FTW!!

You may also check out Hawkvittles. They have some yummy Bison choices.

OOOOOPS. old thread!! Sorry

[Sarah Kirkconnell]

Funny is…I am eating PIG grits for breakfast right now. Yum!

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