need ideas- going “natural” on my long runs/hikes

[Mike M]

I've never liked gels (I've tried a lot of different ones, certainly not all though)-just too overpowering, I've been using cubes (Cliff Bloks) but am getting sick of them, I've tried liquid calories- Heed, Perpetuem and most recently Tailwind- for the most part, they tend to not agree w/ me for some reason even after diluting them below recommended strengths

so……..recently I've been trying to find foods a little more natural. I've been carrying dates rolled in coconuts- they taste good and keep wonderfully- almost miraculously :) These are a keeper for sure, but need some variety.

I tried slicing sweet potatoes, rolling them in sea salt and sprinkling them w/ cinnamon and then drying in the oven at low heat- these were really (really) good, but they just didn't keep well in the heat, after 3-4 hours they got pretty mushy. Any ideas on improving their keeping status would be appreciated.

I'm open to any ideas on more natural foods that would lend themselves to quick energy (complex carbs w/ some protein thrown in), keep well and taste good :)

tia

Mike

[Greg Mihalik]

Lura Bars are date based.

Figs.

But be careful with to much fruit.

It's a different transport system out of the gut, and delivery system via the liver.

To much fructose can lead to side trail excursions.

[Art …]

Mike –
are you simply sick of (bored with) the foods you mention ?
or do they actually make you sick ?

if Perpetuem does not actually make you sick, you can always add flavoring to it.
but one problem with Perpetuem is the soy can cause a bit of gas in some people.

[Dale Wambaugh]

A more natural oriented gorp with dried fruit like bananas, pineapple, raisins, apples, coconut, cherries, dates (noted), supplemented with nuts, pumpkin and sunflower seeds, cheese, olives and hardtack breads like Rye Krisp. I would add a nice dark chocolate too.

[Tipi Walter]

When you said about going natural on your hikes I thought you meant Naked ha ha ha but nope it's about gels and trail foods.

If a person is out long enough everything gets old—GU gels, Hammer gels, Hammer reconstitues, snickers (junk food supreme), powdered crap, and especially all the endless power and granola bars. I'm sick of them all and I've used them all: powerbars, sunbelt granola bars, pemmican meal pack bars, guru chews, larabars, clif bars, powerbars in all forms, nature valley stuff, kind bars, luna bars, and a dozen no-name obscure cottage bars.

Sick of them all. What will I take on my next trip? Larabars and a few probars. Still sick of them though.

But I did mix up my own chewy "fudge" bars at home yesterday:
Peanut butter (the healthy kind)
Almond and cashew butter
sliced almonds
carob powder
coconut sugar and ample raw honey
raisins
almond meal
melted coconut oil

MIX well until more solid and less runny. You could add almost anything to this mix: bee pollen, protein powders, raw walnuts or cashews or sunflower/pumpkin seeds, dry milk, fruits—ANYTHING.

[Sarah Kirkconnell]

You mean……"real food"? ;-)

Just eat what you like. But don't overthink it. Personally, I like to actually chew my food, not drink it ;-)

[Sharon J.]

scott jurek's book^ has recipes scattered throughout. might be worth a look if your local library has it.

[Ed Tyanich]

Mike,
Have you tried the various nut butters in the packets? Justin's has almond, peanut butter etc. You can find them in Helena at Natural Grocers, Real Food and Suoer 1.

[Mike M]

Greg- good point, I don't need to spend too much time on the side of the trail :) I've tried Larabars, taste was fair- my wife thought eck

Art- the gels were overpowering and made feel a little queazy, cubes I handled OK just sick of them (pretty damn sweet), Perpetuem /Heed/Tailwind even thinned do tend to make me nauseous for some reason :(

Dale- that sounds like a good mix

Tipi- that sounds very interesting, guessing a wee bit messy? do they hold up at all in the heat?

I have seen almond, peanut and cashew butter in gel like packages-not sure how they would be? I think HoneyStingers have a few things that are mostly just honey?

any ideas on the sweet potatoes? do I need to leave them in the oven even longer, or do you think they would need to be fully dehydrated? they do taste good and some to offer good go power

Mike

[Mike M]

was posting at the same time

Sarah- yeah real food :)

Sharon- I have that book, need to re-visit it!

Ed- good to know they have those here, I'll get some and give them a go

[Michael Gunderloy]

Justin's has almond/maple and peanut/honey combo packets in case you are looking for a mix of nutrients (or just have a sweet tooth).

[Mike M]

^ those both sound good :)

anyone try any of those different fruit/veggie squeeze packs? saw a bunch of different ones at the grocery store the other day

[Diane “Piper” Soini]

Have you tried pemmican? It tastes pretty bad but it's actually really satisfying. If you can choke it down. It seems to have staying power.

[Mike M]

I've never tried real pemmican, but I do usually carry a few Omni bars- they are Montana beef, sweet potatoes, flax seed, oats, almond butter, plums and then some different flavorings depending on the bar- kind of a modern pemmican- they actually taste pretty good

[BlackHatGuy]

GU makes a maple bacon gel. Just sayin'…

[Travis B.]

Hey Mike,

The best sweet potato recipe that we found was on backpackingchef.com. Sweet potato, apple juice, maple syrup, and cinnamon all mixed together in a blender and then dehydrated. Tasted like pumpkin pie and can be dehydrated to the consistency you desire. You could also rehydrate it and add it to breakfasts or dinner's if so inclined.

Dehydrating can be a bit time consuming, but if you spent a night or two preparing a bunch you can just store it and grab when needed.

Cheers…

[Mike M]

Doug- just missing the hot cakes!

Travis- thanks, don't have a dehydrator, but looks like it might be time to invest in one :)

[Bob Shaver]

I agree, dates are great! I've taken dried apples and raisins, but I cant' stand them after one bite.

I take slices of mango and pineapple, in small quantity. But the items I never get tired of are Ritz or Trisquit crackers, a cheese like laughing cow to put on the Ritz, and beef jerky. Sometimes summer sausage. I take a whole box of crackers, with the box, and try not to let them get crushed. Or I'll put Ritz crackers in a plastic tube from crystal lite or Pringles or Lay's stackers.

I like yogurt covered raisins, but they can melt and become a glob. I like cashews better than peanuts. I love corn nuts, but they can be dangerous for the teeth. glazed walnuts are good. sometimes I like Payday candy bars, but lately they are not doing it for me. I love rice crispy treats.

[BlackHatGuy]

"don't have a dehydrator, but looks like it might be time to invest in one :)"

I've got a Nesco dehyrator you can have. Just pay for shipping (which, really, won't be cheap since it's oversized), or catch me as I rumble through Montana in a couple of weeks and we can do a handoff.

[Mike M]

Bob- some of those sound really good! mango and pineapple sound particularly good

Doug- very generous! :) when/where are you coming through MT?

[Duncan M]

Check out the cookbook called "Feed Zone Portables" by Allen Lim and Biju Thomas. Directed at the cycling world, but it is full of recipes for food on the move. The classic rice cakes are a favorite (savory energy foods are awesome on hot days when you can't tolerate another sweet gu/bar/sip).

http://velonews.competitor.com/files/2012/01/Feed-Zone-Cookbook-Allen-Lim-Rice-Cakes-copy.pdf

[monkey]

Check out Raw (vegetarian) diet, they have a wealth of recipes for dehydrator, with good variety of nutritional content not just nuts and fruit – avocado, sprouts, grains, lentils, different veggies – all utilised raw and as such very natural. :)

Speaking of dehydrator it might be worth to invest in one (but good one = expensive), its more effective than oven and some of the mushiness might be due to this fact.

[Mike M]

Duncan- thanks for the link!

sounding like a dehydrator might be worth the investment

I just finished a very tough 55k (11 hour tough) and was pretty happy with my nutrition- I carried rolled dates and dried sweet potatoes (I left them in the oven longer this time); at the aid stations I ate small peanut butter/honey sandwiches, bananas, pineapple- one of them even had a blender (must have had a generator) and was making smoothies!

I have another race this coming weekend that has no aid stations, so nutrition is all on me.

[monkey]

Just made my most expensive hiking related purchase ever, exc10el excalibur dehydrator. Decided to go for this all stainless steel version to avoid plastics. Hopefully it'll last my lifetime and I'll use it for everyday food purposes too (such as snacks for work, doggie treats, making yogurt etc), so that's my excuse ;) Looking forward to drying lots of stuff, and sharing the recipes!

[Mike M]

my wife found these at the Natural Grocers- Cacao Goji squares: dates, sunflower seeds, raisins, apricot, cacao, coconut, chia, goji and a few other odds and ends- they come in little squares, 60 calories/square and actually taste pretty darn good :)

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