2 Serving meals, what am I missing, other than food??

I’m going to assume I should look at calories.

1 serving mountain house was about 300 calories.

1 serving packit gourmet has 800 calories http://www.packitgourmet.com/PastaBeefBolognese.html

They are two servings when you add sides and dessert.  I tend to lose my appetite at elevation the first few nights out, but my kids don’t.  If I have food they like they will just keep eating.  I don’t have any experience with packitgourmet, but I think looking at the calories is a good idea.

I’ve found Packit Gourmets serving sizes to be more reasonable than Mountainhouse. That said, I like busing bulk ingredients (from PG or Honeyville Farms) and making my own meals at whatever serving size I feel like.

I always take the 2 serving packages just for me. I am burning a lot of calories when I’m in the backcountry, I’m not worried about my diet. And particularly at dinnertime, when I need the calories to stay warm all night, I am going to eat until I’m full and satisfied.

I see a lot of wonky serving sizes on Mountain House meals (1.5 servings per container, for example).  I wonder if it has something to do with the sodium content.  The MH meals tend to be very high in sodium, so perhaps they’re trying to keep the per-serving sodium number reasonable by monkeying with the serving size?

My experience with Packit Gourmet is that the serving sizes tend to be quite adequate, sometimes bordering on too much.  Plus it tastes better.  YMMV, of course.

Walt

The PackitGourmet meals are large and very filling.  I’m a big guy and eat well and I’m always satisfied after eating one of their single-serving meals.  I have a 21 year-old daughter for whom the meals are a little too much.

PackitGourmet stopped making 2-person meals last year so you’ll need to go with singles.  Their food does tend to the spicy side so look out for that as you choose meals for your son (unless he likes some kick).

Years ago (20 or so) on our first wilderness trip the other couple said they would take care of the food. On an 8 day trip I lost about 9 lbs (I’m 5′ 8″ and 156#)  and thought I was going to starve. I think we had Mountain House and she use meals for 2 for each couple. We immediately bought a dehydrator and some cookbooks and have made our own meals, with one exception) ever since. That exception was Chile 2 years ago. We bought our dinners from some of the more highly recommended brands. The meals were adequate at best. Not  enough calories. If you want great meals with plenty of calories you are going to have to make your own.

Most MH “2-serving” meals are in the 4-4.5oz (dry) range and are indeed adequate for only 1 person in most cases. Might be enough for somebody 5’2″/115# or for somebody who eats a bunch of smaller snacks during the day and isn’t terribly hungry at dinnertime.

Nowadays I get the #10 cans and repackage using a FoodSaver vacuum sealer. Easy to adjust portions up or down.

I don’t worry about the sodium content because when hiking I lose a lot of salt anyway.

Thanks everyone, you’re confirming what I thought.  I don’t expect to be purchasing a lot of meals due to the cost.  For 4 of us that adds up quick.  however it would be nice to try some offerings for ideas to make ourselves.

Thanks again.

I suspect that with the calorie counting craze companies like to give (small) serving sizes in a package, so that people see less calories. Like a bag of chips where the serving size is 8 chips….ookkaayy, who is going to do that? But it looks good on paper.

Cheaper options are instant mashed potatoes, just add boiling water. Lately I have combined  “instant” refried black beans with the potatoes. Let the beans sit in cold water, a cup more than instructed. Give that a little time then bring to a boil and then add the potatoes.A few pieces of salame and a bit of olive oil will  up the calories deliciously.

The serving sizes has a lot do with sodium. MH is particular is very bad, it compares with canned soup for levels. And as well, much of MH is liquid in the dinners. Take a look at how thin their spaghetti is. You can do a LOT better.

PackIt is real food, just made easy for the person who is preparing it.

Over the years, when posting recipes. I have been asked quite often how “real” the serving sizes are in them – and nearly every recipe will stuff you. I based my recipes on a hungry male. If you happen to take a look at mine, you’ll get a better idea of how much you really need to pack.

I combine dried ingredients for my meals (including much Packit Gourmet items). I assemble them so that sufficient water + ingredients fills my 3 cup pot.

I’ve considered getting a larger pot, because I don’t eat a lot while hiking and like to fill up on the hot meals.

Yeah, for me I carry  a 1.8 L or bigger pot, so I have “room” :-)

I am pretty disappointed with Freeze Dried foods.  I suspect that they are following a Marketing strategy that backpackers want lightweight food to take with them: so that light=good.  Given that fact that most backpackers are burning higher than average daily calories, it doesn’t make sense that an average dinner portion is 275 to 350 calories.

I think that the best advice is to focus more on calorie and nutritional balance first and then weight.  It would be great if someone had list of typical calories per gram food list (and I am not talking about just eating olive oil soaked dried cherries).  I suspect that the typical calories/gram doesn’t vary by that much (other than food with higher water content).

One last thing to consider is overall food weight.  I had found that when bringing FD food, I would have a fair amount of “snack” food that added a lot of weight.  I now, cook meals on the trail.  My “meal time” calorie count has gone way up and my “snack” weight has dropped by a lot.  I think that my overall food weight is about the same, but I eat much tastier meals.  My 2 cents.

Don’t forget this though: Freeze-dried components are not the evil here. Buying fd meat, veggies, etc, is great for using in recipes. It is rather commercial fd meals that are the bane.