gluten-free, dairy-free, peanut-free, tomatoe-potatoe free

I'm rather digging the KIND bars, although I have to be careful to avoid peanuts right now in them. The Almond and Coconut, and Walnut and Date bars have been particularly nummy.

So, back from my hike, and not too bad from a dietary stand-point. Some things were really good, others not so great. The Quinoa cereal I tried to substitute for my oatmeal was not a favorite. I don't think it gave me the energy I'm used to to start a hike from, oatmeal definitely works better for me. Not crazy about the flavor, either. I added brown sugar, Earth Balance spread, toasted pecans, dried blueberries, cranberries and cherries, with cinnamon to it, and it was ok, but not great. Dinners worked out better–I used Sarah's Cranberry Chicken with Rice one night, having found a gluten-free stock concentrate from Packitgourmet.com. That was yummy. I tried her Thai Peanut noodles, substituting home-dried rice macaroni and almond butter for the noodles and peanut butter, and adding freeze-dried chicken, spinach and carrots, and roasted cashews. Not quite as good, I think if I had used tahini along with the almond butter, or if I could have found cashew butter it might have been better, but certainly good enough to eat and get along with. I carried gluten-free peanut-free bars, homemade jerky and peanut-free trail mix for snacks, with gluten-free salami and bread for lunches. Gluten-free bread is very dry, not sure I'll do that again. I also found gluten free dehydrated black bean soup mix that makes a great dip/spread if you don't add as much water.

So, thank you all for your help during my pre-hike freak-out. 4 more weeks to go eating like this, then hopefully I'll get to at least add tomatoes back!

And you didn't starve ;-)

Cashew butter is soooo good.

Hi Diane,
I know your post has been out there a while but I wanted to let you know there is a place you can actually buy a compete freeze-dried PALEO meal.

My son is a backpacker, CrossFitTM athlete, marathon runner, and a Paleo Diet follower. He had been searching and searching for a freeze dried backpacker meal that adhered to the Paleo Diet guidelines and was never able to find one. He also runs marathons and works at a remote job site where he can't always fix meals, so he often needs a meal that is quick, wholesome and Paleo. As you probably have noticed, most of the ready-made, freeze-dried meals out there are full of ingredients not allowed on the Paleo Diet. When he couldn't find one, he decided to make one! He is an engineer in Denver and has an entrepreneurial mind set so he suggested we start a business manufacturing freeze-dried Paleo meals. So, I have spent the last three months starting a company to do just that!

Our website is http://www.PaleoMealsToGo.com and I thought you might be willing to take a look at it, give us some feedback and maybe even try a meal. We are a small company, it's just the two of us, and my son works full-time at another job, so any help you could give us as far as promoting our product would be greatly appreciated.

I hope this information is helpful.
Dawn Anderson
http://www.PaleoMealsToGo.com

PS: I wrote to BPL and received permission from Ryan to make these posts so all the readers of BPL will benefit!

Dawn,

I sent you an email via your contact page on the website.

Sure, Dawn, I'd love to try some. I'm finding that not only do I need to make meals for myself backpacking, but if I'm at a professional conference, life is easier if I take breakfast and lunches–as long as I have access to a microwave, I'm set.

I'll check out your web-site and contact you through there. I've enjoyed making some of my own meals, but it would be fantastic to have a few things I can just pick up and go!