food

ProBar Meal

Expensive, but they do the trick. There is enough variety to keep you interested

A downside to ProBar Meals is their size – at 3 ounces and 360 calories of fruit and nuts on-the-go is challenging. I sometimes eat just half, walk for another half hour, then finish it.

However, the PowerBar Harvest line is my staple, with one ProBar allotted for the late afternoon.

Both are pretty close to real food. The Probar Meals are date based. The PowerBar Harvest line is oatmeal based. (Cliff Bars are soy based, and cause digestive problems for some. Be Sure to test all bars before a trip.)

YMMV

Pop tarts are my go to breakfast food for strenuous backpacking. They are incredibly unhealthy, essentially eating a cookie for breakfast, but a pack of 2 is around 400 calories. Since they're extensively processed food, they last forever when packaged. They can get broken up, but it's not so bad to eat a mushed pop tart since the jelly inside keeps them together. If you need calories, pop tarts (or the cheap generic equivalents) are awesome. I ate them every day on my JMT thru hike and never got bored with them.

Kathryn…..Why not give your culinary a try and make some Bars/Cookies for your ADVENTURES. I have used the recipe below for many years with many age groups for breakfast, snacks and extra calories when needed. My granddaughters like them with a shake, dried fruit or jerky in the morning for breakfast. Light in weight and "dense" in the calories area.

Go For It!

Frisbee Cookies

Cream
1 c margarine
1 c sugar
1 c brown sugar
Add and Mix
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
Add and mix thoroughly
1 ½ c flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
Add and mix in
2 ½ c oatmeal
1 ½ c coconut
1 c chopped nuts
1 c raisins

Directions
Divide dough into 12 evenly sized balls. Place on cookie sheet (about 4/ sheet) and flatten to about ½" thick. Bake at 4000F for 12 min. These should just fit into small Ziploc Bags.

Depends entirely on how long you're traveling and how much you're willing to carry.

I'm going for an overnight today, leaving this afternoon. I'll be carrying a homemade grilled salmon salad for dinner, dates and nuts for snacks, a hard boiled egg and miso soup for breakfast. A rifle is coming with me; there might be rabbit or hare on the menu if I'm lucky (and it's not).

My point in mentioning this is that I find many people go straight to dehydrated, salty, packaged junk long before they need to. There's certainly a place for it on long or intense trips, but fresh foods have their place too. Just because you're backpacking doesn't mean you have to eat laboratory food.

Lab food is a great way to deliver high calories at a low weight. Honey Buns and a carnation breakfast drink are good for a morning carb kick. I supplement this diet with dried fruit. My new favorite trail snack thanks to my friend Eric:

Pour soy sauce and pepper into zip lock bag

Add sweet peas in pod and shake

Dehydrate

Add smoked almonds

Enjoy

Ian, that sounds awesome!
Oooo the hiker hunger has hit with a vengeance! GIVE ME FOOOOOOOD!

I don't hike long enough these days to develop hiker hunger but had it for the 10 years I was in the Army. The joys of eating 6k+ calories per day, not gain weight, and still be hungry.

For breakfast I usually eat some sort of bar(usually cliff) but I am going to try and find pro bars next time. I also make a smoothie. I found a recipe some where. .2 packs carnation instant breakfast, 1.5 scoops protein powder and 2 tablespoons Nido instant whole milk. Use what ever flavors you like. I mix the powders in the smoothie bags I get from packit gourmet. Just add water..shake vigorously. .wait 5 minutes and indulge. I usually have a shake with lunch also.

Logan Bread.

The recipe is searchable here.

–B.G.–

Logan Bread
Servings 36

Recipe:
3 C whole wheat flour
3 C AP flour
2/3 C powdered milk
2 tsp salt
tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda

lightly toast:
1 C old fashioned oats
1/2 C wheat germ
2/3 C chopped nuts (I've been using pecans)

1/2 C dark brown sugar
1 C chopped dried fruit (this batch was half strawberries and half dates)
1/2 C melted butter
2 eggs, beaten
1 C honey, warmed
~1 C warm water (this batch used about 1.25 C)

Instructions:
Mix the dry ingredients together in a very large bowl, aerating well. Toast the oats, wheat germ, and nuts in a 350F oven for 5 minutes, stir/flip, and toast another 3 minutes. (Tip: don't go too long; if you smell the nuts with the oven closed, they're burned.) Add to dry mix. Add the sugar and fruit and mix well.

Melt the butter; meanwhile, whisk the eggs. Heat the honey. (Tip: this is the best time to grease the pan since you're about to knead.) Add the remainder of the wet ingredients, reserving some of the water in case less than a cup is enough. Knead. (I manage this one handed; if you have a stand mixer, I'm jealous.) The dough should be thick and sticky; you will get club hand if you're doing this by hand.

Grease a 9"x13" baking dish and spread out best you can. Bake at 350F for 40 to 50 minutes. 40 minutes will leave it moister, 50 minutes will make it dry enough to last a respectable amount of time without freezing or refrigeration. I'm assuming 60 minutes makes it bone dry, good for longevity, bad for taste.

Totals (not portioned out): 6624 cal, 171.2g fat, 1200g carb of which 98.9g fiber and 377.4g sugar, 161.7g protein.

In 36 pieces, each piece then: 184 cal, 4.76g fat, 33.3g carb of which 2.75g fiber and 10.5g sugar, 4.5g protein.

Edit: Total weight 74.6 oz not completely cool or dry. 8 pieces from the center in a freezer bag: 16.2 oz. So admittedly, below the ideal calories per ounce. But delicious! And this is the wettest batch I've made yet; the center was still nice and moist like banana bread should be.

The other Logan Bread recipe has no milk or eggs, so it will keep longer without mold.

–B.G.–

Logan Bread
Servings 32 (4in square pieces)

Ingredients

4 lbs (14 1/3 cups) whole-wheat flour (can use wheat germ or other natural flour for part.)
1 ½ cups brown sugar
4 oz powered milk
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon and/or nutmeg
1 cup chopped nuts
1 ¼ cups honey
1 ½ cups blackstrap molasses
1 ¼ cups melted shortening
2 cups chopped dried fruit
1 tsp salt
1 qt water

Instructions

• To dry ingredient add water, then honey, molasses, shortening and fruit.
• Turn the mixture into two greased 8×8-inch cake pans and spread it as evenly as possible.
• Bake for one hour at 3000 F.. Remove from the oven, let cool for five minutes, and then invert the pans to remove the bread.
• Dry out well for several hour at 200* F with oven door open slightly. The drier the bread, the less chance of mildew.
• Cut each bread loaf into 16 squares. The proper consistency is not rock-hard, and it is a little chewy..
• Store the squares in plastic sandwich bags and squeeze out as much of the air as possible. Six squares into each sandwich bag, so the whole batch will require five or six bags, minus however much you ate during the cutting.
• Refrigerated, it will keep indefinitely.

The other Logan Bread recipe has no eggs and no milk, so it will keep longer without mold.

–B.G.–

I believe that the butterfat of whole milk, eggs, and yeast that make mold problems in the various Logan Bread recipes. In some cases, the cooking oil will also.

–B.G.–

Bob I have never had any issues with mold with any of my Logan recipes with and w/o eggs, thought when the wife and I make them we keep them dry side. Most long trips I resupply at 10-12 days and the Logan Bread in a plastic bag if they are left on the menu are great. I prefer the “BRICK” 2010 Model that I introduced:

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=4093

to that of Logan Bread for taste and calories.

BRICK” 2010 Model
Makes 12 bar
402cal/bar

Call them a chewy granola bar or an energy bar, either way, these are good! They freeze well also (wrap them up two bars to a bag for an easy trail snack out of the freezer.) Trust me, you will LOVE these bars. Yes, they are high in fat, but if you are hiking hard, you will burn it off and they are better for you than a candy bar!

2 cups quick-cooking oats 1 cup all-purpose flour ¾ cup packed brown sugar
¾ cup dried cranberries (or whatever fruit you prefer!)
½ cup wheat germ
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ cup chopped pecans (or other nut of choice, unsalted)
½ cup cranberries
½ cup blueberries
½ cup coconut
½ cup chocolate chips
½ cup vegetable oil
½ cup honey
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Line a 13×9 inch pan with parchment paper.
3. In a large bowl, stir together oats, flour, brown sugar, craisins, wheat germ, salt, cinnamon, and pecans.
4. In a smaller bowl, thoroughly blend oil, honey, egg, and vanilla; pour into flour mixture, and mix by hand until the liquid is evenly distributed
5. I use rubber gloves for this.
6. Press evenly into the prepared baking pan. Make sure it is packed in tightly.
7. Bake 25-30 minutes in the oven or until the edges are golden.
8. Cool completely in pan before turning out onto a cutting board and cutting into bars.

Notes:
• These bars take well to using applesauce or baby prunes as part of the oil.
• Brown sugar Splenda® works well as a way to cut back on the sugar content for diabetics.
• Any nut can be used, and feel free to change the fruit or add chocolate chips, etc to the batter!
• These bars have been made by a number of hikers on hiking forums, and the consensus is they are fang good!-no matter how you change the recipe!

Nutrition Facts
Amount Per Bar
Calories 402.4
Total Fat 16.7 g
Saturated Fat 2.3 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 3.5 g
Monounsaturated Fat 9.8 g
Cholesterol 86.1 mg
Sodium 614.4 mg
Potassium 261.0 mg
Total Carbohydrate 61.0 g
Dietary Fiber 4.8 g
Sugars 35.7 g
Protein 9.7 g

You dont want any light food. Light means no calories. You want food without water content, because that is 0 cal/oz added wt.

Probars, as said previously, make decent first breakfast for me, on the move.

Bear naked fruit and nut granola with Nido powder makes a fine second breakfast after 3 hrs of hiking are under the belt.

However, if food volume isnt critical, Ive been known to eat honey buns, little chocolate donuts, jello chocolate pudding, Oatmeal raisin cookies,or just a pack of precooked bacon.

The staple lunch is tortillas and peanut butter or nutella. Or crackers and pepperoni/cheese.

Fill in the gaps with junk food. Fritos, pringles, (crushed up usually), cheetos, mms, trailmix, snickers, cookies, crackers

I'm partial to the slight molasses flavor of most Logan Bread.

–B.G.–

Thanks for all of these great ideas. I would probably have ended up with instant oatmeal every day! I love the recipes! And I have 2 weeks to make and try them out!

What about granola and dehydrated milk? I know by itself the powder and water taste blan, but, when added to cereal it is bareable and filling.

Packets of oatmeal work well too. Just add hot water.