Trail Mix Fatigue

Go to your local Italian pork store and get a stick of soppressata, I prefer spicy. That’s the real deal and it will last for months!!

it will last for months!!
Is it really that inedible?

Cheers

Well actually, it won’t last for months because it tastes so darn good!

My teeth aren’t in great shape and I’ve broken teeth on a trip eating . . . guess what . . . trail mixes.  Popped off a few crowns, too.  The constant munching of hard objects (like almonds) day in and day out can really stress the teeth.

Therefore, I’m a big proponent on making nut butters at home with a food processor.  Cashew butter, pumpkin seed butter, almond butter, sunflower seed butter etc.  Grind these babies UP.

Add olive oil/avocado oil or whatever during processing to achieve a real butter consistency.

Packed with nutrients depending on the quality of the raw nuts and seeds.

Once done processing you can start making your own Pemmican, even vegetarian pemmican as is my style.  Add dates or raisins etc and if so inclined dry milk/goat milk and honey or wheat germ or whatever.  End up with your trail mix now formed into pemmican blocks.  Survival food.  Teeth still required but not a whole set.  You’ll thank me later.

Heck, if you’re really inventive and desperate you could pack a BearVault or Bearikade with pure nut butter pemmican from bottom to top—and spoon it out to eat.  A big bearikade would probably hold enough for a 30 day trip.

A big bearikade would probably hold enough for a 30 day trip.
You would probably want to go home after day 3, to get some real food.

Cheers

Technically it IS real food.

However food that needs to be chewed a bit is something you’d crave ;-)

Chewing, yes, plus texture, tongue ‘feel’, sweetness/sourness … lots of things needed for variety.

Cheers

I’ve posted this at least twice already, but what the heck. It’s that time of year, when I make fruitcake. It is packed with calories, fiber, protein, packs well, and you don’t need much. Other hefty breads like Logan bread are good trail snacks too.

Trail mixes are often better when they consist of just a couple ingredients, like walnuts and chunks of dark chocolate. Or almonds and cranberries. Everything mixed together day after day can get old.

Roasted, salted, pumpkin seeds are easy to make at home and last well on the trail.

YUM

I got out of the trail mix rut when I had braces on in my mid to late 30’s. I couldn’t eat nuts because I didn’t want to pop a wire out of my brackets while hiking, and cleaning my teeth was horrible to do if I did eat them….after I got my braces off I then was blessed with a super allergy child :-p who nuts were his kryptonite. So I got used to a lot of other stuff. Having said that, I do eat nuts when he is not around me (you have to, if you don’t the chance of adult onset food allergies to nuts goes up).

The point is,….try other foods. There is so much out there to enjoy. Trail mix isn’t our only choice.

I put fruitcake up there with pemmican if it’s made properly.  A good fruitcake would supply complete nutrition if made with healthy and innovative ingredients—and it’s easy to pack but of course heavy.