Light weight backpacking food (1 Viewer)

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From my old military e- rat days I'd suggest solid chocolate and beef jerky. High mountain climbers like ' hello dollies'. Recepies are on line. Personally, I'd stick with something like Mountain House unless survival was critical. If hiking for a few days, eggs travel well and don't have to be refrigerated. A small bottle of olive oil makes frying things easy and provides calories. Dry foods like pasta are light and can provide bulk. The list is endless.
 
Can't believe no one has brought up this place yet Packit Gourmet
They have all sorts of different stuff.
They look good, reasonable prices too. I like that you can buy basic ingredients to make your own meals.
 
For breakfast I like the Straw Propeller (or similar) oatmeals. They are tasty, light and just need some hot water to be ready to eat. Other than that I tend to bring Mountain House and Jerky.
 
great thread! definitely into minimalist relatively lightweight camping. anyway, i'm a big fan of bannek/bannock bread which is a First nations type of pan cake. lots of recipes online (mostly flour/milk powder/baking powder/salt/pepper/water and fried on a pan or even baked on a plank leaning next to a fire)

then i just jazz it up by substituting hemp protein flour or quinioa flower, then i'll add trail mix/gorp, sliced pepperettes/jerkey, a slice of cheese, then maybe some peanut butter/nutella on top. it can be desert/breakfast like or meaty/salty/lunch and dinner like! very versatile. every batch i make is always a little different. or make it plain and dip it in some tahini, or humus, or jam, or whatever.

the nice thing about bannek is that it's ready to go, just add water and fry. you can put it in a sturdy plastic bag so it'll take whatever shape in your gear. i can live off this stuff and it's super good!





junior loves this stuff. i don't bring honey or maple syrup as it's easy to spill and attract bears. peanut butter/nutella is more manageable.







anywho, i also like to bring instant noodles in the bag (vs a cup that can get crushed in your bags). then i just add a hardboiled egg or raw egg and then the usual nuts/pepperettes or anything! hardboiled eggs can last a few days. i prefer nitrate free jerky's but they're expensive so i usually end up with the non refrigeration needed peperettes. that wrapped in a small bun and some cheese is all i need!

i'll also bring a block of cheese wrapped in cheesecloth/soaked in vinegar, keeps it longer and the vinegar taste isn't that bad. can't go wrong with the mountain house/dried stuff but they're expensive and i call them "luxury" foods that are super easy to make. we do backcountry camping/portaging so definitely gotta be simple and relatively light. we tried portaging on a SUP board with my 6 year old (4/5 day and 4 lakes) and we just packed enough (maybe overpacked a tad).

more pics..

this is pretty much all the gear/food we bring for two, plus tent or hammock/sleeping bags.











oh yeah, 2 tnumbs up for the hennessy jungle hammocks! that much lighter and smaller to pack with no poles! and no sleep mats needed either.
 
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I am doing my first backpacking trip with my youngest daughter. This trip, as an introduction to her, will be relatively short from the point where we leave the Land Cruiser to where I am planning on us camping. It will be a single camping location, with day hikes and hanging out in hammocks.

For our food, I have dinners being the Mountain House variety meals, lunches will be a mixture of pep sticks, nuts, dried fruit, and tuna pouches - I want a variety to keep the monotony down over 3 days. For breakfast, I have flour tortillas, dehydrated eggs, and oatmeal. Again, a bit of variety to mix things up... but the most important item.... INSTANT STARBUCKS LATTES! I found caramel, french vanilla, and white chocolate flavors at the grocery store. She got excited on this (oh, she is 15 so yeah, the occasional coffee drinker).

I like the idea of the chocolate bars and will pick some up tonight on my way home. We are setting out tomorrow afternoon, once she gets home from school. Looking forward to a fun relaxing weekend!
 
I let my dog take these out of my mouth. They're kind of tasty.

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I let my dog take these out of my mouth. They're kind of tasty.

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Back in the 70's I kept a #3 coffee can of dog food in my FJ40. It was the one thing I knew would not get eaten except in an emergency.
(Teenager + the 70's, do the math.)
 

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