Budget backpacking 2

Since the possibility first arose, I've gotten very excited about backpacking this year.  I've reached a point where I can't go into a grocery without looking for dried veggies, meats which require no refrigeration, and meal options that can cook on a stove in under ten minutes.

Some of this runs counter to how I usually buy groceries.  I like to get ingredients, and make everything myself.  I like to take my time, toy with seasonings, and fill the apartment with food smells I can't actually appreciate myself.  I don't like "just add water" microwave meals.

When you go backpacking, you usually cook with a single, small stove burner.  You have to carry all the fuel it needs, so you want that stove to run as little as possible.

You have to carry all your food with you (or at least enough to reach your next resupply point), so you aren't going to take a full spice cabinet, though you might get a small container to carry some of your favorites.

Finally, your energy needs are vastly different.  These days, groceries and food companies are so engaged in trying to help people be healthy that everything you find--especially most of the "instant" or nearly-instant foods--are low fat, low calorie, though still high in sodium.  I was poking around the grocery this morning (the morning of the writing, though not necessarily of the posting) doing something I've never done before: reading nutritional labels.

Inclusion of these items in this post does not connote endorsement, nor any statement on their nutritional value; it's just the stuff I wanted to screen-test before planning a long-term backpacking menu.

Backpackers want foods with a high calorie to weight ratio (but not just straight butter--we need high nutritional value, too).  I looked at six different bulk granolas before selecting one that had decent amounts of carbs, proteins, calcium, and calories, with a much lower price than another option which was slightly higher in some of those nutritional areas.  There was another with dried strawberries and good nutritional scores, but it was labeled as "low-fat," and I paid it no more attention.  That sort of thing might be ok at home, but I was shopping for trail food.

I was thrilled to find bags of freeze-dried veggies from Just Tomatoes in the store.  These add high doses of vitamins A and C, and also provide iron.  After a quick soak, they can be added to soups, rice dishes, or noodles to help round out what would otherwise be a rather bland side dish.  The downside: they probably won't be available at every little grocery along the trail.

The rice dish shown offers B vitamins, iron, protein, and carbohydrates.  It makes about 2 cups, and could serve as the basis of a dinner on the trail for $3.50.

The beef stick and buffalo jerky are partly for packable protein, but mainly for morale.  They're tasty, dammit, and backpackers can not live on rice alone.  One of my clearest memories form the first backpacking trip I took as a kid was the foods we missed.  Mom wanted fresh vegetables.  My aunt wanted a beer.  I wanted bread, and a glass of milk.  All of us wanted real meat.  My brother and I opined about large cheeseburgers.  Mom and my aunt wanted steaks.  I don't know why we didn't have any jerky on that trip.  Yes, it runs a little high price-wise, but as a treat every few days, it's a good option.  You'll probably get more thirsty, but as long as you can easily replenish your water, that's not bad.

Morale food is important.  Even at home, when I can make anything I want, I sometimes just need a cookie, full of chocolate chips.  When I get it, I feel better.  Cookies don't always travel well, and you can't make more on the trail whenever you need them, but if you can plan ahead with a few treats to get you through long days, it makes a long trek much easier.