Review: Campbell's Go Soup

I was already on the way to the check out lanes when I realized I already knew about this product, thanks to  the Chief Taster's infatuation with Stephen Colbert.  I bought it anyway.  The plan was to eat it on a mountainside somewhere, thus preventing anyone discovering my secret shame over getting marketed.  Hopefully, the fact that I selected it for convenience as a backpacking food will override the flashy graphics and the silly face on the bag:

This image was stolen from the Campbell's web site.  I'm giving it a decent review, so I don't think they'll mind.

I had my doubts.  I even had intentions to add some orzo or couscous to make it a more filling stew.  I'm glad I didn't.

I also wanted to test some gear, so I used the pot from my two-person cookset to heat the soup on our kitchen's gas stove (I don't have a good place to test the backpacking stove), because I figured that was a decent simulation of trail conditions.  I even ate it from that same cookset's bowl, but I used a normal spoon, because I have no intention of relying on the included folding "foon."

If this were a photography blog, I probably would have had the sense to use the blue bowl.

Results: surprisingly filling, and a tasty but not overbearing amount of spice.  Three hours after eating it, I still feel pretty full.  To be fair, I also had a couple slices of fresh mango, and didn't do any hiking at all in that time, but I could use this as dinner on the trail, after the day's hiking was finished.  Plus, you can prop up the empty bag while you eat and pretend you have a comically zany dining companion.  ...Making an O face?  The downside: lots of water weight.  Better for a weekend jaunt than an extended trip.

Review: powdered milk

Powdered milk is a new thing to me.  Why would anyone buy powdered milk when they can get the real thing?

Backpacking.

Milk isn't really a crucial thing to have while backpacking, but it's an excellent source of vitamin D, a decent source of vitamin A, and a famous source of calcium.  Those are all good things to have in your diet if you're going to be hiking for a really long time, and if you don't want to cook breakfast on the trail, it goes well with granola.  I bought some recently, but I screwed up.  Without even noticing it in the store, I got the nonfat version.

Backpackers need the fat.  (see previous post)

The box I bought has five packets inside; each packet can be mixed with "about 3 3/4 cups of cold water" to make a quart of milk.  I don't want to make a quart at a time; I need to be able to make about a cup at a time.  I threw some math at it, and learned that for trail purposes, about 1.5 T of powder in a cup of water should be the right mix.

I poured about half of the result on 1/2 C of bulk granola from the grocery (recommended serving size) and drank the rest.  I wanted to see how that would get me through the morning, even though my typical morning in the apartment requires nowhere near the energy level of a morning hiking mountains with a thirty to forty pound pack.

I haven't bought any variety except whole milk since... well, it's been a very long time, anyway.  I don't know if it's because I'm accustomed to that flavor, or because I botched the proportions in the mix, but the milk I got from the mix was a little thin and low on flavor.  I'd like to try again with a "whole" powdered milk, if I can find it, but at least now I know the stuff works.  Not great, but it works.  For the purposes of backpacking or summer camping without a cooler, this will do, but I'm not switching to the box stuff on a regular basis.