RWBlue01

I want to do a couple over night trips. I need to pack my food with me. I would like it to be something that travels well in the heat. I would like it to be REAL food not dehydrated backpacker food.

I am currently thinking Italian sausage/bun then maybe marshmallows for desert.

But is there something better easier.....

3speed

For any over-nighter, most anything you want. If you can cook your food, most beef is good for 6hrs or so if cooked all the way when you eat it. Obviously there's cured meats. Fruits and veggies. I'm a big fan of leftover spaghetti in a tuperware. Are you looking for breakfast too? Fresh eggs will keep for a week without refrigerating, no problem. Nothing beats a fresh omelet/scrambled eggs with ham, bell peppers, and cheese when you're out camping. Just chop your ham and peppers ahead of time and toss them in a container with the cheese. Seriously, basically anything is over-nighter food. You don't have to put much effort into it and start eating backpacking food until you get into the 3 day mark or so.

Shifty

No, that's about all you'll need, unless you throw in a bag of Fritos. Bon Appetite !

fietsbob

What would Chef Isaac cook? since that is his trade.. maybe he has some 4 courses, from one pan, suggestions.

PlanoFuji

You don't mention where in the country you are doing these overnights, but a word of warning. In cooler climates you can get away without refrigeration for a single night; however, in the warmer parts of the country food can spoil much faster... particularly home processed food.

I live/ride in the American southwest so I don't take any home cooked meats, but I have found many of the packaged sausage products (shrink wrapped Summer sausage for instance) can easily survive 24 hours (or more) in 100+ temperatures. The same goes for some of the hard (shrink wrapped) cheeses...


Great standby's:

Ramen
Minute rice
Shelf stable milk (good for morning cereal)
Rice a roni
Mac and cheese (and other similar packaged pasta dishes)
Tuna packages
Spam (and other canned meat products)

PlanoFuji

Oh, and a number of pancake mixes work well!

likebike23

Pre-cooked bacon doesn't need to be refrigerated also.

Burton

********** THAT'S .....REAL food**********

There are a number of things that travel completely without refrigeration. Sealed Camembert and Brie cheeses. You can find them in the NON-refrigerated section. UHT milk and granola. Alternatively Nutribar vanilla shake powder is an excellent milk replacement. Sweetened condensed milk is another high calorie alternative and the packaging is a good size for single use. Juice and wine is also available in individual serving size cartons and needs no refrigeration.

Currently in stores here there are a variety of ready to eat tinned tuna salads: https://www.oceanbrands.com/nutritious-foods/salads/
Polish flat breads or multigrain crackers and that pack a lot of protien and calories in little space.

Fresh fruit and vegetables like carrots keep extremely well BEFORE they're cut up and prepared - so that's the best way to travel with them. Apples, oranges, cantalope, lemons, limes, avacado, or grapes are easy picks.

And you can keep just about ANYTHING safe for 24 hrs by sticking it in a large airtight tupperware and storing a water bottle full of crushed ice in with it. Crushed ice you can pick up at most fast food restaurants if you don't have a blender at home.

Which means if you really really want to - you can bring muffins, waffles, sandwiches, prepared salads, yogurt parfaits or .... whatever.

And its only an overnighter - I wouldn't bother with a stove or cooking at all. Save it for when you NEED something hot to warm up! Those suggestions will already cover breakfast, lunch and supper multiple times.

OK - maybe a thermos of coffee might sneek in there somewhere too.

stevepusser

An old backpacker's trick when setting out on a long trek is to wrap a hard-frozen steak in plastic, then inside the sleeping bag (maybe tough if you squish your down bag to the size of a grapefuit). It'll be thawed by dinnertime, then you can have steak for your first night out. You could apply the same trick with other foods that need to be kept cooled, of course.

Or maybe some french bread with garlic and olive oil toasted over a fire or stove. Mmmmm. If you bring along a little container of ultrapasturized milk, (like I see at the dollar store), a few eggs, some spices, and a little mini aluminum ceramic griddle like I got for $4 at the discount store, you can make some of that bread into french toast in the morning. That really impresses other people in the hike 'n' bikes sites, I can tell you from experience. Or you can make zip-lock bag omelets in boiling water, that's another neat trick.

If that's too much hassle, just boil up some fancy granola into hot oatmeal. That's a pretty easy breakfast, along with some fresh (foraged?) or dried fruit.

RWBlue01

It has been in the 90s around here. It will take me most of a day to get where I am going.

RWBlue01

It isn't really healthy, but it is real.

RWBlue01

Thank you, You got my mind out of the rut.

My previous trips have been off grid where it was either backpacking meals or catch, kill and eat. This is a little different.

MarkvW

Honey nut Cheerios with dehydrated milk altogether in a baggie! (Dehydrated food, yes . . . but not dehydrated backpacker food!)

julcsf

I agree! I would recommend dehydrated potatoes flakes with dehydrated milk and spices or/and stock cube. Add boiling water and your mashed potatoes are ready to eat !!
I also find in SF some dehydrated black beans. It goes very well on the side of the mashed potatoes.

Crush a chips bag and you get a salty high-calorie mix which can last long and does not take place.

Western Flyer 

Clarabelle

I don't know how well marshmallows do in the heat. Seems to me they tend to melt together.

MichaelW

Fig Rolls survive the heat well
If you are cooking, then couscous is the most water and fuel-efficient carb. My std evening meal is chorizo, onions, peppers with rice or couscous.
For one nigh stays, yo can do without cooking. There are some good tins of seafood, esp the Spanish varieties, not just tuna (catfood).

chefisaac

Cous Cous is seriously the best food out there for energy and if you put fourth a small effort, it can be done in at least 100 different ways. I love Cous Cous. The first tour, everyone was eating dehydrated back packers food and I made three different types of Cous Cous. Easy.

indyfabz

Pasta, vegetables and olive oil. You can also buy pre-cooked sausage that will keep for a while.

Love me some canned sardines in oil on a multigrain bagel for breakfast.

alan s 

I tried dehydrated beef stroganoff on an overnight last year, and it was great. Since my arrival was after dark, it was nice to have a hot meal just by boiling water and waiting a few minutes while setting up the tent. Might try the frozen steak idea. What would be the best way to cook it over a campfire?

robow

Great thread, my kind of touring

Marshmallows = real food

"throw in a bag of Fritos. Bon Appetite"

Booger1

I just stop at a Subway, get something and throw it in my bag.Get some peanuts,fruit or something to snack on during the day.

If you want to cook,noodles or rice with veggies and a can of chicken.

Beer lasts for months...

RWBlue01

I have cooked meat doing a kabob/spit thing. It works, but not exactly easy and simple.

Booger1

If you have enough wood to make coals,you can blow the ashes off and put the meat straight on the coals.

If not,you can put your meat on a stick and stand it next to the flame.Make sure it's a green stick...

PlanoFuji

While I find most of the commercial dehydrated foods less than appetizing, I have come to enjoy most of the offerings from PackIt Gourmet

I also really like that they sell dried basics (meats, veggies, etc...) that allow one to make up one's own meals that will last for any length trip in any amount of heat.

I ended up getting my own dehydrator and will routinely dehydrate left overs for use as either later camp meals or even nights at home when I don't feel like cooking. This is probably the easiest/best tasting camp foods I have tried.

One thing I particularly like is to cook brown rice (or groats, quinoa, etc..) and then dehydrate the cooked product. The result is a home made minute rice product that easily rehydrates and reheats on a small camp stove in a few minutes. And best of all it is the whole grain product rather than processed.

I have also found that ground beef or sausage can be dehydrated at home and remain shelf stable for a while, though the dehydration process is a little more complicated, the reconstituted meat tastes almost as good as when freshly cooked.