What's for dinner
 

OK, the tent is set up, stove ready to go and your so hungry you could eat your tire, so what's for dinner?

Apps: Snickers Bars
Main: Boil in Bag Rice with Veggis
Dessert: Snickers Bars

Village smoked salmon, mixed with rice and kelp (or veggies). World famous homemade chocolate espresso almond cherry brownies (my own creation from ski tours). Cup of Aeropress coffee with sugar in the raw sweetener.

Curry pasta with chicken and veg ... and mango for desert. Rowan is the "chef", not me. :)


https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7388/...4dfb986a6b.jpg

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7289/...052e71c1e6.jpg

Also ... when we roll into camp, we will set the tent up, then we usually relax with a coffee and cheese and crackers before deciding what to do about dinner. It takes the edge off the hunger. :)

I always carry both sorts of food. Snickers and Mars bars.

Depends where the nearest restaurant is.

White Cheddar Mac and Cheese, made with a little olive oil and a can of Tuna for protein and calories.

Whatever was on sale at the last grocery store/village market. Usually ramen or pasta with nearly expired vegetables and a can of meat if I'm lucky. Plus peanut butter.

On my last tour there were two of us, a bit under a month of biking. Camping about 90 to 95 percent of the time.

Almost every day the evening meal was a one pot meal for simplicity. After a few days we tried something new for days when we were more hungry than usual. We added a a packet of Ramen noodles and roughly 75 percent of the water that the Ramen called for to the meal that we were making. That was a good way to easily add calories to a simple meal and make it a bit more filling. We added it a few minutes before the meal was done since the noodles only took a few minutes to re-hydrate. We ended up doing that for quite a few of the evening meals.

We stopped at a major grocery store to stock up whenever the opportunity rose. That was about every three days or so. On those days we also bought a bag of pre-washed salad mix so we could have a salad with our meal. For two of us we usually looked for a bag that had about 9 or 10 oz of contents. And we carried a bottle of ranch dressing.

I eat a fairly good-sized meal every couple of hours during the day, basically every time I stop cycling. The concept of "dinner" kind of goes away. I seldom cook on a bike tour, so it's usually something like tortillas and cheese, crackers and peanut butter, fruit and vegetables, nuts, etc. That or a restaurant meal, usually once every day or three (depending on weather, location and budget).

With my (usually stealthy) camping style, I wait until pretty late in the day to find a place to sleep. Most of the time I've eaten my last meal for the day an hour or so earlier. Maybe I'll only have a snack before sleeping.

I usually stop by a supermarket before I get to camp. Last time I had tortillas, hummus, cheese, pizza and raspberries. I always carry couscous and a couple of instant ramens. Other favorites are flat breads of any kind and salami....and obviously things like fig newtons, nuts and candy bars.

Tea is probably what I use my stove to make most.

I've only used my stove on the last couple of tours, but my main go-to meal is a tin of fish mixed with sauce, such as tuna in tomato, stirred through spiral pasta. The tuna in sauce also goes well in a baguette for lunch.

Because I tour in Europe, I also tend to hit pizza parlours pretty often.

James

Couscous has a large surface to volume ratio so it cooks quicker than other dried pasta. Just bring some water to the boil, add the couscous and then wait for 10 mins. For speed of cooking I also like rice noodles and instant ramen.

Pizza is a go to daily meal and sometimes Subway were I load up on veggies. On my tour through upstate NY last year I ate at a lot of Wegman's...their prepared food bars are pretty good and I'd also top up my iPhone charge

We usually stop at a supermarket in the middle of the day, somewhere around lunchtime. There we pick up food for lunch ... buns, veggies, cheese, meat (to make sandwiches), yogurt, fruit juice or some other flavoured beverage, fruit ... and snacks for on the bicycle like cookies or granola bars. We also pick up something for dinner that night pasta, rice, potatoes, eggs, tinned meat, veggies, soup. And we pick up something for breakfast the next morning ... granola, fruit cake, or whatever grabs our fancy. We'll make sure we have cheese and crackers, and sometimes chocolate for when we arrive in camp, and of course, the fixings for coffee.

And we'll often stop in cafes along the way to try out the ice cream, baked goods etc. :)

One thing I was looking for was to see if anyone out there used protein shakes. I've worked out for a long time and I always drink a protein shake after my workout. It seemed to me a good idea of taking protein powder along to make a good shake after a long ride. (muscles need protein to recover and rebuild)

Nope.

We're touring ... we're not racing.

Our protein comes from the meat and cheese in our sandwiches at lunch, from the chicken, tuna, hamburgers, etc. we eat at dinner, etc.

Also ... part of the enjoyment of touring is trying out the local food ... stop by the cafes and have a cheese and cauliflower pie, or a big glass of ice cream, or fish and chips. Get your protein from those sources. :D

Protein is important but overrated thanks to a powerful meat industry. Most of your energy comes from carbs.

On my last tour, I had a protein bar at the end of probably half the days - I planned for every day but half the time forgot. Simpler than a shake. I had a mix of protein bars and granola bars in a side pocket on my seat bag where it was handy.

The nutrition studies I have seen talk about protein aiding recovery, not as a primary source of energy. One article talked about the "metabolic window" and the best time for post-exercise recovery stuff being 30 to 45 minutes after exercise.

I use a protein shake at the health club if I do over an hour of exercise. I do not mind the extra effort to make up a shake (and clean out the bottle later) when I am at the health club, but for bike touring I want the simplicity of a bar.

I drink protein shake regularly. I feel my legs are fresher in the morning after I have protein shake.

IME eating enough to have amount of protein and carb. you need after a long day on the bike might give you a stomach problem. And you might end-up with a huge appetite that you can't control after finishing your tour. Common problem with athletes.

That's exactly what I was thinking. Thank You.

Pasta with sauted fresh garlic, red onion, asparagus and some sort of protein, like chicken, sausage or canned shrimp:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/davez2...57647841191346

A favortie of mine when I have to carry groceries a long way is pasta with canellini beans. Saute 4-5 cloves of fresh garlic in a good amount of olive oil. Add a couple can of beans and some of the water from one of the cans. Let it basically stew for a while, adding more olive oil if necessary, put it on top of some pasta and season to taste with salt and pepper:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/davez2...57647841191346

Sometimes I will use a jarred sauce for variety if I can find a small jar, but I really don't like them much:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/davez2...57647841191346

Ditto this! If you get enough calories from a decent diet of real food (whole grains, nuts, vegetables, a little meat) you'll get enough protein.
Read the ingredients on "protein shakes" and bars. The second, third and fourth ingredients are generally processed sugars (which is why they're so tasty--adult candy). A handful of nuts and raisins does the trick for me.

Or for us vegetarians, a little soy milk/beans/rice and various other things.

OMG. I don't even cook like that when I'm at home. LOL. Looks great.