More grocery store options.

[Idiot Savant]

I find that may be difficult for the gut to accept nutrition in infrequent waves, particularly during high energy requirement long distance paddling race events. As I have said, I provided main meal (breakfast and dinner) high calorie dehydrated meals for my team during marathon Yukon River races, but each individual was responsible for their own intermediate snacks and lunch during the long hours of the day (and "night"). I came to realize my stomach and muscles needed frequent input of lighter faire that the gut could tolerate. I found that cherries were in season and very available in local Whitehorse markets at race time. Snack sausages seemed very popular as well. So I would mount a bowl of cherries on the bow deck where I could easily reach to grab one or two every few minutes. Every hour to 90 minutes or so, something more and different is desirable. A small link of fatty summer sausage, another kind of cut fresh fruit, or a candy bar. Others liked to down a boiled egg or a boiled potato. Another team who traveled with us bought a whole pizza before race start to take and snack on during the first day.

On Lake Laberge:

Looks pretty choppy. Cherries don't end up in the water? What are you paddling? Hard to tell what it is.
I knew a cyclist that stuck gummies to his top tube so they were easy to access.

 

[Blukanu]

Done a lot of endurance sports…marathons and triathlons.

Carbs and sugars for quick energy. People in Ironman triathlons will slam handfuls of plain potato chips and wash it down with a Coca-Cola. Need that salt, carbs and sugar.

Back on topic… anyone try some MRE’s? What’s good and wheres the best place to get them? Figured they pack well, keep long time and don’t require water like freeze dried meals do. When backpacking water can be scarce.

 

[yknpdlr]

Looks pretty choppy. Cherries don't end up in the water? What are you paddling? Hard to tell what it is.

I have raced a 34' carbon voyageur canoe, a 28' cedarstrip voyageur canoe, each with 7 paddlers, and 23' C4 canoes on the Yukon, all with fresh cherry snacks in front of my bow navigation seat, I think this photo is from the 34' voyageur. If you think that looks choppy, you should have seen the three complete weather changes with thunder storms that we encountered during the 35 mile six hour passage down the length of Lake Laberge. The only cherries that hiit the water were the pits that I spit out.

This photo is easier to tell it is from another year in the cedarstrip in somewhat calmer water:

 

[Idiot Savant]

Honey Stinger waffles are popular with cyclist.
I like them because they fit flat in my jersey pocket and are pretty tasty.
I like

Done a lot of endurance sports…marathons and triathlons.

Carbs and sugars for quick energy. People in Ironman triathlons will slam handfuls of plain potato chips and wash it down with a Coca-Cola. Need that salt, carbs and sugar.

Back on topic… anyone try some MRE’s? What’s good and wheres the best place to get them? Figured they pack well, keep long time and don’t require water like freeze dried meals do. When backpacking water can be scarce.

I think I looked at MREs and they were expensive as heck. I'm waiting for a foldup, solar/battery powered microwave oven.

 

[yknpdlr]

I think I looked at MREs and they were expensive as heck.

I know of at least one voyageur canoe team (7paddlers) who purchased two weeks worth of self heating MREs for the Yukon 1000 mile race. Not the only bad decision they made in their sad showiing.

 

[jdeerfoot]

I know of at least one voyageur canoe team (7paddlers) who purchased two weeks worth of self heating MREs for the Yukon 1000 mile race. Not the only bad decision they made in their sad showing.

I have used MRE's in the past when I was given some by active duty relatives who have since retired from the military. As I recall they contained a lot of calories per pouch and I really liked the miniature bottles of Tabasco sauce that were often included.

 

[UCanoe_2]

Meals Rejected by the Enemy no longer taste good to me. They are high in sodium and include lots of excess packaging that ends up as trash.

I have become a fan of the tuna and chicken pouches mentioned early in this thread. Peanuts and raisins provide quick energy as well as slow burning carbs and fats. Some varieties of instant mashed potatoes are pretty tasty. Boil-in-bag rice is convenient and requires only a little cleanup.

Freeze dried meals are too expensive.

 

[boy&hisdogs]

Some of the normal food options I like to use are:

DIY instant oatmeal. I get a ziplock bag and put 2-3 packs of flavored instant oatmeal into the one bag, then add nuts, dried fruits, flax seeds, chia seeds, protein powder, a little butter and salt and anything else I feel like would be good and keep me full. In camp I just dump it all in a bowl, add hot water and enjoy.

Use instant mashed potatoes to thicken any "just add water" type of foods.

Single-serve packs of drink powders (Gatorade, instant coffee, Koolaid, etc), and I always carry a few Pedialyte/Liquid IV emergency drink powders as well.

Single-serve envelopes of chicken, tuna, spam, and other meats.

Single serve packets of olive oil, just like how you get ketchup at McDonalds. Perfect for frying up fish you may or may not catch on your trip. You will probably have to order this online.

I always take a few extra condiments every time I get fast food and stash them away for backpacking. No need to refrigerate or carry bulky bottles with you.

 

[boy&hisdogs]

Another one I just tried is to make "grits" with Jiffy cornbread mix.

The reason I put "grits" in quotations is because it's really more like a mix of grits and cream of wheat, but it's easy, cheap and tastes good.

You just heat up some water, toss in the cornbread mix, and stir for a few minutes until it's hydrated. Aim for about 3:1 water:mix ratio.

Since it's a box mix it's already got salt, sugar, a little fat, etc so it's good enough to eat alone but I also tried it with bacon and cheese, and another batch of PB&J and both were pretty good.

 

[Odyssey]

Be sure to try off the shelf menu shortcuts at home first, in a recipe resembling that of an intended camp meal. Because ya never know, what seemed like a good idea at the time...I couldn't resist the deal staring me in the face in a discount store (that should've been a warning). I bundled several packets of vegan ready-made meals (was that a warning too?) into my cart and completed the purchase. I was feeling pretty smug about these food options until I tried them in our home kitchen, starting from a) open, heat, serve; moving on to b) open, mix with other ingredients, heat&serve, and finally doing the desperation thang c) open, throw in anything flavourful&spicy, heat&serve.
No matter what I tried the results were always the same, unbelievably bland with a touch of je ne sais quoi chemical. They're now cooking in my compost heap where they belong. Camp meals should be tried and true.

 

[yknpdlr]

While seaching for good recipies for meals to home dehydrate, I discovered that some vegetarian recipes can be quite tasty in theiir own right. But they are infinitely improved by the addition of a meat protein.

 

[ppine]

I really don't like dehydrated backpacking food and only use it at the end of longer trips in warm weather.
Grocery stores now have all kinds of dehydrated foods to work with and the little pouches of protein are great. I like to build a meal around things like smoked salmon, spam, or chicken. Fresh food for the first several days. Dehydrated potatoes, soup, raw vegetables. REal food for REal people. On big western rivers we usually have coolers and no portages. Sometimes we line rapids.

 

[yknpdlr]

For the first ever Yukon River 1000 mile canoe race in 2009, race rules required 20Kg (44pounds!) of food per paddler be carried from the start of the race. Do the math for the 7 paddlers in my 34' carbon voyageur canoe. 95% was dehydrated at home for space savings and ease of on-board preparaton, as very little commercially dehydrated or prepackaged food fit the bill at the time. The weight of liquid to make it edible did not count. That ridiculous food weight requirement was thankfully dropped for our second running in 2011.

 

[Marten]

From the grocery I rely on Hamburger Helper and add dried ground venison. Tuna Helper with tuna packets or cans. Tortilla wraps with the tuna salad packets or P&J. Martha White Pizza Crust mix slow fried in a covered pan with liberal oil. Instant potatoes and various Knorr pasta and rice packets. Puddings and Jello No Bake desserts using Nido as it is whole milk and the pudding is stiff with air temp water. For a treat sugars and berries can be added to the fried Martha White pizza mix.