Alternative food to mountain house/backpackers pantry type meals

YouDoYou

FNG
Joined
Sep 24, 2018
Messages
42
Location
Kansas
Thinking of some cheaper alternatives as these will really just be a mid day hot snack on the mountain for late season. We plan to eat breakfast and dinner at camp.

Thinking things like ramen and instant mashed potatoes. Thanks in advance for your ideas.



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Joined
Mar 11, 2017
Messages
753
Top Ramen, remove from bags, break up and put in ziplock.

Minute Rice

bring olive oil and meat to add to the rice or pasta.

i used to carry lentils. Put a dinner’s worth in a ziplock in the morning, add some water and carry in my pocket all day. Heat and eat when ready.
 

Wrench

WKR
Joined
Aug 23, 2018
Messages
5,596
Location
WA
Oatmeal is my standby. I put the oatmeal in a ziploc, the ziploc goes in a sea to summit collapsible cup. When I'm done I get to put the oatmeal bag in the ziploc and throw it away.....zero dirty dishes and the weight penalty for the bag is lower than the water to clean up the pot or cup....and it buys me time.
 

Poser

WKR
Joined
Dec 27, 2013
Messages
5,033
Location
Durango CO
Oatmeal is my standby. I put the oatmeal in a ziploc, the ziploc goes in a sea to summit collapsible cup. When I'm done I get to put the oatmeal bag in the ziploc and throw it away.....zero dirty dishes and the weight penalty for the bag is lower than the water to clean up the pot or cup....and it buys me time.

What I do is use a rehydration bag -you can buy individual ones from Pack it Gourmet, and I just reuse the same bag for oatmeal (without cleaning it) for the duration of the trip.

Pop tarts for a mid morning snack are something to look forward to.

Salami and cheese tortillas are good for lunch but they do need something added such as hot sauce, dressing, wing sauce (whatever you can find in individual packages) to moisten them up a bit.
 
Joined
Aug 22, 2019
Messages
787
Location
Idaho
If you have access to a food dehydrator, I would suggest that route. You can dehydrate just about anything, just add water and heat it up. I know chili and spaghetti dehydrate nicely. Basically any type of casserole could be dehydrated as well. You can put the dehydrated whatever in ziploc bags, threw it in the freezer till you're ready to hunt.
I like to have lots of jerky and make that a main course occasionally.

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fmyth

WKR
Joined
Mar 14, 2019
Messages
1,582
Location
Arizona
My favorites are instant mashed potatoes with a packet/envelope of chicken breast and Annie Chuns instant Pho with a packet/envelope of chicken breast.
 
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Apr 18, 2019
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Make Zatarans Jambalaya. Use ground turkey sausage or ground andouille sausage, a can of rotel, and a chopped up onion. Dehydrate and vacuum seal.

If you use andouille sausage, you should freeze/refrigerate as the fat will eventually go bad, but it is good for many days without refrigeration. Taste better than any store bought freeze dried meal I’ve had.
 

Apollo117

WKR
Joined
Jan 22, 2018
Messages
473
Ramen - make sure it's Nissin brand (Top Ramen)
Kraft Mac and cheese - really good if you already bring powdered whole milk and Ghee.
Quinoa with a tuna packet and hot sauce.
 
Joined
Nov 12, 2019
Messages
24
Ramen bomb.
The primary form of the bomb is:

-A pouch of instant mashed potatoes
-A ramen brick, with or without the flavor packet
-Some kind of meat, usually left over chicken!!! But it could be what ever you want
-Many people will also add cheese.

Throw it all in a big ziplock freezer bag and add boiling water.


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Idahomnts

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Jan 6, 2016
Messages
241
Make some burritos, with any home meal leftovers from week or two before, let food cool to prevent condensation and soggy sticky tortilla, wrap in foil , roll ends up and freeze, vacuum bag , pizza is a good one , breakfast whatever’s , and anything else you wanna throw in a tortilla, options are limitless, but beware you don’t even want to hear burrito for about a month or two after season ,
Store in cooler with frozen water bottles,
 
Joined
Feb 9, 2019
Messages
662
Location
British Columbia
Great minds think alike...chow mein flavored ichiban and instant garlic butter mashed potatoes with added grated parmesan over here. I pre-package them up in small freezer bags before I go out and cook/eat them just like a mountain house. Usually grab some of the envelope style tuna, lemon ginger or peri peri are the go to flavors and add those for protein...I remember thinking "man, I'm eating like a king" while eating an ichiban and tuna combo once but it's true what they say, hunger and foul weather are the best seasonings. I do still usually bring a few alpine aires with me to keep a bit of variety on longer trips but ramen, tuna and taters certainly keep the cost down a bit better!

options are limitless, but beware you don’t even want to hear burrito for about a month or two after season ,
Store in cooler with frozen water bottles,

I MUST be a complete sally, definitely never packed a cooler with frozen water bottles into the mountains ;)
 
Joined
Sep 29, 2019
Messages
9
One of my favorites is drehydrated hashbrowns that you can buy (they are in like a milk carton) then I take lean ground pork with 1 cup of bread crumbs brown it then rinse it off season it and then dehydrate. then I have 2 table spoon of country garvy powder in a little baggie. Then when I'm on the mountain boil 2 cups of water add the meat and hashbrowns let it sit for 10 min then stir the gravy in and your ready to eat. I also have a shepherds pie recipe if you interest let me know. I also dehydrated canned chicken and added it to Knorr rice sides but I kind of got sick of those after a while. I liked the shepherds pie and hashbrowm recipe the best. Its kind fun to make your own recipes in the off season. I am working on a stroganoff recipe now
 
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