# Touring Meals



## Ride-Aid (May 20, 2013)

What suggestions have you guys got for Touring meals.

I am planning on having my Jet Boil stove with the 1L water attachment and the saute pan to go with.

One classic is Mac and Cheese with a can of tuna in water mixed in after cooking.

Im curious what are some of your easy favorites.

Cheers!


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## SimpleJon (Mar 28, 2011)

Whatever is not too heavy and available locally I really am not fussy about camping food but I don't like carting tins of food about. Curry powder, dried onions, garlic salt, coconut powder, ginger powder and chilli make most things palatable
If I am doing trips in this area, South East Asia, I usually carry instant noodles (the decent quality ones not just the salt, MSG and various other chemicals type) My favourite is the coconut curry noodles - I also carry some dried veg and dried Ikan Bilis (fish) or shrimp and dried Soya. Egg powder for the morning with Bak Kwa (a cured chinese bacon type thing)

One of the good things about South East Asia is that the whole place is just one big garden and you come across people selling fruit and other produce at the side of the road. Fresh mangos, rambutans, dragon fruit etc that's always a treat for lunch.

When I am down in australia I just get the freeze dried stuff - I can't buy those meals here and the Govt requires all sorts of licences and vet certs to buy yourself and import it.


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## pimpbot (Dec 31, 2003)

I'm a fan of the Mountain Home freeze dried Chicken and Rice. It actually tastes really good after a long day pedaling... especially considering it's freeze dried, just add hot water kinda thing. I'm going to experiment with putting some veggies in there, maybe some spices to goose it up next time. I'll bet some pre-cooked carrots and broccoli will really go well with it..... maybe some potato cubes or dried mushrooms.

I tried the freeze dried chicken and mashed potatoes, and it wasn't bad. It was pretty dang bland, tho. I had to cover that stuff with pepper to get any flavor out of it. 

I like instant oatmeal for breakfast. Easy, light, cheap. 

Other than that, I don't have a lot of experience. I know eating freeze dried pre-packaged food shows about the biggest lack of imagination possible, but it works for me so far.


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## rallyrcr (May 5, 2010)

Any of the dehydrated backpacking meals are fine by me. 


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## digibud (Sep 21, 2009)

*go to the grocery store*



Ride-Aid said:


> What suggestions have you guys got for Touring meals.Cheers!


 I go to the grocery store and scour all the aisles that are not refrigerated. There are a lot of dry meals...a lot of pasta based dry foods and packaged foods that are great. If temps allow you can put butter in squeeze tubes found at backpacking stores. Olive oil will often substitute. 5minute boil in bag rice makes a great basis for all sorts of meals. Mix in a bit of curry powder with a bit of oil and some foil packaged chicken and thats a good start. In the first day or two you can bring some fresh veggies with soy sauce packets and rice and stir fry vegies. Gouda cheese and baby bell cheese sold in small bite size pieces encased wax hold up well. Dry bacon bits can be used in all sorts of things from salad to freeze dry eggs. Put a loaf of bread on top of your gear and bring a packet of fondue for a fancy first night dinner. Freeze a nice steak and wrap it up in your sleeping bag to cook the first night. I killed some friends when I made a great campfire and baked a perfect potato in the coals and pulled out a great steak from my sleeping bag. Baked potato and steak while they ate freeze dry. Search out those foods that don't require refridgeration. You'll find a ton of ideas from soups to pastas but be sure to read the labels to ensure you don't get something that requires two pints of fresh cream and a lb of butter.


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## Aushiker (Sep 27, 2007)

This is a week or so full load of meals (brekky, lunch & dinner + snacks) ... I often ride a week or more between re-supply points.

My main on the road dinner meal is normally dried potato +veges (carrot, garlic, dried peas etc) + mushrooms + tuna or I swap out the dried potato for dried pasta meals. For a few nights out of town I sometimes have knob of salami which keeps well and is easy to fry up as a protein source.










Now and then there is a bit of supplementary protein 










Andrew


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## vikb (Sep 7, 2008)

Ride-Aid said:


> Im curious what are some of your easy favorites.
> 
> Cheers!


Anything I can throw boiling water into and come back to a meal 15mins later. 

My favourite meal is the Backpacker's Pantry Chicken Saigon Noodles. It's tasty and has one of the highest calorie counts of any of the meals I see at my local stores. It's a little more bulky to pack because of the shape of the noodles inside, but it's worth it at the end of a long hard day.

Although I did discover that packing only this one meal for a multi-day trip is not a good idea.


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## She&I (Jan 4, 2010)

Looks like many are getting good mileage out of Mountain House and other freeze-dried meals. We like them, too, but they seem, overall, too "saucy" for us, so some instant mashed potatoes, rice or some kind of bread is usually part of our meal.

Weight be damned, we love fresh fruit out there. A jar of PB, jelly or honey, and a loaf of bread will power you for days and not taste horrible.

Short outings, take your pick. Long outings, you're at the mercy of what's available, so don't get too comfy with your favorites.


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## ECR (Sep 25, 2013)

DIY Soylent Recipes


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## big_papa_nuts (Mar 29, 2010)

digibud said:


> I go to the grocery store and scour all the aisles that are not refrigerated. There are a lot of dry meals...a lot of pasta based dry foods and packaged foods that are great. If temps allow you can put butter in squeeze tubes found at backpacking stores. Olive oil will often substitute. 5minute boil in bag rice makes a great basis for all sorts of meals. Mix in a bit of curry powder with a bit of oil and some foil packaged chicken and thats a good start. In the first day or two you can bring some fresh veggies with soy sauce packets and rice and stir fry vegies. Gouda cheese and baby bell cheese sold in small bite size pieces encased wax hold up well. Dry bacon bits can be used in all sorts of things from salad to freeze dry eggs. Put a loaf of bread on top of your gear and bring a packet of fondue for a fancy first night dinner. Freeze a nice steak and wrap it up in your sleeping bag to cook the first night. I killed some friends when I made a great campfire and baked a perfect potato in the coals and pulled out a great steak from my sleeping bag. Baked potato and steak while they ate freeze dry. Search out those foods that don't require refridgeration. You'll find a ton of ideas from soups to pastas but be sure to read the labels to ensure you don't get something that requires two pints of fresh cream and a lb of butter.


Yep. I will eat freeze dried stuff but the only one I would say I like is beef stroganoff. I have been trying to ride without a stove recently so I've been eating a lot of trail mix and cearal bars.


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## SimpleJon (Mar 28, 2011)

I get the blandest freeze dried meals I can and season them myself - dried herbs and spices weigh next to nothing and take up very little room. It also allows you to vary your meals pretty well as Vik says even the nicer meals get a bit repetitive on a multi day trip.

I go nowhere without a stove - cold coffee in the morning sucks and I like a hot herbal tea before bed whilst I'm lying in my hammock.


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## Spinymouse (Jul 11, 2010)

ECR said:


> DIY Soylent Recipes


Are you living off this sort of thing, or do you just think of it as touring food?

It's an interesting concept.

Tell us more about your experience with it.


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## Quitou (Sep 1, 2014)

When I teach bikepacking clinics, Mac n Cheese is always my example of the worst meal possible. It consumes too much fuel to prepare (boiling for 10 min). It uses excess water to prepare (you pour off all of it). It requires tons of effort to clean the pot, and more water with a lot of waste food usually dumped on the ground.


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## Spinymouse (Jul 11, 2010)

Quitou said:


> When I teach bikepacking clinics, Mac n Cheese is always my example of the worst meal possible. It consumes too much fuel to prepare (boiling for 10 min). It uses excess water to prepare (you pour off all of it). It requires tons of effort to clean the pot, and more water with a lot of waste food usually dumped on the ground.


Yes but, it's a traditional camping meal and it's yummy.

So, if you have the resources of water, fuel, and time to clean, why not indulge yourself?

Personally, I stopped carrying mac-n-cheese on my backpacking trips long ago for exactly the reasons you cite. To each his own though.


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## ECR (Sep 25, 2013)

Spinymouse said:


> Tell us more about your experience with it.


I have been drinking a Vega Meal or Raw Meal most days for a couple years and I recently purchased a couple weeks supply of Schmoylent. The idea behind the Original Soylent is that you can live off it exclusively for extended period of time. Vega Meal and Raw Meal may contain more natural ingredients, but they are not intended to replace more than a single meal each day.

Recipes for most DIY Soylent drinks include link to Add Ingredients to Amazon Cart for purchasing the ingredients in bulk and mixing yourself, but some you can purchase through PayPal premixed from their developer.

I have yet to try subsisting on any of these powdered meals for a whole day let alone any extended period, but I hope to work my way up to that for next year. My back injury early this year caused me to park my ECR and put my other build off for another year.

A 2098 calorie supply of Schmoylent ways just under a pound. First time I drank a Schmoylent I downed the entire drink in a couple minutes, but my pulse quickened, I got light-headed and developed a headache which lasted more than an hour. But then I cannot even take a multivitamin without getting a headache. Now I just sip on the drink over an hour or two and have not noticed any side effects. I will probably order me some Original Soylent, but new orders won't be shipping until next year. Been holding out for the next generation of the drink.

Always thought it would be great to try making a balanced diet from freeze dried fruits and vegetables ground into powder, but that would be cost prohibitive.


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## Mark_BC (Sep 19, 2012)

My staple is the freeze dried meals you add boiling water to. Just get a variety so they don't get repetitive. For one meal I eat a whole packet that is supposed to serve two. I also usually add spaghetti noodles for added calories (these pack the densest of all pasta). I add them to the water as I am boiling it and when it boils they are soft just in time to pour the water in the freeze dried pack. 

I also always bring 100% peanut butter and use this on energy cars and especially dates. I am lucky where I live, there is a big Persian community so for $4 I can get a nice pack of fresh juicy Persian dates. That combo with pb is pure energy. 

I also like miso soup packets. And for breakfast mix quinoa that has soaked since the night before in with oatmeal. 

This is all for wilderness trips. In more populated areas I'd probably just indulge in whatever local fare I can muster up. 

Also I find that after several days on tour my appetite seems to go nuts, I just can't stop eating. I have to be very disciplined to make sure I day ion it properly, or bring more that I expected I'd need.


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## Spinymouse (Jul 11, 2010)

At home, I enjoy cooking and eating "real" food. Tonight, my wife and I cooked up a chicken spinach curry that we particularly like. It takes an hour, but we enjoy the cooking and then the eating.

When I'm in the woods, my priorities change, and I want the densest and easiest calories I can get. Also, I try to follow an ultra-low carb diet. Unfortunately, such foods tend to spoil very quickly unless they are canned or freeze-dried. Canned food is a non-starter on backpacking trips, and only slightly less so on a bike due to the weight. The freeze-dried stuff tends to have lots of carbs. I haven't carried a stove camping in years, to save weight.

So, I was immediately intrigued when I followed your DIY Soylent link. It looks like something that might work for me.


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## yukonfatbike (Nov 28, 2010)

If you have the interest, you can deyhydrate just about anything you can cook, and I mean anything; meats, sauces, stews, you name it - and any type of fruit or veg - it's a really simle process using eith an oven, a purchased dehydrator or a homemade simple solar unit. Mix (insert your dehydrated meal here) with boiling water to rehydrate and away you go - no more boring meals and waaay better for you nutritionally. Keeps well, doesn't rot.


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## H0WL (Jan 17, 2007)

it might be a generational thing, but all I could think of was "Soylent Green is people!"
Wikipedia on the 1973 film *Soylent Green* here.


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## Quitou (Sep 1, 2014)

The tortilla with dates and peanut butter has been a longtime favorite of mine for 24 hour racing and now bikepacking. When I go in cooler climates, I like those cheese stick singles things. Not so ideal when it's hot as they get slimy. 

Although they don't always keep well beyond a short two nighter some of the recipes in Dr. Alan Lim's book Portables are really great.

I'm also very fond of Epic Bars. I"ve bike packed about 20 nights this year and have a steady rotation of various meals and snacks. I will admit, sometimes I go way off the rails and eat oreos, jelly beans and Slim Jims. Pretty amazing what crap your body can burn and still fire on all cylinders....for a while.


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## satanas (Feb 12, 2005)

Cous cous is your friend - just add boiling water. Many Asian noodles and rice vermicellis don't take more than a few minutes. Here in Oz there are plenty of good things to be had from Asian grocery shops or supermarkets; no idea what you guys have on offer in the US these days. Personally, I don't like freeze dried stuff; it's expensive and very few calories per $. A few fresh (or home dehydrated) ingredients can make a huge difference to edibility.


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## sullivan17 (Jan 28, 2014)

I like to do oatmeal with some home dehydrated ingredients (apples, bananas, etc.) for breakfast and like satanas I like to do rice or different noodles with peanut butter or other peanut sauces for other meals with lots of granola and such for snacks throughout the day.


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## revcp (Jun 21, 2007)

A few summers ago I did a three week solo canoe trip and then a friend met me en route for another two weeks.

For breakfasts I mostly individually packed oatmeal (old fashioned oats mixed with steel cut, raisins, cinnamon, dried milk) that I vacuum sealed. Dinners were regular meals (chili, pasta dishes, stews, chicken and biscuits, corn mixed with cooked ground beef, etc.) that I dehydrated (recommend the Excalibur dehydrator--fan at the back instead of the bottom of the unit, so easy to clean) and then vacuum packed. For lunches I packed a lot of trail mix, made jerky (again with the dehydrator), etc., but for a bike trip one could easily do lunches in towns instead of packing. It wouldn't take too many trips to pay for the dehydrator and vacuum sealer instead of purchasing Mountain House, etc. The other real benefit is that you don't really alter your diet on trail, which for some people can be a big deal.

I started cooking, dehydrating and vacuum packing several months before the trip, putting finished products in the freezer. At room temperature the food I packed was good for a few months once taken out of the freezer. To conserve fuel and time during our lunch break we would select the evening's dinner and put it in water in a leakproof container. When we stopped for dinner the meal was rehydrated and just had be be heated up. Also, my go to stove was/is an emberlit twig stove (Emberlit Stoves. It folds flat, so packs 4x4 inches x a few mm. and works amazingly well with very little fuel. My backup is a small Trangia alcolol stove that fits inside the emberlit. Even with rain half the time on trail I rarely had to use the Trangia, so didn't have to carry much alcohol (and you can use Heet purchased from convenience stores and hardware stores along the way).

It's a great way to go. On bike tour it would make sense to take a bunch of pre made meals to supplement when you don't eat en route. Very little weight, not much bulk.


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## Surly29 (Jun 8, 2009)

June Bug said:


> it might be a generational thing, but all I could think of was "Soylent Green is people!"
> Wikipedia on the 1973 film *Soylent Green* here.


I kept thinking that, too. Puts a whole new meaning on last one to camp makes dinner.

Last one to camp _IS_ dinner. :eekster:


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## Whacked (Sep 29, 2008)

Surly29 said:


> I kept thinking that, too. Puts a whole new meaning on last one to camp makes dinner.
> 
> Last one to camp _IS_ dinner. :eekster:


Yea Charlton Heston made that famous.
However Soylent Green is based off a book.
And it has been years since I seen the film, but I believe there were other versions (colors) of soylent.

It is a interesting concept. Personally I dont see it as a consistent meal replacement rather something used a few times a week. Bike/back packing seems to be a good use for this product.

However, I would try it out beforehand. Being out in the wilds is not the place to try new things.


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## DIABLO-V (Sep 19, 2014)

yukonfatbike said:


> If you have the interest, you can deyhydrate just about anything you can cook, and I mean anything; meats, sauces, stews, you name it - and any type of fruit or veg - it's a really simle process using eith an oven, a purchased dehydrator or a homemade simple solar unit. Mix (insert your dehydrated meal here) with boiling water to rehydrate and away you go - no more boring meals and waaay better for you nutritionally. Keeps well, doesn't rot.


+1 Freeze dried meals are lousy nutritionally per ounce of weight vs dehydrated.
I bought a dehydrator just for this purpose.

I have been experimenting with some of the (Uncle Bens etc) quick cook wild rice, quinoa, red beans and rice. One package is one large meal. Add in whatever meat if you like from those foil packets (no cans-too heavy). I prefer the natural smoked salmon, or tuna. You can do the same deal with the instant mashed potatoes.
For breakfasts you can mix whole grains and raisins, dried blueberries ect in ziplock one-meal bags. Pour boiling water in the bag at night and put it in an insulated pouch.
In the morning you heat it for 5 minutes and it's done. Google: Freezer bag cooking.
With this system you should be able to get 3000 calories/day at 2.5 pounds per day.
That includes everything such as gorp/trail mix for between meals, and the meals, but not the water or fuel.


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## NickandBruce (Sep 18, 2014)

For breakfasts I pack oatmeal mixed with nuts. I boil some water in the morning for tea and pour a small amount into the oatmeal and mix in some PB and craisins or whatever wild berries I saved from the day before. Cinnamon is good too.

If I'm travelling through town I'll carry a couple bananas in my jersey pockets for snacks. Cliffbars, peanut butter crackers, etc make up the rest of my days snacks. 

For lunch I usually cram a bunch of peanut butter down my throat, more mixed nuts, dried fruit, hard cheese, and flat sometimes flat bread.

For dinner it used to be mostly Knorr Pasta sides, instant mashed potatoes, or something that requires nothing more than boiling water. Lately though I've been cooking bigger portions of beans, rice, quinoa, lentils etc when I cook dinner and dehydrating the leftovers. I omit fats and add extra veggies so that I get more flavor that carries longer, and just mix with boiling water and olive oil when I'm ready to eat.

I'm diabetic so I avoid extra sugar and simple carbs as much as possible but I do stash several snickers and other candy bars for emergencies. If I've made it a few days without needing one, I have a snack for desert.


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## ECR (Sep 25, 2013)

some additional powdered meal options...

Ambronite

Powdered Foods

The Ultimate Meal


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## bsieb (Aug 23, 2003)

Knorr sides rice or pasta with a foil pouch of chicken or tuna. I eat half in the evening, then reheat the jet boil pot in the morning and finish it. Pint of instant coffee in the morning, hot chocolate in the evening if water permits. Nuts, chocolate, dried fruit, the rest of the time. Last weekend out I mixed supermarket produce dept. chocolate covered raisins and bridge mix, another of salted roasted cashews and smoked almonds.


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