Yup, and it’s
good artery clogging stuff as well. A little won’t hurt me sometimes, I guess. Ya gotta figure that this is coming from a Swede descendant with roots from the upper mid-west. The crackers sound good. Ya, sure. You betcha.
other savory options
Some of my favorite handy non-sugar and low carb snacks for paddling day outings (and even multi-day packing trips)are listed below (unfortunately, most folks don’t live near a Trader Joe’s store so they would have to search out alternatives):
- the foil pouch smoked salmon (I think it’s Bumblebee, needs no refrigeration)
- Trader Joe’s cornmeal and chive crackers (whole grain, sturdy, tasty and $1.29 a box)
- Trader Joe’s (also Aldi’s) gorgonzola crackers
- wax-wrapped mini “Baby Bel” cheeses
- Trader Joe’s high fiber pita bread (very tasty and 6 grams per piece)
YOu should investigate cheeses – there are hundreds of varieties and most hard cheeses keep well for days w/o refrigeration if well-wrapped. With a strongly flavorful cheese you can eat a very small portion and it adds a lot of flavor. Have you tried smoked gouda or sliced Asiago (both cheap at Trader joe’s)? One of my favorite lunchstop sandwiches is whole grain pita with dijon mustard, sliced Delicious apple, smoked salmon and a slice of Asiago. Hard to get more savory than that.
I used to take along the peel-back tins of smoked baby clams or anchovies to put on my crackers but the smell put most of my buddies off and disposal of the stinky oil is a problem, especially in bear country. And, back when a local deli-smokehouse had them, I would carry “blind robins” which are small woodsmoke-dried salted fish fillets.
Could try Tasty Eats Soy Jerky
I bought some Tasty Eats Soy Jerky to eat while paddling after looking for healthy snacks on the web. As for anything, even the worst CDs or books ever produced, there are people on Amazon who write rave reviews. The ingredients seem fairly healthy - moderate carbs, good protein, less sodium than regular meat jerky. I got the Ginger flavor and don’t like it very much - too much like chewing flavored plastic - although it is not terrible. They also make Teriyaki and Hot n Spicy flavors.
Just don’t suggest that Norwegian item:
lutefiske (sp?)
Ewwww.
Chatfield is officially open for boating now!
No Trader Joe’s here
One of these days, maybe? I’ve had some of their products when visiting other parts of the country.
We’re getting an IKEA store soon, and the buzz makes it sound like there will be people camping out for the grand opening.
IKEA!
Pika, know what Ikea has that you’ve got to get? Their cool, 69-cent blue-tarp bags with handles. All those Scandinavians blogs that I see on Paddling Planet show handsome Swedes with their beautiful boats – and they’re toting their gear in Ikea bags. I do the same – did the same today, carrying my skin-on-frame boat on my head with my Ikea bag in my right hand with binoculars, water bottle, clothes bag, deck bag. One trip, 150 yards lakeshore to car, yippee! All that and coolness too!
G in NC
Pikabike
Tanka Bars.
look them up.
Paul
That looks good
Worth trying–I’ll order some today.
Grocery bags as cheapo substitutes
I’ve seen those blue IKEA tarp-bags used by kayakers in WA. Alas, until the IKEA store opens here, I will do the following:
For carrying a few light things, I use a grocery bag.
For carrying more or heavier things, I use a wide-opening medium drybag.
The IKEA bag would likely replace the above two, since it is more durable than the grocery bags but lighter and bigger than the drybag.
For carrying camping gear, I recently bought a heavy-duty mesh rucksack, made by George Gronseth et al and available from the Kayak Academy’s store. The thing is HUGE, and it has shoulder straps! I’m betting I can carry all my gear in this rucksack in two trips between kayak/shore and camp.
Should be fun to check out IKEA for some household items!
Tanka Bars are yummy!
Thanks, Paul, for the suggestion. I ordered a few, then found them at REI and bought one. Ate it today after paddling and was surprised at how moist it was. Not tough at all.
It’s a keeper! I do intend to supplement it with PB on a whole-wheat pita for a bit more protein, fiber, and fat.
Glad you liked them
– Last Updated: Mar-25-11 7:30 PM EST –
I have tried to convert others but they always turn their nose up at them. (Until they taste one anyway)
pemmican is a combination of rendered fat, a tart berry and venison or buffalo dried and ground up. It was the survival food for many indian tribes and as long as the fat was rendered clean, would last indefinitely.
Tanka bars are not so extreme but they are pretty close.
My experiment for this weekend: I am dehydrating meat now to the point of super dry, and am going to put it in the blender to powder it and then toss in some cranberries and some rendered fat and see what i can come up with. Crisco woudl even work I suppose.
form it on wax paper and cut it into blocks after it hardens a bit.
I like the idea of making this stuff. Just got to learn how to actually make it.
Now go get some vegemite! :)
Paul
Pemmican came to my mind, too
Minus the fat!
For anybody interested, a 1-oz. Tanka bar contains 70 calories, 7 grams protein, 7 grams carbs, and 360 mg sodium (260 mg if you get the jalapeno-habanero version–not me!). I don’t consider it a complete meal by any means, but it’s a tasty addition to nuts and other portable foods.
I recently tried PowerCrunch bars, which are barely sweetened and have even more protein: 13 grams, along with 10 grams carbs, in about 200 calories of crispy treat (low sodium). Think Kit Kats with about 1/3 the sweetness and 6 times the protein. Whey provides the protein. This is what I call an “engineered bar”, unlike the very simple Tanka bar. But it too is tasty, keeps well, and did not bother my digestive system.