I’m a sucker for Hostess Cupcakes - the chocolate ones with the white frosting squiggle. I allow myself one or two a year, although they aren’t as good as they were in the past.
I don’t bring them on paddling trips, but I packed 4 for the Everglades Challenge - one for each checkpoint and the finish. A reward!
My usual paddling go-to snacks are dried mango and kiwi (from Fresh Market), mint chocolate Clif bars, Bumblebee tuna snacks and homemade trail mix (plain peanuts, honey roasted peanuts, lightly salted almonds, choc chips and diced dried pineapple).
My sucker snack is Tastycake Butterscotch Krimpet. Can’t get them too often in Texas, but my mom sends me a case of them every once in a while from Baltimore. There was a pack in every school lunch all the way through High School.
A little story about Cliff Bars. The Cliff Bar rep gave us a couple cases to put in swag bags for our race years ago. I had some in my garage with other food I was packing for a trip and a couple of field rats got into my chuck box and ate everything (instant oatmeal, crackers, cookies, etc) EXCEPT the Cliff Bars, which the actually pushed out of the chuck box. I kind of took that as an omen and never ate them again.
My go to “field rations” for hard days in the field are a bag of M&Ms (melt in your mouth, not in your hands) and homemade gorp which is usually some combination of cashews, peanuts, almonds, pistachios, raisins, banana chips, dried blueberries, sometimes cran raisins. I usually add some Old Bay or Curry seasoning. Between the two I am good for a while.
But kayaking is luxury compared to when I need field rations. So easy to take whatever suites my whim for the day. And lots of storage, so I rarely take my standard “field rations”, instead we do lots of different foods and snacks, including ice cream. A typical is a banana, sandwich, popcorn, cookies, some chocolate. Easy peasy on a kayak outing, the way we do it.
When I worked 2nd shift , I’d come home hungry and start foraging. Ramen noodles were a good midnight snack. One night I was extra hungry and added some canned smoked oysters. I love oysters but not those.
I gave them to our Brittany Spaniel who would eat anything. Except those oysters. One sniff and he walked away. I also thought that was good advice from a creature who can smell at the ppm level.
I certainly didn’t but my Mother raised us on as many fresh fruits and vegetables as she could get. There were no sodas or chips in our home.
The most common meat was chicken. I am not a fan of chicken.
I moved to Tennessee from Phoenix eight years ago, and I was blown away to see Moon Pies EVERYWHERE! Some stores have more flavors than you could imagine.
I saw this thread yesterday and it made me grouchy. I can’t have any of these toxic, delicious dessert treats since I have Celiac Disease. For anyone else in the same boat (not that I am in a boat, waah), I’m here to testify that Gluten Free Double Stuff Oreos are dangerously delicious. We recently made s’mores here in the fire pit with gluten free graham crackers and they were amazing. My son can’t have as much sugar as I do, but I like to treat him sometimes. All that said, I like to bring tuna packets and fresh fruit for paddling treats.
OK y’all, whats the deal with Moon Pies? I’ve heard about them all my life and finally got to try some last year. These particular specimens were swag thrown from floats in a Gulf Shores Mardi Gras parade. They sucked every last drop of saliva out of my mouth on the first bite. Are there real Moon Pies and fake Moon Pies? Are you supposed to dunk them in milk? What’s the secret?
When I go on a day trip I just pack a normal lunch like sandwich and fruit.
