exactly
You’ll never buy jerky again after doing it yourself.
simple stuff
Trail mix, homemade jerky, peanut butter. For breakfast I sometimes take powdered milk and cereal, and in the powdered milk I’ve mixed protein powder.
I don’t worry about the fat or sugars too much, I’ve never, ever returned from a backcountry trip without losing weight.
Jerky
Can you recommend a jerky that has no spices and a mild flavor?
What other kinds of “dehydrated low-fat meat” are there?
Lentils—what form? Is there an instant kind?
At home I eat a sort of labor-intensive whole-food diet. I’m not knowledgeable about how to transform that into quick and easy wilderness food.
I’m shocked!
I’m shocked that you think eggs can keep for a week without refrigeration. The freshly laid hen’s egg has an antibacterial coating that is removed with commercial washing.
I’m also shocked that you would eat a can of tuna a day. MERCURY???
No protein for 3 days???
“Wilderness tripping is not gourmet, it’s fuel. Sometimes you have to eat stuff that is gross but has the required nutrients.” As a person who spends a lot of time in the wilderness (kayak camping, backpacking, etc.), 2-3 days per week of bad nutrition is too much. I want to learn to eat as healthy in the wildnerness as I do at home.
maybe read my post before you get
all worked up. I said farm eggs, not commercial ones.
And yes I have eaten them at a week old in the summer even and they were fine. Cook them. Cliff Jacobson states in one of his books that farm eggs will last for weeks if bought fresh, so I am not the only one that partakes in this “shocking” meal.
If you eat a can of tuna a day for 2-3 days and then go home and don’t eat tuna for 2 weeks there is absolutely no danger of elevated mercury levels.
It is easy to balance your nutrition with very simple foods.
For example 2 eggs and one can of tuna a day provide 24 grams of protien, which at maintainence levels of 1 gram per lb of bodyweight will support a 240 lb person. A box of beans and rice will provide you with 750 calories plus an additional 8 grams of protien
and fiber and carbs. Throw in some dried fruit, instant oatmeal and some other stuff to fill out your menu and you will have a very balanced, filling menu that gives you everything you need. I as well as many others before me have paddled many thousands of miles on food as balanced as this, if not far worse.
Even still I am going to stand by my statement that if you are only leaving for 2-3 days you don’t even need protien. You probably would be just fine with no food at all if you really wanted to.
3 days is pretty easy…
– Last Updated: May-04-10 6:23 PM EST –
Along with many of the ideas mentioned already, I have enjoyed home cooked vacuum bagged meals for up to 5 days. Prepared at home and fully cooked and frozen, they will thaw in about a day but remain edible for quite some time after that if kept in a soft sided cooler easily packed into my kayak. I am not into low fat anything, especially when I am burning through enough calories to make 20-30 miles a day, but the menu could certainly be altered. Stews, chili, meatloaf and baked potatoes, chicken and rice, ribs, sausage and gravy, just about anything goes on the menu. It is a little work to prepare beforehand but real easy to heat up and enjoy with little field preparation. I have packed 5 days worth of vac sealed meals for 2 in a soft sided cooler with great success. Removing the oxygen helps preserve the food for longer periods of time without the need for ice.
Spending 2 hours cooking on the night before a trip is time well spent.
Might work well for you.
dip 'em in mineral oil.
It seals the pores, so they don’t dry out. That way they keep longer unrefrigerated.
Sailboat cruisers smear 'em with vaseline, and that apparently works fine too. But my chicken-raising books recommend mineral oil. (I don’t think you’re supposed to eat vaseline.)
Real food
I’ve cooked a meal beforehand, vacuum-bagged, and frozen it. It stayed cold after one day of driving (in a cooler filled with ice) plus one day on the water (wrapped in newspapers in the bottom of the hatch compartment). If we’d paddled in cold water as opposed to Lake Powell in fall, it probably would’ve been good for one more day.
One person kept a dozen eggs cool and safe for the first week of our AK trip. I have read that if eggs are never refrigerated in the first place (i.e., take 'em right from the hen or cool storage), they can be kept merely cool and still be OK to eat.
carry that a step further…
We had home cooked meals for most of our 5 nights on the Buffalo River last week.
I freeze water in recycled juice bottles (I think they’re half gallons), and put my frozen meals together with them in an insulated boat bag. I’m carrying the water anyway, so it doesn’t take up additional room. Four of these bottles fit in the bag with adequate room for the food. We don’t take a separate cooler. I leave everything in the freezer until the moment we’re ready to leave, and then pack it all in the bag and put in the car.
After three or four days, there was a significant amount of ice still in the bottles. We save these water bottles to be used last so the food stays cold for the longest possible time. After the fresh/perishables have been consumed, we go to home dehydrated meals or chicken in a pouch to be added to rice or pasta.
Some of the home-cooked meals we had:
delicious homemade pizza (frozen, pre-cooked italian sausage), dehydrated sauce (homemade), parmesan cheese, fresh peppers and onions, on boboli crust (shelf-stable). Cooked in pan on top of my snow-peak stove. When cheese melts, pizza is done.
Spaghetti (home cooked and frozen with homemade sauce)with the other half-bag of italian sausage.
Boneless pork chops and rice (pre-cooked and frozen).
Taco Soup (frozen) with cheese and fritoes.
For lunches, I prepared two days of sandwiches and froze them also. After that we had snack type food for lunch, such as crackers and mozzarella string cheese, pre-cooked sausage.
For six days of meals (five nights on river) for two people, we had one small round food bucket with non-perishables, the bag with the frozen food and bottled ice/water, and one other bag with water bottles. We also had bacon and eggs for the first two days. Dinner leftovers for breakfast sometimes (stored in cold food bag), or granola bars or cheese.
We ate very well. Same type of meals I cook at home, including vegetables.
Lunch To Go
http://thegroceriesonthego.com/images/Starkist%20tuna%20lunch%20to%20go.JPG
There are sealed tunas, and salmons, and crab meat in various sauces–have you checked your tuna section at the store recently? Yuo’ll be amazed at the high portein, wonderful stuff they have nowadays.
It’s really simple
– Last Updated: May-05-10 8:40 PM EST –
Just bring small cans or foil packs of chicken, tuna, clams, shrimp or whatever else you can find. Pepperoni also makes a nice, zesty addition to many meals.
vegetarians
Best cuts of beef for jerky?
I’m going to try one of the beef jerky recipes. It simply says to use “beef”.
Round steak, flank steak, tri-tip, hangar steak??? I assume a lean cut is most suitable for jerky. And slice across the grain?
If I use the oven instead of the little dehydrator, does the recipe need to be changed? It says 155 degrees for at least 10 hours, and check often.
And what does 3 lbs of fresh beef become when jerked?
I am with you
2-3 days of can a day tuna?! No issues at all. To say otherwise is alarmist.
I would, however, say that protein is always advisable even if you can 'get away without it."
Proteins and fats are undervalued by some people who think carbs are the end all as sources of short term energy.
Even short trips, I say keep it balanced.
Do an homage to Dr. Lindemann…
…and live on onions and condensed milk.
frozen steak and pickled eggs
I like edamame. Canned tuna or chicken is good. A big chunk of frozen ham will keep for awhile. Chunky beef stew?
Excellent suggestions for food storage!
Thank you!! Carrying frozen food with frozen water bottles will give me more flexibility with the foods I can bring.