Back to the Trail

In a little less than a month, I'll be heading back to the Appalachian Trail for an overnight to finish the Maryland section.  This will be my first trip since being treated for a screwed up pelvis, or a badass, whichever you prefer.  It's also the first time my son will go on an overnight trip.  Or a hike longer than 6 miles.  I'm hoping the running he's doing at soccer will help him with his endurance, but really, I'm most concerned about his food.
To say he is a picky eater is an understatement.   His typical menu consists of peanut butter and marshmallow fluff sandwiches, chicken nuggets, french fries, grilled cheese and ketchup.  The peanut butter and ketchup can easily be brought along on a backpacking trip, but I'm not planning on packing a stove, and I'm fairly certain McDonald's hasn't opened a hike thru window on the AT yet.  Dinner is my biggest challenge since I can pack his Fluffernutter sandwich for lunch and have Poptarts for breakfast. This weekend, we're going to be taste testing some Ramen noodles and possibly seeing about throwing some chicken in with it.  If that doesn't work, I'll see if there's a mac and cheese I can convince him to eat (I know, what kid doesn't eat mac and cheese??).  During the discussion about food, he suggested bringing hot dogs for dinner.  When I told him that wasn't an option his reply was, "Hopefully there will be some trail magic."
Keep dreaming kid.

What Am I Going To Eat?

Food is an important item on the trail.  When you're burning so many calories, you need to make sure you take in enough calories to give your body enough energy and nutrients to continue.  So I've been trying to think of some different foods to take so I don't get sick of the same thing.  My plan is eating a hot breakfast, cold lunch and a hot dinner.  I think planning your hot meals is a lot easier than figuring out a cold trail lunch.  So I decided to try tuna.  I'm not a fish lover.  I hate eating fish.  Can't even stand the smell of fish.  But every now and then, I can stomach tuna.  The small little cans are heavier than I'd like but still not too bad.  The kit I bought had a can of premade tuna salad, 5 crackers and a spoon.

I opened the can and immediately thought it looked like cat food.  Not a good omen.  So I started eating, and at first it was okay.  Okay meaning with the flavor of the cracker I could choke it down.  But when I got to the last couple of spoonfuls, I was done.  There will be no tuna salad in my pack on this trip (or any other trips for that matter). 

 While in the store, I also came across this soup mix that you make by just adding water.  I love potato soup, and nothing is better on a chilly fall night in the woods than a warm bowl of soup.  So, since it was only around $3, I figured I'd test it out.

So I cooked dinner last night backpacker style- in a Ziploc bag.  I measured out the mix based on the amount of the serving size listed on the bag (1/4 cup dry made 1 cup of soup).  The first bag I made was a little watery but the second was okay.  Both were edible and tasted pretty good.  We've decided to include 1 meal of potato soup.  I wonder how I can get bacon in it?





I also have the dehydrator going full bore.  I'm currently working on peas, and tonight I'm hoping to start on some corn.  I have apples and blueberries to dehydrate for my oatmeal as well.  (the peas and corn aren't for the oatmeal, that's for chicken and rice or noodle meals).

So I think I have an idea of food, or most of the food.  Lunches will be jerky and granola bars or possibly PB&J on a tortilla.  I'll be trying it all so I know how I'm managing everything. 

Not Keen on Quinoa

 This is a report from one of my other blogs:

This is Quinoa

(pronounced keen-wa or keen-oh-a).

It's considered a super food

higher in protein than rice

and a good source of fiber, phosphorous,

magnesium, iron and calcium.

And it cooks in under 15 minutes.

So when I saw some recipes for backpacking meals 

that use quinoa, 

I thought I definitely needed to try it-

certain I would be bagging it up for the big trip.

But I tried it

and hated it.

I'm not sure if it was because of the flavoring and seasoning it came with

or if I really hate it.

Maybe I'll give it a try again cooked a different way,

but as for now, I think I'll be sticking with Ramen noodles and rice.