Hi guys! There is a lot of chat about gear and other bits on here at the moment but the one thing I would like input on and hopefully others do too is what does every one pack for food ?
Seems a silly question but iv been experimenting with what to take and I'm getting drastic results!
Last trip I only took energy bars and relied on a pub dinner half way through the day and some Cornish pasty for the night, big mistake got lost, ate late & resulted in being burned out before I made camp.
The trip before that I was spoilt for choice but snapped my beam rack with the weight of all the food I had.
I know it varies from trip to trip and boils down to trip lenght but nether the less let's see what variety and option are out there

Generally my trips are 3 days and under so I'll carry all my food to ensure self reliance. My usual day is like this-

BREAKFAST.
Oats-so-simple sachet x2
Milk powder for above, about 2tbs
Fresh coffee bag
Sugar and UHT milk stick

SNACKS.
Peanut M&M's
or Energy bar
or Flapjack
or Chocolate
or Nutrigrain Elevenses
with fruit tea if I can be bothered.

LUNCH
Expedition foods dehydrated meal (standard size)
60g couscous thrown in too

SNACKS.
As above

DINNER
Expedition foods dehydrated meal (high calorie size)
60g couscous thrown in too
Sometimes Custard and nutrigrain if still hungry

SUPPER
Fruit tea
Snack food as above


For shorter trips I'll often cook something fresh, which usually tends to be couscous based and bulked out by various veg and cured meats.

A lot can depend on your cooking set-up and how many calories you personally need for a day in the hills. I do recommend the Expedition dehydrated foods though, it's like proper food in a bag and a great moral boost to know you have a decent tasty meal to look forward to. The chicken tikka is a particular favourite!

my favourite breakfast is double portion of muesli (2 bowls) with milk powder in. Add hot water and you have a warm/ fruity nutty porridgy type breakfast. I find it much easier to eat a large portion of this than porridge.

last time i was out we had such a long trip to find a bivvy spot/ attacked by midges i had the depressing dinner of a pack of fig rolls!!

The meusli with milk power in is a great idea.

A bag of Trail mix in your own style is always a favourite, go to Holland and Barret and get some big bags of calorie laden nuts, Brazils, Walnuts, add some fruit, Haribo, M&M's it's your choice.

On the dehyrated meals front, they are ideal but expensive and not always available in a hurry. Have often thought but not acted on it, you could probably make your own by raiding the supermarket shelves for those dehydrated pasta pots, noodles, etc. They cost about £1 each and i'm sure if you added a few together you could match the calorie content of an Expedition type meal.
A hot water proof sealable plastic bag to put it in would help too.

Anyone done anything similar?

i like to put a few salted nuts and peanut M&Ms in my trail mix. salt and chocolate. nom nom.

my mate mixes super noodles and cuppasoups - looks rank but is calorific. I like nongshim korean instant noodles - about 20% more calories than other brands too.

Breakfast:
2x Porridge sachets
2x Coffee sachets
Gingernut biscuits

Lunch:
Flapjack
Snickers
Fruit+nuts
Chilli crackers

Dinner:
Sainsbury's Instant noodles (600calories for 80g!)
Some diced chorizio to go with noodles
Hot choc sachet
Fig rolls

I don't bother cooking at lunch time as it takes too long and I make sure that I eat after I have pitched the tarp and breakfast is ready to fire up as soon as I am awake in the morning. Superlight trips may do away with the stove all together if it is only a couple of days as non-cook food is almost always heavier!

Alex