Whats your preference to carry for breakfast then?
Primarily when you're travelling light and need the energy.

I've tried porridge, but it destroys the pan for the rest of the trip and even the best porridge oats are bit of a non event made with just water.

theres the usual musli bars or even pasta but its not the best brekkie....

Whats you faveourites?

Porridge.. unbeatable

I'm trying to sort out exactly this issue for my upcoming Spanish trip. I've tried making Oats So Simple in my jetboil but it just coats the inside with porridge, there are various recipes that mix the oats with milk powder and seem to work with adding boiling water but I've not tried them yet. You can get porridge in a tub from ASDA that just needs added water but I haven't got the space to pack them on the bike!!

Pour and store bags with porridge and milk powder with a spoonful of sugar. I also pop a handful of dried blueberries in too.
Packs really thin and the bags can be cleaned out when needed for re-use.

That sounds great Flatfish, any ideas of the proportions? Do you just pour into a bowl and add boiling water?

Pour and store bags can take boiling water so I just eat straight out of the bag.
Portion size is 1.5 of the sachets plus two desert spoons of milk powder and a spoonful of sugar.

pistonbroke wrote:I'm trying to sort out exactly this issue for my upcoming Spanish trip.

i've been thinking about this one too!

mr fishy's solution sounds perfect as i can't really stomach plain porridge (tastes like prison food!).

Wot flatfish said; I use 1/3 cup of Scot's porridge oats, 2 dessert spoons of marvel, sugar, sultanas and pecans.

Pour and store bag porridge here too, I actually prefer cheap tesco oats to expensive ones with some muscavdo sugar and just add water. But then I always make possidge with just water at home anyway.

On a multiday trip there is no need to clean Pour&store either, just seal it up and use the next day. One for sweet foods, one for savoury it saves washing anything up at all- just use your pot for boiling water and drinking out of.

can i be really dumb and ask how you cook the porridge then? do you boil the water and pour it into the bag and let it 'cook' in a cozy for a while... or do you empty the contents into a pot and simmer for 10mins or so?

Cook in the bag.
Pot only used for boiling water.

Anthony wrote:On a multiday trip there is no need to clean Pour&store either, just seal it up and use the next day. One for sweet foods, one for savoury it saves washing anything up at all- just use your pot for boiling water and drinking out of.

Anthony, sorry but I wouldn't recommend that because of the risk of food poisoning. You'd be amazed at how quickly bacteria can multiply especially on a hot day in a sealed plastic container, it's the perfect breeding ground for the little buggers.

porridge then!

It seems that the general consensus is porridge with various amounts of extras to make it edible.

I'll do some experimenting I reckon. I'm not a huge fan, I wonder what granola would be like with water / milk powder....

I use 55g of Waitrose Porridge and bran mix with 25g of currants and I have it with just enough cold water to dampen it, or, if I am cooking, I pour my coffee on it.

This guy has an interesting take on diet: http://www.walkingman.org/equipment/dining

I'm surprised no one has mentioned pot (or bag in this case) cosies. They enable your food to cook quicker and stop you from burning your hands when eating straight out of the bag. I always have porridge for breakfast and some flavoured couscous as part of my evening meal...both cook in a matter of minutes using a pour-n-store bag and a cosy.
Here's a pic of mine. I think I paid about 7 or 8 quid for a roll of the foil-backed bubblewrap from B&Q. I've used a length of the stuff for putting under my sleep mat in winter conditions too.



EDIT: I see that the use of cosies was mentioned...sorry!

You're probably right Ray re bacteria. Never had an issue, and only going by a popular trick, but now I think about it its probably not a great idea and a fresh bag per meal is circa 10g anyway!

Hi Anthony, glad you didn't mind me saying something. I am an ex nurse and have treated a few cases of food poisoning including a case of dysentery, the guy lost two stone in a week and had to be fed through a drip.

I make porridge in the pan (with sugar, milk powder or coffee mate, and fruit if I have it) and eat out of the same pan, just 'wash up' with a bit of water and dry grass, sand etc. Seems to clean it out pretty easily. And it leaves something behind for the bugs and birds rather than more plastic to be disposed of, plastic bags and bottles are a pet hate here.. Pour+store does sound like a good idea for overnighter convenience though.

Good point from Ray re hygiene, had a miserable day in the Alps after getting the shts from a dirt-encrused under down-tube water bottle. A lot more careful now - even if I still wash up with dirt.. ahem.