Ski touring food

[jibmaster]

Looking for some freeze dried food for a multi-day ski tour.
Organic, dairy free and no spice (chili, etc.)
Cheese in a separate packet ok.
No Trans Fats - partially hydrogenated oils.
Don't care if it's vegetarian or has meat.

Have used Mary Jane Farms in the past.
http://www.wildernessdining.com/shopbyb ... sfarm.html

Any other ideas?

[MikeK]

I used to use this quite a bit:

http://hawkvittles.com/

I don't think it's organic, but there are dairy free options. It's also just dehydrated, not freeze dried, so it's perhaps a little better for you. You could dehydrate food for trips just like his stuff if you have your own dehydrator.

Anyway, the food is generally tasty, but it's a bit hard to cook real dehydrated food, especially pastas. Just dumping hot water on it has never worked for me. I heat it up slowly with some water and add some water and simmer until everything is tender and the right consistency.

[snow-mark]

I use any of the popular brands. Alpine aire has worked for us lately. For hiking though. For ski tours I stay in huts and bring regular food.

[anrothar]

I mix and match.


-Powdered mashed potatoes, ramen noodles or rice mixed with the fat, cheese and seasoning of your choice in zip lock bags. Add freeze dried veggies and cut up pieces of jerky(will soften in hot water) as you wish. All of the above can be had organic. Doing it this way will be significantly cheaper than prepackaged meals, and can more easily be done with less wasteful packaging.

I generally do cold granola for breakfast(in water) and just snacks throughout the day.

[MikeK]

I think it is worth buying a dehydrator if you do a lot of trips. You can make everything to your specification and then just dry it out. It doesn't last as long as freeze dried, but it will last up to a year.

This was my plan up until recent, and now it's been put on the back burner. Eventually I'll resurface it.

[1EyedJack]

for traveling light: bee pollen. and a botabag of mezcal.

[Woodserson]

Trader Joe's Spicy Mango

[acrowe]

We have a dehydrator and do our own. We got into it when we were doing a lot of canoe trips. It is way cheaper than buying prepared meals and in my experience much better. You can make it to suit your preferences and portions. As Mike K said it lasts quite a while, but I find that if you want to keep dehydrated stuff for a long period, throw it in the freezer. Since we have had our daughter we haven't done very much overnight canoeing or hiking (we usually only do day ski trips right now), so we had a bit of a build up of stuff in our freezer. We actually used it up this year in a 2 month trip car camping to BC and Yukon

I would really recommend it, a dehydrator is $100 and pays for itself in one season if you hike a lot. Also you can do packs of veggies and sauces and such and mix and match - You want Green Thai curry soup - no problem just grab the sauce and the veg and whatever protein you want.
Its a bit of effort but in my opinion you can eat much better(which with my hiking / canoeing /skiing friends is almost as important as the activity itself).

[gitrinec]

I've had a lot of different Mountain house dinners and breakfast, Backpackers Pantry, not overly great tasting, I might just get one of those freeze driers. Though I did like that Almond Butter and some Sea Bear dried Salmon, but not together, lol

[jzahnny]

I like to grab ingredients from Packit Gourmet to fortify ingredients from home. I have never tried their meals. I also like their different sized bags to pack premeasured meals in, then just add boiled water.

http://www.packitgourmet.com/

Herb-infused (Sage, Thyme, etc) Olive oil is nice on ramen, too.