I go pretty Spartan. Freeze dry meals, oatmeal, jerky.etc. Jetboil and a water purification system and I have been able to survive for about a week on the trail. Reducing weight and volume helps a lot when off road. I think of it as backpacking with a pack mule! The freeze dry stuff in its hard bags sometimes takes up more room than it should, so I will put them in freezer bags and add the water in that with the bag in a collapsible bowl. The squishy bags conform to my panniers. No dishes to clean up. When travelling on highways, still use the freeze dry and jetboil, but pack plastic in my wallet and let the restraunt do the cooking and cleanup more often than not.
When my wife and I go away for a weekend camping, we take a couple of small alcohol powered flame cookers. These are good for heating food. Gas type cookers are good for heating water in a hurry but can't really heat food thoroughly and slowly. If we're going away for just an overnight trip, a day or two before we leave we'll cook a chicken or lamb curry and store it in a plastic takeawy container and freeze. Take it out of the freezer in the morning and wrap it in a few layers of plastic bag, then store it somewhere in the luggage. By the time we've reached our destination that evening, it's thawed. Put it in a pot and heat on one burner while cooking rice on the other burner. This freeze and thaw method is only good for the first night of a camping trip though.
I use the freeze-dried stuff, too, but it's extremely high in fat, calories, sodium and carbohydrates...all useful things when you're hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. Not so great when you're just lolling around on a motorcycle all day It's tasty, quick and easy, though. It also doesn't weigh anything but takes up space so I usually carry it in my backpack. When we leave base camp, or wherever, I top off my water bladder with ice and will usually stuff some frozen meat down into the insulated slot that holds my water bladder. It's a good spot for tortillas, too. There's usually a few squares of chocolate in there, too, just in case. There have been times in the fall where we've stopped for the day and started to cook dinner and the meat was still slushy-frozen. Frozen boil-in-a-bag veggies travel well this way, too. They just have to be kept cold, not necessarily frozen. You can use river/lake water to boil them, too. I like kielbasa sausages, as they can be cooked and carried on the trail the next day, too. Yum! I've even shoved a small frozen rack of ribs down into the bladder area Pizza travels really well. Wrap in foil and put in zip-loc baggies and it hardly takes up any room. Lays flat in the back or sides of the bags and doesn't have to be heated up to be enjoyable. Those little vacuum-packed pouches of drained tuna have been a godsend for me. Love my tuna and I just carry a few of those small packets of mayo with me. I wrap it in corn tortillas because they travel well, or if we're only out for a day or two I'll pack up some sturdy sourdough and have a proper sandwich. Gotta have my fruit, too. Love that dried mango they sell at Costco and I usually have a baggie of that for snacking on the trail. Oranges travel well and make me feel like I'm getting my fruit juice in the morning, too. If I want something a little more delicate (plums, nectarines, etc) I wrap `em in squares of that stuff you line your RV shelves with...kinda spongy and sticky to keep things from sliding all over...and it provides enough cushion to keep stuff good for a few days. I just throw `em in the top of my bags so they don't get crushed. Nuts travel well, too. I get tired of drinking plain old water but don't want to put anything weird in my water bladder. I grab a handful of fresh mint and give it a good squeeze and put it in my bladder. It stays good for a week in there and gives me good flavor. It can still be used for cooking without making everything taste like mint, and it can still be used in radiators and flesh wounds. Canned chili in a corn tortilla makes a mighty fine breakfast Those little packs of dried Idaho mashed potatoes are incredibly good. I carry a small fold-up grill. Doesn't take up much room and it's great for cooking over a fire, or even over our stove if I need to simmer something without immediately incinerating it...like that freeze-dried huevos rancheros that needs to be cooked in a pan. Super-good but a hassle to cook. Makes a mess, too. Throw some gravel/rocks/sand and water in your pan when you're done cooking and swirl it around letting mother nature's scrubby do its magic I'm sure there's tons of stuff I forgot. I will add as I think of it
You could take ration packs like this: http://www.kitbag.com.au/products/24HR-1%2d-MAN-ARMY-FOOD-RATION-PACKS-13000Kj.html Or just take note of whats in them as most items have a reason for being there... candy = fast energy, tinned cheese = clogger, chocolate = unclogger (if ya get me drift ) Fresh bread in the campfire is good too... can take premixed dry ingredients add water and just whack it in the coals. Plenty of recipe's on the net... google "damper" "campfire damper" "australian damper" etc etc View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLNhe6ghHPw
I'm a young bachelor, so I steer towards tasty, unhealthy, and easy. So what I usually take is the same as when I go tent camping before an enduro. All cooked on my MSR whisperlite using white gas. A rice sides (Knorr's or something like that). A can of tuna or chicken (with a pop top or in a baggy is best). A can of cheap beer. Replace the water in the rice directions with the beer. Add the meat after a while. Let cook and then cool some. All while getting a head start on the other 5 beers (I don't bring a cooler, so closet gas station before camp). I like the thai curry with a can of chicken best, but the broccoli and rice with a can of tuna is a close second.
Couscous, dehydrated veggies, chicken bouillon cubes, Primus backpacking stove, and an MSR Miniworks filter. You could carry one of those big Costco bags of jerky for some protein, and some trail mix for snacking.
The three ideas about a can of chili and corn tortillas, tuna in a puch and mayo packet, and the Knorr's rice sides + beer and canned chicken are excellent! I've spent most of this season going through a box of MRE's I bought several years ago...with the cracker portions reaching the end of their reasonable tasting lives. MRE's are danged easy to grab out of a box in the garage, but I'm going to get tired of doing that. One thing I did add were those little packets of Starbucks instant coffee and they're nice to grab hold of in a morning after laying on the ground all night. As I didn't have an MSR or camping stove from 20 years ago (I haven't ever light-camped like this before)....I've been VERY happy with my Jetboil Stove for $80 USD! Compact, boils water, can easily be used to heat other things, FAST, bottle of fuel seems to last forever, and the neoprene encased mug makes that morning Starbucks very pleasurable to sip from. Otherwise, I usually pack some lifesavers or hard candy in the tank bag and some Costco trail mix in the individually wrapped containers (although they seemed to have switched to a big bag of the stuff and I have to use baggies now) for nibbling while riding.
Incredibly excellent input! About the only tidbit I could add is that plain old Cherrios eaten dry out of a baggie always seems to be good for me as a lighter alternative to other grab and eat snacks (trail mix, jerky, etc). I found all sorts of interesting things on Amazon too, they now have a grocery area. Do not think I'll buy much from Amazon, but good for getting additional ideas. Interesting to see no one mentioned spam
For single overnight, I like a nice big burrito and snack stuff that does not require cooking gear. For more days dehydrated food and little stove is smaller and lighter. I like MSR Wisperlite propane stove. And lighting a gasoline backpacking stove when drinking is not such a good idea.
Well, I didn't mention the "red beans and rice sides with a can of spam" incident. I've never been so disgusted and hungry at the same time -- Except maybe for this one time I was out by Ouray, CO and I had some knock off easy mac and some seriously bad brats for dinner. It was pretty bad. Both times I ended up resorting to a cliff bar and calling it good.
Dehydrated meals are great to carry but you need water, a water filter is a must, I also carry "Viral Stop" for when the water might not be too great. On my last trip we hit a store everyday so I like to mix it up when I can. Canned food works, a noodle dish or "Uncle Bens" ready rice with a can of chicken makes a nice meal, even better if you can through in some fresh veggies. For me snacks with protein are important, I like "Clif" bars or even a candy bar that has lots of nuts works, too much carbs without protein can throw me for a loop. Dried fruit and nuts are also light and easy to carry. For a stove I have an "MSR" Whisperlite International, it burns plain old gasoline which I should always have plenty of on a bike trip. I can't stress lots of water enough, I usually started in the morning with around 6 liters but there was a couple of times in the last couple of weeks when I almost ran out, Luckily it seems there is always a stream when you need it.
I almost forgot, I don't know your plans but if it's going to be hot, one of these is a must have. http://www.techniche-intl.com/en/ca...yperkewl-evaporative-cooling/vests/index.html
I've done lots of remote camping off dirt bikes, and I like to ride small bikes hard, so I don't subscribe to the ADV-rider theory of carrying a full size stove, 20 pounds of produce from the farmer's market, and a $1,000 set of knives. I usually eat food that doesn't require cooking for breakfast and lunch: granola bars, clif bars, nuts, dried fruit, jerky, stuff like that. I've done oatmeal and tea for breakfast but it's not always worth the time and hassle if water is limited and you want to get rolling. For dinner, I generally eat some type of boxed pasta mix (rice-a-roni, zatarains, couscous, etc), and add a can of black or red beans, chili, diced tomatoes, or similar to it. Gets you a tasty and reasonably nutritious meal, packs small, easy to cook and clean. When we're living large we will have it with cheese and tortilla, but that stuff doesn't last long unrefrigerated in the desert.
Seriously?? I might have to try this! I just tried a new tasty beer that might go well with the chicken and rice. Leinenkugels Orange Shandy!
