Ok, so the days are ticking away until the Rab MM (anyone else from here doing it?), and me the better half are off for a trial weekend this weekend (it's he first).
Has anyone got any favourites for lightweight, tasty grub, that can either be cooked easily in a small pan or just have boiling water added to?
p.s. I realise it's not quite a bike post but relevant to bike-packing, etc.
Anything you can just rehydrate, really. When I've done MM's, Polaris etc in the past we had 3 or 4 smaller 'meals' over the evening, so it was just a case of boiling water and not having to wash our pan out.
Basics like Smash, instant noodles, couscous and cuppa soups work well, especially if you've got a little bits of stuff to pep them up with - pepperami, Babybel or mini prepack cheeses, small tins of sardines etc have all made appearances in the past, as well as carrying the standard service-station sachets of salt, pepper, ketchup. If you've pack space, take one of the smaller Pot Noodle-type things and use the pot as your bowl for all courses, then bin afterwards. Instant just-add-water custard gives you a bit of dessert, if you carry dried fruit for the day you can lob that in it as well. I've seen people use things like MountainHouse dehydrated meals but they seem like a lot of cash for no extra benefit.
A favourite trick in the past as well, since a lot of people end up with salt cravings at the overnight, is to prep a packet of crisps beforehand and have them in a pocket for camp. Pin-prick a corner of the pack, gently squeeze the air out (and crush the crisps a bit), then tape over the pinhole. That one's made a lot of people jealous/salivate at overnight camps over the years.
Yes, there's always one @%£~#! who fries some bacon in the morning too. Not trying the smash thing again, my mate sorted food the last time and produced a mattiesons pork sausage and some smash for dinner. Was not impressed. Was hungry. I've found 'pour and store' bags good to use as individual bowls as they have a flat base and are resistant to sticking your fork through the bottom, plus you can store your food in them until then.
get to your local chinese supermarket & grab some noodles. spice it up with sachets of preserved vegetables you can buy or some beef jerky.
I love the Mountain House food - expensive but worth it when you are knackered. Custard and apple is bloody marvellous!
[url] http://www.facewest.co.uk/Freeze-Dried-Food.html [/url]
