Meal Planning

Multiday Trips

 

For these trips food is included in the trip fee.  Usually the week before the trip there is a trip meeting in which all the hikers who signed up for the trip come together to discuss logistics.  During this meeting a couple of volunteers are asked to do the food shopping for the group.

 

Typical Food on Camping Trips

This is what we collectively carry. The food tends to be sufficient but minimal. In most areas you can supplement the collective with your own food if you wish, but in some areas such as the Adirondacks, all food needs to be stored in bear-proof containers. The club has three bear-proof containers, each of which is sufficient for a group of 10 for a day. Therefore you may not be able to take additional food, if the bear-containers are full with the collective food. We carry white-gas, stoves pots and pans. We heat up water for breakfast for cereal and coffee, and cook a hot meal at dinner.

Breakfast is typically hot. Typically we get cereal (one to two packets per person), English muffins and preserve, coffee, tea, sweetener, powered milk. We prepare hot water for the cereal and coffee.

 

Lunch tends to be cold with cheese being the staple, eaten with bread and optionally sausages. We usually supplement it with pitas and hummous (preferably dried hummous that can be reconstituted with water), and some greens to add to the pita pockets: cucumbers work well as they don't crush.

Dinner is always hot, as it is great to have a hot meal at the end of a long day. Pasta or rice provide the carbs as they take up very little space (especially rice). We then make a dish rich in protein to complement the carbs. A tomato sauce with meat and vegetables goes well for pasta. Similarly for the rice, we make a sauce with onions, vegetables, cheese, fish or meat. Macaroni and cheese is another option that has worked well for dinner in the past.
Typically we bring hot chocolate and dark chocolate to wind down the meal.

We always supplement the food with trail-mix as it is a good idea to have something to nibble on, and trail-mix will keep the more hungry of the hikers happy. Half a pound per/person per day works well. If we still have space we throw in some energy-bars.

Example food for 1 person per day:

Breakfast

• 1 1/2 packets flavoured instant oatmeal
• 1 english muffin and one packet jelly
• 1 Tbsp intant coffee, 1 tsp sweetener, 1 tsp powdered milk

 

Lunch

• 2 pocket pitas
• 100 gm cheese
• 100 gm hummous (dry)
• 1 packet (100 gm) tuna
• 1/2 cucumber

 

Dinner

• 1/4 cup rice (instant)
• 1 sausage
• 100 gm fresh veggies (onion, carrot, broccoli)
• 1 Tbsp butter for cooking
• 1 packet dry cream-sauce or tomao sauce
• 1 packet (1 Tbsp) hot choclolate
• 1 bar dark chocolate

 

Trail food

• 1/2 lb trail-mix