Expedition Menus

[bushscout1]

Just because I thought it would create an interest thread...

For those of you that carry ingredients (rather than wayfarer / dehydrated 'ready-meals'), what is your menu for a 3 - 4 day camp / expedition?

It would be useful if you can state whether these are based on a car camp or whether you would have walked-in to put it into perspective.

Bon appetit !

 

[bushscout1]

No wonder everybody's so thin / fit / healthy.

Nobody eats anything for days on end !!!

Come on, what you eat can't be that strange, can it?

 

[Northsky]

For breakfast I carry Alpen mixed with some brown sugar and dried milk. Just add hot water, Especially welcome in the winter mornings.

 

[Shewie]

If I'm tramping on foot on a multi day trip I'll stick to pasta and rice etc with other bits thrown in for good measure. It comes down to the weight for me so anything which I can just add water to and which will fill me up goes in my pack.

For a two nighter my menu would look something like this ...


Day One.

Breaky - at home or on the road to the destination
Lunch - probably a sarnie or pasty etc with a bit of fruit and cheese, choccy bar etc
Dinner - some kind of pasta or rice based dish with meat and veg added

Day Two.

Breaky - either a dry pre-mixed bannock or sausage/bacon sarnie, coffee and nicotine
Lunch - soup / stew, cake, fruit and chocolate etc
Dinner - pasta/rice again

Day three would be much the same I guess

I'll have plenty of snacks to munch on like choccy raisins, cereal bars or fruit

Car camping or if I'm in a canoe anything goes though

I've said before though that my menu needs some attention so you'll get more inspiring answers from other folk probably. I expect some of it's just laziness and I can't be bothered fussing with loads of stuff, just boil some water chuck it all in, stir it up a bit and scoff.

 

[scrogger]

Depends on my mood really but if I can be bothered to faff it would be something like this.

Breakfast:- Pre mixed muesli or porridge with added nuts and fruit.
+/or pancakes I love these with chopped Banana almonds and maple syrup (from a film canister) the pancake mix is either a bought one of pre made at home.
washed down with Tea of coffee (though usually tea)

Lunch Oat crakers with cheese some fruit and flapjack washed down with water.

Evening meal first night out.:- Maybe a pasta snack type soup followed by pasta with a tomato sauce with peppers and chorizo chopped in with added paprika for taste.

Washed down with tea or coffee ( I sometimes if im feeling in a refined mood take a nalgene bottle with some red vino too)
2nd day out would be a re run of breakfast and dinner , but the evening meal would be more simple without the fresh tomatos and peppers etc.

Something like the pre cooked rices again with chopped chorizo (this travels well and keeps for days in a pack) followed by cheese and crakers.

If im car camping etc it would be more fresh stuff and more boooze!!! shortly getting a canoe so who knows what culinary delights are to follow with the extra kit I can carry.

I also carry trail mix choccy raisins, nuts, dried fruits , coconut etc which I munch on the move.

And after all that I somethimes uses rat packs or wayfarers like I say depends on mood and surroundings and time of year.

Hope this is of interest!! im hungry now.

 

[John Fenna]

On my last overnighter I took along some frozen home made Nettle and Jack-by-the-Hedge soup...to the very spot I had harvested the nettles and JBTH!
If I had taken a couple of spuds and an onion I could have made it fresh.....
Daft eh?

 

[bushscout1]

Thanks for your posts guys, its good to know that some people DO eat !!

My expedition menus tend to be very similar:

Breakfasts made from museli & milk powder / Complan (vanilla - not chicken flavour) as it has extra vitamins & the like.

If on the move I tend not to carry a lunch in favour of museli bars, chocolate bars, dried fruit, nuts etc on the basis of eating little & often. This allows snacks to be taken on board when taking regular breaks (10 minutes every hour), and prevents longer rests when there is a likelihood of a build-up of lactic acid (which causes cramps).

I then carry Wayfarer meals (incl. dessert) for my evening meal for a bit of luxury (better than rehydrated cardboard).

If I'm car camping then I may take the dutch oven etc. in which case the world's my oyster - I've had a go at baking bread and have made some 'interesting' stews.

As with Shewie, I'm now looking for a little more inspiration regarding menus for expeditions where I'll walk-in then have a base camp for a few days - so I guess I'm looking for menu ideas with relatively easily packed ingredients, which don't weigh too much. Preparation time shouldn't be an issue as once in camp I'll have plenty.

 

[Steve M]

Typically ...

Day One

Breaky: whatever I at at home
Lunch: a pasty I've bought on the way in (easy)
Tea: sausages, onions and beans (won't have gone over)

Day Two

Breaky: Eggs and Bacon (smoked bacon and eggs last for ages)
Lunch: Cheese wrap things (toasted on the back of my shovel)
Tea: Jacket spuds and stew or curry and rice

Day Three

Breaky: Cereals of some description
Lunch: whatever's kicking about still
Tea: something on the road

That fits for base camp or walking for me.

 

[Bongo Matt]

Cheers for a good thread, I should get some good ideas from this one!

What I would take varys from different places, but the place I normally go I get to by canoe and usually stay for no less than a week, so heres what I would think about taking:

Oats, Flour, Dried milk, Sugar, Salt, Butter, Pepper, Chili powder, Oil,Veg Stock, Eggs, Potatoes, Rice, Pasta, Dried Milk powder, Some Veg (like peppers etc), Fruit that lasts like Oranges etc. Some cheese too, and a bottle of port or a few beers.

Day one:
Brecky at home(or friends house thats on way to site )
Lunch: Scrambled eggs with thin bannock with fruit or choccy
Dinner: Whatever is caught if nothing rice and veg like fried onions, tomatoes courgets and peppers maybe with a bit of egg chucked in

Day two
Brecky: Porridge - fruit
Lunch: Winkles and Whelks purged from the previous days picking seasoned with vinager n pepper, usually with more bannock.
Dinner: Whatever is in the net/lobster/shrimp pots or gathered with spuds in the embers (80% of the time its fish and 5-10 shrimps but theres the odd crab, and on very special accasions an in size Lobster which is an absolute jackpot)

Day 3
Brecky: Porridge again with fruit (its easy first thing in the mornin)
Lunch: A concoction of potatoes, nettles, wild garlic, butter and seasoning and whatever else gets chucked in
Dinner: Yet again determined by whatevers about with rice if fish or pasta if meat (If unlucky, cheesey pasta is good to cheer up the soul)

It sort of carries on from there really with different variations of the ingredients listed, I dont normally go with a menu plan if its determined by what can be gathered locally so its a rough example. I do recommend making rice pudding with milk powder, rice water and suger, its not like home cooking but its definitly not bad, I just use long grain rice too!

 

[MancsMan]

I always use the rule "don't" depend on the wild stuff, hence...

Day 1:
Lunch. Noodles/Couscous - Tuna - Brew.
Dinner. Curry (pre-cooked, beef/chicken) – Pita/Naan - Rice (pre-cooked) - Brew
Supper.Soup - Pita/Naan.

Day 2:
Breakfast. Porridge (pre-mixed Milk powder/sugar) - Brew.
Lunch. Beans & Peperami - Pita/Naan - Brew - Mars Bar.
Dinner. Minced Steak & Gravy - Mash - Vegetables.
Supper. Soup - Pita/Naan.

Day 3:
Breakfast. Porridge (pre-mixed Milk powder/sugar) - Brew.

Sundries: Teabags 10 - Coffee 6 (pre-mixed) - Chocolate 2 (pre-mixed) Soups 2 - Sugar - Milk Powder - Salt/Pepper - Herb/Spices, Snacks (Mars bars, Twix, Snicker/Marathon etc.).

 

[Tengu]

I find that primula tube cheese very nice.

it also goes a long way, is in several flavours...

....and is such an aesthetic eating experience

 

[MartinK9]

I find that primula tube cheese very nice.

it also goes a long way, is in several flavours...

....and is such an aesthetic eating experience

Straight from the tube I hope?

 

[Tengu]

Um, mostly on crackers.

But the last bit is neat.

 

[Mr Adoby]

Breakfast:
Oatmeal porrige.
Salt.
Dried fruits.
Coffee with dried milk.
Water - perhaps with effervescent vitamin tablet.

Snack 1-3 times per day depending on what I do. Some or all of:
Dried fruits and nuts.
A little dark choclate.
Coffee with dried milk.
Oatmeal porrige saved from breakfast.
Water.

Hot meal midday and supper:
Noodles, powdered mashed potatoes, rice, pasta or cous-cous or dried tortellinis.
Some pasta sauce-mix or I make my own sauce.
Stock cube and spices.
Cheese from a tube.
Rapeseed oil.
Dried minced meat or dried sausages.
Dried carrots and/or onions and/or other dried veggies.
Salt.
Coffee.
Water.

Night meal, some or all of:
Rosehip soup or some soup mix, perhaps with pasta.
Perhaps some crackers - sometimes with cheese from a tube.
Dried fruit and nuts.
Bread made on the fire - on a stick or pancake on a hot rock.
Water.

Berries or what I find/catch that is edible.

I cook in a food thermos, using boiling water from a Kelly Kettle, as I've described elsewhere here. I dry most of the fruit, the veggies, minced meat and sausages myself. I buy rasins... And I use plain 3 minutes pasta, 5 minutes rice and cous-cous that I repack in small plastic bags. The same with the rolled oats for the breakfast porridge.

 

[JungleED]

Breakfast - Alpen or dried fruit or fresh fruit as a treat

Lunch - I always like to carry some good old beef jerky and have found this great range which is much better than Wayfarer called Look What We Found! I usaually like the sausage casserole they do for lunch.

Dinner - Look What We Found! again but this time have soup and a meal pouch. Then use the hot water to heat some custard from pouch again. Lovely!!!!!

 

[bushscout1]

I'd seen that new range in the shops, but haven't gotten round to trying them out yet, thanks for the recommendation.

One reason I like the wayfarer type of meal pouches is that, as you say, you can use the same water to heat multiple courses, and then use it to make a hot drink, and then pack away without any washing up !!!

 

[Bongo Matt]

I always use the rule "don't" depend on the wild stuff, hence...

Where I go, the wild food has worked for me everytime, and over the years it has become a larger part of my diet when out and about, not saying that I dont bring other food, but saves a lot of humping stuff around keeping kit light, plus Lidl isnt that far away (few hours stroll) if theres nothing about, but havent had to do that yet. I also carry a ceramic waterfilter for the cliff spring (that is safe to drink), which saves on weight too.

 

[jimford]

Breakfast: Coffee, instant custard.
Midday: Coffee, a couple of oatcake biscuits.
Evening: Lentils with bulgar wheat & veg. stock cube. Maybe add chilli sauce for variety. Coffee.
Evening: Instant chocolate drink.

It's not a lot, especially as I'm usually walking hard and carrying a pack, but I lose my appetite when trecking!

Jim

 

[GordonM]

For car or canoe camping...

Breakfasts: Oatmeal, dried cereals with milk and fruit, eggs and bacon, breakfast gravy and biscuits (American, baked in Dutch oven), fried potatoes, sliced fresh tomatoes with breakfast gravy, breakfast pitas made with scrambled eggs, ham or sausage, potatoes and onions, pancakes/flapjacks with maple syrup.

Lunches: Sliced summer sausage with crackers and cheese, homemade venison or beef jerky, sliced apples with cheese, instant soup or bullion, ham sandwiches, chicken salad sandwiches, tuna salad sandwiches, grilled cheese sandwiches, potato chips, snack crackers, cookies, pears, oranges, tangarines, kiwi fruit. On one of our float trips on the James river, we can time a stop just right. We can take out at the boat ramp at Cartersville Landing and walk up the hill about 3/4 mile and buy ice cream. It hits the spot on an upper 90s F day!

Suppers: Fresh caught fish with rice and veggies, hobo dinners (ground beef, onion, carrots, potatoes cooked in aluminium foil). Green Bar Stew (name comes from the patrol leaders patch in BSA Scouting) which is cubes of beef, potatoes, carrots, onions, green beans, tomato sauce, garlic, celery, and parsley made in the Dutch oven. Pinto beans and southern cornbread made in Dutch oven. Chicken stir fry, grilled cabbage, broccoli, and corn on the cob.

Dutch Oven Deserts: Peach cobbler, blueberry cobbler, pineapple upside down cake, peppermint pound cake, fudge sqaures (cake).

My wife has to have S'mores for desert at least one night. It reminds her of her childhood!

I am usually the "Chuckwagon" (cook) in our group!

Gordy

 

[wistuart]

I find that primula tube cheese very nice.

it also goes a long way, is in several flavours...

....and is such an aesthetic eating experience

Does Primula keep OK without refrigeration?