Ideas for daypack hot meal?

[Camel]

I've been using the search to look for what sort of meals people take with them for up to a week or so away and have Found a lot of useful pointers.

My question stems from the fact that when I'm out shooting at this time of year I will quite often spend the whole day out in the field on account of the short days. It's not a proposition I find altogether unpleasant in the slightest but popping down to the pub or local cafe can break up the flow a little bit and I'd like to explore the idea of taking something a little more interesting than a sandwich along for lunch.

I have a small gas stove and camping kettle I keep in the boot with a brew kit for hot drinks but for this i would want to explore the idea of carrying a self contained "meal pouch" for say spending a day on the hill or somewhere away from the car.

I have a roesack which has plenty of room, a 2L camelback for water and a good pocket knife, what else do I need?

I particularly like the idea of instant noodles with jerky or sliced sausage as I appreciate a hot meal in the cold weather. I find carrying bread for soup a bit of a pain, I experimented with a hexi-stove, mess tin and tin of soup but if was bulky and noisy to carry around.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

With thanks,

C

 

[PhoorBks]

I've taken to using the heinz concentrated single soup pouches and adding some pre cooked meaty bits. Warburtons do something like a flatbread called a thin that works well with those too especially filled with cheese and chutney for soup dunking. Of course with the missus being a trained cook if I ever show her, this, post she'll kill me. Her option is to make up a bucket of stew on a sunday and freeze flat in those ziplock bags. Works well as you can store them frozen flat in your rucksack home made flatbread is ready too. However when we were weaning the twins the emmas kitchen stage 2 and three weaning meals were really great on the lightweight alcohol stove in a mid sized billy. Reasonable size for a quick meal as when we were moving around a lot it was easier to keep your energy up by eating several hot small meals in one day. Especially if the weather was foul.... Hope that helps a bit...

 

[brambles]

As a quick and easy option , try some Look What We Found pouches which you can heat in boiling water for 10 minutes - throw in a boil in the bag rice at the same time and you have a nice quick and supermarket available meal. You already know about noodles - try adding tuna to them. You can get soup in powder, concentrate or pouch - saves carrying and disposing of tins. Have a look at some of the British Army Ration Packs, there are some nice items in those and some sites split them out and sell them seperately.

 

[Donny732]

I have one of these. For a dayhike, you can pretty much bring any hot food with you and it'll still be roatsing after a few hours. Curry on the hills is a favourite of mine.

 

[dave53]

try mug shots just put contents in a cup of boiled water leave for 4 minutes stir and eat simples there is a few flavours out there regards dave

 

[bilmo-p5]

+1 for Mugshots

Noodles and tinned fish. Tesco do mackerel fillets in teryaki sauce; very tasty stirred into a bowl of hot noods.

 

[tiger stacker]

To avoid tins have a look at the fish pouches.
I love the marshalls pastas packs be it a box or a pouch. Although packets of grated cheese and pastas are just a bit nicer on the palette.
Dont ignore spam or Gods trademarked snack bacon grill TM. Spam still does the business easy to fry or eat cold

 

[Camel]

Thank you gents, much good stuff here.

Ideally, and i being fussy here, it would be a "no washing up" option, ie boil water and eat from packet almost. I realise this is not always possible but I prefer not having something covered in food in my pack.

Just went out to the local Tesco express and found these: http://www.tesco.com/groceries/Product/Details/?id=273144193

Made in the box apparently, just add water. I hate pot noodles for their chemical flavour but have bought a few of these to give a try.

Does Pepperami keep well at room temperature? It's always in the chilled section of the supermarket?

 

[Bucephalas]

Thank you gents, much good stuff here.

Ideally, and i being fussy here, it would be a "no washing up" option, ie boil water and eat from packet almost. I realise this is not always possible but I prefer not having something covered in food in my pack.

Just went out to the local Tesco express and found these: http://www.tesco.com/groceries/Product/Details/?id=273144193

Made in the box apparently, just add water. I hate pot noodles for their chemical flavour but have bought a few of these to give a try.

Does Pepperami keep well at room temperature? It's always in the chilled section of the supermarket?

Now they look good. I tend to find how much water is required by testing one at home and making a note of it. I would then Vac-Pak the contents to save space and cook up in a small pot.

I take packs of Pepperami out with me and they last for days un-fridgerated. They have a much higher oil content than cured meats which is probably why they are chilled.

 

[lannyman8]

try looking for Boil a Bags, they are self seal plastic bags that can be used in boiling water the freezer and everything...

all you need to do is make your fave meal at home, bag it up, freeze or fridge it untill needed, bung it in your bag and heat in boiling water when you want it, use the water for your brew, sorted......

 

[Teepee]

A tin of chicken curry and a pack of naan bread gets my vote.

 

[mountainm]

A potato in foil to stick in the fire and a boil in the bag what we found meal.

 

[maddave]

How bout these?? http://www.lookwhatwefound.co.uk/Page/ProductsByCategory.aspx?CatID=1

Or http://www.thejollygourmand.co.uk/m.../ready-meals?zenid=c45784p3k554233mkkc4hq59u0

 

[Imagedude]

Hows about a flask of soup or place a pre-heated boil in the bag meal in a food flask and cover in boiling water. It should stay warm for a good few hours.

 

[redandshane]

Hows about a flask of soup or place a pre-heated boil in the bag meal in a food flask and cover in boiling water. It should stay warm for a good few hours.

That is a good idea and you can have a cuppa as well with the hot water

 

[santaman2000]

I have one of these. For a dayhike, you can pretty much bring any hot food with you and it'll still be roatsing after a few hours. Curry on the hills is a favourite of mine.

Plus 1 for the wide mouthed thermos flasks. I like to take chili or thick soups or stews in them. I suppose chicken & dumplings would be good in one too.

If you want something to heat in the field you might try MREs. They have a chemical heating element in the package so there's no fire; and no mess since you eat directly from the pouch.

 

[Camel]

Once again my thanks for all the replies and good ideas.

I have taken a flask before and without a doubt it's the lightest and most self contained way to have a hot meal on a day trip. Besides a spoon it also need the least ancillary equipment too.

So flask - good idea.

I also like the idea of home-made boil in the bag food, frozen in portion sized bags, I have a friend with a vac-packer who I might be able to bug...

As for cooking in the field, I can see that the discussion on the best lightweight stove are fairly contentious. It seems that my best option would be a Jetboil rather than a Trangia or Whisperlite-style stove from the point of view of least bulk and weight, is this about right?

Military rations are a little hard to get hold of, I'm not a great fan of shopping online for some reason, but I will have a look at those "look what I found" meals too.

Noodles, dried pasta bags, etc I will shop around and experiment to find something decent.

Is there a good source for freezedried vegetables and things to make one's own dried meal packs? If I could put together my own little "meal kits" and vac pack them they would be less bulky than commercial offerings so they don't rattle like packet dishes and be in tougher plastic wrappers.

 

[santaman2000]

...Is there a good source for freezedried vegetables and things to make one's own dried meal packs? If I could put together my own little "meal kits" and vac pack them they would be less bulky than commercial offerings so they don't rattle like packet dishes and be in tougher plastic wrappers.

There's always the option of getting your own dehydrator (or borrowing from a friend) But the only source Iknow for buying freeze dried vegetables would be getting the bulk containers from the established companies such as Mountain House. They're #10 cans with approximately 12 or more servings of whatever. I cain't post a link unfortunately but just do a search for "freezed dried vegetabls" or "bulk freezed dried foods" etc.

 

[Grendel]

Iceland do boil in bag meal like the "Look what we found" meal sjust need reheating in it water and there A LOT cheaper.

 

[rik_uk3]

The Iceland meals for £2 are bigger portions than most pouch meals although the sweet and sour I found very bland.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Thermax-Ins...r_1_8?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1352884764&sr=1-8 is the best food flask I've tried (I'm a bit of a Thermos geek )

Boil in the bag rice and a can of Chicken curry or Chicken in white sauce (2 for £2 in Iceland), you could empty the can in a ziploc bag if your averse to taking a tin with you.

Cube some corned beef and add to noodles, full of energy that one for a winter day.

Pitta/wraps/pocket bread are all good and more robust in a pack than standard bread, pre cook bacon, put in ziploc, heat in the water your making a brew in and fill your pitta etc.