TentMeals - High Energy Health

[SCOMAN]

Well I ordered a few meals, they have 3 - 4 main, breakfast, dessert options with the option to have a 500kcal portion or the larger 800kcal portion. In the interest of trying to stick to my diet I ordered two of the 500kcal size portions. All the meals are vegan and in dialogue with one of the staff they intend to bring out meat/protein which packaged seperately can be added to their meals by those that like a hit of protein. I ordered an Almond Jalfrezi main meal and the Blueberry burst breakfast. the packages are tiny 13cm x 8.5cm x 4cm deep. They are in a heat sealed bag and whilst not rigidly tightly vacuum packed they seem to be pretty robust.
If I may pass comment, the breakfast could be improved with more dried fruit and whole milk powder. In my omnivore view the main meals could be improved with having meat/fish protein. How that's achieved; whether TentMeals have 'sides' that can be added or it's an inclusive part of the meal or there is a different line of non-vegan food is irrelevant to me to be honest. If the food tastes as good as the two meals I've tried then I can't wait for it. The 800Kcal sized meals would probably be too big for my 550ml bowl and they would be a jumbo meal for most. Would there be any benefit in bringing the meal to boil in a pan rather than re-hydrate it? I can learn to deal with the cleaning up, I'll have to, in order to welcome the decent food, lack of waste and smaller packaging.

I consider both of the meals to be a success and I can see me buying more from TentMeals in the future when I use up my current stock of freeze-dried meals. I happily recommend them to others too. I'll add that I bought these personally they were not sent to me for free or for a positive review.

Further details and the full report including pics are at my blog

 

[Alan De Enfield]

For breakfast they look very expensive (for what they are) at £3.80 each (500Kcals)

Have you considered 'Porridge Pots' ?

They have 214 Kcals, and are complete with powdered milk, simply add 150-180ml of boiling water and with the cost about 35p (3 for £1) from the likes of Poundstretcher, B&M etc, they make a cheap breakfast.

I tip them out of the 'pot' and put them into zip-Lok bags, add whatever 'extras' I want (dried berries, dried fruit, nuts or whatever) and you have a 400-500 Kcal breakfast for 'pennies'.

You can also take the 'porridge packs' from Aldi (8 for about £1 - cannot remember exactly.- They have 160Kcals each) They have no milk included but add 3 heaped tea-spoons of 'coffee-mate' (£1 for a big tub from Poundland) and they make up a good porridge. Add in whatever extras you want to add bulk and Kcals.

I have a small stainless steel bowl (300ml, cost 39p, weight 50 grams) from 'Home Bargains' as my breakfast bowl (extra drinking mug if needed)

If you 'need' more just have two helpings.

Whilst you are boiling the water for your 'morning cup-of-tea' just boil a bit extra and Robert is your mother's brother - Breakfast !!!!

 

[SCOMAN]

I just felt like trying them as I'd never heard of them. I usually have some freeze dried food which is more expensive and varies in taste, as I said in the full review I've always found the freeze dried food salty if not downright unappealing. These were good though and UK made.

 

[Janne]

Can you order a ’free from’ Vegan meal too?

 

[SCOMAN]

Not at the minute

 

[Barney Rubble]

Interesting review. I've not had them, but have seen them online and heard/read good things To be honest, I'm not a huge fan of the adventure meals and have written about this on one of my recent blogs (shameless plug!!). As per your comments, the taste can be questionable and you pay a premium. But, to be fair to TentMeals, they appear to have created something which comprises of simple ingredients which will undoubtedly be more flavoursome than many rivals. Alas, the cost is still a problem though.

Because the ingredients are so simple, it's not especially difficult to create your own version of them and undoubtedly save a lot of money in the process. The breakfasts are basically porridge oats, coconut milk powder, sweetener, dried fruit and/or nuts. The mains are similar affairs albeit with cous cous/rice and dried veg/nuts etc.

To be honest, I don't like to be someone that just has a dig at something on here when I've clearly not tried it. I do quite like the concept, so I'll hereby promise to 'walk the talk' by having a go at making my own version of them for my next hiking camp.

 

[Janne]

The ones I looked into are indeed suitable for Vegans/vegetarians.

But, to be frank they are really easy to make yourself. The difficult part in making most freeze dried meals is the animal products, which these lack.

BTW, the manufacturer should know that Oats are Gluten free......


The positive part is that the mixes seem to be well composed, including flavours. That is something I find most Freeze Dried foods lack, they tent to taste more or less the same. The nuts will also give a good 'bite'. So not the mushy gloop most consist of.

I think that for those 'cookery challenged" this seems to be excellent products!

 

[Letty@TM]

Hi everyone, thanks for chatting about TentMeals . I'm from TentMeals, so I'm just adding some notes for clarification:

• While oats are naturally gluten free, all of our meals are prepared in the same kitchen and so there is a risk of cross-contamination. Unless we get a lot, lot bigger in the near future, we just can't afford to also make celiac-safe "free-from" products right now.*
• We're currently working on bringing out some super delicious gourmet jerky that can be added to the meals, or snacked on. Watch this space!
• If you're looking to make your own meals, we supply a load of freeze dried ingredients to make that easy for you too. See: https://tentmeals.co.uk/collections/make-your-own-camping-meals
• One of the reasons that we use coconut milk powder, isn't just because it's vegan - it's also super nutritious and calorie dense compared to ordinary milk powder .

*If you are looking for some free-from freeze dried ingredients, please send an email to sayhello@tentmeals.co.uk. We may be able to get hold of uncontaminated ingredients through our suppliers .

 

[Janne]

Coconut milk powder is not specially nutricious, and it contains a lot of saturated fat which is really bad for the heart health.

Many if not most contain milk powder or caseine, which is a protein extracted from milk, so check the content with the supplier, as most are NOT vegan!

It is a modern myth that coconut fat is healthy, propagated by food fashionistas and self proclaimed health gurus.
Medical science including qualified nutritionist have never said that it is healthy, but on the contrary!
It has a great taste though.

 

[nunzionuk]

I've had the TentMeals porridge ones.. they are wonderful... think it was the mixed berries and seeds one (found link!!)

https://tentmeals.co.uk/collections...seed-and-red-berry-expedition-breakfast-small

Will be getting more this year for camping with the kids! Only thing I found was the short shelf life, but that could have been the supplier, not TentMeals directly.

Coconut milk powder is not specially nutricious, and it contains a lot of saturated fat which is really bad for the heart health.

Many if not most contain milk powder or caseine, which is a protein extracted from milk, so check the content with the supplier, as most are NOT vegan!

It is a modern myth that coconut fat is healthy, propagated by food fashionistas and self proclaimed health gurus.
Medical science including qualified nutritionist have never said that it is healthy, but on the contrary!
It has a great taste though.

Looking at their ingredients for coconut milk doesnt say it has milk powder or caseine, and has the vegan approved marking on the packaging.

https://tentmeals.co.uk/collections/make-your-own-camping-meals/products/coconut-milk-powder-250g

 

[Janne]

That is good to know, but he should double check with the supplier.

We use a lot of the stuff ( unhealthy buy soooooo tasty!) in this region, and I am yet to find one without casein or milk powder..

I think it is nice to see a company that tries to deliver a product not filled with chemical rubbish.

TentMeals, you can find dried grapes without Sulphites. Just an idea......