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Ease of meal preparation, quality of food and quantity of food can make or break a trip. Too little food is a bummer, but too much food can create leftover hassles. Meals that burn easily or that take too much work to prepare can become a nightmare, especially if poor weather contributes to the problem. Hikers tend to bring TOO MUCH FOOD. So, PLANNING is absolutely essential, and, a trip to the supermarket the night before the trip is a really bad idea. My advice is to take the necessary time to thoughtfully generate meal ideas, plan the actual meals, repack items using zip-lock bags as a way to organize meals and reduce the regular packaging around food.

We spend lots of time at school dealing with menu planning and meal preparation. Also, this is not the time to be fussy. If oatmeal is not your favorite breakfast, but can be tolerated, then it might be worth using, because it is easy to prepare and easy to clean up. Glass containers are not appropriate, anything messy must be carefully contained, non-stick cook ware is a great idea, water is fine for a drink and total chocolate does not offer much nutrition. Gum should be left at home.

Meals are easy to remember for this trip. Hikers need to plan for 2 breakfasts, 2 lunches, 2 dinners and 7 to 10 snacks.

Also, possibilities for meals are temperature dependent. Cool temperatures will allow for some fresh food opportunities while very warm temperatures could force the need for dehydrated meals or non-perishable planning.

Please consider the importance of preparing wet, one pot meals. If a meal is in one pot and stays wet during preparation, then clean-up is easier, hydration is less of an issue and a spoon can be used for eating. Also, try to keep meals and snacks normal. For example, if you rarely eat jerky, but pack lots of it for snacks there may be some stomach upset associated with overdoing something not normally used at home. Keep scrolling to see meal suggestions

BREAKFAST POSSIBILITIES

oatmeal
bagel, peanut butter
tea, coffee, Tang, gatorade
dehydrated backpacking meal
breakfast bars

LUNCH POSSIBILITIES

pita bread, cheese, pre-sliced pepperoni
bagel
peanut butter, bread, jelly (no glass containers, sealed tightly)
Sport drink
gorp, trail mix, bars

DINNER POSSIBILITIES

Ramen Noodles
Dried soup, bagel
Backpacking meal
Homemade dehydrated meal
Complete mac-n-cheese dinner
Pasta

SNACKS

Chocolate with protein (peanuts, other nuts, but not total candy)
Dried fruit
Bars (Zone, Power Bars)
Gorp, trail mix
Jerky

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