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Eating healthy whilst climbing/travelling/dirtbagging

Original Post
jasoncm · · Unknown Hometown · Joined May 2012 · Points: 30

Hey people,

We are about to set off on a 3 month climbing trip around Canada and the USA. Looking for some good info on menu ideas for simple to prepare/cook and tasty meals.. I have plenty of camping experience but usually have it pretty easy with my refrigerator in my 4x4 not too far away.

Cheers

Jason

20 kN · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Feb 2009 · Points: 1,346
jasoncm wrote:Hey people, We are about to set off on a 3 month climbing trip around Canada and the USA. Looking for some good info on menu ideas for simple to prepare/cook and tasty meals.. I have plenty of camping experience but usually have it pretty easy with my refrigerator in my 4x4 not too far away. Cheers Jason
It's not easy, that is for damn sure. I have spent over 20 months on climbing road trips and I still dont really know the answer to your question. The problem is that the majority of the foods (I normally eat) require refrigeration, which mainly leaves me with relatively boring things like plain pasta, caned goods, bread, noodles, ect. I will say that lunches are easy. I eat apples and bananas.... everyday.... for every lunch.... I'll have to watch this thread to see what the answer is. I am pretty much the worst cook in the world, so I can use all the tips I can get.
APBT1976 · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Nov 2011 · Points: 55

Nut butters, almond, cashew, peanut, tahini, sunflower seed...

Grains of all kinds, rice, quinoa, millet, barley oats,

Whole wheat or sprouted grain pasta.

Fruit is easy...

Dinner is a bit more of a PITA but rice and beans are a complete protein and healthy as can be. Olive oil salt and pepper and maybe some garlic and you got a meal.

Fresh veg a few days a week when you are near a grocery store otherwise canned veg will do...

No need for meat imop but if you eat the stuff just eat out a couple times a week and you should be good.

Start with a couple or few bags of groceries of the staples before you even leave.

Peter Franzen · · Phoenix, AZ · Joined Jan 2001 · Points: 3,730

Don't forget the kale! A bag from Trader Joe's should last a couple of people a few days to a week, and it's easy to add to a frying pan of food or a pot of pasta.

It's easy to end up on a high-carb/high-protein diet while cooking at campgrounds. Make sure to get enough green vegetables in your diet to round things out.

frankstoneline · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Apr 2009 · Points: 30

Rice and beans, beans and corn, pasta. Olive oil/veggies maybe some white wine or whatever. Canned tomatoes + some onions, mushrooms, garlic is an easy/cheap sauce for a lot of things. Polenta. Salads. Wild rice, if you play your cards right you can make a big pot (it takes a while/is a bit stove gas intensive) and then split it up, Have some warm for dinner, fire the rest into a container with whatever you can scrounge up and make a cold salad type dish out of it, toss in some green onions, cashews, olives, a little oil and vinegar and some seasoning or whatever. Really, if you avoid things that spoil quickly (dairy and meats) you're pretty safe. Even then, its pretty easy to find canned/vaccuum sealed chicken and various fishes if thats your bag. Smoked salmon is awesome in pasta dishes, on salads, on sandwiches or straight on crackers. Instant milk is pretty gross to drink but not bad to cook with if spoilage is an issue and you just want to make mac and cheese or whatever occasionally, and its dirt cheap.

Don Ferris III · · Boulder, CO · Joined Nov 2012 · Points: 186

I have always been a fan of high calorie per money when it comes to food. The cheapest, easiest and best meals for me have always been canned chili. One can of stag chili has about 500 calories, thats not a bad meal. They are fairly compact but are kinda heavy due to being hydrated. Another plus is you can eat them cold and they taste great.

For breakfast I always pack oatmeal. Oatmeal is bomb. Easily mixed with water and is delicious cold. Mix it with peanut butter for more calories. Powdered milk is pretty sweet and after a while you don't notice how gross it is. It's amazing what you can stomach when you're on the road.

For veggies I tend to go with kale as well. It's cheap and good for you not to mention filling. Spinach is good too but doesn't last as long it seems. Carrots are great because they don't smash.

Also, don't forget about peanut butter. Super delicious, super filling. I like it by the spoonful but it goes great on tortillas or anything else. Definitly prefer tortillas over bread as you can roll them so they take up less space and don't smash too!

Another item worth mentioning is BIG100 meal replacement bar. you can buy them at most grocery stores. I think they are like 2 buck a piece and have an s-load of calories.

Jeremy B. · · Unknown Hometown · Joined May 2013 · Points: 0

Two posters on Backpacking Light come immediately to mind for this topic:

Laurie Ann March wrote A Fork in the Trail as well as a (vegetarian) sequel.

Sarah KirkConnell has a book as well, and does the Freezer Bag Cooking site.

(Between their websites and BPL posts you should be able to dig up plenty of useful information.)

MRock · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Apr 2013 · Points: 10

Polenta! Almond milk will keep on a shelf I think. Mac and cheese is my go to for anyday, campin or not, lol. Kashi makes some great protein filled cereal that is pretty crush resistant. Dried fruit lasts forever.

Oh and my favorite snack of all time: SALAME

Peteoria Holben · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jun 2010 · Points: 60
APBT1976 wrote:Nut butters, almond, cashew, peanut, tahini
Umm, pretty sure the word "dirtbagging" is in the post title so $12/pound food may be a bit classy. In fact, I'd say you might even need a job / trust fund to afford that. But it is delicious.

RULE #1
PRESSURE COOKER

You can buy bags of beans & rice at any maxican mart for like 25 cents a pound. Put in the pressure cooker & you can make beans in like 15 minutes, saving on gas as well.

Canned food is EXPENSIVE! Go with rice/beans, buy veggies as you are able. Possibly try an herb plant growing somewhere in your car for free greens. Place it outside when you are parked, no one will steel your herbs.

Potatoes are very under rated. They actually have quite a bit of nutrients and have a long shelf life. Finally, explore the Whole Foods dumpster for fresh veggies, it's the best!
Greg Kimble · · Colorado · Joined Feb 2013 · Points: 0

+1 for peanut butter. That was a staple. Cheap, nutritious, tastes good. I also ate a bunch of Ramon noodles, couscous, canned tuna, and oranges. Don't need to be stored cold and last a long time. You can buy a lot of the rice or pasta dishes that come in a box and sub beer in for milk in a lot of them. You can make Ramon, put a few eggs in it, Drain extra water, put soy sauce and peanut butter in it. You can get soy sauce packets from Chinese or sushi places.

I kept a small cooler. Put eggs and frozen meat in it.

You can find a ton of edible plants as well. Dandelions, purslane, lamb's quarters, milk thistle. They all grow just about everywhere, free, are really nutritious, and easily identified. It isnt for everybody. Pick young leaves. Lambs quarters tastes like spinach If you sauté it. You can test them at home before you leave.

Jace Mullen · · Oceanside, Ca · Joined Jan 2011 · Points: 10
dirtbagdiaries.com/the-shor…

Sounds delicious.
jasoncm · · Unknown Hometown · Joined May 2012 · Points: 30

Thanks for all the input guys. I did a test run tonight. Cooked up a dish of black rice, mixed beans, onion, garlic, tomato pasta sauce and a few dried herbs. Had to substitute silver beet for Kale as its not available in Austrsliisn supermarkets. Turned out delicious!

Cheers

Jason

Greg Pouliot · · Rumney NH · Joined Jul 2012 · Points: 90
jasoncm wrote:Hey people, We are about to set off on a 3 month climbing trip around Canada and the USA. Looking for some good info on menu ideas for simple to prepare/cook and tasty meals.. I have plenty of camping experience but usually have it pretty easy with my refrigerator in my 4x4 not too far away. Cheers Jason
Mac and Cheese baby. In the box. From Trader Joe's.
ErikaE · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Dec 2010 · Points: 5

It will be way easier to do an ice-less cooler if you eat vegetarian. Always buy block ice, and find an animal-safe way to stash your cooler in the shade, not in your car. The ice will last longer this way.

Here are some veggies/etc which I've found keep pretty well without a cooler: carrots, peppers, broccoli, zucchini, yellow squash, green beans, onions, eggplant. The hardier the green, the better it will keep. Kale > spinach > lettuce. Whenever I bought greens, I would eat them constantly until they were gone, or they'd go bad.

I mostly did quinoa/lentils/rice/beans combined with the above. Beans you don't have to soak are ok, and cheaper and less heavy than canned. Presoaking makes things cook faster when you get back from the crag. Get a good spice collection and buy something interesting every once in a while to keep things fun.

Good luck! Ymmv.

MCav · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Apr 2012 · Points: 0

This quinoa recipe is amazing...make extra pack it in...

thecleanestline.com/2011/08…

Morgan M · · Wenatchee · Joined Apr 2011 · Points: 0

Trader joe's (and I've seen it at food 4 less in jt) sells soyrizo. These stay good for a month or so in the fridge so I assume they will last pretty long in a cooler. All you have to do is heat it up with some rice and beans to have a killer burrito. In the morning use the rest with some eggs for breakfast burritos.

TJ's also has really good dried cheese ravioli/tortolini. The tortolinis (square ones) are actually pretty damn tasty raw.

You can also snag pre packaged indian pouches. Throw these in some boiling water to heat up and they go great over couscous. Only takes 10 minutes and basically no cleanup.

Haven't really tried these on the road, but they could work:

Asian markets also have pad thai sauce and curry paste. I think these would last a while in a cooler.

Pad thai: soak the noodles in hot water for 20-30 minutes, or cold water for longer. Fry some tofu, green beans and then scramble an egg. Throw in the noodles with some siracha and the pad thai sauce and let it cook up. You could eat it right out of your wok (you have a wok right?) and cleanup is a breeze.

Curry: heat up some oil and cook the paste for 30 seconds. Add coconut milk and veggies (tofu, potato, carrot, peppers, squash, onion, kale, etc). Boil until veggies are cooked. Serve over rice.

Paolo Speirn · · Minneapolis, MN · Joined Mar 2011 · Points: 10

Really good advice from a lot of people. ErikaE's list of hardy veggies is crucial. I'd add garlic (if you're up for the work of peeling and chopping it) and avocados (buy some ready-to-eat, some super unripe, and some in between and you'll have avos 24/7).

Here are some staples to have on hand (so you can always make a nutritious meal no matter how long it's been since you shopped):
- canned beans (garbanzos for pasta, black for your rice/cheese/tortilla matrix)
- canned green beans
- canned lentil soup
- non-refrigerated pesto
- pasta (whole wheat has more nutrients, but tastiness varies by brand)
- vaccuum-sealed tofu
- parmesan cheese shaker or packets from pizza restaurants (gotta love those preservatives)
- soy sauce (keeps for awhile but is technically perishable)
- peanut and almond butter
- peanuts (so tasty soaked over noodles)
- quick-cook rice
- NON-extra virgin olive oil (neutral flavor, less perishable. But it will turn if it gets really hot. Trader Joe's has a good, inexpensive one by the liter)
- sardines
- tuna packets or cans
- salami
- juice-box sized alternative milks (almond? soy? rice? if you're into that sort of thing)
- hot sauce
- Trader Joes/Tasty-Bites boil-in-a-bag curries
- spices: salt & pepper, curry powder, garlic powder, red pepper flakes, rosemary, thyme.
- treats! indulge your craving for oreos, chex mix, and toffee-covered peanuts, etc. Hit the bulk-food aisle and go wild.

Two great high-protein meals from this:
Pasta with garbanzo & green beans, pesto, and parmesan.

2 parts peanut butter
2 parts soy sauce
1 part honey or sugar
over pasta or rice with peanuts and tofu (salty sweet FTW!)

t.ferguson · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jun 2012 · Points: 95

Buy tortillas, then put anything you can find in said tortillas.

Ethan Henderson · · Washington · Joined Oct 2010 · Points: 602

quinoa?

goingUp · · over here · Joined Apr 2013 · Points: 30

BACON!!! sheet cook it in the oven, or you can buy pre cooked stuff at the grocery store (super salty).. a few pieces after any backpackers meal makes the meal a treat!!!!,
also justins organic peanut butter packets..., they have all sorts of flavors and are delightfull to eat right out of the packet.,., high in fat and protien, great sources of long lasting energy when your calorie deficient!!!!!

also you can get lbs of dried soups.,., pre made, just boil.,., cheaper than mtn house, or backpackers pantry,.

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

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