Food hints

[mrssanta]

We have been taking tins of chilli and stewed steak for meals when wild camping. .

That's awfy heavy for carrying a long way. I saw you took a tin of steak right over the top of Mount Keen!

We also have folding mats. We made them out of a cheap roll mat and cut it up with scissors.

[nickdv1987]

It depends what kind of trip you'd make. My day out is usually a day of non-stop walking, exercising, getting my heart pump.

My choice of food is not so healthy. I would get myself a big breakfast with all nutrition I need for a day out. When I'm out alone, I would put only a few nuts bars (some of them coated with chocolate ) in my day pack and maybe some sweets like gummy bear. This way I can go super light and these stuff give me enough energy for the whole day without getting my stomach too full which would make me lazy ).

About drinks, I usually just go with water. I could be very challenging (for me at least) cause if I wanna go out all day, carrying a bottle of water is a big burden. I sometimes just go out with a camel bag, mine has little pockets that fit the snacks too, so it's perfect. I've got the mini water filter too just in case of emergency. Same one @Ben Nachie mentioned.

I hope this helps.

[Jon and Jen]

We have been taking tins of chilli and stewed steak for meals when wild camping. .

That's awfy heavy for carrying a long way. I saw you took a tin of steak right over the top of Mount Keen!

We also have folding mats. We made them out of a cheap roll mat and cut it up with scissors.

Carried a tin up and down schiehallion yesterday. Like to keep our options open so pans, stove, water, tea, coffee, sugar and a bunch of snacks all come along. Yesterday there was no view from the hill so decided to go investigate some waterfalls a few km away so handy to have the option of extra food along.

[Clamberer]

If I'm out Munro-bagging I find eating little and often works best, so I swapped the traditional soggy unpalatable sandwiches for a Clif bar and instead take lots of smaller energy-boosting snacks to graze on throughout the walk. Things like Eat Natural bars, home made flapjacks, trail mix, banana/apple/satsuma and some mini chocolatey bars to keep spirits up (lots of these if the forecast is bad!) I never go out without a bag of jelly babies or fruit pastilles in my hip belt, these are as essential as my walking boots! Likewise a flask of coffee (750ml) and a Camelbak (usually 1.5l) .
I reckon it's just trial and error to find what works for you, everyone is different and has different energy needs. Hope this helps!

[onsen]

SCROGGIN...to be eaten by the handfull as needed, Aussie or Kiwi in origin, both claim rights.

Sultanas
Chocolate
Raisins
Orange peel (candied)
Ginger (crystallized)
Glucose (barley sugar)
Imagination
Nuts

Imaginination section could include....yogurt balls, wasabi peas, dried :- mango watermelon or paw paw etc, seeds :- pine, pumpkin etc, licorice all sorts, fruit leather, M&M's, jelly beans or baby's.....make it salty, spicy, sweet or as healthy as you like, whatever you like to nibble on. Variety is the key.

Lunch usually consists of cheese & crackers, relish, maybe with a couple of slices of pepperoni, washed down with a 500ml vaccum flask of hot tea (winter) or icy cold flavoured electrolyte (summer). Ice lasts 6-8hrs in my flask.

I sit on whatever's available, but you could cut down a foam exercise/yoga mat from tesco's or similar...they cost only a few pound & weigh next to nothing.

[Pastychomper]

Carried a tin up and down schiehallion yesterday. Like to keep our options open so pans, stove, water, tea, coffee, sugar and a bunch of snacks all come along. Yesterday there was no view from the hill so decided to go investigate some waterfalls a few km away so handy to have the option of extra food along.

I can go either way (light or heavy), though I don't generally skimp on water, but my favourite walking food is salmon pancakes. I make up about a litre of pancake mixture with a tin of salmon flaked and mixed in, and carry it in a sufficiently wide-necked bottle. One container for my entire lunch! Admittedly the stove, fuel and pan take up a bit of space. Cooking time has to be factored in, but it's also a good rest time on a long walk.

On a recent outing on a bike I tried out a Ghillie kettle, which was a roaring success. Light and fast*, and being able to easily boil it means I'd trust a lot more water sources, so less to carry. I'm not normally a great one for instant noodles when out and about, preferring more energy and protein, but I think I see a bright future involving noodles with pork scratchings.

*I cheated and use meths to save time, with a few sticks to act as a wick. Might be a bit slower the traditional way.

[mrssanta]

On a recent outing on a bike I tried out a Ghillie kettle, which was a roaring success. Light and fast*,
*I cheated and use meths to save time, with a few sticks to act as a wick. Might be a bit slower the traditional way.

I have two, a big and a small. Brilliant for beaches and woods but no good for mountains as there is difficulty finding fuel. Also need to be really careful about causing fires and disposing of ash.
I once cooked sausage beans and bacon for 5 with dead heather a cheap frying pan and three tent pegs. Mmmm

[superstar_tradesman]

I do oatcakes and peanut butter, chocolate, bombay mix, plenty of water, all the usual stuff. But the best hilltop feast I ever had was at the top of a very chilly Morrone—a couple of slices of cold deep-pan pepperoni pizza

[Glengavel]

Most important is a decent breakfast - porridge in my case. My usual Sunday breakfast is coffee and croissant/pain au chocolat, which I've discovered is absolutely rubbish at setting you up for the day. However, I once started a walk by scoffing down a bacon roll and cup of tea from the café at the car park (having had breakfast an hour before), and definitely regretted it. Always a good idea not to eat too much at any point.

On the hill, home-made rolls with ham, cheese, tomato and salad leaves (at a pinch I'll buy a pack of chicken and bacon sandwiches from the Coop or equivalent); two half-litre flasks which are enough for two each good-size mugs of tea (cheap plastic lightweight mugs from poundland or the like); apple, banana and clementine (or similar easy-peel orange-thing); and a bar of Mrs Tilley's tablet (which I have to ration carefully to Mrs G.), Kendal mint cake if we're in the Lakes, and two half-litre bottles of water, occasionally replenished on the hill (I had a voracious thirst on Ben Vorlich (Lomond) a few years back and was refilling at every other running burn). Couple of folding seat pads, "best thing you can take on a hill" according to our friends who recommended them.

Post-walk, beer is an excellent restorative...

[Veryhappybunny]

Home made rolls or sandwiches carried in a wee tub, a flask of peppermint tea, Sigg bottle of water and maybe a small insulated bottle with coffee. Nuts & dried fruit, stoats porridge bars, dark chocolate, crisps or salted nuts. A wee flask of whisky to toast the summit.

[Glengavel]

Home made rolls or sandwiches carried in a wee tub, a flask of peppermint tea, Sigg bottle of water and maybe a small insulated bottle with coffee. Nuts & dried fruit, stoats porridge bars, dark chocolate, crisps or salted nuts. A wee flask of whisky to toast the summit.

Dammit, I knew I'd forgotten something. Although, my wife has commandeered my hip flask for milk for her tea , small reliably-sealable containers being difficult to come by.

[sprintster]

I take home made sandwiches to work every day of the week so at the weekend I splash out and buy shop bought ones or wraps.I usually just get a meal deal,the bag of crisps and a bar of chocolate is enough to keep me going for a day.A 500mm flask of coffee with the milk heated up in the microwave first to keep it warm and another 500mm of water will do me.I don't have a problem with drinking from streams high up if I run out of water though.An old foam sleep mat cut up has been my seat for years.

[Caberfeidh]

These days cannibalism is generally frowned upon, usually only resorted to by mariners adrift in life boats for months, plane crash victims lost in the Andes for months, or me, on a day trip. Saves carrying sandwiches...

[rosesarephree]

I have a question along the food line as well...is there a need to secure food overnight in a specific way to prevent attracting wildlife? Is it OK to store it in your pack in the tent?

[Mojocat]

If you keep food in containers or sealed packets it should be fine in your tent, it's the rubbish that attracts interest. Leftovers and empty wrappers need to be bagged up and cookware washed. Mind you, here in the UK it's most likely you will attract wasps and flies rather than lions and grizzly bears but tidying up after yourself is still worthwhile to protect the wildlife.