Let's Talk Food -- or rather what I'll be consuming on the trail

Days Remaining to Start of Hike: 6

Breakfast 

As a coffee drinker I'd love to have someone hand me a couple of cups of Joe every morning, but that's a lot of work on the trail. And disposing of the grounds isn't a simple operation; they would have to be packed out and disposed of properly once in town.

The alternative is to just use instant coffee, but most of that tastes terrible. The only instant coffee that I could stomach was the Starbucks Mocha, but, alas, they've changed that formulation.

In my search for a decent instant coffee, I saw a video on YouTube by Kurt Papke that discussed his Mocha Protein Shake that he has for breakfast on the trail. I had to modify his ingredient list to suit my tastes and needs, but it was a great inspiration.

Now I will be able to make 20oz of my Mocha Protein Shake and hit the trail while eating a Square Organics protein bar, too. Note: Do not pour boiling water into your 20oz bottle--the whey protein will coagulate. :-(  Use water that is cool enough that you can drink it.

Lunch

My staple lunch will be simply a home-made trail mix of cashews, raisins, coconut, pineapple, cherry craisins and freeze-dried blueberries. Other occasional goodies might include chocolate, tuna on some sort of bread or cracker, and some cheese. And lots of water.

Dinner

I plan to eat a variety of Mountain House dehydrated meals. If bought on sale, these are still pricey, but given the convenience factor, I won't complain. I'm bringing a canister stove, a Titanium cook pot and a cozy to prepare the meals. Instead of carrying the MH meals in their original packaging, I will just repackage them in a Ziploc bag--packs smaller for mailing and for carrying.

Snacks between meals

I just love Peanut Ginger Chews from Reeds. If you buy them in any store, they are outrageously expensive, but Reeds does sell them in 11# boxes for $36--a very tolerable price. I usually order 22#, so the shipping charge is OK, then. 

My other snack is a favorite from my running days, Chia bars from Health Warrior. These come in eleven flavors and all of them are good, but some are better than others. :-)  I like these the best:

I find that the Chia bars give me almost an immediate pick-up in my energy level, but not too much. After all, these are fairly small bars weighing 0.88ounces, so there's nothing too heavy in your stomach and they get digested quickly. Also, they aren't annoying sweet, just enough to keep me happy. 

"Recipes"

Breakfast Mocha Protein Shake

Qty        Ingredient

5 scoops                Whey Powder

15 Tablespoons     Peak Milk Powder, full fat

5 Tablespoons       Douwe Egbert Instant Coffee

1 ¼ teaspoons       Cinnamon

2 ½ Tablespoons  Cocoa powder

5 Tablespoons      Sugar

This makes five servings of the drink. I package them in small Ziploc bags.

Trail Mix

Qty       Ingredient 

10 ounces           Salted Cashew Pieces

5 ounces             Raisins

5 ounces             Coconut pieces—chopped

6 ounces             Dried Pineapple pieces—chopped

5 ounces             Cherry Craisins, or real cherries

1 cup                  Freeze-dried Blueberries
6 ounces            Dark Chocolate Medium Peanut M&Ms

This makes 9 bags of approximately 5 ounces each.