New Trail Yummies!

While I miss our little abode on a gravel road, where everything was always covered in gray dust, and my child could roam free at all hours of the day or night, and I could leave my bike in the yard without it being stolen, there are some definite benefits to living in the big city.  Like food.

Immense varieties of food. Slow food. Fast food. Foreign food. Food available 24/7. Food brought to my door so I never have to get out of my jammies. Heaven.

And then there's pack food. Camping food, ultralight backpacking food, bear bait, wilderness sustenance. Whatever you call it-outdoor food. Earlier this summer I expounded on the much less expensive way to feed yourself while camping or backpacking by visiting your local grocery store, rather than hitting the camp store with its high-priced packages of freeze dried spaghetti. The cheapest way to eat on the trail, which also happens to be the lightest weight food you can take, is ramen noodles, the answer to impending starvation of college students everywhere.

But now, in this land of excess and variety, I have found a middle ground. Middle weight, middle price. Middle as in priced in between the 49 cent package of ramen and the $7 package of dried spaghetti. Not cheap.
Of course, I won't give up my standby grocery store regulars of black beans, rice, tuna, and more rice. Inexpensive, complete proteins, slightly heavy on the weight side, but delicious and easy.

Now I have these little goodies to go with it. Basmati rice with veggies. The nice thing about all these packaged grains and meats is that they are precooked, and in a pinch I could eat them right from the pouch. They do taste better when they're warmed, though.

And check this one out. Lentils. I love lentils. Lentils are lovely. Lentils are life-saving. But wait, it gets better.

Snacks and goodies. I'm not knocking peanut M & M's, mind you. But at the local organic store, Native Roots Market, I found twizzler-like snacks made from real fruit puree. Oh. My. Goodness. Fiber, fruit, fun, delicious, lightweight. Genius.

And vegan 'beef' jerky.  If Philo notices a lack of beef, (which he might, he's rather fond of bovine flesh), I'll offer to buy him a steak at the end of the trail if he carries my pack.  heh heh hehe

This is meat. Lamb sticks, in lieu of beef sticks. I'm kind of proud of these, since they are made locally, in Choctaw, Oklahoma. Live local, I say. Right after I say, "pass the chocolate." Speaking of which, Native Roots Market also carries some extra good chocolate made locally by the Chickasaw Nation.

Soooo, healthy, added variety, not bad on price, a little heavy on weight, but as we consume the goods the weight in the packs decrease.

The piece' de resistance. Almond butter. With maple syrup. Dessert!! Instant energy pick me up. Something to wash down the coffee! 

Philoboy: "Nuts and maple syrup, huh? How far off do you think the bears can smell THAT?"

 I don't care. This is special.  I'll wrap the empty pouch in an alcohol-soaked wipe, put it into a ziploc, which I'll put into another ziploc sprayed with bug repellent. I AM NOT GIVING UP THE GOOD STUFF.

Philoboy: (shrugging), "Whatever. I only have to outrun you, not the bear."

Ahhh, true love.

The food looks good enough this time to lure me on when I get tired of walking, and walking, and walking. Or good enough to make me run when the bears come...