On the Trail Cooking

[Captain Josh]

I know many of us setup a campsite, and do the majority of our cooking there. But what about those of us out on the trail at meal-time? How do you all prepare and cook a meal on the go? Or do you just brown-bag it? Any suggestions along the lines of @Michael's engine bowl video?

 

[Michael]

We do have a small container (small action packer) that holds the essentials. Whisper-light burner, water pot, coffee setup, dry-goods (food), fire-starter, utensils. Good for a couple meals in a pinch.

 

[AZ_Overland]

We keep a small assortment of top Ramen, fresh fruit and chilli bean and a small hiking stove in a small bag

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[Steve]

Our typical "on the road" lunch is cheese, bread (baguette, croissant, or some local bakery loaf), fruit (usually grapes or apples), and a drink, usually fruit juice or V-8. If it is cold, it will be tea or hot chocolate from a Jetboil. Rarely a chunk of meat included. We pull out the bag chairs, folding table, and sometimes the awning, and relax and enjoy the view.

If you'd see this view from the other angle, you'd see lunch just as described.

 

[Roger352]

Small gas stove, instant coffee, sugar, milk, meals in a bag, cold drinks, fruit, some sort of trail mix, throw away cups and plates all in a small cool box.

 

[fstfrd00]

Basically brown bag it.

 

[VCeXpedition]

I always have lunch, on time, late or otherwise on the trail off of my tailgate.

I'm carrying sandwich meat, tomatoes, pickles, mayo a drink of whatever, an apple, etc. Good to go til dinnertime!

dammit, now I'm hungry...

 

[TerryD]

My experience with this is off-roading as we've not done much travel with the kids yet. On the trail, we've usually stashed a couple sandwiches in the cooler after breakfast and then hot-n-spicy cheezits are a staple as well. Maybe a granola bar for a mid evening snack if we wind up being out longer than planned.

I would imagine when we start overlanding with the kids it will be something like this. Stop and make sandwiches or wraps along the way, but I refuse to eat while driving. If you don't have time to stop, you don't have time to eat!!!

Most of the travel we have done with the kids has been for vacations and we usually skip lunch. On vacation we eat a good breakfast then get supper around 4pm when the restaurants are basically empty. Then we're back out enjoying while others are standing in line, waiting for a table. Only doing two meals a day really helps cut calorie intake (since vacation food always tastes better) and saves some serious $$ when you think about what it costs to buy a meal for 5 people.

 

[GSDforLife]

As mentioned earlier, apples are great. Produce not kept in coolers at the market will las pretty well as cheese and some pepperoni and crackers. Chef boy r dee and ramen always come in handy.

 

[Jeff Graham]

For me, it depends on the weather. If the weather is hot, we like to go with cold sandwitches. We prepare them after breakfast, before we head out. If it's colder, we like a hot meals. We prep lunch items, wrapped in aluminum foil. Before lunch time, we pull over for a short stop, and load the engine with the prepared items. We let the engine heat up lunch, as we drive. When we are ready, we find a nice spot to stop, and have a hot lunch.

 

[Neil Q Smith]

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They only require hot water, a quick stir, a few minutes wait time, and you are done.

What made them good for us, is that we only needed to boil water and fill 2 thermos bottles before leaving in the morning.
Then, when hunger demanded, we just stopped the vehicle, and within a few minutes, had a very tasty hot meal available.

I was quite sceptical about expedition dried foods.
But this new generation of expedition dried foods is top quality, really tasty, and surprised us all by their pleasantness.

Well worth looking into........highly recommended.

 

[The other Sean]

On the trail, I pack tortillas, lunch meat, cheese, a jar of jalapeños and mayo / mustard packets. It takes about 30 seconds to slap a wrap together and another 30 seconds to shove it in my face hole. No dishes to clean. I'll almost always have a bunch of bananas or a bag of oranges on the seat as well for a sugar fix.

I only pack tortillas and never bread. They pack smaller in the cooler and are more sturdy in the cooler than a loaf of bread.

 

[Cort]

Sodium is a problem in a lot of "Just add boiling water" meals. Check out packit gourmet and good to go meals. These are the absolute best boil in a bag foods I have found.

 

[Louie559]

usually ill bring some protein bars and , beef jerky, also canned goods, i have a couple of bags of the ready food i bought ofd of the website budk they have survival stuff on the website and a bunch of meals ready to go whenever, also a small propane stove i guess you can say

 

[robrtsmtn]

Wow, I see a lot of folks eating sandwiches which I always bring the makings for. However, I also have a backpacking size burner, and will make sausage and eggs for B-fast, burgers for supper, or the occasional freeze dried meal. I picked up an 8 inch, deep pan with a Teflon type surface that's great for either frying, or cooking deep dish meals and easy cleanup. I have a camp coffee pot that packs with 2 cups inside it, plastic utensils and a folding spatula which all fits with the burner and gas in a small bag I keep in my backpack. I also do a lot of dry salami and cheese, of course with the obligatory beer for the evening. Most of what I am saying is I am outdoors to relax and enjoy myself. Meals are an enjoyment too.

 

[000]

Depends on the situation for us. Having a fridge has definitely increased the quality of food, everything stays dry and evenly cold. If it's hot out or we're on the move I pack all of the typical sandwich stuff or salami and cheese and crackers with fruit. In cold weather I like to vacuum seal leftovers like pulled pork for sandwiches, individual packs of spaghetti or chili to eat out of the bag or breakfast burrito stuff and boil the bag on a single burner butane stove for quick warm meals with minimal cleaning. If we're traveling light and fast we do dinner this way too.


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[brianb2]

I also do a lot of backpacking. Planning and managing meals on the go is just part of it, so having the extra resources of your rig means you have more options. No big deal to have a small backpacking stove stashed in the back. We also have a dehydrator and vacuum sealer which also adds to the options. I also keep two of those mountain house meals in the jeep. Remember, you can add water to dehydrated or freeze dried meals even if it's not hot. Takes longer to rehydrate, and you can put it near your engine to warm it up a bit. Don't put it somewhere it's going to melt. Good luck.

 

[Rexplorer]

big breakfast, big dinner, small snacky lunch. 1st and last meals are usually cooked on a bbq or fire. maybe a primus stove if noodles are involved. the further we get into a trip, the less meat appears at meal time. freeze the meat before you go and it's still frozen-ish on day 2 or 3 with a decent cooler. when we do have dehydrated stuff (built not bought) then we put in a a nalgene bottle in the morning and let it soak most of the day. when its time to use it, it's pretty much normal food taking normal cooking times. when we find something that works really well, we add it to the list of staples, like garlic bread as long as you don't squash it.

 

[Dave Decker]

Pretzels, beef jerky and some cubes of Swiss cheese are my go to. I almost always have those on hand regardless of where I'm going :-) For longer trips, ramen, apples, steak on the grill, hobo packs with corn, asparagus, snap peas and other veggies. Sometimes I'll bring Boboli and make pizza! To drink I usually bring soda, beer and water, iced tea too if my wife is along for the ride.

 

[tyleromyah]

Seems like for us it's sandwiches and chips or crackers, and lunchables for the kiddos. We do have an overland kitchen in the back of the forester, so i think the meals will start to get much better on the trail :)

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