¼ C. margarine 1 C. crushed graham crackers or cereal 1 C. shredded coconut 2 C. baking chips, (chocolate, butterscotch, white chocolate, etc.) 1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk ¾ C. rolled oats 1 C. chopped nuts (your choice)
Melt margarine on the bottom of a 9 x 13 baking pan. Layer on remaining ingredients in the order given. Bake at 350o F for 20 minutes. After removing from oven, gently press the nuts and oats into the hot mixture. Cool and cut into bars. A 2 x 3 inch bar contains approximately 275 calories. Freeze until ready to eat.
Note: DARK chocolate contains the highest amount of theobromine, a compound related to caffeine that has been documented to help improve blood flow and cold tolerance. Look specifically for dark chocolate chips if you don't mind the bitter flavor. There is certainly enough sugar in this recipe to offset the bitter!
Some other thoughts:
Make sure your cheese and salami are already in small portions because they WILL freeze. Freeze dried and packaged foods (i.e. Ramen) have no fats in them. Add fats to these dishes using butter or olive oil. Because of the high caloric needs induced by the cold environment, it is important to enhance the caloric value of foods in any way you can. Add butter to rice, potatoes and hot cereal. Add calories to hot cereals using brown sugar, maple syrup, brown rice syrup, corn syrup, honey, blackstrap molasses. Sugar and corn syrup are “fast acting” sugars, the remaining sweeteners are slower to enter the bloodstream. Blackstrap molasses and brown rice syrup have the added benefit of extra nutrients.
Nut butters are highly nutritious, high in fats, and good sources of concentrated calories. They can be mixed into hot cereal, spread on crackers, and used as ingredients in dinners. Cold temperatures will make nut butters thicker and harder to spread, but it takes fairly extreme low temperatures for them to freeze.
MNS
Edited by midnightsun03 (11/15/0601:27 PM)
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Registered: 01/11/02
Posts: 788
Loc: Menlo Park, CA/Sierra Nevada
I bring some of what you mentioned, plus: more nuts Peanut Butter Real Butter (add to cooked meals) Nutella Homemade Fudge homemade high-cal baked goods (scones, cookies, etc...top with butter, peanut butter, or nutella)
Home-roasted pecans (or walnuts). Spread pecans on a cookie sheet, drizzle butter on 'em, season according to taste (I like hickory salt), and roast @350° until they start to turn a darker brown.
High calorie, lots of good (and bad) fat.
FB
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"...inalienable rights...include the right to a clean and healthful environment..." Montana Constitution
Midnightsun, thanks for the recipie. Think I'll make them up Friday night for my trip this weekend.
If I survive this Minnesota trip I'll probably be heading your way in 2008 for the Iditarod Trail Invitational, and also for Susitna sometime. A friend of mine is the director of the Resurrection Pass race as well...
Oh wow! I love graham crackers. I showed this to My Lady and she's already suggested substituting butter for the margerine and using mixed nuts for the chopped nuts. She knows me so well...where's my Zocor? <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />
We lived in the Peters Creek/Chugiak area outside of Eagle River for a few years...got to get back to Alaska...
FB
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"...inalienable rights...include the right to a clean and healthful environment..." Montana Constitution
Butter or margarine (in breakfasts, dinners, and evening hot chocolate).
Fruitcake - it's like eating condensed everything, and it WORKS!! (Plus there are plenty of people who'll give them away free at Christmas time!! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />)
Homemade fudge! I will make a brick and bribe someone to haul it for me <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> I have a page devoted to fudge recipes on my website <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
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I have wondered about winter vs summer. In summer I think folks that are overweight only need about 20g of dietary fat and about 100g of protien and the rest should be carbohydrates which might be up to 1000g and whatever body fat they burn each day, which might be up to 500g. This is a very high carb diet but in terms of metabolism it still works out pretty balanced. Lean people cannot afford to burn as much body fat, or at least they will just have to replace it again when they get home so they might as well bring it with them.
In winter however I think even fat people need to consume more fat. I am not sure, but I think a balanced diet of carbs and fat helps keep the furnace going. That's what I keep telling myself anyway. I don't think I burn that much more in winter, but I think it is really important to have extra food anyways.
My current system: Summer: 1 pound food/day, carbs and protien, little fat, to lose weight. Spring/Fall: 2 pound/day, mostly carbs, some protien, little fat. Winter: same as Spring/Fall, plus an extra pound of 50/50 fat/carbs.
My Spring/Summer/Fall food is stuff like: Milk, Honey, Tea, Citrus, Oatmeal, Raisins, Dates, Almonds, Beef Jerky.
My extra winter food is stuff like: Fruit and Nuts - More nuts than in Spring/Summer/Fall Bacon and Scones - Fat to make the scones, scones to soak up more fat Chocolate Chips and Raisins - They pack well together Olive Oil and Honey - Simple way to pack extra emergency food.
I might pack an extra 500g of olive oil and 500g of honey, just to have an emergency ration in a dense package and keep it separate from the rest. The honey I am more inclined to dip into. The olive oil I am more inclined to use to experiment with oil lamps and wick stoves and stuff like that. If I bring bacon I don't really need olive oil to make scones. Olive oil is better for you of course, but what the heck. When your burning 6000 calories or more per day you can afford to live a little.
According to one book I read on the energy costs of staying warm:
It takes 70kcal/hr just to keep the body alive; and It takes 45kcal/hr to compensate for the heat lost by breathing in zero degree (F) air.
Carbohydrates burn the quickest, fats give the highest number of calories and last a long time, and proteins are the most EFFICIENT source of calories, but they are slow. I think not only do you need to increase your calories during winter, but you also need to base the fuel source you consume to the activity at hand. For stoking the fire at bedtime, a snack heavy in protein and fat, with a scosh of carb, will help keep you warm at night. In the morning you need to go heavy on the carbs and lighter on the fat and protein... you don't want to spend extra energy digesting a heavy meal. Lunch should be a combination of all three, heavier on the carbs again, but enough fat and protein to get you through the afternoon. Dinner could be heavier on the fat and protein, but give yourself time to digest before turning in. And don't forget to drink!!!!!
MNS
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I loved your recipe, and tried a couple of variations to it over the last few days. If you don't mind, here's what I ended up with for a backpacking trip this weekend:
Seven Summits Bars
¼ C. butter 1 C. crushed graham crackers 1 C. shredded coconut 2 C. baking chips, (chocolate, butterscotch, white chocolate, etc.) ½ cup Craisins or other dried fruit 1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk 4 TB coffee powder
¼ cup butter 1 C. chopped nuts (your choice) ¾ C. rolled oats ½ cup baking chips ½ cup sugar
Coat 9 x 13 baking pan with shortening. Melt butter and mix with graham crackers, then press evenly into bottom of pan. Layer on coconut, chips, and fruit. Mix condensed milk and coffee, then drizzle over pan. Bake at 350o F for 17 minutes. Melt remaining butter and mix with nuts, oats, and chips. Remove pan from oven, and gently press the nut and oat mixture evenly into the pan. Dust with sugar. Broil for 3 more minutes, then cool and cut into bars. Freeze until ready to eat.
After a weekend of backpacking with 9 other people, the reviews were very positive. I'd suggest backing off on the coffee a bit, or at least using something flavored (mine were made with some type of espresso coffee from WalMart and it was a bit overpowering). Other than that, it's really an incredible combination of ingredients.
According to one book I read on the energy costs of staying warm:
It takes 70kcal/hr just to keep the body alive; and It takes 45kcal/hr to compensate for the heat lost by breathing in zero degree (F) air.
Carbohydrates burn the quickest, fats give the highest number of calories and last a long time, and proteins are the most EFFICIENT source of calories, but they are slow. I think not only do you need to increase your calories during winter, but you also need to base the fuel source you consume to the activity at hand. For stoking the fire at bedtime, a snack heavy in protein and fat, with a scosh of carb, will help keep you warm at night. In the morning you need to go heavy on the carbs and lighter on the fat and protein... you don't want to spend extra energy digesting a heavy meal. Lunch should be a combination of all three, heavier on the carbs again, but enough fat and protein to get you through the afternoon. Dinner could be heavier on the fat and protein, but give yourself time to digest before turning in. And don't forget to drink!!!!!
MNS
Thanks Midnight. I think you are right on about more fats and proteins at bedtime. As I said the extra pound of food in winter is 50/50 carbs/fats, which works out to an extra 3000 calories per day, which is plenty for me. That is on top of my usual 2 pounds/day for Spring/Fall, which is mostly carbs/protiens with minimal fat because I already have enough on my body. That 2 pounds is not much more than 3000 calories because it has fibre and stuff, and perhaps some moisture. On top of all that I can burn up to a pound of body fat in a long day. Currently I have an extra 50 pounds or so. In Summer I will include as little as 20g of fat in my diet. In Spring/Fall I basically carry twice my summer starvation diet, which is still only 40g of fat, but I always carry at least 500g of honey and 500g of vegetable oil on top of everything else just in case. In winter even though I have fat to burn I find for some reason it takes a combination of dietary carbs and fat to really kick start the bodies furnace to burn its own fat. It also helps to warm the body up now and then to keep the furnace burning. If my hands and feet are cold I know the furnace isn't working as it should. Sometimes putting on a thicker hat and gloves is enough, but sometimes stopping for a meal is the answer.
I am not in great shape right now, and I am getting older, but I have always had a pretty good metabolism for cold weather and cold water, perhaps a little of nature and nurture. Also I have a fairly big engine cardiovascular wise, built more for endurance than speed, but when I am 230 pounds I think I am actually capable of burning fewer maximum calories per day versus when I am 170 pounds. I have done long days in cold weather, but I doubt I would need more than 6000 calories of dietary, even if I did manage to burn 9000 calories. If I was in top cross country skiing shape, perhaps at 165 pounds, I probably would require the 9000 calories for long winter days and nights.
This is more or less what I am striving for, based on 8-12 hours of travel per day, and based on a fairly large frame of perhaps 150 pounds lean body weight, mostly in the legs, but typically carrying about 20-60 pounds of excess fat on top of what would be a healthy minimum weight for endurance sports of perhaps 165 pounds.
Summer Hikes for Weight Loss, 12 hours travel but at long slow activity level max 400 kcal/hour: Minimum (not counting emergency food): Protien: 100g ~ 400kcal Fast Carbs: 200g ~ 800kcal Slow Carbs: 200g ~ 800kcal Dietary Fat: 22g ~ 200kcal Body Fat: 330g ~ 3000kcal ========================= Food = 2200 kcal (mostly carbs) Total = 5200 kcal (mostly fat, due to long slow activity)
Spring/Fall Hikes with more moderate weight Loss, 8-10 hours travel including some higher activity levels: Minimum (not counting emergency food): Protien: 125g ~ 500kcal Fast Carbs: 400g ~ 1600kcal Slow Carbs: 400g ~ 1600kcal Dietary Fat: 44g ~ 400kcal Body Fat: 165g ~ 1500kcal ========================= Food = 4100 kcal (mostly carbs) Total = 5600 kcal (fat and carbs, due to more mixed activities)
Winter long Slow Trudge Hikes plus night skiing from base camp. 12 hours travel with a mix of activity levels, weather permitting. Minimum (not counting emergency food): Protien: 150g ~ 500kcal Fast Carbs: 500g ~ 2000kcal Slow Carbs: 500g ~ 2000kcal Dietary Fat:165g ~ 1500kcal Body Fat: 165g ~ 1500kcal ========================= Food = 6000 kcal (still mostly carbs, but a lot more fat) Total = 7000 kcal (fat and carbs, more mixed activities)
The thing about winter however is the weather needs to be pretty good in order to have the confidence to really exhaust oneself. So I never set out to totally destroy myself in winter or even in Spring/Fall like I might in Summer. Also in Summer I can travel extremely light, which makes it easier to burn more fat over a longer period without destroying bones and joints. Of course even in Summer you could die of exposure in a cold rain if you exhaust yourself first, so you always need to be prepared to take shelter and eat. But in Winter, or even Spring/Fall, the weather can close in and you can have longer colder nights and stronger and colder Northerlies and so you really need to get some energy restored before a storm if you have exerted yourself before hand, which could take days if you have totally exhausted yourself, so you really can't do that, except on the last day perhaps. So I like to plan on long slow trudges or long slow skis mostly, but if the weather is clear and not too cold I will go for a fast ski by moonlight. I am not talking about alpine stuff, which I know nothing about. Similarly when I go paddling on the Bay of Fundy, even in late Summer, I never allow myself to be totally exhausted, because the water is so damned cold. When I want a really long hard paddle I will do that on the Saint John River. Similarly when sailing a small boat you can work pretty hard and long when it is blowing 20-25 knots and the water is not to cold, but once its blowing 30-35 knots you really need to pace yourself if the water is cold, and 30-35 knots just isn't safe at all up here in winter.
Of course no matter how much or how little you bring it always makes sense to have something like an extra 500g of honey and 500g of olive oil. 6500 kcal and pretty easy to pack and put back on the shelf when you get home.
p.s. Perhaps I need more protien for the long slow hikes rather than the short fast hikes. Not really sure. I think over 2-3 days it doesn't matter too much, but on longer hikes you would need to pay more attention to nutrients and protien and stuff like whether or not your body is actually able to rebuild itself as fast as you are tearing it down.
Registered: 10/30/03
Posts: 4963
Loc: Marina del Rey,CA
I am starting to plan for my upcoming Yosemite trip so I am reading this thread in more detail. Any other specific suggestions for high cal foods?
I am not much of a cook, so quick and easy beats complicated but more tasty. I can't think of anything that adds up to 6K calories, like Jak suggested. I have about zero body fat, so no reserves-I have consume all my calories.
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Don't get me started, you know how I get.
Tom fats are your densest calories so pack nuts, but low sodium ones. Usually raw or roasted almonds are in my pack. Also, instant parboiled rice is quick and sticks to yer ribs, brown rice comes this way now. If yer going for a week trip from your home and back, then you could prepack all your meals by roasting down a bunch of stuff then packing it. CHEESE is my favorite trail food though high in sodium if the hard cheddars, Italian types <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />
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PEPPER SPRAY AIN'T BRAINS IN A CAN!
You are not wrong! They are HIGH fat. Deep fried indeed......and a package of 3 ounces is 2 servings <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> Just toss the sodium fest that the "seasoning packet" is and all is good.
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Freezer Bag Cooking, Trail Cooking, Recipes, Gear and Beyond: www.trailcooking.com
Btw....I made these cookies this past October for a very cold trip on the PCT. Pure fat bombs - and I ate every single one I brought. I could have ate another dozen. Oops.
This Tuesday while packing for my trip I was making a number of batches of cookies for my son's class. One of the batches were Soft Peanut Butter Cookies.
The recipe is posted on RecipeZarr. My version is here:
1 cup butter 1 cup peanut butter (creamy or crunchy) 1 cup sugar 1 cup packed brown sugar 1 tsp vanilla 3 eggs 3 cups flour 2 tsp baking soda 1/4 tsp salt
Use a mixer to cream together shortening, peanut butter and sugars. Add vanilla and eggs.
Mix together flour, baking soda and salt. Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture.
Shape into 1 inch or so balls and place on ungreased baking sheets.
Bake at 375 F for about 8-12 minutes until golden. When you take them out, they will be a bit soft but leave them on the sheet for a couple minutes and they will continue to cook. Remove from the sheet and cool on wire racks.
When cool, in a mixing bowl, beat filling ingredients until smooth with mixer. With the milk add in enough to get it for spreading.
Spread on one half of cool cookies and top each with another cookie.
Recipe made about 30 filled cookies (yes, my cookies tend to be bigger than the recipes call for).
These cookies are fat bombs, no way to deny that. We ate them on our trip and enjoyed them very much in the cold weather. I wrapped each cookie up in plastic wrap and carried them in a freezer bag. The cookies are very moist and dense, so handled being smashed around.
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Freezer Bag Cooking, Trail Cooking, Recipes, Gear and Beyond: www.trailcooking.com
Salt bomb, gotta love the terminology with these youngsters these days <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />
That was what we used to call badly cooked beans and taters over the campfire...'cause whoever messed them up doused them in salt to try and make them taste good <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> Nothing worse than too much salt in yer vittles <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />...ok, maybe too much rosemary <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />
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PEPPER SPRAY AIN'T BRAINS IN A CAN!
Instant brown rice can be found at Mal-Wart if you can't find it at your local grocery. I like to rehydrate mine with instant coconut milk, sugar and dried fruit. Yummmmmm! You can also use grated parmesan (the powdery kind) to make cheese rice. Or, rehydrate with powdered soup mix for flavored rices.
MNS
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