What to do with breakfast, and what to buy

Posted by: Andra

What to do with breakfast, and what to buy - 05/30/12 02:43 AM

Hi,

I am going out for my first long hike in august. (in sweden for 2 weeks)
Now I am going through an are where there isn't too much civilisation.

I got almost everything covered but I just don't get the idea of breakfast. What do you eat and what to do if you're in a area with no shops (or not much anyway).

Please let me know what you guys do on long term hikes.
Posted by: oldranger

Re: What to do with breakfast, and what to buy - 05/30/12 07:45 AM

Easy. Oatmeal with skim milk, garnished liberally with raisins, blueberries, and assorted nuts. Calory dense, nutritious, lightweight, and cheap - the granishings cost more than the base ingredient. Avoid prepackaged oatmeal - it is insanely expensive for what you get. If I am in a real hurry to get going, I grab a Clif bar and a cup of tea and hit the trail. If I am taking it easy, I like to prepare pancakes - pure luxury!
Posted by: aimless

Re: What to do with breakfast, and what to buy - 05/30/12 11:51 AM

If you are going to heat water for coffee or tea, then it is not much trouble to heat enough water to make oatmeal, as suggested above. Garnish it liberally with dried fruit, nuts, seeds and maybe a dash of brown sugar. The milled "quick" oats cook a bit faster than the whole oats. There you have a good breakfast.

If, like me, you prefer not to heat water for breakfast, I suggest eating granola or muesli (muesli would be more available in Sweden) and some powdered instant milk granules that will dissolve well in cold water.

My experience has been that I can hike all morning on a breakfast based on oats-plus-nuts-plus-milk and not get hungry again for 3 or 4 hours. Other whole grains might work as well as oats, but oats just seem to go well at breakfast.
Posted by: Heather-ak

Re: What to do with breakfast, and what to buy - 05/30/12 12:30 PM

I make a calorie dense "Trail Bread" and eat that if I don't want to heat up water. Google Hudson trail bread or just trail bread - lots of recipes.
Posted by: Glenn

Re: What to do with breakfast, and what to buy - 05/30/12 03:03 PM

I deleted my reply when I saw that the OP was interested in long-term hikes. Since I rarely go out more than 2 or 3 nights, my menu wouldn't be relevant to OP's needs. Sorry.
Posted by: OregonMouse

Re: What to do with breakfast, and what to buy - 05/30/12 03:04 PM

It was while traveling through Sweden and Norway 12 years ago that I learned to love meusli! Most of my breakfasts are cold so I don't have to fire up my stove and boil water in the mornings. I put meusli, a few extra chopped nuts, freeze-dried berries and dried milk in a ziplock sandwich bag. (I do this as part of my trip preparation.) At breakfast I add the appropriate amount of cold water to reconstitute the milk, stir and eat the meusli out of the bag. I then lick the spoon, put the empty bag in my garbage sack, and I'm ready to go!

If it's a layover day and I'm not moving camp, I do fire up the stove and have a few cups of tea. I detest cooked cereal, so I still eat the cereal cold.

Glenn, have you ever tried the Nature's Path oatmeal? My grandkids love it! It comes in various flavors.
Posted by: balzaccom

Re: What to do with breakfast, and what to buy - 05/30/12 06:29 PM

We use instant oatmeal with some chopped nuts in it. To drink, we make a cup of hot cocoa, and also take some dried fruit. It's all very light, and gets you started in the morning.
Posted by: Glenn

Re: What to do with breakfast, and what to buy - 05/30/12 07:26 PM

I've not heard of that brand - is it perhaps regional?

I usually just eat the Quaker peaches-and-cream envelopes; I keep trying plain old Quaker oats with dried fruit, nuts, and powdered milk, which tastes fine at home but I find myself having to force it down on trips. Oatmeal and tea seem like a perfect match for my Jetboil stove: boil a cup of water, pour some into the oatmeal in the measuring cup, and make tea with the rest - simplicity itself.

I'll keep my eyes open for the Nature's Path brand. Thanks for the tip.
Posted by: OregonMouse

Re: What to do with breakfast, and what to buy - 05/30/12 10:44 PM

You'll find it in the health food section of your supermarket (particularly Kroger) if they have it where you are. It's made in Blaine, WA (just checked the label) so I don't know if it has national distribution. I did find Bob's Red Mill (Oregon company) meusli in a Kroger in Wilmington, so at least some west coast brands are there.
Posted by: SCLocke

Re: What to do with breakfast, and what to buy - 05/30/12 11:22 PM

I eat oatmill almost every day, Quick oats, peanut butter, and a banana. Started for health reasons, now I just love the stuff. 1/2 cup of dry oatmill, table spoon pb and one banana, Lg glass of milk, seems I'm never really hungry at lunch.

Problem is, how do you pack a banana? They get mashed, turn black, too ripe . . . . I have not tried the dehydrated ones, yet.

This will be my trail breakfast ....
my2cents
Posted by: OregonMouse

Re: What to do with breakfast, and what to buy - 05/31/12 12:48 AM

Freeze dried bananas work well. The dehydrated banana chips are fried in oil (usually saturated fat) and IMHO don't work very well in cereal. The freeze-dried ones will be a bit crispy and chewy but will at least taste like bananas.

Of course there are always raisins!
Posted by: Glenn

Re: What to do with breakfast, and what to buy - 05/31/12 07:12 AM

Thanks - neverr thought about it being in the health food section. I'll check next time I'm in Kroger.
Posted by: oldranger

Re: What to do with breakfast, and what to buy - 05/31/12 08:36 AM

Packing bananas is definitely a problem, for which the only solution is to transmute them into banana-nut bread....

We consume almost identical breakfasts.....
Posted by: lori

Re: What to do with breakfast, and what to buy - 05/31/12 10:41 AM

Nature's Path is available at Whole Foods, Costco, Lassens in my area. Costco of course has the most for the least money. However, they don't have all products, just a couple of kinds of the granola. Whole Foods had a variety of their products.
Posted by: SCLocke

Re: What to do with breakfast, and what to buy - 05/31/12 11:13 AM

Freeze dried . . . . Thanks, I did not know about that.

Posted by: OregonMouse

Re: What to do with breakfast, and what to buy - 05/31/12 12:17 PM

The freeze-dried are more expensive! Google Just Tomatoes for various sizes of bulk packages. I haven't priced them this year, but last year they were the cheapest--and they are good.

As mentioned, raisins in cereal are great, and they also have a lot of vitamins and minerals.
Posted by: CamperMom

Re: What to do with breakfast, and what to buy - 05/31/12 08:16 PM

I've had better luck drying banana leather than bananas. Try mixing mashed banana with plain applesauce, half and half, and dehydrating sheets of leather. The addition of some vitamin C or "Fruit Fresh" will decrease the browning of the bananas, but won't stop all of it. Cut up the dried leather and sprinkle into your oatmeal. It SHOULD work.

CM
Posted by: OregonMouse

Re: What to do with breakfast, and what to buy - 05/31/12 09:08 PM

Hadn't thought of that dehydration method--thanks for the idea! It seems to me that you could use your blender or food processor to break the dried banana up into flakes, stopping before it becomes powder.
Posted by: lori

Re: What to do with breakfast, and what to buy - 06/01/12 02:51 AM

I just get flattened bananas at Trader Joes. Cheap and packable.
Posted by: CamperMom

Re: What to do with breakfast, and what to buy - 06/01/12 08:12 AM

That is doable, of course, but the TJ bananas that I've seen still seem to have some water (heavy) and are pretty brown. For people who have dehydrators and the time, DIY is cheaper and pretty easy.

CM
Posted by: OregonMouse

Re: What to do with breakfast, and what to buy - 06/01/12 02:57 PM

I tried the Trader Joe's bananas and disliked them. I've never been a fan of really overripe and gooshy bananas (good only for banana bread, IMHO) and that's exactly what the flattened bananas taste like. Your Mileage May Vary, of course!

I found the Just Tomatoes (labeled as "Just Bananas") freeze-dried bananas in the health food section of Fred Meyer, a Kroger affiliate in the Pacific Northwest. They also have a yummy strawberry and banana mix. If you like them, you can get bigger quantities online (www.justtomatoes.com) or at many health food stores like Whole Foods.

I'm going to try CamperMom's dehydrating recipe, though!

Posted by: Samoset

Re: What to do with breakfast, and what to buy - 06/08/12 06:00 PM

Originally Posted By oldranger
Easy. Oatmeal with skim milk, garnished liberally with raisins, blueberries, and assorted nuts. Calory dense, nutritious, lightweight, and cheap - the granishings cost more than the base ingredient. Avoid prepackaged oatmeal - it is insanely expensive for what you get. If I am in a real hurry to get going, I grab a Clif bar and a cup of tea and hit the trail. If I am taking it easy, I like to prepare pancakes - pure luxury!


THIS PLUS COFFE
OUGHT TO BE EASY ENOUGH
Posted by: Elias

Re: What to do with breakfast, and what to buy - 07/17/12 02:18 PM

Take in breakfast what you like.
Take healthy and more protein based breakfast.
Take milk, yogurt, eggs, apple, fresh fruits juices in your breakfast to get great deal of energy.