I am mostly on the page of "I don't wanna mess with it a lot in camp". I want good food that doesn't distract me a lot (time or fiddling or weight wise) from what I'm outside to enjoy. Moving to an alky stove about 5 years ago took a lot of the "cooking" out of me, *however* while I don't particularly care what I end up eating, I do like stuff I enjoy, so I'll put a little effort into it not being oatmeal/ramen monotony. had too many trips like that in my younger days. On the other hand I'm not out for a gourmet meal experience - I can get that cheaper by dropping the hundred bucks I would spend on gas and supplies to hike at a nice restauraunt downtown.

More or less in non-winter hiking, I eat anything that can be made by methods no more complicated than pouring in boiling water and cozying the bag for a little while. Often this is natural high or mountain house meals, or something I cooked up FBC style (I'm a big fan of sarbar's cranberry chicken thinger, and I usually make my own soups). I also do cold food on some trips, and I'm a big fan of dehydrated hummus and pitas in the pack. so basically, I do care what I eat, and enough to do a small amount of preparation ahead of time, but in camp I do not wanna mess with it. In the summer I often if I'm alone I do not eat supper in camp. I'll hike at a nice slow pace all day. at 5 or 6 I'll be hungry enough to take a protracted break and put together supper, and eat it. Then if the day is nice I'll keep walking, and camp closer to 9 or 10 pm (since it's often light till 11 <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> I don't always get my trips and weather to that extent that I can do that, but I find I have a really good time when I can.

In winter I tend to "cook" a little more, mainly because:

1) I have a lot more time to kill in camp (it gets dark mighty early up here then)
2) I have a "real stove" with me in winter.
3) I'll happily do things like cook up something full of smoked salmon without figuring I'm sending up a bear beacon <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> In winter I care a lot less about where I cook and how near my camp I cook.

however my "cooking" in winter still tends to simpler dishes, pasta with salmon and some dehydrated veggies, Curries, etc. etc.