Thanks, Daisy. I knew my old backpacking menu had to go. You helped me understand why, and provided a lot of alternatives.

When you talk about "regular" oats - are you talking about something like steel-cut Irish oatmeal, or something else?

Karol and I spent some time at a good local grocery yesterday, checking out some options to what we've always eaten. I was paying particular attention to what might be useful for backpacking, and came up with a few things.

I've started putting together a new menu - very tentative, since I haven't seen the nutritionist yet. I want to go in armed with a menu, and ask him/her, "What do I need to do to fix this for a backpacking trip of 2 - 4 days in the eastern US?" rather than "I backpack - got any ideas?"

I'd also prefer to carry only one pot (1L, with a frypan/lid that would get used as a bowl) and cook only one meal a day (to reduce the fuel I need to take.)

For breakfast, I'm probably going to take your advice, and cook some oats, with raisins and wlanuts or pecans for flavor. I'd like maybe a teaspoon of brown sugar, but we'll see what the nutritionist says. I might also drink a cup or two of herbal tea (I don't like sweet tea, so no problem with sugar there.)

For lunch, I'm thinking along the lines of a whole-grain/multi-grain/whole-wheat English muffin with a thin (not "slathered") layer of peanut butter, along with a couple of pieces of dried fruit (I like whole dried fruits; I'm thinking maybe a peach and a couple of prunes.) I could add a cheese stick, too.

For snacks, I'm wondering about a couple of cheese sticks and one or two Nature Valley chewy peanut bars. (Again, the bars are high in sugar, but they will be the sweetest thing I'll eat; I looked at the pack and they're really not too bad, especially compared to other bars. I'm thinking that since I'll be burning a lot more calories than normal, that little boost might be a good thing?)

For supper, I came up with something that actually sounds good. I got to thinking that when I eat out, and order salmon or a sirloin with rice pilaf, there's usually no sauce anywhere in sight - so why do I always think I have to have a saucy casserole? I'm thinking a supper along the lines of: a 2-serving boil-in-bag of Success whole-grain brown rice, with some Tone freeze-dried mushroom slices, Tone dried vegetables (mostly bell peppers), some parmesan cheese, and a foil packet of chicken, salmon, or turkey (maybe even crab?) all mixed together, without sauce; some Mrs. Dash, or maybe Molly McButter, added for a bit of flavor. I tried cooking a bag of the rice: it works well, and leaves a "broth" in the pot - I thought I might through the mushrooms and veggies into the broth to rehydrate.

My beverages would consist mostly of water; in cold weather, I might throw in a couple of herbal tea bags (I don't like sugar in my tea.)

Like I say, this is all very tentative and tenuous - I'd appreciate any critique or suggestions you might have - and thanks again for the informative post.