I know that for some people the convenience of buying prepackaged freeze-dried meals is worth the money and loss of portion control that comes with that choice. For myself, I have always assembled my own meals, largely from supermarket ingredients supplemented by a few freeze-dried items.

Various pastas or other starchy bases, like instant rice, couscous or instant mashed potatoes, are easy to find. You can find dried onion or garlic flakes in any supermarket, usually shelved with the spices. Sun-dried tomatoes are also widely available now. For freeze-dried vegetables I use Just Tomatoes brand (hint: they sell more than tomatoes) and PackIt Gourmet. TVP granules can be purchased from Bob's Red Mill. The key for making a pleasing meal seems to be the amount of salt, herbs or spices you add.

OM's suggestion of trailcooking.com is worth your time to check out. It gives you tested recipes for home-assembled meals that you can work from.

As for the commercial all-in-one freeze dried meals, I think individual taste will play a large role in what seems edible and it will come down to trial and error. I'll let others who've gone through that lengthy process speak up about their favorites.