Dried ready meals …

Cycle-touring, Expeditions, Adventures, Major cycle routes NOT LeJoG (see other special board)
nirakaro
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Dried ready meals …

Post by nirakaro »

Are too expensive, so I was thinking of trying to do homemade ones. Mixing perhaps, some dried vegetables, soya mince, easy-cook rice, and a pack of cuppaSoup, or some such. Any hints, experience, advice?
beardy
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Re: Dried ready meals …

Post by beardy »

Not recommending them (they lost favour when they went GMO and get flavour from MSG) but these are affordable and probably as quick to cook as a home made mix may be.

http://www.tesco.com/groceries/Product/ ... =250105350

I guess the expensive ones sold for expeditions will have a shorter simmer time.
Gearoidmuar
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Location: Cork, Ireland. Corcaigh, Éire má tá Gaeilge agat.

Re: Dried ready meals …

Post by Gearoidmuar »

A tin of sardines or tuna, a packet of sliced cheese and off you go!
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jezer
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Re: Dried ready meals …

Post by jezer »

When I started mountain walking many years ago the food of choice was a tin of pilchards, followed by one of grapefruit segments. This was way before energy bars and the like were invented. Sandwiches were no good because it was always raining :shock:
Power to the pedals
FarOeuf
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Re: Dried ready meals …

Post by FarOeuf »

you can get quick cook pasta or rice. lots of different tinned fish in one-portion sizes. add in some spice mix (taco mix, curry mix, etc, etc). change the fish for some sort of sausage (salami, chorizo, etc), or veg.

I don't think it's worth pre-mixing stuff, as you miss out on the opportunist finds in markets/shops/supermarkets. so long as you carry two or three days of main meal ingredients, you won't starve.

cheers,
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jezer
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Re: Dried ready meals …

Post by jezer »

I've read accounts of intrepid riders in foreign parts who always found local dishes that were cheap. I've never been so brave as to undertake such adventures, but it seems economy is possible if you're not too picky :D
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nirakaro
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Re: Dried ready meals …

Post by nirakaro »

Thanks for the answers, but I already know about cheese, sardines, tuna, salami, bread, and all the other nice things you can get in shops. I'm thinking specifically about lightweight food to carry when I'm out of range of shops. :P
FarOeuf
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Re: Dried ready meals …

Post by FarOeuf »

nirakaro wrote:Thanks for the answers, but I already know about cheese, sardines, tuna, salami, bread, and all the other nice things you can get in shops. I'm thinking specifically about lightweight food to carry when I'm out of range of shops. :P


if you make it all at home and carry it with you, it's hardly lightweight. 'buy as you go' is lightweight, you're only realistically out of shop-range for 3-5 days at a time. unless of course you're talking about going away from home for 3-5 days, rather than a 2+ week tour?
psmiffy
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Re: Dried ready meals …

Post by psmiffy »

FarOeuf wrote:
nirakaro wrote:Thanks for the answers, but I already know about cheese, sardines, tuna, salami, bread, and all the other nice things you can get in shops. I'm thinking specifically about lightweight food to carry when I'm out of range of shops. :P


if you make it all at home and carry it with you, it's hardly lightweight. 'buy as you go' is lightweight, you're only realistically out of shop-range for 3-5 days at a time. unless of course you're talking about going away from home for 3-5 days, rather than a 2+ week tour?


agree - on a couple of occasions when ive had the thought that i might not encounter shops ive carried a couple of "shop" bought dehydrated meals - about a fiver a time so didnt break the bank - I think I used one in anger somewhere - ive never found it particularly difficult to come up with "an in case I dont find something" meal to keep in the bag - most of the time the shop ones get left in whatever camp kitchen is last before the airport - the one i ate was not particularly tasty or satisfying - but luckily i had a good collection of other odds and ends in the food bag
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andrew_s
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Re: Dried ready meals …

Post by andrew_s »

You are more likely to get results on a hiking site - cyclists can mostly hit shops often enough not to need to dehydrate.

You can get dehydrators so that you can cook meals at home and dehydrate them for your trips.
Examples:
http://www.outdoorsmagic.com/forum/gear ... 34480.html
http://www.outdoorsmagic.com/forum/gear ... 25694.html
http://www.outdoorsmagic.com/forum/gear ... 28752.html
--> http://campingcookbook.blogspot.co.uk/
http://www.outdoorsmagic.com/forum/gear ... 52529.html
There's more available if you search the site.
LollyKat
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Re: Dried ready meals …

Post by LollyKat »

nirakaro wrote:Are too expensive, so I was thinking of trying to do homemade ones. Mixing perhaps, some dried vegetables, soya mince, easy-cook rice, and a pack of cuppaSoup, or some such. Any hints, experience, advice?

I think that would work - my main advice would be to try it at home first in case you find it inedible :lol: . A pot cosy made of insulating material would save cooking fuel and also help prevent the whole lot from sticking to the bottom of the pan.

A few months ago I posted this which I found on another site. I don't know how practical it would be for you but you could modify it:

Spud bomb:
Recipe: 2 cups instant mashed potatoes, half cup crushed nut mix, quarter cup tomato powder, half cup crushed fritos, quarter cup chopped sun dried tomatoes, quarter cup dried falafel powder, quarter cup shredded parmesan cheese, half teaspoon garlic powder, half teaspoon onion powder, half teaspoon each salt and pepper, half teaspoon dried italian seasoning. Mix it all up in a bowl measure out 3.5 oz per meal add water to liking let sit 5 minutes and eat


I presume hot water is intended - I might be tempted to form into patties and fry.
fluffybunnyuk
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Re: Dried ready meals …

Post by fluffybunnyuk »

I dont like ready meals especially stuff like packet rice things.I find they just dont provide enough energy. So tomorrow im hauling home made pasties, malt loaves, muesli bars,dried yoghurt, muesli, and bananas. Yes it weighs 3 kg but it repays me many times over in energy compared to packet stuff. Some days I need 5000+ calories, and i make that about 25 packets of ready meal...

I much prefer home made food, after 3 days it runs out and I rely on my bamboo mat to make sushi :D Pick up stuff for baguettte sandwiches. If I cant reach a supermarket by then, well I must be really remote!!! I dont touch ready meals except to keep a couple as emergency food. I do carry some dry soya mince too but thats protein...
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simonineaston
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Re: Dried ready meals …

Post by simonineaston »

Am currently quite interested in travel-food, although mainly from the point-of-view of walking. Have recently experimented with dried falafel mix. Assuming you a) know what a falafel is and b) like them, try a packet of the dried mix. All you need is water to mix the powder into a paste, and then shallow fry and either eat as part of an evening meal or else pop into a pitta pocket as part of next day's lunch.
You are supposed to leave 2 hours between mixing and cooking, but the paste has been stiff enough to fry after 40 minutes or so when I've tried it. Usually falafels are deep-fried but I've shallow-fried flattened patties with success.
Another product that has been successfully trialed by this correspondant is the Ill-Favoured Smash. It makes "mashed potato" very quickly and provided you load it with flavours - salt, pepper, cheese, mustard, milk/cream, horseradish, butter being just some examples, it doesn't taste bad at all. I've added flour and eggs and fried the result, and they make great potato cakes, which again do for part of supper or tomorrow's lunch.
Both are powdered and transfer into plastic bags very readily.
Another product I've been eyeing up are Kabuto pot noodles, which seem to get good press - I quote, "Fast forward a few years, Crispin Busk of Kabuto Noodles has just introduced a range of posh Pot Noodles which is nothing like the Pot Noodles that we had to endure at school. He was inspired by the steaming bowls of noodles that are staples in the East and noodles bars in London. This range was developed with no additives or preservatives, freeze-dried herbs and spices for extrafreshness, and good quality egg noodles wtih low levels of fat.
These noodles are really quick to prepare, ready in 4 minutes and comes in 4 flavours : Chicken Ramen, Beef Pho and Miso Ramen."

I haven't tried them... like most of these noodle-based dishes, though, I think they're a bit light on substance, which might not make them ideal for someone covering a lot of miles.
S
(on the look out for Armageddon, on board a Brompton nano & ever-changing Moultons)
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simonineaston
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Re: Dried ready meals …

Post by simonineaston »

S
(on the look out for Armageddon, on board a Brompton nano & ever-changing Moultons)
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