What's for lunch on the mountain?

[WapitiTalk1]

Curious as to what you folks throw in your daypack for a mid day meal? Besides a ziplock baggie stuffed with some banana chips, trail mix, granola bars, a few pieces of jerkey, mini snickers bars , etc., etc., what do you pack for a carb/calorie packed mid day meal? After last year's experience with the two weeks worth of bridgeford MRE style sands I brought to ID, I'm on the hunt again for that lightweight, tasty, and energy promoting mid day meal. The bridgeford sands will keep you alive but do not taste very good at all and will not be with me this year.

So, what do you cats throw in the pack for a mid day meal?

[dapper]

Hello
I put bars that are high in protein into my pack. Such as cliff bars.

Dan

[cnelk]

i started making peanut butter / bacon / honey tortilla wraps.
They are lightweight, cheap. home-made. all around nourishment and non-perishable [ at least for the 2 weeks im in the mountains]

one for lunch will suffice

[WapitiTalk1]

i started making peanut butter / bacon / honey tortilla wraps.
They are lightweight, cheap. home-made. all around nourishment and non-perishable [ at least for the 2 weeks im in the mountains]

one for lunch will suffice

I've heard of the PB/bacon snack before cnelk but haven't tried it. What do you do, vacuum seal the PB/bacon in the tortilla wrap?

[cnelk]

you can either buy pre-made bacon or make it yourself.

I like to use an 8in tortilla -
spread peanut butter on one half [as generous as you want]
add 2 pieces of bacon on top of the peanut butter
add some honey
roll tortilla

I have used both zip-loc baggies and also vac sealed them. depending on my hunt.
It can also be a great breakfast

it fills you up and lasts a long time in the belly

[ElkNut1]

I eat all day! I mean at least every 2 hours I am eating something. For lunch or around noon I'll eat a sandwich, fruit, fruit snack (gummy bears) 1/2 energy bar, (save the rest for later) lots of water/wilderness athlete. My favorite pick me up is peanut butter on anything, it kicks butt!! Here's my son (bowElkDwn) getting out his lunch! This is the exact spot we glassed the bull I ended up shooting a couple days later! (grin)

ElkNut1

[>>>---WW---->]

Yep, it's hard to beat a good ole peanutbutter sandwich or a PBJ. Spam singles makes for a good change up also. One day I'll take some trail mix and maybe the next day it will be a zip-loc bag of Fritos. Fritos are also a great fire starter. Lite one up and it will burn a long time.

[WapitiTalk1]

These are a bit (quite a bit) expensive but got me thinking (yep, dangerous I know). This one has over 350 cals which will do the trick. Perhaps some small cans of chicken/tuna/spam spread and some wheat crackers for mid day chow? Just digging around

http://www.alpineaire.com/index.php?mai ... cts_id=213

[ctdad]

I have found that I don't care for honey on them, but do like peanut butter and bacon on a tortilla. I also experiment constantly with protein/ energy bars to find one that I actually enjoy eating that is high in calories. I noticed a few years ago that the cliff bars were just riding around in my pack. I never took them out and ate them b/c I don't like them. Peanut butter crackers go along every day also. I'm like elknut in that I eat often. I also try to have a very organized plan for each day so that I'm not carrying around a bunch of extra food everyday.

I tried tuna in oil on a tortilla and didn't care for it much but it had a bunch of calories. I also will often carry an apple for my lunch desert or a snack. I love fresh fruit. I plan to dehydrate some fruit to carry next year also.

[dotman]

I'm really bad about this, usually just have snack items and half the time I forget to eat. I usually have leftover snacks but. always finish the 2 serving size bag of MH for dinner.

I like the peanut butter& honey tortilla idea.

[Swede]

I usually carry a ham and cheese sandwich, a couple high energy bars, and munchies in a sack. I may throw an apple in my pack also.

[JohnFitzgerald]

Hoggy sandwich with all the trimmings. Walmart sells hoggy Tupperware so it doesn't get smashed while in your pack. Bivy hunting I take three days worth . Store them in a cool creek until the days hunt.

[slim9300]

Main lunch staple:

1 - StarKist Lemon Pepper or Garlic & Herb tuna pouches (4 oz.) and 1 - Costco cheese or everything bagel w/ small mayo packet.

(or)

1 - Costco cinnamon raisin bagel with peanut butter, and Nutilla.

Snacks:

1 - peanut butter crackers

2 - fruit leathers

1 - small bag of peanut butter M&Ms and candy

[POk3s]

All of the sudden I can't eat peanut butter so I've had to get a little bit creative. I loved peanut butter too. A year or two ago my stomach just started hating them. I read up on it and found out it is most likely an allergy. Doesn't make me have a typical allergic reaction but my stomach is in some serious pain. I can eat peanuts if I keep it to a minimum like in a snickers bar or something! Thank god!

Anyway, last year I bought some of those mountain house fajita fillings so I was going to bring tortillas along with me. There was no way I was also going to fit bread in my pack along with everything else for 4 days. I simply bought 4 or 5 of the pre made "tuna salads" that come in the pouch. Stuffed those in my pack and mid day I would have a tuna fish sandwich....just on a tortilla instead of bread. I started calling them fish tacos

Between cliff bars/oatmeal in the morning, fish tacos for lunch, mountain house meals for dinner, and whatever snacks I threw in, I was packing pretty light for food and still able to switch it up everyday which kept me eating instead of getting bored witht he same old thing.

[RockyMountainHi]

My partner turned me on to wraps for sandwiches and I will share a couple of the versions--pretty darned tasty and doesn't squish like bread.

The Thanksgiving--flat wrap, cream cheese spread, turkey breast and cranberry sauce or jelly.

The Domino Delivery--flat wrap, pizza sauce, salami, pepperoni, mozarella and/or pepper jack cheese

The Elk Club--flat wrap, mayo, sliced peppers & onions, turkey breast, ham slices, roast beef/elk thinly sliced, pepper jack cheese, spicy mustard

The Greenie--flat wrap (spinach flavored), mayo, mustard, turkey breast, roast beef, pickled asparagus spears, sliced red/yellow peppers, gouda cheese

The options are infinite and these have been a hit when we hunt out of a base camp. Make them after dinner the night before, put them in a ziplock bag and grab them at 0darkThirty..... Obviously, not what we eat if we spike camp in, but works out of base camp with coolers.

[Toby]

I make soft shell burritos filled with ham/cheese or bacon/peanut butter, or leftovers during the summer. I double wrap them in aluminum foil and at midday start a small twig fire and let it burn to coals, heat up my burrito on it. A warm meal taste great and it only takes a few minutes.

[Ridgernr]

I have taken Bagels with cream cheese and ham on them when daytripping from base camp, Bagels hold up real well in a pack.
Apples are always good, Homemade jerky,
I am going to try tortilla type things this year.
One year I had a half a subway BMT with the works so for my staurday hunt I thought that would be greta for lunch on a December cow hunt.
I left in the truck overnight friday so would not forget it, It got down to 18 that night, A frozen subway sandwich is not on my list for next late season.

[elkmtngear]

Peanut Butter, Bacon and Honey Sandwiches

Almost 1000 calories in one sandwich, and they last for a month vacuum packed. One a day totally fills me up in the afternoon.

[foxvalley]

Man, you guys are making me hungry. We backpack in for 2 weeks, so we have jerky,a candy bar and nuts.(sometimes a redbull)just cuz.

[wideangle]

http://seattletimes.com/html/foodwine/2009236078_zfoo20meatloaf.html

A meat loaf sandwich is a good lunch. This recipe is for a denser meatloaf which will make a better sandwich.
Of course it is best made with ground venison.

[RockChucker30]

For a backpack hunt I'm taking trailmix made from almonds, pecans, hazelnuts, raisins, and maybe a little other fruit leather along with Kind bars, Lara bars, and lots of Jerky. That's for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. This way I can just carry a UL alky stove and Ti cup to make coffee / tea and not worry about freezedried anything.

[Madison COunty]

Yummm.....all this talk about food is making me hungry. I like the idea of a meat loaf sandwich or the peanut butter and bacon wraps. What other new things have you tried?

[Madison COunty]

Anyone eat ramen noodles?

[pointysticks]

hard boiled eggs. i need to invent a cool tube storage container and market it. whoopss. did i say too much?

and i eat peanut butter and jelly in whole wheat tortillas. bread gets destroyed..bums me out to fish a soggy PB&j out of that plastic baggy that is a fogged up on the inside with that peanut butter and jelly haze..you all know exactly what i mean. haha.

i also bring bag of nuts and dried fruit. and apples.

i eat a lot when i am in the mountain hunting. scary amounts.

[WapitiTalk1]

If you're a sandwich carrying kind of hunter and don't want the squashed mess that sometimes accompanies putting a sandwich in a plastic bag in your pack, you may want to try one of these. I normally don't make/take sandwiches but I know some do. One of my hunting friends carries one of these for all his lunch snack, including sands if he chooses. Just an inexpensive tupperware kind of plastic thing that he puts his day snacks in. I took this picture last fall as my buddy was proudly displaying his neatly packed salami slices, cheese, and crackers

IMG_8500.jpeg (143.49 KiB) Viewed 18504 times

[Still Hunter]

I make Pemmican. It was made/used by the Indians and Mountain Men in the old days.

It's ground up meat mixed with fat and berries. Then made into cakes. High calorie, high protein, high energy food.

Sugar and simple carbs in any form puts me to sleep, so I avoid them at all costs. Protein gives me energy.

[Madison COunty]

I make Pemmican. It was made/used by the Indians and Mountain Men in the old days.
.
It's ground up meat mixed with fat and berries. Then made into cakes. High calorie, high protein, high energy food.

Sugar and simple carbs in any form puts me to sleep, so I avoid them at all costs. Protein gives me energy.

Does that stuff even taste good? Meat, fat and berries.....sounds interesting for sure. Any pictures of this snack?

[Still Hunter]

I never took pictures of it. It doesn't taste bad at all depending how you make it. Some use jerky for the meat.

Here's some info.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pemmican

[Buglemaster]

We start our morning with a pre made breakfast burrito foil wrapped & heated up & placed in a coat pocket.(great hand warmer ) along with a generous supply of candy bars, trail mix, jerkey & a can of Vienna sausages or spam single. Pretty much the same menue for the evening hunt. Sometimes a can of smoked oysters, but they generally come back to bite me in the azz around 1 in the morning... I can't ever remember being starved in the high country. Might have to try the pb & bacon wrap. That does sound good.

[jmez]

I switch between a PPB and honey wrap and tuna fish on a tortilla. I have an apple every day as well. Like fresh fruit and an apple for every day is my guilty pleasure pack item.

I make and vacuum pack the wraps prior to leaving for my trip. I did learn a lesson last year. The tuna comes in those handy packets so no reason to repackage them. I took several tortillas and put sliced cheese in them and then vacuum packed those to dump the tuna fish on. Bad idea, the vacuum packing seals the tortilla very tightly to the cheese, you can't open them up. You essentially have a dipping stick for the tuna!

We spike hunt so the food is a big deal. I make it all up before I leave and my food for each day goes into a 1 gallon ziplock bag. Keeps it organized and also serves as a trash sack.

For eating between meals, cheese crackers with peanut butter, trail mix, clif bar, protein bar, granola bar. Usually eat/snack every two hours between meals.

[Harmy]

I make Pemmican. It was made/used by the Indians and Mountain Men in the old days.

It's ground up meat mixed with fat and berries. Then made into cakes. High calorie, high protein, high energy food.

Sugar and simple carbs in any form puts me to sleep, so I avoid them at all costs. Protein gives me energy.

Care to share your recipe and technique?

I can't eat the sweet, sugar added bars and snacks either. Fat and protein for me too. Salami/summer sausage and cheese is my favorite coupled with various roasted nut mixtures. Elk jerky is pretty much in my pocket at all times and I seem to be sucking on a piece throughout most of the day. I also carry a banana and/or an apple most of the time and use them when I start to feel a bonk coming on or before I am about to head up a long arduous slope (I try to reserve them for packing out a critter).

In the mid 90's I was doing a huge rock-climbing link up (4 routes-1500 feet of rock-18 miles of backcountry hiking between routes). All I took was powerbars, Cliff bars, and Gu type items. Half way through the linkup I was so sick I almost quit. Luckily my partner had a fresh tomato which I ate. It save my day and instantly made me feel better. Ever since that day I have never been able to eat powerbar type items more than once or twice a week.

About 5 years ago my wife convinced me I should ride my first century (100 miles on a road bike). During one of our training rides she convinced me I had to fill my 3 liter bladder full of perpetuum energy drink. At about mile 45 I was toast and sick. I finally found a gas station and dumped my energy drink and used water instead. Within 10 minutes I felt great and continued the ride. Summer Sausage saved my bacon... This year I have been experimenting with Superman combo from Wilderness Athlete. This combination does not seem to affect me the way the other sugary type drinks and bars do. Although it is not really an energy booster but more of an even energy source.

[Still Hunter]

Harmy...................Read this.

http://www.traditionaltx.us/images/PEMMICAN.pdf

[Harmy]

Thanks for that link. I will give it a try.

[8upbowhunter]

I have been using these for years to carry my sandwiches in my backpack. Wrap your sandwich in a paper towel, place it in the container, close the lid and use a rubber band to make sure the lid stays on. Wal Mart usually carries them so they shouldn't be too hard to find. As far as food for the day on my first elk hunt this past September I carried a PB&J sandwich, a Clif bar, some trail mix, cheese crackers, a protien bar and jerkey which got me through a full day without any problems.

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[danarnold]

pb & honey on 9 grain grain bread that weighs about 1/2 lb per slice, it holds up pretty good in my pack, I also like the multigrain sandwich thins with pb & honey, choc brownie cliff bar, apple, and a gorp bag with m&m's, cashews, mini pretzels...
I'm the only one in our camp that eats breakfast and everyone looks at me like I'm nuts when I make up my lunch the night before, I eat constantly on the mountain

[>>>---WW---->]

I love peanut butter and I love bacon. But put the two together on a tortilla and I might as well be eating a dried up doggy dodo sandwich! Thought I was going to puke.

PBJ or a Spam singles sandwich with an apple and snack work for a quick pick me up for me.

[RockChucker30]

I feel a ton better since I've been eating mostly primal/paleo. Basically, I avoid grain - bread, pasta, all processed foods, and I don't eat sugar.

That limits my choices of backpacking food to dried fruit, jerky, lara bars, kind bars, and some stuff from specialty makers such as cache lake and some others. I really want to try making some pemmican but haven't gotten around to it.

[pointysticks]

Opposite of paleo! I've eaten more of these any person older than puberty should admit.

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1391103715.814155.jpg (97.46 KiB) Viewed 18259 times

[Still Hunter]

Putty on a cracker??

[Z Barebow]

Opposite of paleo! I've eaten more of these any person older than puberty should admit.

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1391103715.814155.jpg

LOL! My biggest problem with putting them in my pack is after a few hours, I need a spoon to eat them. They are great to grab if truck hunting and I hit the trail from the truck. Eat while hiking.

They are also part of my carb loading regime pre marathon race. Look up how many carbs are in two cherry pop tarts. Yes the frosting is simple carb, but the filling is fruit so they work for me.