[pct-l] Feeding the celiac thru-hiker

[Brett]

Corn pasta. Seriously - this might be a good use for it!

Widely ridiculed in l-d hiker circles, corn pasta is at 
least as energy-rich (and probably more so) as wheat pastas, 
and once you learn how to cook it on the trail, and to add 
the right sauce/seasonings, it really ain't all that bad. 
Corn elbows and shells tend to hold their form better than 
corn spaghetti, which can easily turn to a large mass of 
gruel in a poorly tended cookpot. You can find corn pasta at 
most health food stores (Whole Foods, Wild Oats, etc.) as 
well as some mass supermarkets, although few stores in the 
PCT trail towns would be likely to have it. Gone, 
unfortunately (I guess), are the days of hiker boxes loaded 
with corn pasta that nobody else wanted, free for the 
taking.

Don't forget about quinoa, either. Quinoa pastas exist - 
usually blended with another grain (not sure what's common). 
But the seed itself is a good source of carbohydrate and 
protein, and is excellent toasted in the bottom of a cookpot 
with oil, then brought to a boil, and seasoned. Quinoa seed, 
in my experience, doesn't provide the same energy benefit as 
pasta, or for that matter bean dinners, which are another 
gluten-free idea that would be very feasible with a maildrop 
strategy. Check out the Fantastic Foods line of 
just-add-water bean dinners and other interesting 
alternatives to pasta.

- blisterfree, not gluten-free but trying to help...

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Rebecca Mezoff" <rlmezoff at cybermesa.com>
To: <pct-l at backcountry.net>
Sent: Wednesday, August 23, 2006 12:04 AM
Subject: [pct-l] Feeding the celiac thru-hiker


> I'm hoping someone out there knows someone who can help me 
> with some
> thru-hiking eating information.  I'm new to this list and 
> am planning
> to hike the PCT in 2007 if I can figure out how to feed 
> myself on the
> trail.