[pct-l] Freeze dried or dehydrated food?

[Ken Powers]

Hi Cat,

I went cookless on the PCT this summer and was glad that I did.

Freeze dried food rehydrated faster than dehydrated food. Freeze dried
veggies and fruit are good eaten dry. They are crunchy like popcorn. I have
eaten and really like all of Just Tomatoes products, but it is expensive. I
bought the hydrated fruit at Trader Joe's.

All nuts are a great choice. I mixed mine with other foods. I liked a
variety because the texture differs. Seeds are another food that are high
in fat and micronutrients. I like Chia seeds, Nido powdered milk, nuts,
dried fruit, and coconut mixed together as a cereal (five ounces is about
800 calories!) I ended up eating it at night as my recovery meal. I usually
couldn't tell what dried fruit I had put in the mix but it was all good to
me.

I also bought Fantastic Foods dehydrated black beans and dehydrated refried
beans. The flavors are different. The refried beans taste like Fritos bean
dip so I ate them as a dip lots. I could eat the black beans (rehydrated
ahead of time) on a tortilla. I also thought it was okay as a soup without
rehydrating it so it was a crunchy meal that I ate with the spoon. Any
vegetable added to this soup would be great. I especially like Just Veggies
roasted garlic. Beans seem to give me the most long-term energy it wasn't
fast hit like sugar or candy.

I didn't start out with tuna, salmon or chicken packets but they were
favorites further along on my hike. Some people were tired of them by the
time I started eating them so I traded for tuna a lot. Tuna packed in oil
tastes better and has more calories.

One of the advantages of being cookless was that I ate my food in whatever
order I felt like for the day which made my menu seem more varied.

...GottaWalk