[pct-l] Food for fuel.

[Ronald Moak <ronm@fallingwater.com>]

Since the topic came up, I thought I'd share some of my meal plans for this
summers hike. They're not yet cast in concrete so I'm sure some changes will
be made between now and when the food boxes are shipped. First let me say
I'm not a nutritionist. So any connection to real nutrition is probably
accidental. However, I can and do frequently read the nutrition information
on the side of the boxes. 

In planning for the food I examined a number of criteria in making my
decisions. So before covering the meals, I'll discuss the criteria used for
planning the meals.

Simplicity: The meals needed to be simple to make both in the field and at
home. With some 200 trail days (for myself and my son) that would be a lot
of food to prepare in advance. Also I wanted food that could be ready to eat
within 15 to 20 minutes of lighting the stove.

Common Ingredients: With so many meals it's easier to construct lots of
different meals with a few core ingredients that can be purchased or made in
bulk. 

Varity: Few things are worse than to be stuck with 20 or 30 meals that
you've become sick of after a few weeks on the trail. I'm developing some 7
or more recipes. This means that no meal will be eaten twice in the same
week. With town stops, the length of time between the same meals stretches
out even further. 

Low cost: Trail meals can become expensive. My main meal ranges in price
from .60 to .90 cents per meal. Lower cost meals allow more money available
for town meals. 

Low weight: The weight range of my primary meal ranges from 6 oz to 9 oz. 

Nutritionally Balanced: It's probably impossible to carry enough calories
between trail towns to compensate for the energy load. So town stops are
important refueling stops. However, I believe it is important to keep a
balanced nutrition on the trail. I try to balance the fat, carbohydrates and
proteins for each meal, along with good dose of vitamins.

------------------------------------------
Meal Plan

Breakfast 

Grape nuts, milk, sugar and dried fruit - Grape nuts are virtually
indestructible and packed with fuel. They also represent a threat of me
developing and intense dislike for them on the trail. So I'm eating them
everyday before the hike to ensure that by the time I hit the trail, they
will be second nature. 

Snacks

Aside from breakfast and my one cooked meal, the rest of the day is snacks
eaten at different intervals. They are composed of the usual. Jerky, summer
sausage, Peanut butter/honey, gorp, bagels, candy bars, cheese, and anything
else that can be bought, begged or bartered on the trail.

Main Meal

This meal is really a one pot casserole composed of a meat (chicken, beef or
sausage TVP), dried vegetable (corn, peas, mixed vegetables), base (Roman
noodles, rice, angel hair pasta, instant potatoes, stuffing mix, mac &
cheese) and a sauce.  TVP (1/4 - 1/3 cup) and dried vegetables (1/4 - 1/3
cup) are added to the water (2 cups) and brought to a boil. The base (1 cup)
and sauce (2 tblsp.) is added and the pot is set aside to cook. 

The sauce is a white sauce that is bought in bulk. Different spice
combinations are added to it to make a variety of interesting meals. 

----------------------------------------------
Eating schedule:

Years ago I read about the importance of not eating your main meal at the
end of the day. Especially if your doing a lot of activity. That's probably
why farmers used to have their main meal at lunch. So I've adopted a
different eating schedule.

-	Wakeup at 6 to 7 and eat breakfast.

-	Snacks at different times until around 2 pm. 

-	Stop take a long break and cook a meal, relax. (Timing depends a lot
on water available. Preferably the break will be by a nice stream.) This
allows time to sufficiently re-hydrate without carrying a lot of extra
water.

-	Snack occasionally until bed time.



Ron "Fallingwater" Moak
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