We're planning meals for a 5 day/4 night trip for four adults. We've got some pretty good meals planned out just buying mostly "just add water" boxed meals at the grocery store. We think we're good to go on carbs, but the one thing that we feel we're lacking in is protein.

We're bringing some of those non-refrigerated tuna packs and we found some packs of cut up chicken that doesn't have to be refrigerated either, but we're wondering what other people do for protein in the meals.

Dehydrate a bunch of ground beef that you can add to your boxed meals. Add bread crumbs for easy rehydration.

These are some of the things I've seen from this site:

- Steaks on the firegrate night 1. (I prefer precooked bratwurst, no bun, or just a tortilla. Maybe baked beans rehydrated if you have them. Simpler than steak. Cooked meat keeps longer than raw, I've heard.) Bring the meat in fully frozen.

- Summer sausage.

- Mountain House freeze dried chicken #10 can. Open the can at home just before the trip, and split into several meals. (Seems expensive, but comparatively it isn't).

- Ove-easy egg crystals. Supposedly not bad - didn't get to try mine last year. I think they are better if you dress them up with something - bacon bits, etc.

- Instant milk. Some people swear by Nido (not the sugary kind) if you can find it. Walmart sometimes has Nido. Otherwise carnation works fine. Best mixed with breakfast oatmeal, etc.

- You can bring a soft sided cooler with frozen cooked meat. I am not an expert on how well that works. If you have enough ice, I've heard 5 days. If your buddy leaves the softsided cooler unzipped and in the sun - maybe an hour (that happens).

- Peanut butter.

- TVP (not for me).

- Catch some fish.

Rarely a problem.

LOL!

You're not going hungry!

We carry fresh eggs. Refried and baked beans dehydrate very well. Saw a session at Canoecopia focused on using TVP. Plan to experiment this year.

We use dehydrated ground beef and TVP, also freeze dried chicken, plus summer sausage, beef sticks, jerkey, Peanut butter.

Home dried beef, venison, and pork sausage. Pre-cooked bacon, sausage sticks, jerky. Have not had much success with poultry so buy foil packed or freeze dried.

butthead

I do the same as others have noted.... Pouch chicken, cheese sticks, lots of jerky, summer sausage, shelf stable bacon, steaks for 1st night, fresh eggs for breakfast early on in the trip, dehydrated ground beef for soft tacos, etc.

We're bringing peanut butter this year for PB&J roll ups.

quote mirth: "I do the same as others have noted.... Pouch chicken, cheese sticks, lots of jerky, summer sausage, shelf stable bacon, steaks for 1st night, fresh eggs for breakfast early on in the trip, dehydrated ground beef for soft tacos, etc.

We're bringing peanut butter this year for PB&J roll ups."

I also really like getting dried fruit, banana chips, etc, from Trader Joes to go on the peanut butter instead of jam. Less messy, and I always thought kind of fun and different. There are probably other even more creative things to do as well. Bacon?

Fish

This is what we have done in the past. We carry a small collapsible cooler inside our barrel. Kept in the shade unless underway. Don't open it unnecessarily.

First night marinated steaks vacuum sealed and frozen solid.
Second night cooked spiced chicken breasts also vacuum sealed & frozen
Third night ham steaks, already sealed, frozen.

On the way up, packed into a cooler full of ice. At outfitter all goes into the freezer overnight to make sure it's hard as a rock. Don't forget it!

Temperature is a factor, we usually trip May & September. Did a July trip with the same deal, didn't have a problem. Ham was still cold day 3.

After that we use our dehydrated meals that include ground beef, canned chicken & tuna packs. Summer sausage, pre-cooked bacon (Boars head), jerky.

Weiners, brats, tubed meat...zups has it all. Zups wild rice brats are pre-cooked, vacuum sealed & ready to go.

We plan on smoked cheese, crackers & summer sausage for 2 meals. It's great to fall back on when it is raining hard.
Cheers!

On a short trip of 4-5 days, being short on protein will not be the end of the world, especially if you have some fresh meat on night one and possibly a fish meal or two. If you are concerned, many of the pre-packaged backpacking meals do contain a complete protein and can be used as a side dish to complement what ever else you are having for dinner.

Freeze dried meals can be high in protein. I look for the high protein flavors. You can buy several types of high protein Flapjack mixes these days as well. Don't skimp on protein. You will need it for paddling and portaging. If you are lactose intolerant beware that most shelf stable summer sausage has lactose added.

Ribeye steaks first night and fish at just about every meal.

protein powders are actually pretty darn good (tasty) these days. The wife and I have one shake mixed with water just about every day for breakfast. Digests easy, packs light and requires almost zero prep/cleanup.

syntha-6 is hands down the cheapest/yummiest we've found. I'd recommend sticking with the chocolatey flavors as those are the easiest to stomach.

I like BiPro whey protein isolate. It comes in chocolate, Strawberry, and Vanilla. Can be mixed with water or milk, or used in baking.

quote schweady: "Rarely a problem.

"

Awesome!

Peanut butter for lunch along with summer sausage (Johnsonville does not need to be refrigerated), almonds, beef jerky, fresh eggs, dehydrated burger for various meals (chili, burritos, spag).

quote Savage Voyageur: "Ribeye steaks first night and fish at just about every meal. "

What he said!

quote billconner: "We carry fresh eggs. Refried and baked beans dehydrate very well. Saw a session at Canoecopia focused on using TVP. Plan to experiment this year."

Sorry for asking a dumb question, but what is TVP?

TVP = Textured Vegetable Protein. (Soy Flour) Last time I bought it I got Bob’s Red Mill brand.

Why the precooked bacon and not just cooking it on site? Ive seen alot of post about precooked bacon so just curios the diffrence.

Thanks

quote jeremylynn21: "Why the precooked bacon and not just cooking it on site? Ive seen alot of post about precooked bacon so just curios the diffrence.


Thanks"

I pre-cook bacon because I am finicky about brand and flavor, big Nueske's fan!
Anyway, whatever brand, it is 1/3rd the weight or less and takes hardly any time to prepare, yet tastes as good.

butthead

Fresh meat and a pot of bean soup if wind bound or base camping. And certainly fish with a little luck.

quote jeremylynn21: "Why the precooked bacon and not just cooking it on site? Ive seen alot of post about precooked bacon so just curios the diffrence.


Thanks"

Just my personal opinion: tastes good, much lighter weight, no grease to dispose of, and shelf stable. It is what we use at home now. I know it isn't as tasty as the real thing, but it is healthier and it does satisfy our bacon taste most of the time.

If you take it out of the cardboard box the envelope is very thin and just slides along the edge of your food box, out of sight and out of mind until you want some bacon! Very easy and very quick to prepare.

By the way, bacon is not a source of much protein. Bacon is basically a "fat" food, not a protein food. For that we take eggs. Fresh eggs in the shell. A different topic, and one I have addressed several times on this board.

We take tuna packets, peanut butter, nuts, precooked bacon, cheese and real eggs. We got some Ova easy eggs for this year and will cut back some on real eggs. We have taken steaks, pre shaped raw burger patties, and ham steaks in the past. We froze ahead of time, kept at the bottom of the ice chest until the day before and picked up some dry ice to keep frozen for longer. We've decided it's a little too much work and weight though and probably won't have anything that needs to be kept too cold this time. For some reason I found I don't feel like eating too much protein on the trip and enjoy the carbs more. Dry ice emits CO2. If you get someone else to carry it the mosquitoes will go after them. (I wouldn't mention it ahead of time though.)