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Duckman
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I'll always have a soft spot for Mountain House Chili Mac and Beef Stroganoff.
Largely nostalgia and set habits. I'd like to hope there are better options out there!
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Wayouttroy
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walllee: "Camp Chow from Trail Center is my personal favorite..." +1 good stuff!
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butthead
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You folks need to expand your searches, Redwicks, Augason, Nookers, Honeyville, and a whole bunch of prepper/survival stores offer a large selection, packages and types. Done such as shrimp, tuna, pork a beef, poultry, in a variety of styles steaks, whole breasts, filet to chunked and ground. I tend not to buy full meals but ingredients to make what I want, and there are many choices available. After the meat/protein parts a simple trip to a grocery store will add a variety of dried packaged meal combinations, mix and match as you see fit.
butthead
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sns
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Trailtopia & Pack it Gourmet are my primary go-to meal companies these days. No more MH or BP for me.
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TipsyPaddler
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I have enjoyed meals from Trailtopia and Good to Go the last couple of years.
I like the Trailtopia oatmeals, Jambalaya and Chili Mac with Beef. Their Apple Crisp and Triple Berry Crisps are great too. The Bent Paddle Chicken Stew was palatable. They also have a few I did not care for either. The beef stew, chicken teriyaki and cashew chicken underwhelmed.
Good to Go’s Penne with Marina, Indian Korma and 3 Bean Chili are good. I often add some freeze dried meat packets from Trailtopia to the Good to Go stuff as they cater to the Vegetarian/Gluten Free crowd which I am not but Mrs. Tipsy dabbles in sometimes. The white bean and kale whatever they call it made for an interestng evening of fart jokes around the campfire. Mrs. Tipsy was not impressed. That item has been hence forth banned from the menu options list.
But “to be fairrr” I am also a very lazy cook in the BWCA. I like “add water and eat from pouch” type food in the BWCA. More complicated and/or more dirty dish generating food is a “hard no” for me.
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printing
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Has any one tried the dehydrated meals from Mary Janes's Farm?
I think I might order from here for my next trip and just go light and easy.
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ryan72
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I have used Packit Gourmet for my last 6 trips or so but got a dehydrator and now am making my own. They area a good company with lots of interesting offerings.
The dehydrator is way easier than I thought it would be, I can make whatever I want basically, and its super cheap compared to paying someone else to do it. Using my vacuum sealer I can really limit the amount of packaging I need to bring too. I also really like that I don't have to feel like I am eating a salt lick. Some of the prepared meals are so high in sodium. I can control exactly what I want.
I more than paid for my dehydrator and vacuum sealer from what I saved on this one upcoming trip alone (9 people out 9 days).
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billconner
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Cache Lake has been a favorite if mine. Fry breads and wild rice salad are notable.
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gopher2307
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backpacker's pantry...chicken pad thai is the shizzle
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billconner
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scotttimm: "I like to buy freeze dried fruits and veggies from North Bay Trading, and then make my own meals. Saves some bucks. North Bay Trading "
This us just where I'm at:. North Bay, a little home dehydrating, and grocery store.
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Northwoodsman
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I have tried many of the brands listed. I still find Mountain House my go to: Chili Mac, Spaghetti with Meat Sauce, Lasagna, Italian Pepper Steak, Beef Stroganoff, Chicken & Dumplings, and Pasta Primavera. Cache Lake favorites: Biscuits & Gravy, and Chicken Noodle Casserole. Pack-It Gourmet favorites: Cajun Ranch Chicken Salad, Curried Mango Chicken Salad, Chipotle Black Bean Dip, TX State Fair Chili, Wild Carrot Salad, Poblano Corn Chowder, Jalapeno Biscuits & Gravy, and Skillet Biscuits & Sausage Gravy. Pack-It Gourmet has many items that rehydrate with cool water with no boiling water or cooking. These are great for lunches on the go.
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homers
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Peak Refuel
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RRHD
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I use a bunch of brands, some meals are better in some brands. But I just want to say how PROFOUNDLY much better they all are now compared to even ten years ago! I make my own too, but so many good, nutritious choices now.
This trip we’re bringing all 2 person freeze dried meals, and I didn’t bother repacking them in zip locks. We have three people, so I’m bringing deserts, and soups, and other extras. I’m honestly kind of excited.
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walllee
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Camp Chow from Trail Center is my personal favorite...
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BearBurrito
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I'm a lazy cook and always trip by myself, so I get MH and don't have to deal with dishes. As stated before they are not the very best or the least expensive, more middle of the road for me. As I always tell myself, I don't go to eat.
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scotttimm
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billconner: "scotttimm: "I like to buy freeze dried fruits and veggies from North Bay Trading, and then make my own meals. Saves some bucks. North Bay Trading "
This us just where I'm at:. North Bay, a little home dehydrating, and grocery store. "
They are in WI, we live in NE Iowa - I ordered freeze dried fruits from them last week and they arrived the next day. Love that company.
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TechnoScout
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The local grocery store has a lot of good options of dehydrated and freeze dried. Grits, refried beans, pasta, rice... Mix and match. We also take pre-cooked bacon which I think is fine for 4-5 days in Sep. These other options people have mentioned do look interesting, however.
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TechnoScout
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egknuti: "...Packit Gourmet-although a little pricey in my opinion... "
Wow, no kidding. I just took a look. $12.49 for a single serving meal: All American Works. Maybe it is really really really good. That is why they call it "Gourmet."
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Zanzinger
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printing: "Has any one tried the dehydrated meals from Mary Janes's Farm?
I think I might order from here for my next trip and just go light and easy."
I’ve had Mary Jane in herbal form, never dehydrated. ;-)
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olsonm37
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Camp Chow: I think it's OK. Will fill you up for sure and the value/meal is good. But I think they really lack seasoning MH: Similar to above but they have some standouts MaryJane: Only had the brownie but it was A+
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acanoer
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Have always used MT. House but I see other manufactures out there.
Just wondering if others have used the other brands.
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egknuti
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Mountain House is good. I also like some of the dinners from Camp Chow and Packit Gourmet-although a little pricey in my opinion. But over the past few years I’ve ramped up my dehydrator and made some really good meals. It takes more time, but you have better control over portions, taste, and sodium.
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boonie
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If you include dehydrated as well as freeze-dried, I like Hawk Vittles, Outdoor Herbivore, and Food for the Sole among others, but everyone's taste is different. I don't necessarily like every meal from them, but there are several that I like well.
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scramble4a5
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I like Alpine Aire a lot.
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boonie
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printing: "Has any one tried the dehydrated meals from Mary Jane’s Farm? " I had forgotten about them. A long time ago I had a couple. I remember liking the red pesto pasta, and not being too crazy about the other. I don't remember exactly what it was - one the curry and /or lentil meals I think. The oatmeal was OK, too.
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mgraber
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You asked about best freeze dried, and after trying many of the meals listed here, many of them delicious, I would still rate MH as the best freeze dried. Not always the best tasting but always good IMO, 30 year shelf life, compact, priced pretty well, always available. We dehydrate and try new brands every year, but overall I would still rate MH as #1 in freeze dried meals. You have to remember that freeze drying is far superior to dehydrating when it comes to flavor retention, nutritional preservation, shelf life, and ease of re-hydrating. This simply cannot be debated, just science. Heat is not good for preserving nutrients and tends to shrink food making it harder to re-hydrate. We still dehydrate many delicious meals and will continue to do so, just worth mentioning that freeze drying is a superior and much more expensive method at preserving food, and is what you originally asked about. I personally hate paying premium prices to companies that use dehydrating, although I have to admit that many are very good and many use some pricey ingredients. The best thing you can do to improve these type of meals is to get insulated pouches to retain the heat so they fully re-hydrate.
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HappyHuskies
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Most of the prepared meals I buy these days are actually dehydrated, rather than freeze dried. Like others I buy meals from the Outdoor Herbivore, Food for the Sole, Hawk Vittles, Packit Gourmet. I'd also add Heather's Choice to the list.
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TitanBow
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One thing I started doing several years ago for my backcountry elk hunts, was making my own meals. They taste way better than a Mountain House, you know and control exactly whats in them, and when you then vaccum seal them, they take up less space than one of the brand name meals. I've done venison stew, Chili Mac, Spanish Rabbit Stew, a latin spice Chicken and Rice, they all have turned out great and rehydrated well. The only thing you got to be mindful of, is chopping or cutting the veggies and meat to about the same size. Keeping things uniform in size makes the drying process way more efficient. I use my 10 tray Cabelas dehydrator, and it works great. Another thing I do is make my own "granola" bars or energy bars. Again, you can control exactly what goes in them, so you know they are healthy or not.
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Jaywalker
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I like some MH, but there are other good and sometimes better. Seems every brand has at least one or two I don’t like though. - Camp Chow - my fave and I love supporting a business on the Gunflint Trail - Backpackers Pantry - lots of good choice, including hue so rancheros for breakfast - Alpine Air - just tried a couple but good so far and will get more - Good To Go - interesting and a bit different; love the risotto and the coconut rice.
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HappyHuskies
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billconner: "Cache Lake has been a favorite if mine. Fry breads and wild rice salad are notable."
Bill,
Thanks for mentioning Cache Lake. I haven't bought anything from them in awhile, but have always found their food to be tasty. Will have to order from them for upcoming trips this fall.
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IndyCanoe
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TipsyPaddler: "But “to be fairrr” I am also a very lazy cook in the BWCA. I like “add water and eat from pouch” type food in the BWCA. More complicated and/or more dirty dish generating food is a “hard no” for me. " "to be fairrr" - Love the subtle Letterkenny reference
Great list. We are always looking for new ideas.
I saw a mention for pack-it gourmet. Agreed they are a little high. I found their meals to be average but wanted to put a plug out for their desserts! The banana pudding and the boston cream Parfait are really good. They also have many individual ingredients if you are looking to build meals on your own.
I didn't see it mentioned but my wife wanted a few low carb meals last year and we tried Next-Mile meals. Again be prepared they are expensive but they were very good.
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ZaraSp00k
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with the 30% discount on Black Friday, I purchase my food for the year from Mountain House, it isn't THE best, or THE least expensive, but with the discount they are far and away THE best value, it even beats putting together food from a grocery store
I'm really glad I did it this year with C-19 causing an interruption in the food supply
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scotttimm
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I like to buy freeze dried fruits and veggies from North Bay Trading, and then make my own meals. Saves some bucks. North Bay Trading
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mjmkjun
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I discovered a less costly source of veggies on Amazon last year. Tried it and liked it. Ideal for groups. bag of Freeze-dried veggies I have tried Camp Chow from Trail Center and liked it a lot.
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