If you have a big budget and a small appetite, freeze-dried meals will work to keep you healthy on the trail. I have always found the servings too small and I’d need two of them to fill me up. They are certainly convenient and super light to carry. With a little imagination, you can end up with hearty, filling meals at less than a quarter of the cost of Kraft Dinner (KD), rice, noodles or pasta dishes, which, except for the KD, can be carried in the container they come in. KD will fit easily into a medium Ziploc.
In another Ziploc, carry a cup or so of dried vegetables, available in the bulk-food area of the grocery store. The dried veggies can be rehydrated by boiling for a few minutes; or, if you are coming back to the same camp, leave the veggies in a pot with some water to rehydrate during the day.
The KD or rice package can be added to the water in which you have boiled the veggies. The veggies can be added, at the start, to noodle or pasta dishes. If available, you can add smoked sausage pieces to any of these items. Fresh or smoked fish will also add to the enjoyment.
Pilot Biscuits are round or square and look just like a giant soda cracker without any salt. They do not get stale or mouldy and they last forever if you can keep them dry and uncrushed. When you run out of bread at camp or at the cabin, a hoarded package or two of Pilot Biscuits will save the day. They are bland (but filling) just to munch on, but are quite delightful with jam, cheese, honey or whatever slathered on them. They develop a porridge-like consistency if you pour hot milk or even water on them in a bowl or a mug. They are also very good broken up in or just floated on top of a bowl of soup, stew or just in the gravy remaining on your plate or in the pan. They are really delicious heated up in the grease left over from the breakfast bacon.
Pilot Biscuits are more common in Canada’s Maritime provinces, but are available in Porter Creek at the grocery store and the butcher shop.
