Hikers Need Calories

Nutrition is something that is easily overlooked on a thru-hike, and one that is often cited as contributing to a prospective 2000-miler's failure. I admit, it's one of the things that still concerns me. That's why I decided to make a trip to Wal-Mart and do a test-run of a resupply.

I hoped to benefit from this mainly to get in the mindset of what things would make good backpacking food, what wouldn't, and what I might expect to spend.

Everything (mostly) repackaged...

Here's the list of items I purchased, categorized into different meals:

Breakfast

• Instant Oatmeal, Fruit & Cream variety - 10 packets total; 2 Strawberry & Cream, 2 Blueberry  & Cream, 4 Peach  & Cream, and 2 Banana  & Cream. Each breakfast would include 2 packets (probably not mixing flavors), which would be 230 Calories, ~200mg Potassium, ~50g Carbs, 6g protein, 40% Vitamin A/Iron/Vitamin B6, 20% Calcium. Just boil ~1C water, add the two packets, then let it sit in the cozy for 2 minutes.
• Toaster Pastries - I picked up the Brown Sugar Cinnamon variety, as I find the fruit-filled with icing variety too sweet in the morning. Each one gives 200 Calories, 70mg Potassium, 37g Carbs, 2g protein, 10% Vitamin A/Iron/Vitamin B6. Just eat as-is. I may either use as a breakfast (probably eating 2, or doing 1 of these, with 1 donut stick), or my first snack during the day. I'll have to refine my snack options to really figure that out.
• Donut Sticks - Many people swear by Little Debbie Honey Buns. I know I like those, and I can definitely see their value on the trail. I want to experiment while I'm still safe in a house with other food options, though, so I decided to grab some of the donut sticks. Each one gives 220 Calories, 25mg Potassium, 26g Carbs, 1g protein, and 15% Calcium. Since these don't require cooking, I'd likely boil water to drink some coffee or some other warm beverage. Or just eat one of these and a Poptart on a morning where I just want to get started quickly and not deal with boiling water. Like the Poptarts, these will probably be an ambiguous mix-and-match between breakfast and a first snack.
• Carnation Instant Breakfast - I've never had these before, so I don't know how well they'll serve me. I won't be bringing milk to mix them with, and I've never really dealt with dried milk before. This is going to take more figuring out, but I'll start with seeing how these serve me with just water. Or perhaps I'll give powdered milk a shot. Without milk, each packet gives 130 Calories, 320mg Potassium, 27g Carbs, 5g protein, 15% Vitamin A, 140% Vitamin C, 25% Calcium/Iron/Vitamin D/E/K, 20% Vitamin B6, and 10% Vitamin B12. Those values would obviously increase a nice amount with some powdered milk. Can even be mixed with instant coffee packets for a little kick, without having to deal with the awful taste of instant coffee.

Lunch

• Hard salami, sharp cheddar, tortillas - They've got a ton of flavor, and amazing nutritional value. It's a common hiker lunch for a reason. I find no reason to switch from it.
• Ramen - The single packets of Ramen could serve as variety if need be.

Snacks/Add-ins

• M&Ms - I prefer to not mix the different snacks together into GORP. At least not right now. I'd rather grab into different bags to take what I want - when things are mixed together, I tend to search for one thing that I'm craving, anyway. I went with pretzel for now, but will also go for peanut.
• Dried cranberries - Something nice and simple, like raisins, that can be picked at on their own, or added to oatmeal, or even the salami wraps I suppose. Nice and light (surprisingly cheap, too: I got a half pound bag for $1.25), and more of a tart flavor than sweet - which I like.
• Goldfish crackers - I like salty snacks, and Goldfish crackers would be a good way to get that, while still having a durable cracker (unlike saltines), which are actually a decent source of protein. Go figure. I might mix a small bag of GORP (even though I don't have raisins or peanuts in this...) from these three items and carry it in the hip belt for easier access to the three while hiking, but I'll keep the "bulk" separated in the food bag itself.
• Beef jerky - Prefer sweet & hot flavor, but jerky itself is just awesome, regardless of flavor. Yummy protein.
• Haribo Gummy bears - I really like them. I'll pick some up on occasion as a treat.
• Austin variety cracker packets - I had these in bagged lunch in elementary school all the time. The idea of variety isn't as much as if I didn't have the Goldfish, but these will still serve as a change of pace in the texture/taste departments. Pack away easily, although being individually wrapped does mean I need to pack out a little more. Not a big deal, really.
• StarKist Tuna packets - I figured I would list them with the add-ins. Varieties of fish packed in foil packets, already with oils and the wonderful nutritional boosts of fish. Yummy. Add to various dinners or the lunches.
• I'll likely also pick up things like raisins (or other dried fruits), peanuts, cashews, or almonds (especially almonds, actually) to serve as stand-alone snacks or "seasonings" for oatmeal or something else. Actually, I'm far more likely to have a variety of nut in lieu of the Goldfish while on the trail, and get my salty fixes from the Austin packets. In addition, I'll likely be carrying a small bottle of olive oil, and possibly a bottle of hot sauce (or a bunch of sauce packs from Taco Bell stuffed into a bag to keep them organized). Because I can.

Dinner

• Idahoan Instant mashed potatoes - I've never even given these a glance before while shopping for meals I'd be making on a normal stove. I'd heard they're fantastic for backpacking, though, so I decided to give them a shot. They're ridiculously simple to make - just add boiling water to them (or visa versa) and mix. With freezer bag cooking, this is essentially "pour hot water in bag, seal, and squeeze." Light weight, cheap, and lots of options on how to spice it up.
• Betty Crocker Stuffing - I got some chicken flavor to test out at home. Again, a nice balance between nutritional, economical, and weight/bulk value. Just gotta mix the stuff with some boiling water and let it all sit in a cozy for a few minutes. I can see myself splitting the box in half, mixing each half with 1 packet of mashed potatoes and a packet of tuna for a super hardy meal. I'll see how it tastes on its own, and how the mashed potatoes taste on their own. But mixing the two of them without the tuna will likely be a reality.
• Knorr pasta sides - Another item that I've never even batted an eye at while shopping in a non-backpacking mindset. They're $1 each, and give tons of variety - which I think is their best feature. Another item of "add boiling water to noodles + seasoning and let sit for X minutes" preparation. I picked up two different varieties to test out: Rice Sides Steak Fajita and Asian Sides Teriyaki Noodles.
• Pasta Roni - I picked up a box of Angel Hair pasta with herb sauce. The directions suggest that it could follow the boiling water + box contents + waiting formula fine. There were a couple other varieties on the shelf, all of which seemed viable to eat as-is, or add some of the tuna packets to.
• Mac and Cheese - Enough said. I haven't actually tried to cozy-cook it yet, though, so I may scrap this as an option.

I feel that these are worth their own shot. Yum.

In all, I was able to get a very solid supply of food for a decent price, and enough variety that I think it'll be easy to keep myself eating over the course of my thru-hike. I'm glad that all of this easily fit in the bag I was intending to use as my food bag, as this is more than I plan on carrying at any point during the hike. 

But for now, I practice cooking these up using the cozy method. Because repackaging all of this and then discussing it has very much peaked my appetite.