Tag: hiking

Summary
Rating: 3 of 5 long handled spoons
Ease of Prep: 5 of 5 (open & add hot water for one soak)
Possible hacks: add a can or packet of cooked chicken, paprika, more cheese, tomato sauce, salsa or ketchup, garlic powder

I think the “forever young” part is supposed to allude to the box mac & cheese that kids like, but it doesn’t have the tanginess that I always associate with box mac & cheese. It’s missing something. It’s completely sufficient and there’s a ton of it in the package, but it needs something, at least on the couch, and probably in camp too. I threw in a bunch of paprika and some extra shredded cheddar. I will say there is a TON of veggies in it, they did not skimp on the corn & peas, though I am not seeing as much carrot.

I wish it was easier to divide up these 2 serving meals because this one is a BIG CHONKER of a meal. I am not sure I could finish it on my own even after a day of hiking, especially if I add something for taste, like a packet of cooked chicken.

Once in awhile I get a crunch from pasta that did not rehydrate completely so I definitely recommend waiting longer than the package prescribed 10-12 minutes, though I did skimp a little on the water in hindsight, as everything is generally soupy, so perhaps I shouldn’t blame them for that.

I will give it another try in camp and see how it goes. It’s not bad, just not stand out.

Summary:

Rating: 3 of 5 long handled spoons
Ease of prep: 4 of 5 spoons (will have to reduce water amount)
Possible Hacks: add paprika, packets of salsa, bacon bits, jerky; bring a biscuit or flatbread to add more bulk

So that I can remember what backpacking meals I like and which ones I had, I am going to write short reviews of them here with notes on how I prepared them & potential hacks to make them better.

I had planned a camping trip this week but I ended up canceling my reservation because the low temperature is near freezing, it’s been raining a deluge & all the hiking trails have been closed, and I have a three season tent. I decided it wasn’t the best idea to go. I am probably still going to drive to the park I was going to camp at to get out of the house & check it out, but the trails will likely still be closed.

I had stocked up on backpacking meals. I like to eat a meal at home at least once to make sure it’s not absolutely revolting, or if it tends to say it needs more water than it actually needs.

This morning I decided to try out the Summit Breakfast Scramble from Backpacker’s Pantry from the comfort of my own couch since I could not be out on the trail.

It’s described as “scrambled eggs, red beaks, cheddar cheese and peppers.” The directions say to put in 1 cup of boiled water and stir, seal and wait 8 minutes, then stir again and wait 7 minutes. I found it was still pretty soupy after that, and waited another 5 minutes. It was still pretty soupy, so next time I will try reducing the amount of water. The taste wasn’t bad, and it could have been eaten just that way, but I wanted scrambled eggs, darn it. I tossed in some shredded cheddar that I had in the fridge to see if it would thicken up any, and it didn’t really. I added a packet of Sonic salsa for a little extra kick and ate it.

Not the best breakfast ever, but it would be fine in camp or on the trail.

Thinking out loud, so to speak: Should I make a rating system/matrix? I think maybe this would be 3 out of 5 long handled spoons – not bad, not great. Inoffensive, but I am actually still hungry, so would likely need to plan to supplement this with something if I was planning on being active. It wasn’t difficult to make, but I have to reduce the amount of water a bit. Unless I add jerky to soak in the rest of the water an rehydrate, which will add some protein to it. From past egg based experience, I know adding paprika is a good step, though I skipped it this morning.

Would I buy this again? Yeah, unless I find like some holy grail of breakfast scramble in a bag that becomes my go-to.