I have always had an issue with this. Breakfast and Dinner are easy; FBC works for me. But for a non-cooking lunch, what do you do/use/eat? Looking for suggestions. I always seem to have way too much left over, and also don't really have any variation. What's easy as well?

One scenario is just an overnighter. What do you like?

Other scenario is a multiday (5 day) trek. What do you bring for lunch?

Thanks is advance

For an overnighter, I might take a lunch that I sit down to eat. You can take pretty much anything in this scenario, but I'd usually have a wrap or sandwich of some sort.

On longer trips, I do the snack thing. I basically split my lunch across a series of 2-300 calorie snacks eaten every 2-3 hours. I can choose to stop and eat on a short break, or eat while I walk if I want/need to cover some ground. This also better fits with my eating habits in the front country.

I often do a string of snacks if I am covering miles. At night I pack up a "day bag" of foods I can easily eat (think single wrapped items or in snack bags) and then in the morning I add this to the front of my pack for easy access. I also include drink mixes, etc in it.

Now though, lets say I have time on my hands or it is colder? Then I plan on stopping and cooking - and making a hot drink (usually a ton of tea) so that I get rehydrated and warmed up. And usually I make a lunch about half the size of dinner so I can digest it easier before I start walking again.

Items like instant hummus (homemade or commercial) and heavy duty crackers, cheese, wraps of various sorts, etc are also nice. Sometimes I make couscous salads that only take cool water.

Not too much.Like Chris, 2-3 snacks works.
Usually, Jerky, part of a nut/energy bar and/or some chocolate.
Food is just fuel on the trail.

I pretty much just do bars and have them in my pack's hipbelt pocket to eat on the go. I daily have a protein bar (2.5oz 280 cal), a nut bar (1.6oz 240 cal), a Cliff bar (2.5oz 240 cal), and a Dove bar (1.2oz 200 cal). In addition, I usually have a small baggie of Jelly Belly's, Skittles, or Jolley Ranchers, but typically have only a few per day.

(Weights and cal are approximate but within 10%)

I guess I would call it extended snacks: crackers, bagel, dried fruit, candy, salami, pepperoni, cheese, granola bars.

I've been working on a SUL cook system for day hikes, using a small cup and Esbit or alcohol burner to make hot drinks or soup. I've entertained hot lunches for really long days on multi-day hikes, but never got around to it. It seems that stopping to cook would provide a real rest, rather than a quick snack and trudge on.

This is easy for me, as I normally do not eat lunch during the day when at home/working. I tend to eat a small snack once in a while. So I do the same when hiking.

The exception for when working is that if the day is stressful (of course goal is to eliminate stress in life), then I will take a lunch break... but the intent is to relieve stress, so I may run, walk, or even go the the gym. And I may sit down and eat a meal.

The exception for backpacking is that if I have a very hard section of hiking (i.e. huge elevation gain, extremely hot conditions, etc.), then I may take a "lunch" break. This could be at 10:00 AM, Noon, 2:00 PM, etc. Again it is to relax, re-coup, etc., not to eat a meal... but I often do eat a meal, but almost never cook something unless it is a cold, freezing, winter day.

I mostly do the snack-type lunches: jerky, dried fruit, bars, maybe string cheese and/or salame on shorter or colder trips.

Once in a while, if I know I'm going to be stopping for a proper lunch I'll do something like tortillas (they fit perfect at the bottom of a bear can) with a tuna pouch, some cheese and a packet or two of Taco sauce.

some of dehydrated hummus mixes aren't bad to mix with cheese and crackers.

What I'd like to try someday, is rehydrating lunches with cold water. I've heard of folks making up a dehydrated pasta salad. I don't exactly know the details but I think that about a half hour or so before lunch, they stop, add cold water to their freezer bag to rehydrate the noodles, put it back in their pack somewhere safe (outside pouch seems like a good place) and keep walking. Once the noodles have rehydrated, they add olive oil or italian dressing or whatever, maybe some salame or cheese and presto, you've got pasta salad for lunch without any cooking or long amounts of down time.

Nicholas,

Easy to do!

http://www.trailcooking.com/recipes/chick-pea-and-sweet-corn-salad

This one you can do with cold water, ramen rehydrates easily with cool water - just give it 30 minutes:
http://www.trailcooking.com/recipes/bacon-and-cheese-pasta

http://www.trailcooking.com/recipes/pepperoni-pasta-salad

http://www.trailcooking.com/recipes/no-cook-chicken-cranberry-couscous-salad

http://www.trailcooking.com/recipes/lentil-and-tomato-salad

http://www.trailcooking.com/recipes/honey-mustard-pasta-salad

http://www.trailcooking.com/recipes/tuna-lemon-couscous-salad

http://www.trailcooking.com/recipes/mediterranean-lentil-salad

http://www.trailcooking.com/recipes/lentil-couscous-salad

http://www.trailcooking.com/recipes/spring-pasta-salad

And I could up plenty more recipes ;-)

snacking works well for me

Definitely a 'sit down and look at the view' thing for us.

Of late, I have been having Pita bread with salami, cheese, jam, honey, and the occasional fruit loaf biscuit. In Europe - French bread instead of Pita bread.

Cheers

Hey Roger,

You might like to try the Wattle Valley Soft Wraps. The Wholegrain is quite good and they don't break up in your pack. The packaging is a good durable Ziploc for home dehydrated meals and/or rubbish

Mine usually consists of good cheese, good dark chocolate and dried fruit.

Roger didn't mention tea. Is that allowed? No tea?

Tea should be with all meals ;-) There is just something about tea and hiking!

For overnighters I'll bring whatever sounds good. I do alot of chilie dogs, or brats, sandwiches, do a french dip thats good.

longer hikes with no cook lunches I do crackers/tortillas, tuna, cheese, peanut butter, jams/jellies, salami, pepperoni, summer sausage, dried fruit,nuts, chocolate, candy

I can happily eat any combination of this stuff for days

Edited by sparky on 03/07/2011 16:40:55 MST.

I'm firmly convinced that the early British mountaineers were onto something a hundred years ago with their tea. If you drink your tea very strong, then the caffeine can increase urination. However, if you drink your tea that is weak, the increased water offsets the caffeine. That seems to be one small hedge against altitude sickness.

I was never a tea drinker until I did my first trek in Nepal, but I have been a tea drinker ever since.

--B.G.--

I snack as I go along at about 200 cals per hour. However, I will also often stop for 30 mins at lunch to write and think. My food during the day consists of wheat free organic crackers, jerky plus organic almond and brazil nut butter. Same thing hour after hour and day after day.

I would think that drinking tea in the 3rd world would be good defense against water-borne bugs, assuming the water is boiled.

"I would think that drinking tea in the 3rd world would be good defense against water-borne bugs, assuming the water is boiled."

Exactly. How wise you are, Doctor Wambaugh.

--B.G.--