O.K. here's my breakfast--not because I think that it's so great, but because I'd like to upgrade if possible.

Two packets of whole grain instant oatmeal added to boiling water. At altitude, I let this mixture boil for about 10 seconds. Then I turn off the flame. Then I add two heaping spoonfuls of Kretschmer wheat germ, followed by a handful of dried bananas or dried cranberries. Then I cover this and let sit for several minutes. That's it, except for instant coffee.

I use the instant whole grain oatmeal in packets because I'm lazy and it packs so well inside of a bear canister; also, there's no fuel loss as the cook time is, well, instant. All of the heartier oatmeals seem to require a pretty long boiling time, and I want to save fuel. My compromise has been to add the wheat germ. After all, Dr. Frankenstein brought his monster back to life; so too my delicious Kretschmer, I hope, revitalizes my packaged oatmeal.

But, seriously, can I trust the "whole grain" part of my instant oatmeal; or has processing turned all of the nutrients to mush, so to speak? this last is my biggest concern.

Please critique, advise and add suggestions!

Edited by book on 04/10/2012 22:24:27 MDT.

Fully cooked oatmeal is pretty healthy, at least in the cholesterol-fighting category. According to my physician, the more fully-cooked and less instant the oatmeal is, the better it works in this regard. However, many backpackers just want some hot calories.

Oatmeal gets pretty boring to me, so I goose it up with something different each day. Typically that would be tiny chips of f.d. peach or mango or cherry.

--B.G.---

Pretty much any oatmeal is "whole grain" and I don't see anything to suggest you have to worry about losing nutrients from the processing. However, processing can be expected to increase the glycemic load of the oatmeal (due to loss of fiber). Some brands of instant oatmeal try addressing this by adding fiber (e.g. flax). Alternatively, the link below suggests adding proteins (milk) or fat (nuts).

Your other health concerns would be added sugars or other ingredients, and I'm assuming you've looked already checked the ingredients for that.

ref: http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/expert.q.a/06/26/oatmeal.benefits.reheating.jampolis/

I enjoy my porridge on a winter morning and have found that by cooking it at home and drying it, I can reconstitute it easily in a ziploc bag. That way you can get the benefits you want of convenience and nutrition.

Instant oats are just steam-cooked and dried, which is pretty much the procedure for much backpacking food. The comment from Bob's doctor is interesting. As Jeremy's link says the difference is in glycemic index, and how quickly the oatmeal is broken down.

I've been known to knock back dry instant oats, I'm not sure what that's doing to me.

Edited by JohnJ on 04/11/2012 04:53:58 MDT.

Commercially made instant oatmeal is just ground finer!!! The issue is that it often has sodium, flavorings and sugar added,
There is NO difference between steel cut and old-fashioned oats in how your body sees the fiber load/ Eat what you prefer. You can make your own by grinding down the old-fashioned oats down a bit! It is easy.
Anyhow, to boost the calories/fat/protein add in dry milk (any type), dry flavorings (powdered vanilla, cinnamon), finely ground nuts or hemp seeds.

"There is NO difference between steel cut and old-fashioned oats in how your body sees the fiber load"

I agree that nutritionally the two are almost identical, but there is a difference in how our bodies digest the fiber. Not a very big difference, true, but Steel cut take a little longer to break down. Studies say that the glycemic index is very close between the two. What you eat after the oatmeal, fruit or meat for example, can sit there a little longer behind the steel cut , which can cause gas. Another small difference is the amount of mucilage that you get if you cook the Steel Cut longer, to make it as soft as the rolled oats.
For what it's worth, I like both of them and eat one or the other daily.

Wow, great news about the instant oatmeal! Ray Jardine is pretty scathing about the stuff; but I've hoped that today's whole grain instant is a better quality than what he was eating in the years before he wrote his book. Also, he can be a tad particular about food. Anyway, I'm happy with my system and only wanted to change if people could convince me that non-instant whole grain was significantly better than the instant. My trips tend to be only 5-10 days long, so I have a bit of leeway.

My Mrs loves oatmeal, she eats that every morning.
I hate oatmeal, looks like you could build an adobe mud & straw hut with that mix.

My preferred style is no cooking, and indestructible food on the go.
I used to sit down, have the breakfast ritual, but then I can easily procrastinate and eat a lot, then I need to nap, that's a problem when I'm starting a demanding day.

I prep all my stuff at home, so it's ready for consumption on the trail:
hard boiled egg, peeled, salt & peppered, in a zip lock bag. When I get hungry while walking I pop in an egg whole, and I always think of John Belushi at that moment.

30 mins later on the trail, I'll bring out a half sliced cranberry bagel, and I squeeze out a single serving of apricot marmalade, strawberry jam or Nutella.

For breakfast I try to keep on moving, to get away from camp, and make some distance before the high noon sun and the trail invaders swarm out.

Edited by RogerDodger on 04/11/2012 11:19:19 MDT.

We eat oats in some way nearly every day. Oatmeal done right can be very tasty! I grew up with a dad who liked oats/water and salt - yuuuuucccckkkkkkkk.
I'll admit I prefer old-fashioned oats over steel cut - I just like the texture more. Btw, I buy Bob's Red Mill. They are miles better than Quaker!! The color, the taste......and are cheaper when bought in bulk ( I buy 25 lb bags, we really go through them).
If anyone wants oatmeal recipes check out my personal blog at gazingin.com!

Add some granola to your oats or add Craisins, raisins and nuts. Do it every other morning for variety.

EDIT> I have found Trader Joe's instant oatmeal to be much better than Quaker's instant oats and also about 30% more oatmeal per packet.

Edited by Danepacker on 05/25/2012 13:42:31 MDT.

If you're looking for steel cut and instant, McCann's makes a "Quick & Easy" steel cut oatmeal that preps in about six or seven minutes of cozy time (five if you keep it over direct heat). Per the label, it's got 3 grams of fiber (1 insoluble, 2 soluble) per serving (1/4 dry cup; about a cup prepared; 150 calories, less than 1 gram sugar).

Anyway, if you like your oatmeal the consistency of thick porridge (I do), this stuff is great for the trail. Add just a wee bit less than 3/4 cup water per serving, and it'll come out great.

Link to the Wallyworld page: http://www.walmart.com/ip/John-McCann-Quick-Easy-Steel-Cut-Irish-Oatmeal-16-oz/17352589.

Edited by FLRider on 04/13/2012 07:43:15 MDT.

I read this last year here on BPL and used it for 21 days straight last summer.

I would put my steel cut oatmeal in a pot, add water, and the lid and go to bed. That would give the oatmeal all night to soak and soften. In the morning I'd firing up my stove and bring it only to a boil. Ready to eat! It works great and takes very little time and fuel.

I'd just go with oatmeal but if warmer, I bring packets of Grape-Nuts brand cereal repackaged in plastic bags. No bowl needed, just add some milk powder (I just eat them with water). Longer, I'll split between the 2.

OP said, "I'd like to upgrade if possible"

Here's a different paradigm: Use the spiffiest whole-grain, organic, macro-biotic, dolphin-safe oats you want and. . . . bake oatmeal cookies. At home. Put in raisins/craisins if you want some fruit to, er, "keep you regular". Sweeten as much or as little as you like (honey, brown sugar, white, maple syrup, whatever). Add that wheat germ if you want. Nuts if you want for the higher calories/gram of their fats. And bake them longer at a lower heat than usual for crispy, dry cookies.

Savings: Fuel weight. Time spent cooking and pot cleaning. Body heat (yes, hot oatmeal in your belly helps a bit, but you lose much more in 20 minutes of making breakfast versus just getting up and hiking and nibbling cookies as you go). Potentially stove and pot weight/bulk if you go with cookless dinners as well.

And if you don't like to cook at home? Trader Joe's Oatmeal/Cranberry "Dunkers" are pretty darn tasty and 180 calories per 1.3 ounce serving (2 cookies). Double that for a light breakfast Quadruple it for a more substanial breakfast (720 calories, 5.2 ounces). Baking your own, you ought to be able to beat that with nuts and healthy oils.

I also like avoiding the big, heavy breakfast all at once. I'll nibble a few while breaking camp, stuff the reminder in my shirt pocket, and eat them over the first few miles of trail.

+1 David Thomas.

I'm a great cook at home, but on the trail I want simplicity, to free my time and mind for bizarre philosophical questions of "what am I doing with my life?"

I don't want to eat junk food, so I invest time in preparing as much as I can at home, so I can eat fairly good tasting and healthy food on the trail that is no-cook and ready-to-eat.

I really like the stove gadgets, JetBoil, MSR, etc. especially when there is a good sale. I try to find a reason, like earthquake or natural disaster. but *FOR ME* I can't justify the cooking system weight. I don't like soups. I eat chocolate covered espresso beans for caffeine instead of liquid coffee. Hard boiled eggs instead of fried eggs. prepackaged peppered smoked salmon instead of re-hydrating and cooking raw protein. I also cook rice and ground beef with almonds at home, then vacuum seal and freeze it, by day-2 it's thawed naturally and tastes like left-overs. No trail cooking for me.

Me too.

Not really a huge fan of breakfast first thing on the trail - I find it too hard to eat straight away in the morning for some reason.

I usually drink some powdered oat mix with palatinose then have a more solid (well quite mushy in fact) cereal-based something later on after I have a few miles done. Or I'll nibble bars as above.

Good points, John and David. But in the Sierra I'm not going to leave oatmeal out overnight--bears, etc. Similarly, I wonder how those cookies will do in my bear canister. I'm mostly using a Bearikade Scout now--if possible--so things get pretty crammed. Again, here's the advantage of pre-packaged oatmeal; it packs small,flat, and is indestructible. Finally, I want my coffee in the morning! HOWEVER, so much is habit/routine; maybe it's time to try something new. I like the cookie idea and it might work!

Btw, on packaged cookies? You might check out Kashis line - they are quite durable and if they fall apart, no loss!

Bacon for the win!

calories/per ounce/per cubic inch aside, I love these multi grain pretzels from trader Joes.


I put them in no-crush clear plastic containers from empty oregano spices, seasonings or that Kraft Parmersan cylinder container (the plastic, not the cardboard one)

Thanks Sarah; will do. Say hello to Stehekin and environs for me if you get up there; I miss it. (My grandad's cabin is still there.)

I so hope to get all my boys up there in the next year or two, so pretty!!

I've had really good luck with pemmican for breakfast. I get no hunger for many hours, even doing trail maintenance. Another bar for lunch and I'm good to go until dinner. I purchased the pemmican from US Wellness Meats, the kind without cherries or honey. I want to make my own pemmican soon.

Back in my oatmeal days the best way was to use regular cooking instead of instant oats and put them in the pot with water, dried fruit and nuts, powdered milk and perhaps a little cinnamon. Let it soak overnight. Heat and eat in the morning.

>> Here's a different paradigm: Use the spiffiest whole-grain, organic, macro-biotic, dolphin-safe oats you want and. . . . bake oatmeal cookies. At home. Put in raisins/craisins if you want some fruit to, er, "keep you regular". Sweeten as much or as little as you like (honey, brown sugar, white, maple syrup, whatever).

On a scale of 1 to duh, this just pegged my duh-meter! As in, "why didn't I think of that"?! There's nothing in the oatmeal cookies I wouldn't put in my oatmeal in the morning. I do enjoy the hot oats on cold morning, but half of my backpacking is done when it's reasonably hot out, and I find I usually skip the hot oats on those mornings. This might be just about the perfect solution!

Here's a different paradigm: Use the spiffiest whole-grain, organic, macro-biotic, dolphin-safe oats you want and. . . . bake oatmeal cookies. At home. Put in raisins/craisins if you want some fruit to, er, "keep you regular". Sweeten as much or as little as you like (honey, brown sugar, white, maple syrup, whatever)

Monster Cookies are another variation of that theme. Nuts, raisins or other dried fruit can be added or used as a substitute for the chocolate chips.

The ring from a standard sized mason jar lid is a great mold for making dense and uniformly large monster cookies that don't crumble so easily.

I always bring fiber cereal in zip locs-(1 cup),20-30 blueberries with Enfamil infant formula. When you are out in the middle of no where blueberries taste amazing. The Enfamil infant formula comes in (0.62oz) packets plus they are fortified with a lot of vitamins and minerals intended for little ones. MMMMM!!!!!

I too am a great fan of hard boiled eggs (preferrably 2 per day) plus a bagel with cream cheese and a beef stick (the long ones). That's a high protein jump-start to my day. Add a liter of Tang and I've got a down home breakfast.

I leave the eggs in the shell as they last longer that way (still sterile inside). I store the eggs in my cook pot, wrapped in a bandana for cushioning. Yes, I have to deal with the shells but the weight penalty is tiny and my trash bag is huge.

Unfortunately, three days' worth is usually all I can carry. Six eggs and three Bagels don't compress worth a darn and the bagels will stale quickly. Meat sticks are a non-issue; they'll fit anywhere.

The big advantage to me is there's no need to fire the stove in the morning; it's up, pack, and out for me. Make the miles before the afternoon thunderstorms hit.


I find it hard enough to gag down food the first four trail days anyway, so I carry something I know I'll (eventually) eat.

To me, instant oatmeal has less flavor and nutrition that the envelope it is packed in. YUCK! It does make great wallpaper paste though; gotta give it that.

If I really want a hot breakfast or when I find myself with more trail breakfasts than I have eggs and bagels, Cream of Wheat with either raisins or cranberries is actual an edible substitute. On really cold mornings, I must admit I'll grab one of these over the eggs....or in addition to them.

Edited by wandering_bob on 04/27/2012 22:54:41 MDT.

I like chia seeds soaked in water for 20 minutes, add honey, apple/banana, granola. No cooking, healthy, and I find it tasty. Its especially good if you can soak the seeds in coconut water, but carrying in coconut water isn't very practical. Yeah chia seeds probably sound wierd, but 1/4 cup dry is ~120 calories with 6grams protein.

Chia is very good for you! :-) The fat in them is amazing stuff and high in Omegas as well........and fiber!

On the trail I am a big fan of the Pack-It Gourmet Smoothies. Just add water, shake and drink. They have a nice Fat-Protein-Carb (13g-35g-42g) profile that really gives you sustained energy.

Is there a risk that dropped seeds might sprout and eventually cover the hills and dales with chia? I'm not a chia farmer so I have no idea what climate zones they can get a toehold in.

Down here in SoCal, chia growing wild from dropped seeds would be a non-issue - it's pretty much everywhere it could grow already! You could probably just take it from the trailside on some hikes, if you timed it right for harvesting, and then were willing to deal with winnowing, etc.

Chia is a native plant through much of the southwest and was a staple for many native groups.

http://www.trailcooking.com/recipes/creamsicle-protein-smoothie

Randy, that is my version of their smoothies.

I bring Chia Goodness which has some additional nuts/seeds in it. I get it at my local Whole Foods. The taste is pretty good but on one trip I added my desert (Mountainhouse Raspberry Crumble) to the mix and it was delicious. I now prepackage the concoction before a trip using one Mountainhouse package for four breakfasts.

What do you look like after ingesting Chia seeds for days and drinking losts of water while getting lots of sunshine? :)

Edited by veganaloha on 05/20/2012 01:50:36 MDT.