I have always had trouble finding decent backcountry breakfasts with the nutritional content I desire at good weights. I can't normally stand fully cooked oatmeal- it tastes so-so and makes me feel sick for a long time after I eat it. I read somewhere about Museli, which is basically uncooked oatmeal with some other stuff in it. I used it for the first 11 days of my recent AT expedition and it was absolutely wonderful. Each morning I would have 1 1/3 cups (dry) of it which included chopped pecans, craisins or evaporated apples, brown sugar, and dry milk. It was the best all-around breakfast I have ever had in the backcountry. I would heat it a bit on cold mornings, but not to the point of cooking. It ate like a good cereal, but had better nutrition, and kept my digestive system on a great schedule. It also didn't feel like a brick in my stomach when I was hiking. Packs small, light weight, very easy to season to taste, good calories, super cheap, and can be done freezer bag style for no cleanup. best of all, it is supremely healthy! I am going to start mixing and eating it regularly for breakfast at home to replace store cereals. I got excited about about it and just wanted to share the experience with everyone. Hope it is useful

Edited by willspower3 on 05/20/2007 20:37:31 MDT.

Ive done the same thing
Oatmeal + some mashed up almonds + a little water = breakfast

Last trip I did granola with dried berries, some almonds and some dehydrated milk. It was good! I think I'll go for a muesli next time, that sounds good!

My favorite is Mueslix with 1/3 cup of powdered milk all together in a zip lock bag. Just add cold water. Still need to cook water for my coffee.

granola + dry milk + Hammer Nutrition Perpetuem + enough hot water to make the powders into paste....

I eat 2 large squares of Weetabix. Eat hot or cold with Nido and very nutritional. Weighs next to nothing. To keep from crumbling until I crumble it in my bowl ( ! ) I wrap 2 blocks together with that sticky wrap, Press and Seal. Add raisins or anything else when ready to eat.

I eat this almost daily and love it. I mix granola and oatmeal together, no cook. Sometimes I add powdered milk and cinamon. Sometimes a banana. Sometimes instead of regular oats, I use Weight Control Oatmeal (form the supermarket) because it has flavor, milk and 7 grams of protein.

When I'm at school I practically live off of weetabix and Quakers maple and brown sugar oatmeal. I would like to try regular oatmeal cold, I have had it once or twice, adding granola and grapes really made it better. On a separate note it is a real shame that the weetabix here in the US is not the same as the English ones. They are made in Canada, and I have to say that I can taste quite a difference for being so similar.

During my undergrad, I worked for a survival company in Southern Utah. We lived off of uncooked oatmeal for breakfast! I think it's great, so long as its not the instant variety, which is too mushy for me cooked or uncooked.

CyndiH's Super Oatmeal at Freezer Bag Cooking has been my favorite. I throw in some flax seed and some honey. But, for a change, I do like home-made granola with milk (Alton Brown's, not Nora Ann's).

Edited by jim_cook on 09/05/2007 20:39:20 MDT.

Rolled oats, raisins, and brown sugar = breakfast. Sometimes I can convince my traveling buddy to take some honey along... MMmmMMmmm

For nutrition I love Emergen-C, although I have not come across it since I have been in Aotearoa.

> I read somewhere about Museli, which is basically uncooked oatmeal with some other stuff in it.

That's Muesli, and is supposed to have originated in Switzerland. I make my own, 4 gallons at a time:
Oats
AllBran
Wheat germ
Raisins
Sultanas
Currants
Chopped dried apricots
Chopped dried apples
Chopped dried figs
Chopped dried dates
Peanuts (unsalted)
Slivered almonds
Crunched walnuts

Eaten with apple juice, natural yoghurt and chopped fresh fruit.

That's it? No prep or cooking eh? Can't you make them into little bars or something?

> That's it? No prep or cooking eh? Can't you make them into little bars or something?
Yep, that's it.
Make it into bars ... why bother?

But here in Oz we can buy Muesli bars anyhow.
Not, mind you, that they are very good in comparison with the stuff I make. You can't expect commercial packaged foods to have anywhere near as good contents as the glossy pic on the wrapping would have you believe. And the commercial ones are usually held together by sugar or some sort of sweetening syrup. I guess the marketing guys think we are all totally wedded to sugar and fat and salt.

Matt, you can get Emergen-C online at a number of places. Amazon sells small cases of it. Some grocery stores sell the small cases as well.
I carry two flavors of it on my website as well. I love the stuff!

Adding fruit? Nuts? Sugar? You are all appallingly soft!

Oatmeal + cold water = drammock.

Oatmeal + cold water + heat + stirring = porridge.

The only addition required is salt!

(But for a really filling meal, try peasemeal brose).

I've made my own granola for years. It's mostly oatmeal with other stuff tossed in that I like. A few weeks ago I searched the web for muesli recipes - mostly oatmeal with other stuff tossed in. After trying a few muesli versions, I've gone back to my trusty granola recipe. If there's a difference between the two, I don't know what it is. On my last backpack trip I ate granola for breakfast by prepackaging small bags of it with some powdered milk and then adding water when I was ready to eat it. It was much quicker than the cooked breakfasts I used to make on backpack trips - mostly oatmeal with other stuff tossed in....

"Matt, you can get Emergen-C online at a number of places. Amazon sells small cases of it. Some grocery stores sell the small cases as well.
I carry two flavors of it on my website as well. I love the stuff!"

Do you ship to New Zealand?

I don't mind shipping items like that, as they are small. I can bet if you live in NZ it isn't so easy finding it!