Lunch Menu Ideas/Suggestions?

[Indigo Hawk]

I never stop for lunch on trail and my lunch is always my home-made trail mix, made of raisins, walnuts, almonds, hemp seeds, golden flax seeds and dried figs that I buy from Costco in bulk. Lots of calories thanks to tons of healthy fats and waaaaay cheaper than protein bars and cliff bars. That's why I do tons of mail drops.

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My original plan was mail drops with homemade meal bars and meals but somewhere I read it wasn't reliable.

I've settled on meal bars and the occasional hot lunch. Almond or peanut butter (Nutella is amazing but too sweet for me most days) on tortillas are also on the menu.

[kestral]

Try adding a teaspoon or three of instant hot chocolate to the instant coffee. I liked it, as it sweetened, added creamer and added a mocha flavor. I mixed up a Mayo jar with the following mix: 1 tsp instant coffee, 3 tsps. creamers (or instant milk or Nido) and 3 tsps. hot chocs. Add to a mug to taste and add hot OR cold water. Found the cold water works well on hot days.

sounds good! For added calories you could try grace brand coconut milk powder (50 grams -1packet = 340 calories.). I make a similar mix with the coconut milk powder due to lactose issues. I use cocoa powder and a little coconut sugar. Like a mounds bar coffee milkshake!

[AngryGerman]

If my lunch is on the go it is usually GORP and a Cliff Builders bar and some cheese. I always keep hard candy in easy to reach places too. If I plan on stopping it usually involves a wrap, some sort of spreadable meat w/cheese, nuts, and so on. It also depends on what day I am out from resupply. First meal out of town is usually fresh fruit, cooked steak, a wrap with veggies on it and some A1. MMMMMMMMM yummy!

To each his/her own! HYOH! Consider the scenarios you'd be eating lunch in. You will have to adjust fire as you go and as your appetite changes

[CRC]

Has anyone tried the savory meal bars like Tanka or Epic?

I just found those while browsing for meal bar recipes.

The chicken sirracha Epic bars are pretty good. The texture is a bit strange at first but the flavor is good and they keep you filled up for a long time - not like a high carb bar that gives you a burst of energy then you leaves you hungry in an hour later, more like a slow burning fuel. I like it for breakfast too - followed by some cashew/raisin/craisin/sunflower seed trail mix.

[BuckeyeBill]

I usually have Triscuits with cheese (Swiss or a hard cheddar) and salami. Some times I use a potted meat like Red Devil ham or Chicken. I know I have to haul the weight of a couple cans as trash afterwards, but it helps keep me from suffering from food burn out. There is always Shug's favorite, Spam packages.

[Puddlefish]

I just winged it, depending on what kind of store I'd resupplied at recently. I liked buying mini cheeses, Laughing Cow, Baby Bel, string cheese. Dr. Kracker's crackers were sturdy and delicious, but rarely available. Sesame sticks were a delicious change, and not as fragile as I'd feared. Summer sausage was good occasionally, and pre-sliced pepperoni also lasted a while. Fresh fruit for the first day. Pretty much just variations on the ploughman's platter.

Almond butter if available, peanut butter tuna packets, and tortillas were also in the mix. Tortillas were heavy, and I got sick of them fairly quickly. I tried to split packages with other hikers, or leave half the package in hiker boxes.

After a few weeks on the trail, it's glorious to just walk down the supermarket aisle, pick out something different and think "I can make this work!"

[Lib]

Check this site https://theepicenter.com/

[Venchka]

Check this site https://theepicenter.com/

I do better at Walmart. Just pay attention.
Wayne


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[Dogwood]

Do on trail as you do at home...bars, smoothies, energy drinks, etc for lunch. On trail my eating habits tend not to follow a strict B-fast, lunch, and dinner agenda. If I do stop for a lunch it's basically a glorified larger snack fest. However, I do like to stop on desert hikes during the midday hrs to wait out the heat. At those times I might opt for dry hummus reconstituted with EVOO, lemon, and rep pepper flakes with chips or crackers(something like Kashi Fire Roasted or Mary Janes 9 seed crackers) at a place where there is water. I also easily grow trail sprouts that can be added to a wrap with some hard cheese, tuna(foil packed in olive oil!), etc. On short hikes I'll throw in an avocado, semi hard tomato, or small cucumber. Some nuts or sprinkling of shelled hemp seed rounds it out.

[AlamoHiker]

Obviously the only REAL answer is rib eye steaks for every meal.

[DLP]

I've been going stoveless for 3 years and usually rehydrate my lunch while walking.

Cold rehydrated pasta and Costco or Buitoni pesto. (Pasta has to be cooked, dehydrated and then rehydrated.)
I haven't had pesto go bad on me. YMMV

Cold rehydrated refried beans, Minute rice, Fritos, Taco Bell hot sauce and True Lime

• Rehydrated Angel Hair - (precooked and dehydrated at home)
  and 1/3 package of Mountain House Chili Mac with Beef, 2 oz Corn chips, Fritos

Rehydrated 1/3 package Mountain House Breakfast Skillet Pro-Pak, half a carton of Golden Grill Russet Hash Brown Potatoes on a tortilla with hot sauce and ketchup.

As others have said: P&J or Spam or tuna packet or cheese and salami on a tortilla.

[Dogwood]

The chicken sirracha Epic bars are pretty good. The texture is a bit strange at first but the flavor is good and they keep you filled up for a long time - not like a high carb bar that gives you a burst of energy then you leaves you hungry in an hour later, more like a slow burning fuel. I like it for breakfast too - followed by some cashew/raisin/craisin/sunflower seed trail mix.

Same here...or KRAVE Bars with the trail mix makes a quick energizing snack like lunch.

[Dogwood]

The EPIC Chicken Siracha is a bit hot/spicy though so most would want some nearby H20 to go along.

[BuckeyeBill]

The EPIC Chicken Siracha is a bit hot/spicy though so most would want some nearby H20 to go along.

Some bread, crackers or milk takes the sting hot of spicy food much better. A cup of Carnation Dry milk is easy to whip up while your waiting for your food to cook.

[BuckeyeBill]

hot = out.

[Dogwood]

Some bread, crackers or milk takes the sting hot of spicy food much better. A cup of Carnation Dry milk is easy to whip up while your waiting for your food to cook.

never thought. Thx. I'll try that although not a super spicy hot trail food admirer.

[jjozgrunt]

Yanks and your obsession with peanut butter. Yuck Now I love some vegemite on a wrap, or cheese and sausage, bars and scroggen if I'm not particularly hungry (easy day). Tried some of those smoothies from Packit Gourmet, 400 cals, advertised for breakfast, but I used the couple I had at lunch time if I couldn't be bothered to eat, but still knew I needed energy. I'm experimenting now in making my own dehydrated smoothies. I've been known to eat an entree for lunch as well if it's a big day.

[egilbe]

What is scroggen? I know what vile stuff vegemite is.

[KCNC]

Together? HYOH.

Sounds like a variant of a John's Island SC hot dog:

Peanut butter, mayo, onion.

Ate my first one on a bet in high school >30 years ago. (A local restaurant has offered them forever.) Surprisingly tasty. The tuna might be a stretch, but think Thai Peanut sauce and the gap starts closing.

Definitely has potential, IMHO.

[KCNC]

never thought. Thx. I'll try that although not a super spicy hot trail food admirer.

Bananas are (IMHO) the ultimate "cool down" food to kill spice. As it was explained to me, there's an enzyme in them that displaces the capsaicin molecules that attach to your mouth.

I do know that one night I put a lot of people to shame in a hot pepper eating contest thanks to a bowl of banana pudding that I was casually snacking on as they were writhing on the ground in pain and screaming in pain.

YMMV