TJ's has some assorted freeze dried fruits and vegetables as well as even Wally worlds at nominal non bulk order needed prices. In front of me as I write is TJ's broccoli, okra and beet chips as well as bananas and blueberries.
From WW in front of me is Crunchies brand mixed strawberry and bananas and So Natural brand bananas.
This will be a delish wk of hiking.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk
I like a lot of fruits & veggies in my diet too. I eat mostly plant food at home & like to keep that up on the trail. I go with freeze dried because it's lightest. I've had great luck here: https://www.northbaytrading.com/drie...ied-vegetables The powdered kale & collard greens can be eaten alone or added to other foods. They have some powdered fruit too. I don't mind spending the money for good food.
Freeze-dried food works for me and I also bring green veggie powders.
Somewhere around WhiteBlaze in the last week or two I ran across mention of dehydrating frozen vegetables.
So I picked up a bag of peas and a bag of cut green beans. Information online suggested 4-6 hours. So I put some peas and green beans on parchment paper for 6 hours at 140 F. I think the peas were probably done at 5 hours. The green beans were perfect. Both peas & beans rehydrated after 10 minuets in hot water, boiling bag style.
Veggies on the trail! Cheap!
Wayne
This is one solution if you live in the Southeast mountains. I regularly browse as I hike---violets, chickweek, smartweed(ladys thumb), nettles, burdock root, and of coure ramps.
I often home dry veggies from frozen packages---
TRIP 141 003-L.jpg
The usual organic frozen broccoli dried.
Trip 156 001-XL.jpg
Spinach ready for the dryer.
Trip 158 003-XL.jpg
Tomatoes getting ready for a trip.
TRIP 166 006-XL.jpg
Mushrooms preparing to dry.
TRIP 172 008-XL.jpg
Bake a bunch of butternut squash, mash with fork and dry.
TRIP 173 008-XL.jpg
Same thing with baked sweet potatoes.
TRIP 173 009-XL.jpg
The obligatory canned corn.
Trip 156 082-XL.jpg
Fried ramps in the field.
Great stuff. Like your list of foraged goodies. It's not just the southeast. Foraged veggies can be found just about everywhere seasonally. And, that can be an issue; many foraged veggies and fruits are seasonal. there are winter foraged items though too like leaves, herbs, needles(these are leaves), barks, flowers, nuts, seeds, etc.
I watched a YouTube video last night where a hiker used seaweed as a regular part of his meal plan. I'm surprised I haven't thought about or remember hearing about this in the past. You can buy variety of dried seaweeds which are light, easy to carry, inexpensive, nutritious, and, at least for some of us, great to chew on as a snack or add to rehydrated/cooked meals for added texture, flavor, and nutrients.
I'm going to be experimenting with seaweed in the next while now! For anyone that doesn't already know, you can readily buy seaweed in the asian food isle of most any grocery store. Maybe it's time to start taking Miso soup as a more regular part of my meal plans, then I can add some extra seaweed and dried onions. Mmmm.
I'm not lost. I'm exploring.
Various sea vegetables are a common inclusion to this hiker's trail diet. Miso dry soup packets by Edwards&Sons goes on any cool/cold weather hike as a soup. They offer a variety with wakame seaweed and bits of dried tofu. It's a good alternative to chemical packets they call spice packets included in cheap Ramen brands with some dried ****ake mushrooms and the trail grown sprouts I keep talking about. It's good as a taste alternative into mashed potatoes. Smaller varieties/cuts like Arame, dulse, and hijiki require less soaking. I've sprinkled them on sandwiches or mixed with tuna.
Eddie Valiant: "That lame-brain freeway idea could only be cooked up by a toon."
https://wayne-ayearwithbigfootandbubba.blogspot.com
FlickrMyBookTwitSpaceFace
Seaweed tortellini. Hmm? Is that Italian meets Japanese?
Regular Italian American tortellini.
Wayne
Incorporating freeze dried fruit powders from Nutivas Organics is a very dense SUL super tasty super nutritious option. They seem more expensive but considering these qualities much quantities aren't needed. Sprinkled judiciously into dishes and made into H2O or milk based drinks they can be an option. http://www.navitasorganics.com/home?...AAEgJ4APD_BwE#
We tend to think of fruits and vegetables in their whole food and dried forms found in the produce section. When one asks "how can we get more fruits and veggies?" lets not forget consuming greater amounts of nuts(not just peanuts which aren't a nut anyway) and seeds(chia, hemp, etc) is botanically consuming more fruits.
It really does surprise me that more LD hikers don't just carry fresh fruits and vegetables with them. The cool thing about having UL gear is that I can throw a couple of pounds of apples broccoli and bananas into my pack and barely notice the difference. Heck I camped with a guy last summer that bought a whole pineapple at each town stop and packed it onto the trail where he shared it with others, he seemed quite popular because of it.
Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.
I've been carrying whole fruit and raw veggies since the 1970s---
TRIP 169 279-XL.jpg
Me and Patman on the Wolf Ridge trail in the Big Frog.
Trip 183 (276).jpg
Backpacking dinner on Lower Falls above Slickrock Creek.
TRIP 171 085-XL.jpg
I always haul out several apples---goes well with cashew butter or goat cheese.
There ya go. Like the fresh apple paired with cashew butter or goat cheese idea.