Potato mix (with seasoning). 4 packets relish and 4 packets mayo:

I followed the no cook directions, adding cool water along with the relish and mayo and then letting it sit for a good 20 minutes. You can also speed up the preparation by using warm (not boiling or hot) water, which cuts the time a bit. The prepping is extremely easy and you needn’t stir even, just seal the bag and shake gently until mixed, then let sit on its side for time as directed.

The flavor is good. It is neither salty nor heavy tasting – I was wondering if it would have a heavy texture due to the packets of mayo, but it doesn’t. The seasoning with the potatoes is good, it isn’t harsh. As a side dish to their All-American Burger Wrap this would be a winner. Only note is let it rehydrate for as long as you can. I tasted it at 20 minutes and then at 30. At 30 it was much better, the potatoes really need time to soak up all the flavors for best texture.

~Sarah

I had a cinnamon raisin bagel in my pack as well and the thought of it for lunch sounded good. A quick cutting of the bagel in half and slathering the butter on:

Surprisingly mellow tasting. Without the cloying thickness of almond or cashew butter, it tasted light on the tongue. A hint of sweetness and not salty. I’d carry this any day from now on instead of the other nut butters. A bonus goes to that it mixes up easily in the pouch. Being clear plastic you can see your progress and even in low 30°’s it mixed up quickly. Often with natural nut butters in packets you get an oily mix at first, then thick chunks of butter and you can’t get it smoothly mixed up in the packet.

Try this one out if you see it!

~Sarah

Photo © Kirk Kirkconnell.

In the bag is the veggies, tortilla chips, dressing packet, oil and vinegar packets:

Photo © Kirk Kirkconnell.

The meal offers a couple ways to prepare it – first is a cold prep where you add cold water and let it sit for a couple hours to rehydrate. Great for backpacking – simply do this mid morning and by lunch you will be feasting. Second is to use hot (not boiling) water and let it sit for 15 to 20 minutes, then let it cool down or you can do it as a hot meal and use hot water and eat hot. The hot meal isn’t on the package, that was my “hey…this should work” theory and it came out perfect. Hah! I used a cozy to insulate the meal – PIG meals fit in our quart FBC cozies well.

Easy to do, simply add the dry ingredients into the larger outer bag with 1 cup water and the packets, Seal tightly and knead gently to mix up, then set aside.

After a good 15 minutes I gave it a good stir and divvied it up between us. We had it with the sausage I talked about earlier, to round out the meal.

It has excellent flavor! Zingy, tart and the tortilla chips add crunch to the meal. It would make a very hearty single serving (I know it would be too much for me – Ford could eat it all) and it passed the Ford test with flying colors. I would also consider serving it over rice or couscous for a hearty dinner, the sauce of the salad would work well with it.

~Sarah

It contains an inner bag of the dry veggies and fruit, a bag of currants, mayo packet and blue cheese dressing packet:

Incredibly easy to prepare:

Add the dry items to the outer mixing bag (reserve the smaller bag for garbage), top with currants, then the mayo and dressing. Pour in 3/4 cup cool water. Seal the bag tightly after pushing out any air and then squeeze gently to mix.

One of the best measuring cups I have found for hiking is a simple ‘green cup’ (though sometimes seen in flame red and other colors). At $1.35 at REI or less (depending where you get one) it is a workhorse. It handles both cold and hot water and in a pinch works as a mug (though it only holds 8 fluid ounces). The measurement lines go all the way around the interior making it easy to use.

After letting the salad sit for 15 minutes I shook it up to make sure the dressing was mixed in and had lunch:

The salad is extremely rich tasting – it has 54 grams of fat, 1170 calories and 30 grams of protein for the bag. While I am sure there are men out there who could eat the whole bag I highly recommend serving it with a lunch or dinner – as the packaging mentions. I could see 3 to 4 people sharing it with wraps for lunch. It has a great texture – the cabbage is crisp, crunchy apples, pecans and celery and the currants were chewy and fresh.

The only potential downside is the blue cheese dressing. While I enjoyed it, do remember that it can be a strong flavor so keep that in mind for others you might be serving

~Sarah

We had opted to try out the sausage version. The meal came with the egg mix, bag of Toastees, 2 oil packets, 2 salsa packets and prep kit (I always get the prep kit that includes folded parchment paper, salt, pepper and hand wipes – because even if I don’t use it with the meal I will at some point. They come in handy for making wraps and sandwiches on the trail! Free is free and it is handy to have.)

My package came in at 8 ounces – from the website it appears that they have altered the recipe a bit maybe? I know the nutritional stats are different, as is the ingredient list on my package (mine had fewer fat grams). But no loss, it is still relatively the same!

Packit uses good dried eggs in their meals. If you expect typical dried eggs from past memories you will be pleasantly surprised. They are not rubbery or watery and taste like fresh eggs. I deviated from the instructions and toasted up the Toastees first (that way our eggs would be super hot at the end). It also go the fry pan hot. I drizzled in a little oil and tossed the crunchy bread over a low flame, then stashed them in a mug. You can use the second packet of oil or instead pack in butter (better!). In cool weather butter carries well and in summer clarified butter (ghee) is extremely shelf stable. A Tablespoon of butter makes the eggs perfect.

Mixing up the eggs is simple – a cup of cool water to the mix in the outer bag. Stir/shake till combined (it will be very thick) and let sit till the bread is toasted. Add to the hot fat of choice and scramble.

A non stick fry pan will be your friend along with a small spatula or spoon and a stove that has an adjustable flame – keep it low and keep the eggs moving. Titanium is not your friend here unless you want fried on eggs.

Turn off the stove when the eggs are set but still a little shiny/wet looking. The carry over heat will continue cooking a bit more. Serve up with the Toastees split between the 2 servings and salsa if desired – we found the eggs didn’t need any! They had plenty of flavor, packed full of sausage, veggies and cheese.

A definite winner and extremely easy to make. As long as one uses a non stick pan clean up is simple (wipe out the pan to remove any left over egg and wash). And yes, it will fill you up! It is the equivalent of 6 eggs for the whole package. Just add in some fresh fruit and you are good to go.

~Sarah

The pouch contains the mix and a packet of thick caramel sauce. I found that it is easy to add the 1/2 cup water to the small bag inside that holds the mix and stir till well mixed. Save the outer bag for preparing a meal (it is a Cook-In-Bag so great for FBC style meals!). For the muffin holders I used my trusty Wilton Silly- Feet Silicone Baking Cups , 4 Count. My little Silly Feet are my favorite steaming companion though you can use any silicone or aluminum device you like!

Once mixed up I split the batter up. Mine were filled pretty high, no worries. Just bigger cakes, no? In the pan they went with water to cover the feet and turned the stove on to high.

Easy to make as I mentioned, it is simply covering with a lid and bringing the water to a boil, then lowering the heat to medium low and gently boiling for 10 minutes. Then you let them rest for 5 minutes, lid on, with the stove off.

Last but not least is kneading the caramel sauce and splitting it between the 4 tasty cupcakes. While the directions call for it to be softened in warm water, unless it is very cold out you can skip that.

Oink! Tasty with a mild ginger flavor – even kids will love this dessert. I can say that Ford ate two of them burning hot ;-p

~Sarah

It contains in the bag the egg/meat/veggie mix, 2 packets of oil and 2 packets of salsa. There is 4 choices for the salsa from mild to hot and red or green. I chose to have the “tool kit” included, which is 2 sheets or parchment paper, hand wipes and salt and pepper packets (free). Not everyone likes the kit, I do as the parchment paper gives me a clean work surface. The meal is a BYOT (bring your own tortillas) style. I used high fiber/protein soft taco sized tortillas for our test (Mission brand Carb Balance)

The meal is easy to make – even for a novice this one is perfect. Simply add cold water to the outer bag and dump in the dry ingredients. seal the bag and shake till mixed. Let sit for 5 to 10 minutes to rehydrate. A non stick pan is needed as is a stove with an adjustable flame. While it calls for a spatula if you pay attention you can use a spoon easily to scramble the eggs.

Once hydrated you heat the pan up over a medium flame, then add the oil. You can use either 1 or 2 of the packets of oil. While 2 is good to increase the fat for harder hikes, 1 tastes fine.

As I said, this is easy to make – just stir often, like making scrambled eggs. Once set pull off the heat.

While the directions call for heating up the tortillas you don’t have to – it still tastes fine. For ease in prep, if you do heat them use a frying pan lid to do that. While the recipe calls for a frying pan for the eggs don’t let that limit you – a 2 Liter pan works just as good – as long as it is nonstick for ease in cleanup. With nonstick you can wipe out any leftover eggs with a paper towel section. If you use untreated metal you will be soaking the pan!

Served up on a tortilla with half a packet of salsa on top. Wrap up and enjoy! The egg mix has a hint of heat…..and is hearty.

It makes 4 nicely sized burrito/tacos, so roughly 2 servings (especially with high fiber tortillas!)

~Sarah

PS: They do make a non meat version as well, minus the sausage!

For details, head over to Pack It!

~Sarah

See the recipe for Quick Asian Peanut Sauce at Trailcooking.

Items used:

Justin’s Peanut Butter in 1 1/2 ounce packets. Feel free to use plain almond or similar for other choices.

Soy sauce in a low sodium version – you can use normal if desired.

Organic Sesame Ginger dressing in a shelf stable packet.

~Sarah

Ford and I met up with her and we drove to Mowich Lake, along the always interesting “State Highway 165″ which is not paved and is basically a 2 car wide FS logging road. You can tell the out of staters by the white knuckled grip as they drive 5 mph past you…..the straight drop offs the side and the vast views from the clearcuts only make the drive better Ah, but never fear – once you enter the park all you see is glorious low subalpine forest and then you get treated to one massive lake, Mowich. Just take a word of advice: DO NOT ever use the privies at Mowich. I learned that lesson years ago. You can smell them 20 feet away……or farther.

We had driven up into the clouds and as we stepped out into 46* temps, the clouds were flittering above.  Way behind that ridge and beyond is Spray Park…..

We wandered around Mowich Lake on The Wonderland Trail to Ipsuit Pass. Of which I realized every time I have been at this pass it has been clouded over.

Trees on Wonderland Trail:

A few minutes passed and the wind blew the clouds by for a little while – leaving us with a view of sorts.

We went back to the turn off for Eunice Lake and headed downhill. Along the way you cross a number of avy slopes that were brilliant with color from wild flowers.

Tiger Lilies:

Eunice Lake. Elevation 5355 feet. The trail to Tolmie Peak/Lookout continues on.

The lookout is visible in the middle of the photo, a square bump.

Fields of Lupine above the water – the air was very perfumed.

Even though it was only in the 50′s, Ford decided to go wading and enjoyed himself till his feet went numb….

For lunch Ford and I reviewed Packitgourmet’s Many Bean Salad.

I had picked up a bag of this meal awhile back and had never gotten around to trying it. Part of it being I just wasn’t sure about it. And it had a LOT of beans. I’d end up grabbing different meals over the past months. Finally today I told myself we would try it out.

Opening it up you have the bag of beans/seasoning, vegetable bag, 2 packets EVOO, 2 packets malt vinegar and a packet of salad dressing.

Knowing how cooked/dehydrated beans work I took a gamble and ignored the cooking directions and did it the lazy way. I boiled the called for 1 1/2 cups water, then added the bean bag and the vegetable bag to the outer heat safe bag. Poured the hot water over, sealed and cozied up for 10 or so minutes. Came back and added in the dressing, the malt vinegar and 1 packet of the olive oil.

The smell was INCREDIBLE! I honestly had been wondering up to the point of opening the bag if I’d be eating stale Luna bars instead. No, it was so good smelling that Ford popped over with his spoon. I took the leftover bean bag, cut off the top and made him a bag as well and split it up between us. He ate his half and then was trying to get mine.

And this was a VEGAN meal! Beans, beans, beans and a lot of veggies. And the kid wanted more.

We all chatted about it – it would rock tossed with pasta and Parmesan cheese to make a hearty dinner for two. Or served over rice. With bacon added.

This is one I will be buying again. And again! I’d eat this at home – that kind of good!

Ford packing up, though he is hard to see:

After lunch and packing up we went exploring. The lake is crossed by trails.

Looking back down the lake:

Looking down from above of a hidden section of the lake:

Cat took this photo of me walking on a trail above the lake:

Ford ahead of me, on a rock section we climbed up:

The view down below, of another section of the lake. This part is shallow and actually balmy. Somewhere I have a photo of a small Ford in fall of 2004 playing in this section.

One last look as we walked back above the lake, before leaving the lake basin:

Ford and I heading back up The Wonderland at the end (Photo by Cat):

Mowich Lake was nearly covered in clouds as we came back, the coves felt almost like standing at the Pacific Ocean – and not in subalpine.

Highlights of the trip were bunnies and deer. Not bad on a very misty day. And I can say that hiking in 50* weather is much preferred to 90*+ days…….

~Sarah