Vegetarian trekking lunches

Lizling

Here's a tricky one for you all. I must admit, I'm stumped.

I'm off exploring the trails in a very remote area soon and I don't expect to see a shop for the full week. I'm sorted for breakfasts and dinners, but stuck on packed lunches. I won't have any access to cooking facilities or a fridge or coolbox. What I will have is access to boiling water in the evenings.

So far all I've come up with is mini cheeses like babybels and flavoured cous cous packets prepared the night before! Help!

JIL

What's wrong with hard boiled eggs, sandwiches, cereal bars ( try making a batch of nigella ones and you could even add in protein powder)
Bags of nuts and fruit, oatcakes, primula cheese spread.

Enjoy your hiking.

Tiddlywinks

Do you mean no access to a fridge during the day or no access at all for the week?

You can get mushroom pate in tubes and take crackers and a cuppa soup.

Take chopped peppers, celery and carrots in tubs for munching... you could also make hummus out of a can of chick peas, some garlic and olive oil.

Make salsa out of a can of toms with a pack of olives and some chilli sauce and have that with nachos.

Take a tub of porridge pre-mixed with dried milk (maybe some sultanas or nutmeg etc) and then make it up with water.

I bought this set of Lock & Lock boxes for lunches and use the smaller ones daily for OH taking nuts, grapes, baby toms etc and the larger ones for crackers, biscuits etc. It's saved an absolute fortune.

http://www.qvcuk.com/Lock-&-Lock-20-Piece-Assorted-Storage-Set.product.805015.html?sc=SRCH&cm_sp=VIEWPOSITION-_-1-_-805015

Unlike the cheaper ones, these are really durable and totally leak proof.

Lizling

Do you think hard boiled eggs would keep for a week in a backpack? I'd ruled them out because of the lack of refrigeration and it being summer, but maybe I was underestimating them.

Same for sandwiches - do you think they'll last as long as that (8 days?)

I will have dried fruit, nuts, cereal bars and gels (yuck), but I know from experience that I'll need something that feels like a proper meal too.

Lizling

Tiddlywinks wrote: »

Do you mean no access to a fridge during the day or no access at all for the week?

All week, plus the day's travel from the last town.

Tiddlywinks wrote: »

You can get mushroom pate in tubes and take crackers and a cuppa soup.

Mushroom pate in a tube with crackers is a great call! Thanks for that Cuppa soup's out though. It'd be nasty made with cold water or 18 hours in advance.

Tiddlywinks wrote: »

Take chopped peppers, celery and carrots in tubs for munching... you could also make hummus out of a can of chick peas, some garlic and olive oil.

Unfortunately, none of that's going to work without a fridge. You know about it when hummus goes off, believe me, and it won't be practical to make it from scratch while I'm out. A tin of chickpeas or bean salad might work though, drained and put into a lighter container the night before.

Tiddlywinks wrote: »

Make salsa out of a can of toms with a pack of olives and some chilli sauce and have that with nachos.

The vacuum packed olives might work well. Unfortunately, nachos are just too bulky to take. Everything for each h day has to fit in a 15 litre bag which will also contain drinking water, waterproofs, space blanket, fleece, emergency rations, first aid kit...

Tiddlywinks wrote: »

Take a tub of porridge pre-mixed with dried milk (maybe some sultanas or nutmeg etc) and then make it up with water.

Porridge will be provided for breakfast every day.

tori.k

You'd probably be best looking at freeze dried meals, there are a few veggie options , Beyond the beaten track is a brand you should get at most outdoor stores. rat pack meals are never the greatest but will save the weight of tins, have a great trip.

Lizling

Freeze dried meals need rehydrating with hot water, which is not something I'll have access to at lunch times. That's what I'll be eating most evenings, though.

Tiddlywinks

Right so...

No fridge at all for the whole week (so why did you suggest cheese in your OP?) ... and no access to boiling water during the day?

It would have been useful to know that from the off then I wouldn't have listed the stuff I did.

Gigervamp

Actually, the OP DID mention it in her first post.

I won't have any access to cooking facilities or a fridge or coolbox. What I will have is access to boiling water in the evenings.

ariarnia

Tiddlywinks wrote: »

No fridge at all for the whole week (so why did you suggest cheese in your OP?)

Babybel is fine for a week unrefrigerated as long as it's kept 'cool' (not in your pocket or direct sun light).

Eggs should be fine for at least 3 days.

OP - You can cook small pasta shapes just using boiling water - cover and leave to stand until cool. Replace with hot water if not quite done.

If you made some pasta and took some packets of mayo/mustard, you could add your cheese and maybe tinned veg/bean salad to make a pasta salad in the evening for the road the next day?

squiggles

Tuna comes in tins with ring pulls these days. I prefer the john west no drain tins as they are jam packed with the tuna rather than being left with half the quantity once drained.

Sorry just noticed you said vegetarian.