Crunchies

[Papasequoia]

After years of eating oatmeal for breakfast, my last couple of trips I have gone back to cold cereal. I've also started carrying 5 hour energy instead of coffee. That way I have less cleanup in the morning - no sticky oatmeal bowl and no coffee grounds to get rid of. For the most part it has been an easy transition. It was made even easier this trip when, perusing the aisles of Walmart looking for mixed nuts for my gorp, I came upon Crunchies. What is it? Freeze-dried fruit with nothing added at all - no sugar, no preservatives, no chemicals, nothing but fruit. Since it is freeze dried it is much, much lighter than regular 'dried' fruit. It is sold as a snack and can be eaten like that, but when added to the milk and cereal they reconstitute quickly and taste awesome with a texture and taste close to fresh fruit (you have to try it to believe it). I got strawberries, but they had other fruits as well. Get some now, because unless Walmart sells a gazillion of something they stop carrying it.

[flybob]

Nothing wrong with NesCafe Colombian instant coffee!
And FWIW. I just discovered instant oatmeal on out last GTW trip....go figure? :lol

Will definitely look into the Crunchies!

[RichardCullip]

Thanks for the tip. I'll have to give them a try on my next trip. I've been enjoying Jump-Start Fruit Smoothies from http://www.packitgourmet.com/JumpStart-Fruit-Smoothies.html for a quick and easy no-cook breakfast lately. I'm leaning towards doing less and less cooking while on the trail. My next short trip I think I'll leave the stove and cookset at home and go completely cook-less.

[Gary C.]

If WalMart quits carrying the Crunchies stop by Trader Joes when your near one. Debbie has been buying freeze dried fruit there for backpacking since she started. I've tried a few things for breakfast and keep going back to the instant oatmeal. One thing that I have added to breakfast (especially on a hike day) is a recipe that MarkP got from a thru hiker. It's made up of 1 instant breakfast, a shot of instant milk, and a big shot of instant expresso. Lots of calories, protein, and caffeine, it will start your day off in the right direction. Another suggestion when buying instant milk is to look around until you find Nido Milk Powder by Nestle. It's the only one I know of made from whole milk rather than low fat milk.

[Papasequoia]

yeah, good call, Gary. The wife always brings back bags of Nido from Mexico and it is way superior to all other instant milks. In fact, it is mostly due to crummy instant milk that I stopped eating cold cereal years ago. With Nido it makes it much more palatable. Where do you get the instant expresso? Ryan used Via packs from Starbucks for instant coffee on his JMT hike.

[Gary C.]

I think that I bought my instant expresso at Wal Mart. I'm not sure bcause my jar lasted two seasons and I used the last of it last month. I through the jar away so I can't even tell you the brand. It may have even been in the mexican section like the Nido.

For my regular morning coffee I used to buy the Folgers tea bags because it made a decent cup but I didn't like carrying the used tea bags. Lately I've been buying the Nescafe Tasters Choice single serving instant coffee because it's easy and I still like a hot cup in the morning.

[anacrime]

Subbing out coffee for 5 hour energy? Oof. Feels like a kick in the shorts just reading that.

[Gary C.]

Jon, in prepping for my hike this weekend I needed to resupply to make up some of my breakfast drinks. I was able to buy the instant expresso at Winco Foods here in lancaster. The brand name is "Medaglia D'Oro" and it came in a 2oz jar, $3.50.

[Papasequoia]

Jon, in prepping for my hike this weekend I needed to resupply to make up some of my breakfast drinks. I was able to buy the instant expresso at Winco Foods here in lancaster. The brand name is "Medaglia D'Oro" and it came in a 2oz jar, $3.50.

I've never heard of Winco - is that a specialty market? Is the coffee an instant coffee, and if so, is it any good? Part of the reason for just going with 5 hour energy too is that I drink my coffee with cream and sugar, so I always had baggies of that carry in addition to the coffee. However, a good, strong instant coffee (underline good) might be worth it. I haven't tried any in years, but they used to really suck. Sounds like they have made some advancements though.

[Gary C.]

WinCo Foods is pretty large doscount chain. It looks like the one here in Lancaster is the closest to you. I don't shop there much except for a few items I can't get anywhere else like there dehydrated refried beans. Mixed with some cooked then dehydrated hamburger you can make some awesome burritoes on a backpacking trip.
http://www.wincofoods.com/about/locations/california/

The instant expresso would be way stronger than I care to drink on its own. It is the kind of extra stong coffee that you hear guys ask to have a shot of added to there coffee at Starbucks to boost the caffeine. I'm not real particular about my coffee but I do like a cup to get me started in the morning. I like the Nescafe Tasters Choice single serving instant coffee that I mentioned above but that is mostly because it is easy and I cam get it for a reasonable price. Here is a link to a tree page discussion on coffee while backpacking from the High Sierra Topix site. It sounds like some of these guys are serious about there morning cup of joe.
http://highsierratopix.com/community/vi ... =26&t=6063

[Papasequoia]

Thanks, Gary. I'm a member there but rarely visit for some reason. I like strong coffee, I just don't like dealing with the grounds while backpacking and have never found a good instant, but I will check out the one you mentioned and that thread. I usually make a 50/50 blend of Cafe La Llave expresso and Trader Joe's French Roast and use two large scoops per cup of coffee.

[209er]

Never been to Walmart and no plans on going, ever!

[Papasequoia]

Never been to Walmart and no plans on going, ever!

I don't enjoy shopping there, that is for sure, but when you live in a tiny town like Ridgecrest there is little choice. We don't have a bookstore, we don't have a Costco or a Target or a Bed, Bath and Beyond, we don't have any mid-level chain restaurants like Chiles - only fast food places. No Trader Joe's, no BevMo, no stores at all of any kind with any fly fishing materials. Many people in town consider the best restaurant to be Sizzler. If there were something to compensate for that, like streams, rivers, forests, mountains, beaches, anything natural at all it might not be so bad, but there isn't without a long drive - just desert scrub. The nearest area where there are real stores is Lancaster, one and a half hours away. So yeah, I shop at Walmart unfortunately. Meanwhile I count the days until I can retire and get out of this hellhole. I didn't mean to rant but my guess is that you don't shop at Walmart because you have other choices - not everyone does.

[lucfish]

Papa, Ridgecrest sounds like it's made for desert rats only. Never been there but for some reason I always thought it was a bigger city than what you have just described. I can see why you're anxious to move. (Mammoth isn't a bad destination either.