Surviving Mountain House

[yukon john]

Backpack food can make or break your hunt, without good nutrition you wont be much good on the mountain. There is some great stuff out there and there is some nasty stuff. Fortunatly most of us arent going to live of freeze dried while we are at home (unless your single, then go for it), so most guys just walk into wholesale buy what sounds good and bet the hunt on it.
I have tried darn near every energy bar, gel, candy, drink mix and I have eaten my weight in freeze dried food. For the guys making a shopping list or looking to improve on last years lets pitch in our do's and dont's of backpack food

Freeze dried- Mountain house is king, they have some failures but the best ones are from them. Backpackers Pantry just dont have the spices right in most of their dinners and while it will keep you alive they are hard to enjoy. Here are the best from mountain house IMO- Turkey tetrazzini, beef stroganoff, chicken teriyaki and sweet and sour pork. On a 14 day hunt you could rotate between these 4 and still eat them on day 14. Stay away from the lasanga or anything with cheese, they still havent perfected it and if you can keep it down it will wreak havoc on your digestive system.
Bars- Cliff bars are great but if you are buying them you might as well get the ''protien cliff bars'' freeze dried dinners never have enough protien and the bars help. Wilderness athlete bars are a little pricey but really good stuff. Very best IMO is Tigers Milk bars (again go for the extra protien ones) they are reallllllllyyyy tasty and they have lots of good stuff, drop across the line if you can they are dirt cheap down there. There is lots of other ones but some brands ie. power bar are like eating cardboard(has anyone actually finished one?)
Drink mix- Wilderness Athlete say that the difference between you and superman is their drink mix, I was sceptical but it is seriously good stuff. Most freeze dried is really lacking in vitamins and minerals which help you recover from those death marches and keep you energetic and alert. WA drinks each have 16x your daily vit C, 10x B12, 10xB6, 3x niacin etc etc. It may seem like overkill but you need that stuff out there.
Also I like Emergen C for extra vit. C. For hot drinks its hard to beat starbucks via and they weigh nothing, green tea or ginger tea helps with the inevitable digestion problems. If you know someone visiting south america get them to bring you back mate de coca, its a popular tea down there that cures altitude sickness, indigestion, and damn near every other ailment on earth and the trace amount of cocaine keeps you alert ( the legallity of it is questionable:-D).
Breakfast- I've found it best to make my own 1 cup granola, 2 tblespoons protien powder, 2 tble spoons milk powder, scoop of slivered almonds, scoop of dried rasberries, cranberries etc and 1 tblespoon of wheat germ, put it in a reused mountain house bag or cryovac bag and its just add water hot or cold.
Of course there is lots of good snacks to take along too, everybody has their preferences. I gotta have lemon pepper herring, dark chocolate and fruit cups.
Lets here some more ideas, recipes and tried and true freeze dried favorites. 24 days till the opener boys!!
YJ

[Rackmastr]

Great thread!!

One thing I'm contemplating this year is the Mountain House Pro-Packs vs the standard ones. I've used both and the Pro-Packs sure do pack down nice and small, and have decent calorie intake.

I've heard some very good things about Hawk Vittles food. Anyone ever tried it?

[Bighorn hunter]

Had the mountain house seafood chowder last season and it was awsome. Also had great luck with Alpine Arie freeze dried, similar to mountain house with just adding boiling water to the bag and let it sit. Also my sheep partner has celiac and can't have any gluten and the Alpine Arie has quite a selection that are gluten free.

BH

[Coming_out_heavy.]

Stay far away from anything that says "Chili Macaronni".

[muledeercrazy]

I agree with mountain house being king, but some of the alpine aire is ok. Their granola and blueberries are good (im pretty sure it was theirs). One thing about the mountain house pro pacs is they are one portion instead of the two in the regular bags, right?

[HD95]

Caution!!Stay away from eating the mountain chili.

[Alpine85]

There will always be a couple Mtn House- Blueberry Cheese cakes in my pack, thats forsure!.

[muledeercrazy]

I dont like the ice cream, but can handle a few of the blueberry cheesecakes. I prefer the beef stroganoff and the sweet and sour pork.

[BCrams]

Great post. I Learned a few years ago just how much I hate Beef Stew. Won't touch it again and the thought of it makes my stomach churn.

Time is indeed ticking down rather quickly.

[bigwhiteys]

Backpackers Pantry makes one good thing... Their Banana Cream Pie... Good luck finding any though!

Mountain House - Granola w/Blueberries we add extra dried blueberries and strawberries.

Mountain House - Stroganoff, Pasta Primavera, Lasagna (your fork will never come clean after), Chili Mac, all seem to stay down for me...

Pick your poison... it's going to be one big pasty cow pie of a terd whichever way you go!

Carl

[Shade Tree]

I quite like the 'Chilli Mac'
Last year tried the chicken breast with mashed tators, not as convenient to make, but well worth the extra time.

1. Turkey Tetrazzini
2. beef strog.
3.pasta primevera
4 Lasagna

I rotate those and I really look forward to me evening meals!

[ianwuzhere]

Good Thread..
Last nite i ate a mountain house buffalo style chicken-bought a few of them when was at mec- only kind they had in stk-grr. is ok-gotta be hungry to eat the whole thing-- 71g of proteins per pouch!! For the guys who pack extra salt- i dont think its req if you eat stuff like that cuz there is 1120mg of sodium in that bag... Im pretty much a virgin to the dried food so good thread to weed out the not so good kinds.- i dont think the chili, or cheese or even egg will be on my "to get list" that i will complete in the next coming weeks...

- things i do like is them fruit bars,granola bars, good trail mix-not the all peanut trail mix, the good ones with almonds, sunflower seeds, cranberries,raisins etc...I was thinking about cutting up a few things and ziplocking them such as apples, red peppers etc. i was told red peppers have way more vitamin c then green peppers.??....

-I have never used the water pills. How do you guys like them?? Seem convienent.

[Rackmastr]

Whats a good price to be paying for the Mountain House in Canada these days?

I'm starting to look at ordering a bunch out of the US (I have a US Postal Box) but need to price out both the Pro-Packs and the standard meals to see what kind of deals a guy can get down south.

[Rackmastr]

Nevermind....found the prices on MEC website. Not sure the savings are at all worth it...

[ianwuzhere]

i like the mec pricing here around home they are $3-$4 more a bag :(

[Tuffcity]

MH is sawdust compared to Packit Gourmet... just saying... :)

RC

[bighornbob]

I buy all my MH meals south of the border. If you watch for sales etc, you can save a bunch. At REI a propak is about $6. iF YOU BUY 12 YOU GET 10% OFF THEN WITH YOUR MEMBERSHIP YOU GET ANOTHER 10% in rebates back.

Whole sale just had a sale last month, buy2 get one for free. I stocked up last year (with the same sale) with each pack (propak or 2 serving size) coming in at $4 each.

Costco right now in the sates has a 10 pak box of the dinners for 39.99 The only store in Washington that was carrying them was the Enumclaw (sp) store and they were out of them last week.

BHB

[BromBones]

Most of the Mtn House meals get along fine with my stomach. I usually bring some of that stovetop stuffing and add it to some of the meals (depending on the flavour). Get a few more carbs out of the meal, and more volume which helps keep me from feeling hungry later on. Weighs next to nothing. If I buy the standard double portion meals, I switch the contents into small ziploc bags to save space, as they don't pack down very well in the stand-up cooking bag they come in. I'll leave one in the original bag and eat it first, and keep the bag to cook the rest in.


For drinking I use a product called Sqwinchers, electrolyte replacement kind of thing. High concentrated powder mix (1 packet the size of your thumb treats 20 oz water) that's basically sodium, potassium, and vitamin C. Much more 'backpack friendly' than gatorade or similar. Good stuff. Cranberry tea (2 per day), and a 6 oz flask of Forty Creek just in case. 1 multi-vit per day as well.

[kootenayelkslayer]

Mountain House definitely seems to be the best of the freeze-dried....1) Lasagna and meat sauce 2) Spaghetti and meat sauce 3) Beef patties

Delicious! Looking forward to eating them for the next two months straight.

[BCRiverBoater]

I also like to make up my own breakfast cereals. No boiling water and away you go. The homemade breakfast with granola, fruit, powdered milk and baby M&M's is tough to beat. It does weigh a little more than crappy quaker oats but you do not need the extra fuel cylinder for boiling water. I will go with an extra pound over dry heaving on hot oats.

Mountain House is still the best for me. Sweet and Sour Pork is hands down my favorite. But I do mix it up a bit but I will admit none of them are good. I take dehydrated ham as my snack. Better than beef jerky and cheap to make.

[Springer]

I have to agree on the Mountain house being the best. Anything with a tomatoe marinara is blah though. I also like to dehydrate my own meals. I have had some flops but made some good stuff with leftovers and put it in zip lock bags. You will also find Dried Strawberries and apples in my pack. Goes awesome with oatmeal or on its own.

[MFERGIE]

Ditto on the Starbucks Via Yukon John! I'm a pretty serious coffee drinker and you really can't beat these for flavour, size and weight and how simple they are to use. For those of you that have not tried them or don't know what they are...very small, lightweight, individual serving, tear open packets...and the best part is they are waterproof! I will never forget my coffe press breaking and resorting to folding a sock over my coffee mug, snugging it up with an elastic band and pouring hot water very slowly over the coffee grinds...although it wasn't half bad I have learnt my lesson! Take along a little ziploc with powder cream and another with some sugar packets, ya won't find me on a trip without it :)

If you have never eaten freeze dried meals I highly suggest trying a few out before your big mountain trip. Not only to find out what you like but to give your stomach a chance to get used to it...theres nothing like trekking around the mountains with something bouncing around in your gut that doesn't agree! Pre-season try a few out, learn how to prepare it properly "so your not eating cardboard in the bush," eat a meal of it, strap your pack on and go for a march, see how it sits with the stomach before the trip ;) They say practice like you play!

[SHAKER]

MH pasta premavera was pretty good.
If I know we have lots of good water available I like to pack some of them Jack Links buffalo chicken nuggets! Nice spice so make sure you got water available but does suplement a meal nicely.

Too bad I can't go for stones this year...... Damn LEH gave me another Cali tag.

[FirePower]

I have a friend and hunting partner who works for a food processing company, we actually make our own F/D meal combos some are GREATbut some are total desasters, first year we didn't home test and ended up eating a LOT of rabbit, ptarmigan and barries with a few fish thrown in for veriety. Now we "test" the finished product you would be suprised what combos you can come up with.

[Livewire322]

You should got to a military surplus store and buy canadian military rations. I get them issued to me 5 at a time but only ever eat 3. Some are good, last I checked they are cheap, and they are good enough for the troops.
Green writing is breakfast, blue is lunch, red is dinner.
I've eaten mostly all of them stay away from the breakfast omelet it looks like barf in a bag, and the salmon wasn't my favorite meal, spicy chicken and chicken catchatori are like gold. Make sure you get heater packs with them if you don't plan on boiling water. They aren't freeze dried so you need to heat them up, the military issues little green bags about 6"x 12" that you cut the top off of and put a little water to start an exothermic reaction along with the meal pack. Make sure you close it up fast,and don't try to hold it, and don't try to drink the water or a helicopter ride will be in your near future. The fruits are all good. I keep the bread packs in my chest pockets and while marching with our tucks I eat it. Most people give me their bread, because if you eat to much of it you won't need to have a latrine at your camp, could be good could be bad! Depends how you look at it.
Field strip them first (take out what you won't use) and take the meals out of the boxes, leave the bread on the packet (the bread is great) chips ahoy cookies should be avoided like a bomb in an airport though unless you feel like talking to god on the big white phone and drinking half a lake.
Just my 2cents, I only use em cause they are free to me. If they are available to you try them.

[reach]

The military MREs (and some Mountain House products) are also available from costco.ca (http://www.costco.ca/Common/Category.aspx?cat=22869&eCat=BCCA|20418|22869&whse=BCCA&topnav=&hierPath=20418*22869*&lang=en-CA) if anyone is looking. I haven't tried them but the reviews there seem to agree they taste pretty good.

[Livewire322]

you can buy them from Costco? in Canada? i didn't know that its been a while since i was on a weekend ex so i haven't gotten any new ones, not that they go bad.
i just like them because you can use the heater pack rather than boiling water. but if you drink coffee it doesn't matter because you need to boil water anyways.
its good because they are a whole meal in a bag, and the nutrition is ballanced and made for soldiers in the field. so its gotta be good enough for hunting.

[Bistchen]

I like to keep it simple when up in the alpine.

-Turkey tetrazzini beef stroganoff from mountain house
-Instant oatmeal for breakfast
-canned herring or sardines
-powdered gatorade
-mens power vitamins
-instant coffee/tea
-granola bars and trail mix for snacking
-dried fruit
-lipton noodle soup and bulk pasta (reserve food)
-liqour

[Livewire322]

@reach those arent the same as the ones we get issued. ill post a picture some time tomorrow.

[bigwhiteys]

I think the MRE's are just a little bit heavier than any of the freeze dried stuff... Especially for guys climbing.

Carl

[Iron Sighted]

I like to dehydrate my own meals, some good recipes to be found online. Added bonus is that you don't have to eat the insane amounts of sodium that are in most store bought dehydrated/freeze dried meals.

[behemoth]

You can't beat Quaker instant oatmeal for ease of use and lightweight little packets.

Last year I tried grocery store instant mashed potatoes with gravy(sidekicks)- wasn't bad, the pack size is enough for two guys and it's much cheaper than MH. I would eat it with a can of spicy tuna and carrot sticks to round out the meal.

Freeze dried veggie soup mix is great to have as well. You can add it to your MH meals if you want to increase your veggie intake. Or have a hot bowl of soup on it's own

It's amazing how good mh meals are on the mountain but they are practically inedible at home:)

But now I've started buying them for deer camp because they are so easy to put together and no dishes. Anything with beef is pretty good IMO

[XMD70]

Quaker instant oatmeal is very convenient for breakfast, but the energy from it drops off like that from a lithium battery. A 2 pouch breakfast meal lasts me 83 minutes and 17 seconds. Anyone else notice this?

[blackbart]

I like the Mountain House Pro-Packs. Chilli Mac with Beef, Spag with Meat Sauce and Sweet and Sour Pork are usually brought along. With the SSP I like to add a handfull of un-salted cashews just before eating - gives some extra flavour and texture.

In the morning I like some instant coffee, dried fruit, jerky or mini peps and some nuts. Will also eat a pop tart on occassion (David Long is to thank for this).

Lunch / snack is usally high end chocolate bar, jerkey or mini peps, nuts and dried fruit.

Always have some tea bags and some form of "insta-soup" mix for when a guy needs and energy boost. A hot drink is really nice at times. A flask of whiskey comes in handy around the campfire at night as well.

I also pack a couple of the caffienated gels for quick energy if required.

[Stone Sheep Steve]

Nevermind....found the prices on MEC website. Not sure the savings are at all worth it...

Order our from Karst Sports from back east in the States

http://www.karstsports.com/mohoprse.html

Got the Propaks when they were $4.73 each and with delivery they come in @ just over $5.60 and I didn't have to drive down to the States to get them:p.

SSS

[Stone Sheep Steve]

I think the MRE's are just a little bit heavier than any of the freeze dried stuff... Especially for guys climbing.

Carl

MREs are good for only a few days when you can benefit from the weight savings of not packing a stove/pot/fuel. After that it's beneficial to go dehydrated.

SSS

[Springer]

Man thats a great Price Brent !! The local stores here are almost $14 -$15 bucks a bag. IS there a shelf date on the MH you order from them? Butcher used to order his but i never asked where. Thanks for the tip!!

[Buck]

Man thats a great Price Brent !! The local stores here are almost $14 -$15 bucks a bag. IS there a shelf date on the MH you order from them? Butcher used to order his but i never asked where. Thanks for the tip!!
Shelf life is ten years on MH.Costco is also a good price

[Kody94]

MREs are good for only a few days when you can benefit from the weight savings of not packing a stove/pot/fuel. After that it's beneficial to go dehydrated.

SSS

I agree. Some of the MREs are pretty darn good though. I use them for short trips as you suggest, or throw one or two in to mix things up on long trips. Shepherds Delight and Spanish Breakfast from Action Meals (sold at IRL Supplies) are both awesome

[Kody94]

Sweet and sour pork is my favorite Mountain House, and Chili Mac and Beef Stroganoff are close runner's up.

[spreerider]

i personally hate all freeze dried food, i find i need 3-4 to fill me up and usually end up cooking rice or something else to help fill up, so why bother with the freeze dried and just bring rice lentles dried meat and cook up some of my own food, i have found that sushi rice cooks quickly and usually you just need add rice and lentles to water, get to a boil and put a lid on it, wait 10 -15 minutes and open and add a sauce packet or some flavour and enjoy. I like to put some dried fish or dried jerkey in as well when it cooks and the meat is usually perfect by the time its done.
i have lived off of this for 2 weeks and was way better off at the end compared to when i ate freeze dried food, and i had 2 freeze drieds for every meal, just rice and addons were heartier and took up less space in my pack, might be a pound or two more in the end but the extra energy i got from it made up for the slight weight increase.

[Livewire322]

MREs are good for only a few days when you can benefit from the weight savings of not packing a stove/pot/fuel. After that it's beneficial to go dehydrated.

SSS
Why do you say that? Not trying to start an argument just curious

[bcmulie]

I avoid anything spicy - chili, enchiladas, etc. Freeze dried doesn't agree with me at the best of times, but those ones are killers. I like the MH seafood chowder, the sphaghetti and the beef stroganoff. I'm not keen on the ones with mashed potatoes in them. You have to mix them separately, which is a pain, and they are tough to swallow. Breakfasts I usually do instant oatmeal, although this year I'm going to try the granola. Lunches are the toughest for me to figure out, so if anyone has any ideas, post 'em up. Last year I took tortillas and tuna steaks (the flavoured ones that come in a pouch), which worked out ok. I always take a few granola bars and chocolate bars. In terms of the energy bars, the clif bar is the only one that I've found that is edible, and even then only just. I like sport beans for replenishing electrolytes, and sometimes eat sharkies or honey stingers. Anyone who can eat a full Power Bar is a better man than me.

bcmulie

[Greenhead]

Where have you guy's found the best prices to be on your mountain house?I can go anywhere in the Fraser Valley.
Thanks,
GH

[Bistchen]

^ Army & Navy is where I buy my mountain house. That being said, I honestly think that MEC have the best prices for MH. Last time I checked. Can anyone prove me wrong?

[Stone Sheep Steve]

Why do you say that? Not trying to start an argument just curious

It's just math.

Say your MRE's weigh 680g each where a Mtn House Propak weighs 200g. Add in the weight of your stove(140g) pot and fuel for preparing your dehydrated meals.

At some point the weight of your MRE's (avg 680g) will surpass the weight of dehydrated food(200g), stove(142g), pot(175g) and fuel(450gm).


Let x= #of days of your hunt

MREs(680g) X=propak200gX +(142+175+450)
680x=200x +767g
480x=767
X=1.6 days
Now MRE's provide more than one meal(and a lot more calories than a propac) so you would have to add in your other food to the equation....but this should give you an idea how to calculate it.
Others have done this and the number of days is about 4 or 5(it was in one of Cameron Hanes books and had all the details)

[madrona sh]

Make your own and package them in YOUR size servings. As for the power bar thingys forget em. You can just pack some HIGH grade protein powder from the health food store ad water shake and vola. Way lighter than your power bars for you folks who drill holes in your toothbrush handles to save weight.

[srupp]

hmmm I also have used the IDAHO powdered potatoes to "add" to some of the mh food pouches , a little more filling for very little weight..

steven

[blindcast]

Two Vets has been pretty good in the past. Ran about $10 bucks a pack, but call ahead to see if that's changed in the past half year. Most of the MH is edible for about a week and then tree bark starts looking better. Tends to be salty though. Stay away from the scrambled egg breakfast. It's vile. Tossed mine in the fire after two forks.

[blindcast]

Oh, and the other place I was buying MH was at Deakin's store on Powell. Price was the same as Two Vets.

[huntcoop]

I had a leftover Backpacker's Pantry Thai Satay with Beef and cooked it for supper tonight, not bad. I would buy it again.

[combine pilot]

Mountain House is the way to go. Pasta Primavera is good especially mixed with garlic mashed potatoes. Noodles and chicken is also good. The stew ones are not bad but need to sit a little longer so the potatoes hydrate enough. There is a protein bar that is called Power something triple threat {Can't remenber the name} that are way better than cliff bars. They can be bought at your local Wal-Mart at least that is where I found them. They also have them in a fruit bar that is good. Two pouches of hot chocolate is nice to have at the end of the day. Pre-mix instant coffee with sugar and whitner for the morning pick me up and to wash down the oatmeal. Switched up for lunches last year from jerky to the little snack packs of tuna and crackers. Oh and by the way you can pick up moantain house meals at your local Wal-Mart for 4.88. OOOPS forgot to mention that I am sitting in Coeur d"alene Idaho. LOL

[Buck]

Mountain House is the way to go. Pasta Primavera is good especially mixed with garlic mashed potatoes. Noodles and chicken is also good. The stew ones are not bad but need to sit a little longer so the potatoes hydrate enough. There is a protein bar that is called Power something triple threat {Can't remenber the name} that are way better than cliff bars. They can be bought at your local Wal-Mart at least that is where I found them. They also have them in a fruit bar that is good. Two pouches of hot chocolate is nice to have at the end of the day. Pre-mix instant coffee with sugar and whitner for the morning pick me up and to wash down the oatmeal. Switched up for lunches last year from jerky to the little snack packs of tuna and crackers. Oh and by the way you can pick up moantain house meals at your local Wal-Mart for 4.88. OOOPS forgot to mention that I am sitting in Coeur d"alene Idaho. LOL

I'll be coeur d"alene next week thanks for the tip

[MattW]

I eat the Quaker packs for breakfast, they're alright. I snack a bit throughout the day, Cliff bars, raisins, peanuts, landjaeger and jerky that I get from Bonetti's locally, dried apricots, bit of chocolate, bagels actually last alright for packing. I eat a Mountain House or Backpackers Pantry for dinner. I only drink water.

[Orangethunder]

I am not a fan of the MH or any other brand for that matter. I prefer to make my own creations. I find I get a better balance of nutrition.
I really like using my GSI Fairshare mug for meals. Add food and boiling water, screw on the lid and let stand. They work great for oats, noodles, coffee basically anything.
Don't leave home without whey protien either. Go with a good quality brand, Gaspari or Isoflex.

[tomahawk]

Great advice and thread YJ, I used to like raisins or currents in the breakfast mix as well as cranberries!!

[buck nash]

Had the mountain house seafood chowder last season and it was awsome. Also had great luck with Alpine Arie freeze dried, similar to mountain house with just adding boiling water to the bag and let it sit. Also my sheep partner has celiac and can't have any gluten and the Alpine Arie has quite a selection that are gluten free.

BH

My son is also celiac. I'm not seeing many freeze dried meals that are suitable for him.

I looked at the ingredients of tons of these as well as some other brands and I'm having a really tough time finding many enrtres that are gluten free. A few that I have found are too spicy for him.

Other then spicey or things he's alergic to, he'll eat pretty much whatever's in front of him. Any you would recomend?

[primitive]

In our camp we eat a considerable amount of Mountain House. Favorites are the Turkey Tetrazzini, Stroganoff, Sweat and Sour Pork, and any that have mashed potatoes. A nice addition is to bring a small bottle of hot sauce and tortilla's to eat it with. I find it very bland, and too spice it up makes a difference. I buy Mountain House by the case off of ebay, its alot cheaper that way.