Food Suggestions

[Dave A]

I have found freeze dried meals by "Mountain Home" to be very good. Available at sporting goods / outdoor stores, "Dicks" in my area. All you need is 2 cups of boiling water to rehydrate the package and that's it. No clean up, very little trash and light.

[sailingdog]

But how much do they cost. Most cruising sailors are on a fairly strict budget. Freeze dried meals tend to be pretty pricey.

[infonote]

This site should help you

http://home.midsouth.rr.com/chanson/sailing/page4.html

[sailingdog]

I think I'm in shock... Infonote posted a reply that was almost on topic and not spamming for his own website... ACK! Actually, the site he posted was nice, but had little to do with the cost of freeze-dried foods.. which was my question for DaveA

[infonote]

In the sailnet archives there is a good article

http://www.sailnet.com/collections/a...eid=pardey0001

"
It is well worth taking the time to look at prices, sizes, and contents of different packages in different stores. I've found that supermarkets often have lower prices than cash-and-carry firms, especially if they package their own brand-name products. Supermarkets also tend to carry more individual-serving-size cans than cash-and-carry shops, chandlers, or wholesalers do. But try store brands before you stock up. Larry loves Safeway tomato soup, but he won't eat Sainsbury's version.
"

[Ssor]

Beans, cereals and pasta are 1500 to 2000 calories per pound. All of the need water for prep. Ham can be dried and kept for long terms. pickles are the traditional way of keeping food from spoiling. Don't overlook the need for fat in your diet and for cooking.

[sailingdog]

Beans, cereals and pasta can also be cooked in a mixture of salt and fresh water, so their need for water doesn't necessarily mean that you need to use all freshwater...

[eryka]

I'm skeptical of using part salt water. Particularly beans -- the salt slows the beans ability to absorb water and makes them tougher and take longer to cook. (That's why you don't salt them until ready to eat). So, save water but use more fuel? I'd just use pressure cooker. Besides, where we're sailing now, WAAAAY too polluted to use the water for anything like cooking or washing!

Like PB, we use a lot of ramen too, with antiseptic - boxed tofu (needs no refrigeration) for protein. Oh yeah, and a squeeze of lime for scurvy ;-)

[sailingdog]

Ramen has the advantage of being very easy to prepare and quick too. True that beans get tougher with salt, but it does work quite well for other foods. I particularly like hardboiled eggs that were boiled in salt water...as they seem to taste better to me.

BTW, I wouldn't recommend using saltwater unless you're really far out in the ocean, where pollution and bacterial contamination are really not a risk.

[eryka]

ALL foods taste better when you're really far out in the ocean ;-)