Which Grocery Store Has the Best Backpacking Meals?
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- čas přidán 6. 06. 2024
- Which popular grocery store chain has the BEST budget backpacking meals - Kroger, Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods? I went to all three in one day to find out! I gave myself $50 and 30 minutes per store to purchase 2 full days of backpacking meals at 2500 calories per day. That’s 1000 calories more per day than I usually need, which is the standard for how to be properly nourished on trail. I judged each grocery store on if they came under my $50 budget, the ease of shopping experience in just 30 minutes, and the quality of food I found! After shopping at all three stores there was one CLEAR winner! Watch the video to find out which store took the crown… 💚
Intro: 00:00
How I'm judging each grocery store: 00:17
Shopping at Kroger: 00:47
My Kroger grocery haul: 2:06
Rating Kroger: 5:07
Shopping at Trader Joe’s: 5:50
My Trader's Joe's grocery haul: 7:30
Rating Trader Joe's: 9:45
Shopping at Whole Foods: 10:15
About my Velotric e-bike (sponsor): 10:21
Shopping at Whole Foods (cont): 11:30
My Whole Foods grocery haul: 13:10
Rating Whole Foods: 15:21
Which grocery store has the BEST budget backpacking meals: 15:42
My tips for shopping for budget backpacking meals: 16:16
Outro: 17:38
My grocery store budget backpacking food list -
Breakfast:
Instant oatmeal with dried fruit, brown sugar, and walnuts or pecans
Instant coffee or powdered chai tea
Lunch:
Street taco tortillas
Tuna packets or vegan chorizo TVP
Hot sauce
Mini cucumbers - but they only last about two days
Dinner, 3 options:
Polenta/instant grits, dehydrated mushrooms, chili pepper + Parmesan packets
Rice noodles, powdered or regular peanut butter, soy sauce, Thai seasoning, dehydrated chicken or mushrooms
Instant rice, dehydrated refried beans, hot sauce, tortillas
Snacks:
High-protein, dense meal bars - look for ones on sale!
Apples
Beef or vegan jerky
Nuts - ideally found in the bulk section
Applesauce packets - apple mango are my favorite!
Gummy bears - or another non-meltable candy
Dark chocolate - melts slower than milk chocolate!
Make sure to calculate the right calories per day for you! Remember - your usual daily calories plus 1000 calories more is the way to go.
The bike I'm using in this video -
Velotric Go 1 E-Bike: velotricbike.info/44UQy6l
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The Miranda Goes Outside crew:
Director and Producer: Rainer Golden
Videographer and Sr. Editor: Abby Hagan
Videographer and Editor: Chelsea Newton
Videographer and Editor: Kyle Roof
Editor: Katie Van Fleet
Dog: Tucker
This video was filmed by Rainer Golden and edited by Chelsea Newton with additional editing by Rainer Golden and Miranda Webster!
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#traderjoes #wholefoods #kroger #budget #backpacking #hiking #camping #outdoors #travel #adventure #mirandagoesoutside #mirandainthewild
Now we need a follow up of you making these foods. Either at home or on the trail.
MTE. Buy lentils, spices, powdered eggs, maybe jerky, et cetera, and make up your own meal packs. It'll be cheaper than premade meals in many cases.
but the winner is clearly winco
Winco’s bulk food section is backpacking heaven
WinCo is awesome. Of the 3 it's def my fav! Lover the bulk section.
Moved to TN 5 years ago and my greatest regrets are the lack of mountains and WinCo
@@servnava6601 Tennessee has WinCo .I must get VanLife 'ing again theres none here in TX and plenty in PNW & California (one more reason it truly is the "Golden State"
@@MirandaGoesOutside omg ur the creator, right? Mz Miranda ? Id be "touched" beyond belief if you'd react to my own comment/double reverse?? Re- comment! Whatever's this thing I'm doing. Im not to sure what the proper term is?
Idahoan instant mashed potatoes are fantastic for the trail. They reconstitute very easily in in a freezer bag and you can easily add tuna or chicken packets. As bonus, they are both light and inexpensive.
I have yet to try this, but people are always raving about Idahoan!
Agreed. When we want to go fancy we add some gravy mix and a few dried cranberries. Thanksgiving on the trail 🎉
Yes! I add gravy mix, chicken, and dried onion rings! Or dried broccoli, bacon bits, chicken, ranch powder, cheese, and onion rings for a luxury mashed potato dinner 🤤
A quick and easy meal. I've done the same as well. Tuna + instant potatoes = good eating!
I pack it in a ziploc with a plastic spoon. Add water and I can eat it on the trail without stopping. Good source of potassium, too, which helps relieve muscle cramping.
Id be interested in a similar video with stores like Aldi, Dollar Tree, and Walmart. I was pleasantly surprised that dollar tree has so much food that would work great for backpacking, even powdered peanut butter.
it's always a good day when there's a miranda video. ☺
😘😘😘
I agree, I am old enough to be Miranda’s dad, and now my daughter like you too .
( off to buy my daughter a pretty sticker from your store for her laptop. )
gosh darn!
Instant miso soup selling in Japanese supermarkets becomes my favorite backpacking food. It’s just so easy and awesome
Allow me to introduce you to the wonderful world of Knorr Pasta Sides (and Rice Sides). Like Ramen, but in all kinds of cool flavors, with far more calories, and also super cheap. One of those for dinner will pretty much fill me up, especially if I add in some tuna or pair it with an apple. Full meal for $2
+1 !! 10 min freezer bag cooking time in a insulated pouch. try French fried onions too.. insane calorie to weight and tasty! not a fan of how the rice does in freezer bag (prob better in a pot)
Traders has Babybel PLANT based cheese! I’m not Vegan! No refrigeration needed!! Only after you open a cheese but you always eat a whole one anyway!! This was a game changer!! We incorporated this cheese into our daily mid day snack/ lunch. Love the Apple Chips!
Most individual pack cheeses can be considered safe for up to a week on the trail. I would have no concerns about babybel in the wax on a multi-day trip. I've also seen their foil pack wedges sold unrefrigerated, so no concerns with taking those on trail either.
I love that cheese. I cannot have soy or any legumes so usually I cannot eat non dairy cheese. I can eat Babybel, AND I like how it tastes.
This was so informative! I fully expected Trader Joe’s to be more expensive. The apple sauce packets are one of my favorite snacks. My boss told me her son likes them too.. he’s 4 😄
Kids know what’s up. Those apple sauce packets are bomb!!!!
My nutritionist recommended them to me for snacks (esp w something like a mozza stick to pair with it for macros) and I am a HUGE fan
I liked this episode though was a lil disappointed you didn't go Fred Meyer, maybe not one near you. I'll tell you my favorite store before I go backpacking is Grocery Outlet. They always have good salami and hard cheeses or any cheeses pretty cheap. And they have all these products that didn't make it to market that were made for convenience alone. Aaaand they always have some form of instant coffee and creamer.
If you can survive the Trader Joe’s parking lot, you can survive ANY backpacking trip 😂
so it's not just my local trader joes that has a poorly designed, hilariously crowded parkinglot? I'M NOT ALONE
HAHA! Best comment.
Trader Joe’s parking lot has to be the main reason Miranda was using her bike 😂
@@charliemcdowell5231 I swear it feels like they do it on purpose!! I’ve been all over the country and I’m always stumped by how bad every. single. lot. IS!!!!
The Trader Joe's obstacle course (read parking lot) lets you burn off all the calories so you can buy more food in the store. It's a design feature, not a flaw.
I was super excited to see a vegan do this challenge, 😢 hope you are doing ok, being vegan is hard but even being plant based 90% of the time is still helpful! Love you
For some people, like myself, doing a plant based diet can actually cause a lot of stomach issues.
Miranda mentioned recently in a video why she stopped being vegan and asked that people not comment on her diet. You should watch the video.
@missydill7846 I have watched most of the videos from the last 6 months, must have missed this one. Can you tell me which one? She didn't mention here not to talk about it, so sorry if I've brought up a sore subject...
Same, I might’ve just missed that bit as well. I’ve found the vegan recipe videos really helpful
My last few backpacking trips have been easy trips with middle/high school kids: Friday night at a campsite near parking, Saturday hike to a backpacking site, Sunday hike back to parking. And some (but not all) of our group has been vegan. With that said...
Breakfast: boil water for instant oatmeal, instant coffee, instant cocoa, plus fresh fruit Saturday morning (when we're still effectively car camping). I brought Mini Moo's UHT-processed half & half for my coffee. The other adults used instant cocoa (for a mocha), drank it black, or didn't drink coffee. We'd get a mix of flavored oatmeal and regular oatmeal; most kids had a couple packets of flavored oatmeal, and most adults had a packet (or two) of flavored oatmeal cut with a packet (or two) of regular. I like the idea of adding your own dried fruit, nuts, and sweetener rather than buying flavored packets, but flavored oatmeal is easier, which is helpful with kids and new backpackers in the group.
Lunch: Tortillas (or maybe pita) with peanut butter (or maybe almond butter) and jelly. We get two jars of each, sized so the group will finish a jar of peanut butter and a jar of jelly for one lunch, and then repeat for the other lunch. Sometimes we did BYO lunch, in which case I'd pack hard-boiled eggs, cheese, and extra trail mix.
Snacks: trail mix (dried fruit, nuts, and maybe M&Ms).
Dinner: To avoid arguments, we just had everyone pick their own freeze dried meal from REI (or wherever) for Saturday dinner. Friday was either a car-camping style dinner with fresh ingredients, or bring your own box/bag dinner from home, depending on the particular trip.
Dessert: S'mores with graham crackers, marshmallows, and a jar of Nutella (packs better than chocolate bars). The hard part is keeping the graham crackers intact, and keeping the marshmallows from being squished. Or sometimes we'd get freeze dried desserts from REI (or wherever) to share with the group, perhaps something like a berry cobbler. We'd add boiling water after everyone had their freeze dried meals going, and dessert would be ready by the time everyone was done.
Yeah, the freeze dried meals were more expensive, but they made Saturday dinner easier (as I said, helpful with kids and new backpackers).
With a group like you describe you might try making berry cobbler on-site in a cast iron Dutch oven using Bisquick and some sugar with local berries. We do this with teen groups, the first served are the two teens who volunteer to pack the oven pot and oven top. This only works during berry seasons and outside of fire bans. You can also make ice cream if you camp near snowfields and pack in rock salt with a couple of cans to roll around the ground.
Interesting idea, but the sites we used didn't allow fires (wood or charcoal), only camp stoves. And there haven't been any wild berries to pick.
Hauling in a dutch oven reminds me of my brother's scout troop though. They would use "pack inspections" as an excuse to slip a watermelon into the pack of one of the newbies. Although if you volunteer to haul in a dutch oven in exchange for first dibs on the cobbler, it isn't really hazing.
Thank you Miranda. What a great video & fave me some good ideas for my next backpacking trip that is coming up. Love you guys! Love the videos!
Former thru-hiker here, you should do a video with Wal-Mart and Dollar General as your stores. Majority of the time DG was our only option for food.
I totally agree, a video with these stores that are more recognized would be great, I went to Trader Joe's for the first time and I almost couldn't find the instant coffee 😁 besides being more expensive than Walmart it wasn't as good, I don't understand why people choose those stores.
I have a couple Trader Joe’s go tos. They have a yogurt I LOVE and a kind of energy bar I like and can eat. (I can’t have soy which rules out MANY bars). Otherwise, I’m not gonna go there.
Good vid. Should do one on why you jumped off the vegan wagon. Would be fun!
Probably because like most people who are not vegan, they don't care about animals. Veganism isn't a diet. It's only about animal welfare. She was most likely 'plant based' for her own personal reasons like health. Not criticizing, just explaining the difference between PB and vegan.
What a coincidence and excellent timing! Yesterday I was looking for YT video's for best hiking food at grocery stores because I will not be able to carry my food on the plane... and now this new Miranda video!!
Love love love this video! Great job
Thanks! Some great ideas here. My go to for breakfast is rolled oats, then just add my own spices, nuts/seeds, and dried fruit. Lunch: tortillas, peanut butter, and dried fruit. Dinner: couscous, TVP, dried mushrooms, nuts, and herbs. I snack on bars. Cafe Bustelo is my favorite instant coffee. I always throw a few packs of instant ramen and a few Larabars in my bag in case I get stuck out in the backcountry longer than planned.
Yess love all of these!! I’m a big fan of TVP, noodles, peanut butter, and dried mushrooms + herbs. One of my fave dinners!
Oooh! I love this video it would be so cool to see a follow up vid of you taking out your food load out from each place! ❤
I worked as a wildland firefighter in Canada for 4 years and we would shop for "24 hour kits" - full 24 hours of food to last us before we can get resupplied. The food had to be shelf stable, easy to prep and high in calories, just like backpacking food. My favourites were: baby food pouches (for freshness and vitamins), squeeze pouches of nut butter (to keep in the pocket and eat as needed), instant noodles, fruit gummies, dried mango, nuts, oatmeal, instant coffee (can be added to cold water during the day), some kind of canned veggies (the variety pf pouches of cooked veggies is not great here), couscous. And chocolate covered espresso beans!
I love your content! I would love if you did a part 2 and added an asian supermarket to the mix (maybe you can take a friend who is familiar with asian grocery stores)! Cost effective and adds variety. ❤
Great video! As a someone who’s not a fan of traditional backpacking meals, I always love scrounging the shelves at the store to see what I can whip up on my camp stove. Cooking with fresh ingredients (or even dried ingredients) can be finicky, yes, but so so satisfying.
would love to see you collab with Campwithcol at some point!
YES! Col and i have been talking about this 👀 I could use his tips and help!!!
Really cool episode!
edit/ Oh man I love the ebike talk! So exciting
I haven't yet, but I'm pretty sure that by the time I do try backpacking...I'll feel pretty confident that I'll enjoy it. This is greatly your doing Miranda. I have definately learned so much from your videos. All the things...
You will. I have learned so much from Miranda, not even funny.
Hey, Miranda! We met in the parking lot at PCT Days as I was driving out on Saturday. The cast/crew interaction in this video and your live in-store actions are great examples of what makes your videos stand out. Your videos feel natural, just like viewers feel in similar situations, and there's an engaging lack of pretense, almost no fourth wall. Thanks for being great to watch. Also, sorry if it felt like I was accosting you in the parking entry, but I _had_ to say "Hi!"
I Was blessed with a happy Spirit, and thanks to Miranda (and Co.) I am ever so much happier as a result of watching, "Miranda Goes Outside" and enjoying THEIR happy Spirits!
Thank you all! ❤😁
Great video and information. I like the idea of building my own meals, that way I can have more food that I'm used to making and eating.
Once you start, you'll never be content with the pre-packaged dehydrated meals again, which is a good thing I think.
This was such a great video! I've been looking into tips and tricks for packing not only enough food on the trail, but incredibly tasty food that I can change up! Where I live in the states we don't have Krogers or any of their chain stores, and as much as I love Trader Joe's, it's almost an hour drive from where I live, along with Whole Foods. I would love to see you do another video like this in stores like Walmart, Aldi (if you have any in your area), and The Dollar Tree/Dollar General.
Fun! Now you need to get 3 random hikers to eat those food, by store, and rate your meal or food choices on a 2 night trip.
Almost to 100k! Hopefully we'll see something crazy for that milestone!
Love you as always! You are amazing and really provide great info in the most fun way!!
OMG, I thought you had a huge tattoo but it is the ankle band of your pants!
love that you have an eqpd bag !! Yay Twisp!
I enjoyed this !!
Thank you for getting me into hiking. It really is fun. If you ever get to a natural grocers, they have dehydrated refried black beans. They are really good. That might make a couple of good shows, going to regional grocers, or the dollar stores and doing the same challenge.
This popped up just in time as I'm planning shelf stable lunch and snack ideas for a long trip! Definitely going to check out those smart sweets and protein bars. I also think the tuna packets and tortillas is the most exciting lunch option, can't wait to give it a try during my travels.
I love this video. I would love this Beto be a series
I used to live in your neighborhood and was really excited to see my old grocery stores featured in the video!
One thing that took me an embarrassingly long time to figure out is that you can just ask for free packets of things like mayonnaise or soy sauce from the deli counter at a grocery store, and they've always been happy to give them out. I think it probably helps to go there after you've already got a cart or basket of stuff you're going to buy.
Definitely love seeing Miranda videos on my days off! As for food I go with oatmeal’s n bars for breakfast, for lunch I go with tuna packs n crackers, or jerky, or ramen with jerky. For dinner I have a few fruits!
Ramen with jerky!! What a great idea!
First great video, topic.
Can you do a video for the newbies/thru hiker.
What I would like to see is a break down of what a thru hike might find at the store, what you might recommend eating and getting enough calories per meal, per day. Don’t forget snacks between meals.
Lastly can you talk about heavy foods.
Do you have a list of groceries that you would recommend for hiking long distances.
Keep those videos coming….
Love them thanks
Old school me, I love eating gorp on trail (my favorite mix includes raisins,dried cranberries, peanuts, almonds, walnuts and nestle dark chocolate chips).
love watching your videos, what watch are you running?
Such great comparisons
I like using knorr rice sides. Easy, packable and cheap! 😊
Asian markets usually have Freeze Dried Tofu, which can pack a protein punch is super light!
I was in the middle of watching all your old vids, didn’t realize this one just dropped haha
Great Video!! I’m always mixing my stores up with backpacking food. Kroger seems to always have the wide range of tuna packages, we have an HEB here in Texas. They have a great wife range of meal bars/ snack bars.. Even Walmart does a wonders sometimes 😂
And this is why I LOVE Trader Joe’s!! Great selection, great prices, fun shopping experience-BOOM 🙌💃🏻
I’d never go on a backpack trip without peanut M&M’s 😊
This is me and gummy candy 😋
Extremely helpful for us newbie backpackers!
Woohoo I love to hear that!!
I completely agree! My husband was a boy scout so some of this is more familiar for him, but I've only ever done car camping and we are trying to get into hiking and backpacking now with the younglings. Food is a great motivator for them (and me 😂) so easy, fun, and reasonably healthy are the goals for sure!
Damn Miranda whatever you are doing in the gym keep it up!!! Arms be looking jacked!!
This was helpful and lovely: I'm new to camping and backpacking and it took me a while to get comfortable with meal planning! I love adding peanutbutter to everything. Spicy tuna peanutbutter wrap, peanutbutter oatmeal, peanutbutter noodles! And I think that sardines are underrated!
Sardines! Yes!! The remaining oil can be messy, but in winter you can stuff rolled paper towel in the can and burn the oil off as an oil lamp.
The curry pouches at Trader Joe's are a bike tour and kayaking staple for me.
Me too!
Should do something like this at dollar tree, Walmart, dollar general, etc. Not everyone has access to trader Joe's or whole foods so options are good
Awesome video!!! One day, when you do a Canadian trip, can you do the same video but a Canada version?
I recently found these tuna pouches! Lunch...game...changer! Love the Thai Chilli.
Perhaps you should make a "resupply" video. I know you're not currently doing any of the big three trails, but as I watched your video from the comfort of rural america where we don't always have any of the big grocery stores nearby. It reminded me of try to resupply in small rural towns where there are just NO real options except maybe a dollar general or even just a convenience store attached to a gas station. anyway, food for thought, loved the video.
knorr pasta sides with French fried onions was my staple dinner food. Sandwich thins with Nutella or PB for lunch. classic pop tart or clif bar breakfast. Chex mix, trail mix or Pringles for snacks
Love the video - I'm headed out in a week for a 4 day trip with my family! My question is, what stores on this list do you normally shop at? I don't have a TJ or whole foods near me so I do almost all of my shopping at a Kroger. Just wondering about the impact that familiarity with the stores and their layout/selection had on your metrics? Thanks as always for the content!
Great question!! Actually, none of these stores were ones I visit frequently. I usually shop Kroger, but not this specific spot - so it was an adventure in finding stuff at EACH store! I definitely think familiarity plays a huge role. I can find stuff at my local store way easier than I did at any of these stops. If you are familiar with a grocery store - particularly if you take note of what you find just doing your daily shopping - you’ll likely get some real gems!
Good to know for canoeing trips too. I buy wraps, cheese whiz, canned tuna or chicken spread with little crackers. Small boxes of wine taken out of the box and cocoa packets are indulgent buys. Little cans of oysters, olives, dried fruit, jerky are good snacks. Did I mention that backpackers envy me in my canoe?
I’m jealous just READING about it!
Every single camping trip I introduce somebody to the wonder that is Trader Joe's instant coffee. ABSOLUTELY the best instant coffee I've had, tasty enough I often make it at home or the office. I'm hoping you've had it before, but if not, get some when it's back in stock. Anyways, great video, and now I need to go grocery shopping. 😂
Trader Joe's was a surprise, I need to check them out. Whole Foods is from my experience more expensive, but the biggest disappointment I thought they were big time into "Organic" but I found out they have a lot that is not, and I prefer Organic. They have lots of prepared foods there that are fun to eat though. Only problem I saw with this experiment was how these things weren't too packable. But still an interesting comparison. Oh yes, good luck with the 100k goal, I am shocked that it hasn't happened already. Let's go people and share her channel.
I sure hope they really have as much fun making videos as it appears!
We do! It's our favorite thing to do! Don't get me wrong, it's a ton of very hard work, but we love it.
This was such an interesting idea! Have you thought about doing something similar for other parts of the camping experience? Now that you aren’t employed by REI, I’d love to see you shop at other adventure stores like Sierra Trading, or the like to get your take!
Like all your videos, this was a fun one. I enjoy cooking/baking and creating my own dehydrated dinners for camping (I know the purpose of this video was to buy trail ready items direct from the grocery store).
I just got back from 8 days of hiking in Colorado. I spent $30 on ingredients to make 9 chicken-based dehydrated dinners.
I spent $70 at Walmart in Colorado where I picked up breakfast and lunch items, water and snacks... $100 TOTAL for 27 meals (24 + 1 extra lunch + 1 extra breakfast + 1 non-hiking day dinner).
.... This includes me buying too much water.
As a family of 5, we took a 17 day road trip through 7 states. I packed breakfast, lunch, dinner, 2 snacks, and a treat for each day. It all had to be shelf stable and cheap! I love these kinds of challenges!! Our favorite trail meal is tortillas with rice pouches, protein pouches, and a Velveeta pouch with some hot sauce. The kids especially loved the dehydrated potato hash brown cartons in tortillas.
Where did you buy the dehydrated potato hash browns?
@@heidiwellnitz8663 I found them at Dollar Tree. They are Hungry Jack brand.
Im half tempted to try out some foods before we go this summer.
Wow, a video with no burps! 😂 but there was a belly gurgle 😆 great video. Wish I lived where these were an option.
Food videos are my favorite!!!
classic😍 i am soooo with you on the tiny eats (8 tiny vs 1 big)... coincidentally, i am packing for an upcoming trip this week and am currently preparing my food. i usually take apples, carrots, celery and cheese, supplement with porridge and fancy dehydrated meal. i bring both coffee & tea with coconut creamer and maple sugar. extra treats are usually jerky or monk pack. gotta have food on the trail! I also feel it's always reenergizing to have your pack get significantly lighter as the trip goes on: one of my many great 'hike-psych-outs'! Thanks for the great video😼
oh, and i shop at my local food co-op or order from a certain cottage backpacker meal company
Thanks!
Great video! I would love (if you haven’t already done) a video where you go to three bulk food stores. If you could choose a daily bulk food diet, what do you choose to meet nutritional requirements and what do you make with the bulk foods you got?
Which was your best experience shopping?
Great Video... Personally I always hit the Genral $ and Family $ and such spots first then big stores if needed...
CINNAMON OATMEAL! My fav Miranda. I also use the tuna packs but i get the plain tuna and pick up individual packets of mayo(2) and relish(1) at Kwik Trip to mix together in the tuna pack. Also individual cups of Jif and Walmart has organic applesauce. I also love canned peaches in real juice.
I live in northern Utah in an outdoor centered town and out of the three (Kroger, Joe, and whole food), we only have a Kroger (ours is called Smith’s). I think it’s all about how often you go to said store. I could navigate our Kroger so well (plus they have an awesome app that tells you exactly where each food is and has coupons for great deals). Just something to think about.
I needed a video like this today. Thank you. Good timing. It's a shame I don't like tuna because it would be a good packable meat option.
Go for the packaged salmon, higher calorie./weight and higher fat for satiety-and the taste is better!
I don't backpack but I buy a lot of these items for car camping because I like quick meals. The packets of pre-cooked flavored rice and a can or pouch of chicken make a good easy dinner. I love the Barbell's protein bars for snacks and TJ's sells singles.
If I couldn't get instant coffee, I would go for black tea bags.
I am planning a 5-7 day hike on the Foohills Trail ,and figuring out what food I am going to carry that is nutritious and calorie dense has been a challenge. Being a vegetarian on the trail is not that easy. P.S. Yay for the new E bike!
I hear you!! Grits, potatoes, noodles, rice are all amazing base foods that are light. Powered peanut butter and dehydrated tofu (TVP) are a vegetarians bff on trail!
If you are up for some pre-packed dehydrated food real turmat, adventure food, and trek’n eat are some brands that have a lot of vegetarian options. I packed lunch and dinner for 10 days (pre-packed dehydrated meals), and not one meal is the same as the other. However I don’t know if everything will be available for you. I live in Sweden so the options might very for you😊
If you want to make your own meal. Maybe look in to: noodles, tomato soup (powder, as sauce) and dried soy mince.
There are a lot of vegetarian backpacking meals at REI. Also, if you look at some of Miranda's older videos she has some where she does vegan meals DIY.
Dehydrated cooked lentils rehydrate really well. We've enjoyed lots of spicy stew style meals made of lentils and instant rice with lots of dehydrated or freeze dried veggies. We tend to add dehydrated chicken, but lentils are high in protein on their own.
Add chia seeds and peanut butter to your breakfasts.
Instant hummus makes good trail lunches, especially if you add some lemon or lime powder. We also make a cookie dough hummus using dehydrated cooked chickpeas.
TVP is a meat substitute that has turned many a backpacker temporarily vegetarian when they compare the price to the freeze dried meats. I remember a long canoe trip in my youth that was unintentionally vegetarian because the TVP was so much easier on the budget.
Nuts and seeds are the lightest calories you can get short of chugging straight vegetable oil. So healthy and full of fiber too.
Forget about the under $50…there’s no way I’m getting out of the store under 30 minutes! That’s the challenge.
This is really helpful. I have trouble eating on the trail, but I have been avoiding TJ. I thought it wouldn't have decent vegetarian options or things that needed little preparation. I will definitely check it out soon😊
Try their bagged Indian food with instant rice! You can heat it up by putting the bag right in boiling water. And it’s super tasty. Their canned goods are also excellent- eggplant, Italian beans, chickpeas, dolmas, etc.
I'd suggest to also add sirracha sauce to your peanut noodles. Its fantastic! Good job on the shopping. It's super hard to shop in just 30 minutes.
This was a fun video ! A lot of backpackers mention the tuna packs but do you ever do the chicken breast ones ? Not a fan of tuna.
I haven’t officially backpacked yet but I’ve bought food for it. Lol - I picked up some knorr sides that look like they will be pretty good. Not sure how healthy they are though !
Interesting video! You should do a video showing kind of the same thing, but buying the same items from different stores. That way it's less subjective to what you just decided to buy.
I am in Indiana, it's Kroger here BUT my ex lived in Utah when we met and it's Smith's there but she is in Washington now and I didn't know it was called that there LOL !!!! Anywho, I love Seattle and going back again in July to see my daughter !!! We are going to find some trails around Mt. Rainier to hike together !!!! Love Your Channel !!!!
I find all of my best backpacking supplies at Grocery Outlet Bargain Market. They have a lot of matches for Whole Foods but for way less money.
Yay! Miranda!
Not suprised Trader Joes won. Other hikers rave about the place. I expected Kroger to be more expensive. Cool video & informative
Great video mashed potatoes all day ha ha I'm like learning cold soaking you should do a video on what you can actually cold soak lol
TJ's for the win! The best place for backpacking meals and their selection is excellent. Whole Paycheck is just overpriced. Baby carrots are a great portable vegetable.
That beef jerky from TJ’s in the red packet has way more sugar in it than their organic beef jerky in the green packet. It costs a dollar more, but has more protein.
we have new scouts who have to plan and buy food for a fairly difficult hike this weekend. I helped them out a little last Monday, then went to a different group to help them with their gear load out... Came back to the new guys and they were watching this video!!! they thought they were going to get in trouble for using their phone at a meeting, but it's allowed for planning... I just looked at them and said "Miranda will learn you some food options, gosh darn" and left them to their planning... They were flabbergasted.. (3 day hike Joyce Killmer Memorial Forest/prep for Philmont)
TJ's also has a ton of freeze dried fruits to add to your oatmeal! :)
Is that an outhouse neckless? lol Awesome
totally approve of cholate expresso beans as coffee replacement! :)
Trader Joes, Grocery Outlet, and the bulk bins at Winco are my go tos. I just wish my TJs wasn't 40 minutes away.
Some of my favorites from each store.
Trader Joe’s: Swedish rye crisps (great with cheese or tuna packets), Baby sweet fried pineapple, PB&J bars (like nutri-grain bars), cheddar cheese sticks
Whole Foods: McDougall’s black bean soup (has to be repackaged though 😢), bulk buns for trail mix and oats, TVP and Karen’s Just Veggies to add to soup/ramen/mashed potatoes etc (pricey but nice to have vegetables and added easy protein).
Kroger: Minute rice, Far East boxed cous cous, ritz sandwich crackers (morale food, and so nicely packaged)
Fried pineapple?! I will be trying that! Thanks for the tip!
Oh no! Dried pineapple. Sorryyyy. Still very deslicious though! @@direwolf_2025
Love this
Love you dingledads
I know
Those apple mango crushers are so good! 😭
Addicted to GoMacro Everlasting Joy. 🤤🤤
🤣 the apple mango part