Food and Drink

Recent Food/Drink Reviews

Backpacker's Pantry Three Sisters Southwestern Quinoa & Beans

Yet another decent but ultimately unsatisfying vegetarian meal. What compels a person to continually try new meals in spite of knowing one's preferences and having a strong catalog of known good options?  You never know when you're going to find a new treasure.  This meal has a lot going for it, but the sum is not quite equal, nor yet greater, than its parts. Preparation This being the first time with this meal, I followed the package instructions exactly.  1.5 cups of water and 15 minutes waiting,… Full review

Backpacker's Pantry Rocky Mountain Scramble

In the continuing search for the perfect potato-based breakfast, this had so much promise. Promise which it sadly fails to live up to. Once again, I ordered up a meal that looked on paper like a potentially solid replacement for my long-lost standard, the discontinued Baco-Cheddar-Mashed Potato of yesteryear. And once again I have eaten something that is...fine. Preparation Per package instructions, I added 1 cup of boiling water, stirred, waited 8 minutes, stirred again, waited another 7 minutes. Full review

ProBar Meal Bar

Honestly Amazing gluten-free (GF) Bar     I have to eat gluten-free. Gluten will kill me and almost did.  I have been looking for a long shelf life food bar that is gluten-free and there are so few to choose from. This bar does not have an overly long shelf life but it is longer than average. I have avoided trying this bar because of its price. It is spendy as bars go. The other day though I was in the store and needed something to eat before I got home. This was on the shelf so I decided it… Full review

Nescafe Classic

The best solution I've found to good, hot, and quick coffee on the trail. Over the years I've tried many different ways of making coffee on the trail and they all seemed to have their drawbacks either because the pots were too heavy, bulky, or generated too much trash. On a chilly wet morning, after walking up to Col de Balme from Trient and barely finding the refuge in the fog, I had an epiphany. Just wanting to shake off the chill with something hot I ordered broth and a coffee. It's just an elderly… Full review

Mountain House Veggie Chorizo Breakfast Scramble

This is pretty much exactly what one would expect of an egg-based Mountain House breakfast meal - not bad, but certainly nothing to get excited over. Mountain House has done it again: they have produced another extremely adequate breakfast dish. The package advertises vegetarian chorizo, eggs, potatoes, and bell peppers. The package contains those things. PreparationPer the package instructions, I added 1-1/3 cups boiling water to the pouch and stirred. Waited 5 minutes, stirred again. Waited a… Full review

Stowaway Gourmet Thai Curry with Shrimp

I bought some Stowaway a while ago and just recently the weekend before last finally tried the Thai Curry with Shrimp. I am amazed at what this company does with freeze-dried / dehydrated food.   I do not know how it is possible to make shrimp taste good after such a process.  The shrimp doesnt have the same texture any more but its good enough for what it is.  Over all the taste of it and the texture is excellent.  So much so that if it wasnt for the cost, I might go out of my way to eat it… Full review

AlpineAire Spicy Grilled Chicken Curry

Not completely terrible, but very watery and insipid flavor if you follow the package directions and use the specified 2 US cups (16 fl oz) water. More like an Anglo-Indian Curry than the Indian curry they advertise, containing currants and apples, so the taste is very sweet, almost cloyingly so. Very little chicken, almost no chicken flavor. Not very spicy, at all, more savory. Probably rescuable, with less water and/or additions. It wasn't inedible, but it was a little disappointing. A lot of… Full review

Mountain House Lasagna with Meat Sauce

Reasonable taste and quality. After my disastrous experience with MH Macaroni & Cheese, I was prepared to be disappointed with their Lasagne with Meat Sauce, but I am eating it right now, and I am pleasantly surprised to discover it's not bad. It's got reasonable taste and quality, and I wouldn't be disappointed on those counts, eating this at the end of a day of hiking.I have made a meal rehydration cozy out of three Amazon bubble mailers, so there's three layers of bubble mailer on each side… Full review

Mountain House Macaroni & Cheese

Utterly awful. Nothing redeeming about this. I knew going into this that the MH Mac & Cheese was widely reviled, but since I snagged four MH meals from Amazon for a grand total of $20, and since this was in the bundle, I figured I'd try it, first, just to be certain. I regret having done so.There's just nothing positive I can say about this product. It is horrible. 0/10 would recommend avoiding it entirely, unless you are literally on the verge of starvation. I was hoping that it might be salvageable… Full review