Readywise Open Range Cheesy Potato Soup

SALT. BOMB.

Years ago, Backpacker's Pantry offered a cheesy bacon mashed potato "sidedish" that was the perfect breakfast. It went out of production, and I have been searching for a suitable replacement ever since.  

This isn't it.

If I had read the packaging a little more closely, I would have noted that this "meal" contains 104% of one's rda of sodium. If I had read the packaging a little more closely, I would have noticed that sodium is listed in the ingredients in no less than ELEVEN separate places. Woof.

And to top it all off, the diced potato chunks did not fully rehydrate. Following the package directions, resulting in 15 minutes of rehydration time, still left the potato chunks chewy at best—crunchy at worst. I was in the middle of a 12-mile day and *needed* the calories, otherwise I wouldn't have bothered finishing it. As it was, I was hungry again long before I reached the trail head.

I simply cannot recommend this meal. Ever.

Background

I have decades of hiking and backpacking and eating freeze-dried meals. I ate this meal in the middle of a 12-mile day hike at 700 feet.