2 D AY P AL E O BAC K P ACK ING M E NU
Hello!! From our family to yours! Often times packing nutrient dense backpacking food can feel stressful, overwhelming and f rustrating.
So, here is, a tried and true 2-day meal plan that has worked for us.
We h o p e t h a t t h e s e m ea l s h e l p yo u to feel peaceful, calm, and conf ident in your backpacking experience as you nourish you and your family.
CONTENT GUIDE
1
BREAKFAST
2
LUNCH
3
D INNER
4
SNACKS
5
BEVERAGES
6
GEAR
7
A FEW T IPS
BREAKFAST MENU DAY 1: Grain free granola bowl • Grain free granola! You can either make your own (my favorite recipe is from Paleo Running Momma), OR purchase an already made version from Thrive Market. • Freeze dried apples + bananas • Powdered coconut milk - Native Forest brand from Thrive Market • Drizzled wtih Justins maple almond butter squeeze packs The grain free granola, almond butter, and coconut milk nourishes your body with lots of healthy fats and protein. Adding in the freeze fried apples and banans provides you with carbs. However, on days where I have a “lighter” but faster breakfast like this, I plan to have a heavy snack mid-morning. Something like plantain chips and beef jerkey.
INSTRUCTIONS - preperation time 3-5 minutes • Mix your powdered coconut milk with water • Add granola • Add apples + bananas • Drizze with almond butter • Enjoy!
BREAKFAST MENU DAY 2: Scrambled eggs, veggies, and potatos • Dehydrated eggs - Augason Farms brand sold on Amazon • Dehydrated potatos - Augason Farms brand sold on Amazon • Dehydrated spinach - Harmony House brand sold on Amazon • Dehydrated chives - Thrive market brand sold on Thrive • Kerrygold butter or ghee - bought locally • Garlic salt + pepper This is one of my FAVORITE breakfasts as it’s so satisfying and still really light weight. It works best if you have two stoves. This combination provides you with great nutrients from the eggs, spinach, chives, and the potatos nourish your hungry soul. Eggs are one of the most nutrient dense foods on the planet! Just one egg provides 13 essential nutrients. The dehydrating process retains most of the eggs nutrients. Spinach and chives not only taste great but also add folate and vitamin A retinol to your breakfast.
INSTRUCTIONS - warning, this breakfast may take up to 20 minutes to prepare. • Start your morning off by immediately boiling the potatos on high until soft and tender. • While the potatos are boiling, follow the direcctions to scramble the eggs in a sauce pan on your second stove in the ghee (or wait until the potatos are done) • . Once the eggs begin to scramble, add the spinach and chives. • Mix in the soft potatos. • Mix butter/ghee, salt, and pepper • Enjoy!
LUNCH MENU DAY 1 - Picnic Plate! • Prosciutto - source at your local grocery store • Moon cheese (if you can tolerate cheese!) • Dried figs - source from Thrive Market • Plantain Chips - source Inka plantain chips from Thrive Market • Olives- source, REI small olive packets Picnic plates are SO fun for me. My main goal is to make sure carbs, protein, and healthy fats are all present. The plantain chips and figs provide your carbs, the olives, prosciutto,and cheese is your healthy fat, and the prosciutto and cheese also provides protein.
INSTRUCTIONS - preperation time 3 minutes • Put it on a plate • Hope someone in your family packed a can of wine... • Enjoy!
LUNCH MENU DAY 2: Salmon salad, cucmbers, on coconut wraps • Pouch of salmon - Wild planet brand from Thrive Market • 1-2 TBSP Avacado Oil Mayo - Primal Palette from Thrive Market • 1/3 cup cubed cucmber (cube it on the trail) - buy fresh and store in a ziploc bag with a slightly wet paper towel. • Coconut wraps - Thrive Market brand from Thrive Market • Side of potato chips - source avacado oil potato chips from Thrive Market Being a stroke survivor, I stay pretty aware of nutrients that maintain my vascular integrity and keep my inflammatory levels down. Fish is a great way to reduce inflmation and feed your brain with healthy fats! Also, having a nice fresh crunchy cucumber on the trail si reallllly satisfying after eating lots of dehydrated foods. You may want to weigh your picnic plate food and compare it to your salmon salad lunch. If the salmon salad ingredients are heavier, than swap day 1 meal for day 2.
INSTRUCTIONS - Prep time: 5 minutes • Cube your cumber • Add the salmon • Add the mayo • Stir together • Put it all on your wrap • Add your potato chips... whic may be crumbs by now • Enjoy!
Dinner Menu DAY 1 - Potato, Veggetable, Chicken Stew • Instant bone broth travel packs - KissmyKeto brand sold on Amazon • 1/3 cup dehydrated potatos - Augason Farms brand sold on Amazon • 1/4 cup dehyrated mixed veggies - Harmony House brand sold on Amazon • 3 oz Chicken bits - EPIC brand sold on Thrive Market • OR, if weight is not an issue you can use canned chicken • 1 1/2 cups water • Garlic salt to taste • Pepper To make this even tastier sometimes I bring pre-made dinner rolls The recipe is from Dr. Ashley Turner. Just google her dinner rolls and you’ll discover a delicious plantain and cassava flour based roll. I really enjoy a delicious stew and find that making my own is often more cost effective and tastier than freeze dried meal packs. However, they often take longer. If you’re in a pinch for time you can find some tasty ready to go paleo meal packs from Wild Zora. Tip: prep all these ingredients in a ziploc bag before your trip. That way you can just “dump and boil” on the trail!
INSTRUCTIONS - 15 minutes • Boil all contents together in a small boiler over your stove. • Wait for potatos to soften • Enjoy!
Dinner MENU DAY 2: Thai Curry Beef Stew • Thai green curry chicken bone broth travel pack - KissmyKeto brand sold on Amazon • 1/4 cup dehydrated sweet potatos - Harmony House brand sold on Amazon • 1/4 cup dehydrated mixed veggies - Harmony House brand sold on Amazon • 3 oz sweet and spicy siracha beef bites - EPIC brand sold on Thrive Market • 1 TBSP shredded coconut • 1/2 TBSP peanut butter • 1 1/2 cups water If you are someone who tolerates rice, sometimes this is nice to eat over instant rice. Especially if you have burned quite a few calories on this day. The veggie mix adds a lot of wonderful nutrients to this soup. It’s also full of healthy fats, protein, and carbs! Tip: prep all these ingredients in a ziploc bag before your trip. That way you can just “dump and boil” on the trail!
INSTRUCTIONS - 15 minutes • Boil all contents together in a small boiler over your stove. • Wait for potatos to soften • Enjoy!
TASTY SATISFYING SNACKS! • Inka Plantain Chips - these are so satisfying and crunchy! As a starchy tuber they are a great source of carbs. • EcoAlter Coconut & Seeds Chocolate bark - a plant based chocolate loaded with nuts and seeds for an extra boost of healthy fats. • EPIC bars, jerky, or sticks - well sourced meat protein and very tasty! • Dehydrated apple chips - so sweet they could be candy! • Trail mix - I love to mix raw cashews, enjoy life mini chocolate chips, dehydrated raspberries, pumpkin seeds, brazil nuts, coconut flakes, orange zest, and almonds. Mix any combo your heart desires! TIP: avoid nuts and seeds that have been roasted in canola oil, peanut oil, or sunflower oil. • Baobites superfruit snack - these gummies have no added sugar and taste delicious! They are high in fiber, vitamin C, antioxidants, and electrolytes. You can find them on Amazon. • Chocolate covered almonds - I typically pick these up from a local store. I don’t know what it is about dark chocolate covered almonds on the trail, but they can really get me through the last tough miles! • Fresh red pepper and hummus - often times I’ll bring a lighter weight fresh veggie with a small pack of hummus. If I cut it up at home I package it in a small ziploc bag with a damp paper towel. • Energy balls - you can google paleo energy balls and find a variety of recipes! I like to mix cashews, cacao, peppermint, honey, and coconut oil to make a delicious chocolate mint truffle! • Justins almond butter squeeze pack - if I’m lucky enough to sneak a fresh apple in my husbands pack then this almond butter and apple make the dream snack! If not, i’ll eat it by itself or sometimes on dehydrated apples. • Seaweed seasnax - not only do these salty crunchy seaweed snax tasty good, but also provide a great source of iodine! • Simple Mills crunchy chocolate chip cookies - need I say more? Just be prepared that these might be crumbs by the time you eat them. • Jacksons Honest Sweet Potato Chips - just sit down and enjoy a bag of chips on the trail. AND, still feel good about how you’re fueling your body!
BEVERAGES COFFEE • At home grind up 3TBSP of coffee and place in a zip loc bag. This will serve 16oz of pourover coffee for one person. (repeat this step for as many cups off coffee you want on the trail). • Cream - if you tolerate Goats Milk I prefer to bring dehydrated goats milk and have a latte on the trail! If not Native Forest dehydrated Coconut Milk is another great otion! • Honeysticks Boil water. While the water is boiling prepare your GSI coffee filter over your mug with your coffee grinds. When the water is ready use your best pourover techniques to make yourself a nice cup of jo’! Depending on your preference, add the dehydrated milk of choice and honey stick. Stir vigrously and you might even get some “foam.” Having a cup of delicious coffee in the morning on the trail is something I SO look forward to. I even go to bed thinking about it the night before.
YOUR KITCHEN GEAR • Spork • Bowl or mug - often we use our mug as our bowl. The only downside is at breakfast when you have coffee and also need a bowl • Larger pot - this is for boiling water but also for making your stews in • Small plate (optional) - we use our small plates quite often. However, you can make the meals without these. • Camping stove - for years we used the MSR Whisperlite. Now, we are BIG FANS of the $25 stove from Amazon, Terra Hiker 3500 W Camping Gas Stove • Dish rag • Biogradeable dish detergent - REI sells CampSuds. Another option is Dr. Bronners • Ziploc sandwhich bags - we often use these bags to repackage our food into lighterweight packaging and get rid of any excess packaging. We also package indivudual meals as “ready to dump (into the pan)” in these bags. • Gallon bags or stuff sacks - we organize our meals into larger “breakfast”, “lunch”, “dinner”, and “snack” bags • 3L of water carrying system • Water filter - I didn’t talk much about this but we use the Katadyn Hiker Pro • Tiny containers - for bringing seasoning • Knife - your pocket knife will also do just fine • GSI pourover coffee filter
A FEW TIPS • Visualize your trip - every trip is different. Every person is different. Packing the food that you think you will need/want to eat on your specific trip is important! Here are a few of the questionsI encourage clients to think about when planning your food. How tired will I feel? What will the weather be like? How much time will I have to stop for lunch? Who on the trip do I need to communicate with? • Prep as much as possible at home - repackage everything to minimize trash you’ll have to carry out. Also organize, weigh, pack your bag, repack your bag, put your snacks in easy to access compartments. • Take notes during your trip - each trip is a learning opportunity. An opportunity to make tweaks and adjusments for your next trip! Problem is, often tims by the time our next trip roles around we forget what we were going to tweak. Write yourself notes and create an ever learning document. • Understand your values - although these meals in this document place a higher value on health and balanced nutrition, understand that they will take longer to prepare and also may weigh a bit more than the averag freeze dried meal. If you’re valuing speed and weight on a trip, these may not be a great solution. • Play the points game - one of the games we enjoy playing while backpacking is the points game. Meaning, at the end of each trip you get a point for everything you did not use. We count up our total points and whoever has the most points loses. In our home the loser washes dishes for the next week!
L A STLY, R E ACH O UT FO R S UPP O RT ! As a functional medciine health coach I work to empower you to become your own strength and wisdom, support you without judgment, equip you to have a great experience, and hold you accountable to your goals.
Health coaching takes your trips from frantic preperation and hoping you packed the right items, to peaceful preperation and a restorative adventure.
For a complimentary exploration call you can reach me at healthcoach@aletheiacyr.com
