Nigel Christmas
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Food:
I purchased a dehydrator unit and a vacuum sealer unit and bags specifically for this purpose. You have to eat a lot of food on this trip due to the level of exercise that is required and you also have to be able to stand it. The simple method is to make food you know you like (or can stand) with enough variation to keep the mind happy. If you do it right when you hit Mt Hotham and Thredbo you should not have any massive cravings nor should you be starving. Also get a good set of Salter of equivalent electronic scales that accurately measure to 5gm.
I made up 40 days of food in total which proved to be far more than I required. To do it again I would make 30-35 days of food and then rely on outside food supplies at Mt Hotham and Thredbo. I took 38 days in total but spent a two dinners with family at Porepunkah and one at Thredbo.
Breakfast: 150gm of muesli and 50gm of dried milk powder mixed together and vacuum bagged. This is a lot of muesli but I found after a week I needed that much. Experiment yourself but realise that you eat a lot more than at home watching TV. The only big error I made here was buying from Woolworths some flavour with strawberry in it; after a few of them it repulsed me and I couldn’t stand eating it. I would sort through the mixes avoiding it like the plague until there was no other option. I found the toasted Muesli more palatable.
Lunch: 35gm of salami (40mm diameter approx 40-50mm long) various varieties but make sure they state keep cool on label (not keep refrigerated at or below 4 degrees C). Parmesan cheese in block form from supermarket, approx 40gm chunks. Both the parmesan and salami was cut in chunk form and then vacuum packed in a small vacuum bag. I cut the large vacuum bags into 4 and heat sealed the edges to make smaller bags. The salami and cheese kept well and left overs were fine months after the walk. I also had 11 vita wheat crackers with the salami and cheese each lunch time. The salami, cheese and crackers is hard to beat as it keeps well, is compact, has plenty of flavour and lots of energy (over 2000KJ).
Dinners: For ease I made all of the meals in a similar method with the variety coming from the sauces and the variation between pasta/rice/Deb potato. I found this method extremely palatable and gave plenty of variation for you to pick through.
The base was made from:
6kg broccoli = 18 heads weighing 3kg. Blanched and dried. 515gm dried = 15.8gm per meal.
Capsicums = 38. Blanched and dried. 575gm dried = 14.3gm per meal.
Carrots = 40 normal size. Blanched and dried. 360dried = 9gm per meal.
Snow peas = 1 kg Blanched and dried
Mince 9.09kg of the best fat free stuff. Cooked, drained and dehydrated = 2.08kg, 52.6gm per meal.
This was divided up into multiple containers and each meal then had a variation of sauces ( Kantong sauces and tomato bases etc) that had been dried into a (like fruit wrap on liquid trays in dehydrator). I used typically ½ a jar to each meal and this was slightly too strong for most of the tomato and Kantong sauces though. Also added was dried mushrooms and fried onion and/or fried garlic where suitable. Each meal then had added either 105gm Deb dried mashed potato, quick cooking 2 minute pasta or cooked and dehydrated rice. Just don’t make the mistake I did and add the pasta to the main mix as it takes less time to cook than the main meal and ends up disgusting ( yes I had to pick out each pasta piece by hand for those meals). Just put the pasta/deb/rice in a small freezer bag and then add it to the mix and vacuum pack the lot together.
When cooking the meals I started with the sauce and boiled the water and then added the main mix and let it simmer adding more water as required. You can then either add pasta/rice to it and serve when ready; or cook them separately to give variation. Just make sure to let the meal stand/simmer long enough so the mix fully re-hydrates otherwise you will be farting a lot.
Snacks etc:
I made a fruit mix that was bagged into daily serves. I dried my own for most of it as commercial contains sulphur dioxide to maintain colour and this makes it go straight through my system. Plus a lot of commercial stuff is sugar laced and disgusting.
10 x 400gm strawberry punnets
29 kiwi fruit (strawberries & Kiwi fruit combined = 785gm dried)
58 apples = 1190gm dried
13 large pineapple = 1290gm dried
1kg dried apricots (sulphur dioxide free)
2kg commercial banana chips (bought these as it was during the $10 per kg hurricane time)
I made a batch of jerky that was vacuum bagged into daily serves. This stuff is great a highlight to each day. It was 4.3kg of fat free quality round steak. Partially freeze it and cut it with the grain around 5mm thick, then cut so strips are around 5cm wide at most. Marinate with a couple of jars of teriyaki marinade and leave in the fridge for a few days. Dehydrate it in the unit. It shrinks a fair bit and when it is half done mix it through another jar of marinade as it adds more flavour. It made 1550gm dried = 40gm per day.
Cup of soup packets. 1 per day
Nescafe hot chocolate sachets 1 to 2 per day
Muesli bars 1 to 2 per day
400gm chocolate block 1 per food drop.
Peanuts, 1 large packet per food drop.
Coffee or tea bags
Chewing gum
Vitamins: I Centrum per day and fish oil. Worth taking to make sure diet is adequate.
Instant custard or dessert, 1 for every second day.
I found I really liked the hot chocolate sachets and hardly touched the tea bags. Generally I was not having a tea with breakfast as I could not be stuffed lighting the stove.
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