Our favorite food/snack to bring during an expedition (2017-18) , (2020-22)

The biggest rule for family adventures is to always bring food. Even if we don’t have little kids now, even big kids get hungry when they’re hungry. Dealing with hungry children is not fun.
When you go hiking or on any long trip, you want a food that
1) Last long
2) Taste Good
3) is NUTRITIOUS (especially for long trip)
4) fair price

We’ll share some of our favorite snacks and drink

We are always looking for healthy, filling bars to eat in between clients. These bars are delicious, not too sweet but packed with flavor and gives us the energy to keep up with a busy day.
We consider these bar to be the BEST of the BEST bar , when it comes to long endurance rides.

The ingredients are all natural and like seeing on nuts and berries as compared to many bars that taste synthetic and are hard to chew and break down. Calorie count at 380 is also packed with rich natural energy.
These are the only bars I use anymore when i need to take a trip that involves very high amount of physical activity.

Now here is one of the most lets say… Interesting , snack item that we have had so far.

My wife Anna introduced me to these and I absolutely love them.

This Honey waffle was a very good surprise for us. They’re healthy and they taste so good! Highly suggest! They’re perfect for a little snack throughout the day! We surely did not expect it to be so flavor rich and tasty !
We found that it works great for the energy needed before and after a long walk or run. Great taste, easily chewable and light carbs. These are a great snack or that go too before your workout. Nothing to be suspicious about here, the waffle are just as described. All the ingredients added are natural, no preservative, no weird chemical that you cannot pronounce the name . And the honey taste is 11/10 .
In short, we DEFINITELY recommend these to all runners or hiker.

ITS NOT DONE YET !
Now that you know some good item to bring to EAT, how about something to DRINK !
There are many many many choice of electrolyte drink, vitamin drink, probiotic, etc etc etc.
So many choicces that it can be a little bit confusing , to say the least.. Even for us…

We decided to try one of the top seller in the “Electrolyte and Replacement Drink” section.

it is now time to present you one of the most hydrating drink we have ever tested so far
The Nuun Sport: Electrolyte Drink Tablets
You heard right ! it is a Tablet ! You simply mix the dry tablet in water and thats all

We are going to start out with the positives first, the amount of tablets you get for the money is pretty amazing compared to other electrolyte packs. We personally feel like they help me after hours long intense work outs to prevent muscle cramping and dehydration. Plus they are fizzy so it’s almost like a soda carbonation.

ONLY 1 DOWNSIDE

The downside is that they take at least 10 minutes to dissolve in the cup of water so if you want to drink it in a hurry..well good luck.

We find that it is not too much of a big deal, since 10 minutes is too long, But we did wish it was a LITTLE bit faster…

To conclude, we find that it is a great alternative to “sports drinks” with ridiculous amounts of sugar and artificial sweeteners. all the electrolytes you need and nothing you don’t. drinking lots of water to stay hydrated can be a chore, but these tablets make hydration less boring. they are a mainstay in my pantry now, highly recommend.

And 1 last thing about this product, did you know that there is only 15 calories in each capsule.
So if your goal is to lose weight, this is a pretty good alternative to other drinks.

The importance of an extra protein source, when hiking for a long period of time.

Here is one of the most nutrient dense effective VEGAN protein powder on the market right now:

I am a big fan of chocolate protein powder. I train every day, so getting enough protein is very important to me! I swear I’ve tried almost every brand of vegan chocolate protein powder this world has to offer. And if you’ve ever tried a few, you’ve probably come across a few that taste earthy and/or have a chalky texture. Not this one. Some important factors for me are that the protein to calorie ratio is high (some vegan proteins have less protein per serving than whey and are higher in calories, I buy protein not chocolate milk), that they have good taste (I want to enjoy! It’s a treat!) and the price. The smell at first when I opened this one was definitely earthy. However, it tastes pretty good. I add a tiny bit of sugar free sweetener just to add a bit more sweetness because I feel like that extra little bit is missing. But it’s a huge container, the protein level is pretty good (20g of protein for only 109 kcal), and the price per serving is pretty average. I’m almost out and need to restock. If that doesn’t tell you it’s good, I don’t know what will.

ALWAYS MAKE SURE THAT YOU HAVE AN EMERGENCY FOOD SUPPLY!

Did you know that some emergency food boxes may last up to 30 years!.
Here is one of those EXTREMELY LONG LASTING food supply that i have tried during my last trip to Thailand (when we were lost for 4 days..)

I actually learned about this quite recently and i was amazed by this. Do you realize exactly how much of a life saver these emergency food can be ?
For example, imagine something happens. Something very very big, like a natural disaster. Maybe it will be an earthquate, floods, very big snow storm etc etc.

You ALWAYS need to be prepare for that moment.
Of course, another emergency situation would simply be this:
You lost your track in the woods… and you’re getting very hungry.
If you are in any of those situation, you want to make sure that tyou have a supply of food that will last a very long time, until you are rescued.

Now since the life storage of the food can be up to 30 years, you may be wondering: What kind of weird chemicals must have they put into the food to make it last so long ?
Here’s the answer to this question. It is not the additives that make those emergency food last so long, but rather, the way that they were packaged. When those long-lasting a technique called “Freeze-Drying” is used to extend the consumtion date by 100 fold
Freeze dryers work by freezing the material, then reducing the pressure and adding heat to allow the frozen water in the material to turn directly into vapor.
Freeze-dried foods offer longer shelf life, lower moisture content, and generally taste better than dehydrated foods

You CANNOT afford to get sick during a trip. The best way to prevent bacterial infection is to drink clean water

water filter
drinking straight from a small river in sweet California

I bought this water filter for a hiking/camping trip in California, and it worked like a charm! It’s a plus to take it with you instead of water bottles or a hydration bag. I wasn’t afraid for a second to stick this in a random stream we came across and start drinking. The initial drink was a bit harsh. (Just run the water through the filter) But I’d rather it be that way so I know the filter is doing its job. After that, the rest of the sips were easy. Be sure to clean it according to the instructions after each use. I think the product will stop working if you don’t clean it properly. Don’t hesitate to buy this product and use it in a water source when you feel thirsty.

SPICE THINGS UP !

It’s very possible that during a trip, the taste of the food might not be the best of the best..
However, there is a way to transform a tastless food/snack into something delicious by adding the right spices to spice things up.

This spice container is a GREAT product for camping. ( Even if I wished that the container was refillable) .
There was a sweet version with sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, chocolate curls, baking powder, etc for sweeting desserts and hot chocoate, or making french toast. Overall very handy and easy to use.
My wife Anna absolutely loves it !

We used it for camping and it was so much easier to have basically all our spices in one container!
We ended up using everything except the curry but I’m sure we’ll find a use on one of our next trips. Would definitely recommend to any readers of my blog for any event or occasion.

My rating for the Spices: 8 to 8.5/10
Anna’s rating : 8/10

Make sure your carb energy are coming from a NATURAL source of sugar !
Avoid processed and refined white sugar AT ALL COST.
Know that refined sugars may increase your risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease. They’re also linked to a higher likelihood of depression, dementia, liver disease, and certain types of cancer .

In simple words: white sugar = BAD , sugar from fruit = GOOD

Nothing like good-old freeze dried natural fruit to start the day !

These are very tasty but you could seriously eat the whole thing in one or two sittings so the value is not very great for your money. They are a little bit tart so if you like that tartness in your strawberries you will like these. Much better than jumping on candy and why I got them for work.
My wife Anna was so obsessed with them that i had to hide the remaining few packages before she would finish them all in a sitting,
What i like about them is that the fruit are dried instantly, meaning all the enzymes, vitamins and nutrients are mostly preserved during the Freeze-Dry process.