Hiking is useful both for the body and for the state of the soul. And also very informative. Anyone who has not gone to mattress hikes for long distances knows that a good caretaker in this case is worth its weight in gold, since it is a long and far walk, and the food must be optimal in order to maintain your strength at the required level, cover all your energy costs, and it is also very desirable that it was delicious and healthy.
Of course, after 7 days in the mountains, you will find stewed meat mixed with bread to be a delicacy, but if you have the opportunity to pleasantly diversify your diet and at the same time not weigh down your backpack, you should not miss it.
©photo
To be honest, I myself was on a hike once, and it was enough for me in full. We made an unforgivable mistake for beginners — went hiking for 9 days with heavy backpacks (mine weighed about 14 kg) because of the required amount of food in a not very favorable season. But the only thing we did right was to put bags of spices and dried herbs in the corners, plus sweet and salty nuts and dried fruits (raisins and dried apricots).
Brian Green, an avid tourist with a lot of experience, considers such a mixture of nuts and dried fruits to be one of the best snacks, which is good to take with you on hikes, especially those that also include mountaineering. Because it is a light (by weight), delicious, healthy and nutritious breakfast or just a snack.
There are many different recipes and components of such snacks, and everyone chooses it according to their taste (favorite nuts, sweet or salty, with or without dried fruits, etc.). Brian shares his favorite.
Roasted cashews (lightly salted)
Walnut
Golden raisins (from seedless kishmish)
Dark raisins
Semi-sweet chocolate chips
A pinch of salt
Half a cup of this mixture (86 g) contains approximately: 333 calories, 22 g of fat, 33 g of carbohydrates, 22 g of sugar, 5 g of protein and 4 g of fiber.
On my own behalf, I can add that for a change, you can take muesli, powdered milk, matzo and soy goulash with you. Powdered milk and soy may not be very useful, but they are light in weight and will help diversify your diet. For long hikes, this is of great importance, since every extra gram by the end of the day slowly turns into a kilogram.
I want to offer you some simple recipes for snacks made from a mixture of nuts. Of course, you can't cook this on a hike, but what prevents you from preparing this in advance and taking it with you?
What you need. A mixture of 200 g nuts (choose any to your taste), 1 teaspoon of melted butter, 3 tablespoons of brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon, 3/4 teaspoon of ground cayenne pepper (or any other red pepper), 1 1/2 teaspoons of honey and 1 teaspoon of sea salt.
How to cook. Fry the nuts in the oven or in a frying pan without oil. In a small bowl, mix the melted butter, honey, spices and sugar. Then add warm nuts and salt there, stir well so that the nuts are completely covered with the mixture. Then put them on a baking sheet and put them in the oven for 18 minutes at a temperature of 180 degrees Celsius.
Remove, cool and divide. Such a mixture can be stored in an opaque plastic container with a tight lid for about a week. You can change both the ingredients themselves and their portions, depending on your taste.
What is needed for this. Almonds, 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1/3 cup honey, 2 teaspoons paprika, 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, 2 teaspoons cumin, 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper, 2 tablespoons salt, 4 tablespoons sesame seeds.
How to cook. Fry almonds in olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat for a minute, then reduce the heat to a minimum and fry the nuts for another 5-7 minutes. Then add honey, spices, salt and sesame seeds to the pan. Mix well and transfer from the pan to the baking sheet. We send it to the oven (180 C) until the honey hardens (10-15 minutes).
All these recipes are quite high in calories, both because of nuts and because of honey. Therefore, after them, you should not forget to brush your teeth well. Since a diseased tooth during a hike is not a very pleasant event.
And how do you add variety to your hiking diet, especially when you are going on a long hike with large height differences?
Instagram Facebook and social networks owned by Meta Platforms Inc. are prohibited from operating in the territory of the Russian Federation.*Activity of Meta Platforms Inc. and its social networks Facebook and Instagram is prohibited in the territory of the Russian Federation.
