Breakfest
A hiker never wants to have a huge breakfast because he needs to be ready to move. Granola is always a good choice for a morning meal. Take 4 to 6 oz. of granola with dried milk powder and add water. You can even add some dried fruit and slow cook it over a fire (be sure to stir often). Other options include your favorite breakfast bars and dried breakfast cereal. Companies such as Packit Gourmet offer a variety of breakfast meals including Tacos and Jump-Start fruit smoothies. Both are inexpensive, healthy and filling.
Lunch
Many of the experts and hikers debate whether or not to eat a lunch or just snack through most of the day. Depending on the hike and how you feel, you can do either. Some smaller meals include peanut butter and jelly, or just peanut butter on bread, fruit, crackers and cheese and oat-based grain bars.
Dinner
With a dinner meal, you want to eat well and eat healthy. Prepackaged dinner meals, similar to those you would find at home, except dried and ready to be cooked anytime, are available from companies such as Packit Gourmet. These meals range from an All-American Burger Wrap to a Chicken Salad to Tuscan Beef Stew and more. Packages come in sizes of one or two servings and allow you to add more ingredients such as tomatoes, cheese and onions.
The many possibilities for creating your own dinners include pasta or rice, dried fruits and vegetables, chicken or some other type of meat and spices if you wish. Take the foods that you really enjoy and do some research to see what type of meals you can come up; dishes that cook in one pot are preferable to minimize both pack weight and clean-up chores.
Snacks
Snacks are one of the best things to eat on a hike because you can eat as you walk. When deciding on snacks, pick out those that are not only healthy but also provide you with energy. Some of these snacks include jerky, energy bars that have a high protein count, granola bars and the many varieties of trail mix.
