Food Reviews - dehydrated, ready meals, wet pouches, off the shelf concoctions

The first time I have had this although it is slated to be a traditional Mallorca cake...
Heavier croissant-like dough, fig membrillo.....pork meatballs with sweet piment and a sprinkle of sugar...

Tasted slightly better than my shoes...

...in actuality; excellent

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Wayfarer vegetable chilli: https://basecampfood.com/collections/wayfayrer/products/wayfayrer-vegetable-chilli
Quite tasty for something from a plastic pouch, but not filling. Also fairly heavy.

Summit to Eat macaroni cheese: https://basecampfood.com/collections/summit-to-eat/products/summit-to-eat-macaroni-cheese
Filling but not particularly tasty. Macaroni cheese can be (for me) delicious or dire. This was somewhere in the middle. Difficult to mix in the pouch, or maybe just needed more water or time (or boiling-er water maybe), ended up with lumps of cheese (actually quite good) and bits of macaroni floating in a watery cheese sauce.

Tent Meals Italian-inspired meal: https://tentmeals.co.uk/collections/main-meals/products/italian-inspired-camping-meal-small
Basically just couscous with herbs and spices and a smattering of brazil nuts. Actually pretty similar to what I'd make for myself when camping, so I liked it. Also pretty filling. I reckon it's the best of the three here in terms of taste, filling-ness and energy for the weight. Not a bad price either, compared to the others.

Ed: There's another aspect, IMO also an advantage, to the Tent Meals over the other two. It's not a pouch meal. It's just wrapped in plastic, like rice or pasta on the supermarket shelf. This means that although it's slightly heavier than the Summit to Eat, it has smaller pack size. It's only as large as itself, it doesn't have the added size of the sealed pouch. Also less waste to carry out (fits easier in my plastic bag!) and arguably less wasteful full stop, not being a laminated material. OTOH I presume (haven't checked) it thus has shorter shelf life, but doubt it's problematically short.
 
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Not really relevant to most, but NZ food co Absolute Wilderness has been rebranded to Real Meals and they have updated their range. By far the best dehydrated meals available in NZ, recommended.

 
Odd Man said:
You could easily make this yourself with Whey (or pea) protein, MCT powder, electrolyte powder and Supergreens powder, possibly add some inulin in for fibre and it'd probably be cheaper than the £50 a bag of this.
Click to expand...
In the add it says ~40% fat, what would work well as a powder? Coconut?
Edit, doh!
mct
 
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Enzo said:
In the add it says ~40% fat, what would work well as a powder? Coconut?
Click to expand...

MCT powder (as mentioned in my post), medium chain triglycerides is a very beneficial form of fat, which is usually made from coconut and then processed naturally. It's used in bulletproof coffee and sold as a supplement as well. It's available in bulk powder form from places like MyProtein and BulkPowders.

www.bulk.com

MCT Powder | Premium Powder with 0g Carbohydrates | Bulk™

Shop Bulk™ MCT Oil, 100% coconut-sourced for quick energy and keto support. Perfect for athletes and clean fat nutrition. Bulk™, formerly Bulk Powders.
www.bulk.com

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/mct-oil-benefits

I don't like walking with a full stomach, so when we did Milford track, I had premixed powder like this as my breakfast as it wouldn't make me feel too full, and would release energy slowly vs grains based foods which tend to expand in stomach and can make me feel bloated.
 
Odd Man said:
MCT powder (as mentioned in my post), medium chain triglycerides is a very beneficial form of fat, which is usually made from coconut and then processed naturally. It's used in bulletproof coffee and sold as a supplement as well. It's available in bulk powder form from places like MyProtein and BulkPowders.

www.bulk.com

MCT Powder | Premium Powder with 0g Carbohydrates | Bulk™

Shop Bulk™ MCT Oil, 100% coconut-sourced for quick energy and keto support. Perfect for athletes and clean fat nutrition. Bulk™, formerly Bulk Powders.
www.bulk.com

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/mct-oil-benefits

I don't like walking with a full stomach, so when we did Milford track, I had premixed powder like this as my breakfast as it wouldn't make me feel too full, and would release energy slowly vs grains based foods which tend to expand in stomach and can make me feel bloated.
Click to expand...

re BULK products.

I have bought a few over the last couple of years. All but one were in more environmentally friendly packaging. However, they were not air/moisture proof (contents "caked up" within a couple of weeks, even though I had never opened them) and the bags themselves quickly delaminated. Bulk customer services were excellent and I was offered full refunds. However, they continue to use that packaging so I will no longer buy their products.

theproteinworks offer a very similar line of products; I have purchased their stuff many times without a single issue.
 
I put half a packet of Idaho potato, 1/4 packet of stuffing, 2 tablespoons of Bisto gravy granules and 1 tablespoon of crispy onions into a microwave bag and put a cup of boiling water into the bag along with a glug of olive oil and leave it for 10 minues in an insulated pouch. Next time I might add some Quorn mince to it for the protein.

Almost as good at that Firepot meal but certainly a lot cheaper.
 
1000070474.jpgWhen in Turkey.....Real Turmat Kebab Stew.
Quite what this has to do with kebabs I don't know?
Yet, I enjoyed this. Quite tasty and slightly spicy because I'd added Aleppo pepper. Meal nicely balanced. Little bit of crunchy bell pepper; tasty. I'd eat it again.

Not quite the Weds night doner, chips, and pickled chilli of my Selly Oak years.
In an effort to revisit those days of yore I had it with 3 cans of Special Brew, made an inappropriate comment to a passing goat, and threw up on my shoes 🙂
 
edh said:
View attachment 59999When in Turkey.....Real Turmat Kebab Stew.
Quite what this has to do with kebabs I don't know?
Yet, I enjoyed this. Quite tasty and slightly spicy because I'd added Aleppo pepper. Meal nicely balanced. Little bit of crunchy bell pepper; tasty. I'd eat it again.

Not quite the Weds night doner, chips, and pickled chilli of my Selly Oak years.
In an effort to revisit those days of yore I had it with 3 cans of Special Brew, made an inappropriate comment to a passing goat, and threw up on my shoes 🙂
Click to expand...
And reviewer of. the year goes to....... 😂
#legend
 
edh said:
View attachment 59999When in Turkey.....Real Turmat Kebab Stew.
Quite what this has to do with kebabs I don't know?
Yet, I enjoyed this. Quite tasty and slightly spicy because I'd added Aleppo pepper. Meal nicely balanced. Little bit of crunchy bell pepper; tasty. I'd eat it again.

Not quite the Weds night doner, chips, and pickled chilli of my Selly Oak years.
In an effort to revisit those days of yore I had it with 3 cans of Special Brew, made an inappropriate comment to a passing goat, and threw up on my shoes 🙂
Click to expand...
In other words, another excellent after hike night!
 
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It’s all subjective of course but I’m gunna speculate it’s better than the pulled pork which I suspect might be like that fire pot “posh beans & sausages”

a bit ketchupy for ketchup sake

Thanks for testing !
 
Lidl - about 79 pence - 3 flavours

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I don't bother with puddings and don't have a sweet tooth so passed to my youngest (25) for review who's a chocoholic:

Really nice (chocolate flavour), very filling, forms like a chocolate sponge pudding, tastes nicest once cooled to 'luke warm' (no flavour when hot)

Edit: Caramel flavour not as nice, didn't try Vanilla.
 
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Supermarkets are full of these wet meals now, quite economical, calories seem to around 450c, fine for me but can easily be boosted by adding a pita or wrap. Bought a couple to try.

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To avoid washing up i decant into one of these roasting bags and then heat in the pot in a couple of cms of water.

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FD meals are quite spendy now for an overnighter but then again no worse cost-wise than burger and chips in a pub....🤷‍♂️
 
The other night after a good hike I tried several supermarket dehydrated Indian meals. One was a Palak Paneer, and the other was a Dal Mahkani. Both were supposed to be cooked on the stove top, but I just poured boiling water in the pouches and let them sit for a nice long while. Both were very tasty, but much more watery/soupy then I was expecting. Will get again, and use less water next time, or maybe add some ingredients myself. But I like to find those kinds of items because these particular ones cost $5USD each and were every bit as good and caloric as a typical freeze dried backpacking meal.

I've mentioned previously in this forum that one of my favorite go-to's from the supermarket is Barilla dried cheese tortellini. Very inexpensive and when used with my homemade pesto and extra dried parmesan it is delicious and caloric and easy to prepare and highly packable.
 
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