1. Backcountry Food presented by Luke Sosnowski January 2000 ( originally by Tom McIntire January 6, 1999 )

2. Nutrition Requirements in Winter Plan for 4000+ Calories per day/per person (not a time for dieting) Split equally between Sugar (tinder), Complex Carbohydrates (kindling), and Fats and Proteins (logs). Many sources of food available at grocery store Be sure to maintain proper hydration (required to process food). 3% dehydration = 50% loss of strength (source: SOLO Wilderness First Aid Class) If you are not producing clear urine on a regular basis (at least every couple hours) you are dehydrated...

3. Sample Menu for Winter Camping (1 Day) per person Breakfast: 4 packs of instant oatmeal, 2-3 cups of Hot Cocoa and/or Juice Concentrate Lunch:Couscous (1/2 pkg), Pepperoni (1/2 stick), Cheese (4 -5 oz), Hot Cocoa Dinner:Couscous (1/2 pkg), Beef Stew or Clam Chowder (1 Can), Hot Cocoa, Ramen... Evening: Smores over campfire, Hot Cocoa All Day:Snack on Hard Candy, Chocolates, GORP, cheese, granola bars, etc., Be sure to consume 2 - 3 Quarts Water (keep hydration and blood sugar levels up…)

4. How to carry Food & Water Wide mouth bottles (Nalgene) Hot water in a sock up-side down Cut into bite-size pieces Use zip-locks to keep organized Avoid foods that freeze (Power Bars) Extracting frozen franks (with a corkscrew)

5. Ways to Make Cooking Easier: Carry a 0.5 Liter thermos with boiling water. It is nice to have a cup of Hot Cocoa while cooking or taking a break… When purifying water, do enough at once for all needs for meal and up to next meal. Purify using Iodine tablets or Boiling Method (traditionally 10 Minutes + 1 per 1000 ft altitude, SOLO says if water is brought to a rolling boil it is statistically safe). Purifiers freeze easily in winter, and therefore are useless... Pre-measure all ingredients at home and store in sealed, labeled bags Store all food in a separate food bag Use items like oven bags where possible to minimize cleanup...

6. Safety (how to not hurt yourself) Be careful with your knife (people who never cut themselves cooking at home hurt themselves while cooking in the woods) Don’t cook in your tent. Molten nylon is very bad, as is spilling liquid on your sleeping bag. Observe proper food storage rules (mice are very good at getting in food bags) There are mice at the cabins... Establish a separate cooking area, if possible. Don’t handle pots and pans wearing synthetic gloves. They melt and burn easily. Wool or leather, however, are fine.

7. Other Interesting things for Food: Fettuccini Alfredo (serves 3 - 4) 1 Stick Butter1 Pint Heavy Cream 1 Package Cream Cheese12 oz Can Parmesan Cheese Combine in Pan, heat over low flame until thickened, stirring regularly Serve over 1 lb. of cooked pasta of choice... GORP (Everyone has a different recipe, the key is to put in what you like…I try to avoid salt (like salty nuts) in my gorp) granola, cereal raisins, crasins, dried fruit nut mix (Harvest or Star market) gummy bears, yogurt covered rasins, etc... Mix together and store in resealable container. One quart size zip lock holds about 3000 calories of gorp

8. Other good Food Items from the Grocery Store (generally serves 2): Suddenly Salad (are Pasta Salad variants with everything (except oil) in a box) and Kraft Pasta Salad Mixes (contains everything needed) (available only seasonally at some stores) Fig Newtons (all the nutritional value of PowerBars, and they taste a lot better) Bagels (excellent durable source of bread) - but bulky Peanut Butter (excellent source of Fats, Carbs, and Sugars (goes well on bagels). Hummus and Cheese (such as Jarlsburg) (excellent 1st Lunch. If served on bagels, is well balanced). Summer Sausage (good meat alternative to Pepperoni)

9. Pizza Cooked at Zealand Hut (Full Sheet, 5 lb. Cheese, 2 lb. Pepperoni, Tons of Veggies, etc…) Served 8 for dinner, and many more at hut as a “Supplement” to their meal... Food, and Inspiration for why we go into the Backcountry...