We headed off this weekend to adventure and field test several new food options for the both of us, as well as our cool weather gear.

First up food for the lady on the other end of the leash...

I've been excited to check out the service Trail Fork has to offer. I love the concept, give them the details of your adventure, your height/weight stats and they formulate your caloric requirements and send you the food for the day to meet those needs. As someone who prefers to spend my time out in the wilds and not in the kitchen it sounded like a perfect fit! 

Our box arrived stuffed with tasty meals for the day along with some yummy beef jerky chews for Emily, easy to see these folks are dog lovers! The meals sounded delicious: Coconut Granola for breakfast, Unwrapped Burritos for lunch and Coconut Chana Masala

And they sure lived up to my hopes & expectations. I really only had one complaint and that was the portions were just too much for me, but hey, too much food is not a bad problem to have especially when it tastes so good.  In fact, I never even got to try the Coconut Chana Masala and have it left over for our next trip because the Unwrapped Burritos were so much food I ate it for lunch & dinner! 

The Unwrapped Burritos included everything except the tortillas, which you don't even really have to use as it would make a terrific rice bowl even without the tortilla. This meal blew away any previous chili or bean based backpacking meal I've tried, it was seasoned to perfection. One could even kick it up to out of this world level if you packed in an avocado and some spinach to add. The package made two over stuffed burritos and I still had a third of it left.  

The Coconut Granola was also a flavor packed bag of deliciousness! Just added a bit of water to rehydrate the milk powder and bam, one of the best packaged granolas I've tasted. Loaded with pumpkin seeds and almonds I was fueled for a long busy day adventuring! Once again I could not finish it all, and had a third of it left over. 

Some folks might not like the bags being compostable and not able to be used as an boil in the bag option so you do need to use your cook pot. It takes a bit of guessing to sort out how much water you'll need to boil as the instructions don't tell you how much, leaving it up to you to adjust to your preferences, but only having one pot available meant a bit of guessing, but it all worked out ok. Personally I am a big fan of cutting down waste and appreciate the environmentally conscious packaging and don't mind a wee bit of work to keep trash out of the landfills.

Final word: I'd happily use this service again, I found the prices fair for the amount and quality of food compared to other packaged backpacking food. I loved the food, it's flavorful healthy and delicious.

Now to the important part, the Puppers food! This trip we tested out Halo's Freeze Dried Kiblets. Of all the freeze dried options we've tried out so far this one certainly re-hydrated to the best consistency for her preferences. It didn't turn into chalky mush or watery soup with floating food bits like most of the others we've tried have. And she dove into it with gusto which says a lot as she's a pretty dainty selective eater. 

Like most dehydrated/freeze dried options it's hard to find something affordable to feed exclusively for the hike. To meet her needs she would ideally get 2 cups per feeding which would provide her with 694kcal per meal for a total of 1388 for the day and that weighs in around 2.5ozs per meal. What makes it rehydrate so well, it's fluffy texture is also a bit of a negative for backpacking as it takes up a fair amount of pack space. With a bulk purchase I can get the price down to about $2/oz - but that's still cost prohibitive at $4+ per meal. 

Final word: I like this stuff and so does she! I'll likely use this to cut down the weight of her kibble, using a mix of this, her kibble and the Carnibars to feed on trail as treats and powerbar like on the go meals.

Updates:

The Halo freeze dried kiblets, well it seems like maybe they are not making these anymore :( The company has not responded to my emails and inquiries regarding whether or not they will be offering it again or not. Such a bummer, I really liked the idea of using this with her kibble to lighten my load. Back to the drawing board...

After a long day of mountaineering I was able to make use of the leftover unused Trail Fork Meal, their Coconut Chana Masala. As with the other two meals the favors were just delicious! I even offered a taste to my mountaineering mentor who never uses prepackaged backpacker meals because how they usually taste and he was impressed.