Expedition Foods
Admittedly, I’m not usually a fan of freeze dried meals, it’s not because the ones I tried years ago tasted like cardboard, but whenever I venture out into the great outdoors I either nip to a local pub to boost the areas local economy, or I’ll take along a frozen home cooked meal instead.
However, there have been occasions when neither of the above are practical options, or I don’t have the time to mess around with a BBQ or stove, so being able to prepare a quick, warm and nutritious meal within minutes is where Expedition Foods’ packets come into it.
Expedition Foods have been around, and helping adventurers, since 1995, and have a huge selection of lightweight meals that provide nutrition for a wide range of outdoor pursuits. Manufactured in Britain and sold globally, Expedition Foods is recognised as one of the top brands of freeze-dried meals available in today’s market.
Having established that Expedition Foods have meals for those of us who are venturing on expeditions, whether that’s a day out green-laning, or for months or years at a time, what are they like to eat?
On a very windy day on Black Rock Sands I sampled the Beef & Potato Hotpot. Personally I wasn’t keen on the texture of the Hotpot, however, when it says on the packet ‘stir well’, it means stir well. I didn’t, and ended up with dried crunchy bits. Muddy Madam went with the Scrambled Egg with Cheese. The consistency was a bit on the chewy side, but she liked the taste for the first half of the packet, but gave up for the rest, again the stirring had been a bit of an issue.
When it was time to try the Spaghetti Bolognese and Custard with Apple I learnt my lesson, and as I poured in the specified amount of water (you do need something to measure the water) I stirred vigorously and the results were much better. Both tasted nice and I was suitably stuffed.
Even Tiggster, the Mud Life cat was tempted as you can just see on the left!
Preparing them couldn’t be easier, simply…
Spread open the base
Open the top and remove the oxygen absorber
Pour in the specified amount of hot water whilst stirring (the important bit!)
Re-seal and wait for 5-8 minutes before eating
Overall I’d say that taste and texture were good, and they will supply you with more than enough energy if you’re spending a day out in the open, and with an up to 5 year shelf life you can throw a couple of packets in the back of your 4x4 for emergencies, you never know when they can come in handy.
They also have a selection of gluten and diary free meals as well as vegetarian and extreme energy meals that contain 1000kcals.
Website: www.expeditionfoods.com
Price: around £5.69