One Week (7 day) Grub Menu for 2023
For 2023 I am packing enough grub for three months. All grocery supplies are off-the-shelf items.
I drink hot water alone with supper, and cold or hot water for other meals. I have become intolerant of caffeine in drinks such as tea and coffee. Water is sterilized by boiling for one minute or by a filtration system. The latter removes bacteria and parasites (but not viruses, so is technically not sterilized).
This year I am using Daryl's Bars protein bars (Cinnamon Honey bar). These bars replace the Clif® Builders® Vanilla Almond and Crunchy Peanut Butter bars used last year. The Daryl's Bars are a Canadian product (which also ship to the USA). Unlike many competitor products in the 20g protein range they contain no artificial colours, flavours or sweeteners and have a healthy low sodium content; Daryl's Bars also have a good selection of bars containing no cocoa or chocolate. I have become intolerant of the caffeine in cocoa or chocolate; another reason to avoid chocolate-coated bars is that they tend to melt, as do those containing caramel. Daryl's Bars are a good find, as I am no longer able to source large quantities of any American made bars. I am using Daryl's Bars Cinnamon Honey bar because it reportedly should be the most stable for long duration at room temperature; I have tested all the non-cocoa non-chocolate bars and find them equally tasty and nutritious. A special thanks to John Murray of Daryl's Bars for his advice on bar selection and assistance in placing a large order.
Other changes in the menu:
- Dash™ Seasoning Blend no-sodium spices (Extra Spicy and Lemon Pepper) (replacing Montreal Steak Spice and standard Lemon Pepper)
- Bulk Barn® Chicken Soup Mix No MSG Low Sodium (replacing standard Chicken Soup Base) (also replacing spice packets in oriental noodles)
- Bulk Barn unsalted shelled roasted pumpkin seeds (replacing salted)
- doubling amount of butter in bannock (replacing shortening) (mixes easier and tastes better)
- increasing amount of whole wheat flour in bannock (replacing rolled oats and wheat bran which are overkill when using whole wheat flour)
- adding ground flax seed to bannock (replacing toasted wheat germ which is more difficult to source)
- increasing amount of baking powder in bannock
Average daily nutritional intake based on this 2023 menu:
4672 calories, 385g total carbohydrates, 61g fibre, 245g total fat, 231g protein, sodium 3.3g
Breakfast - 7 days:
1 protein bar Daryl's Bars Cinnamon Honey 58g (22g protein)
¼ bannock cold or hot if freshly baked (See contents below.)
Breakfast - 5 days:
seed mixture ¼c (hemp hearts, chia, buckwheat toasted, pumpkin shelled roasted unsalted)
peanut butter smooth 1tbsp
Breakfast - 2 days:
grated Parmesan cheese ¼c
real bacon crumbled ¼c (stores well unrefrigerated if not aliquoted until first used, for two months at a time)
Lunch - 7 days:
1 protein bar Daryl's Bars Cinnamon Honey 58g (22g protein)
¼ bannock cold
vitamins
almonds roasted salted ¼c
Mini Babybel™ cheese 20g (stores well in its wax cover unrefrigerated if cloth-wrapped to protect from damage)
Excel® (Eclipse® in USA) sugar-free gum
Supper - daily:
grated Parmesan cheese ¼c (in most dishes)
1 protein bar Daryl's Bars Cinnamon Honey 58g (22g protein)
fresh salad 3c (most commonly: fireweed; or alder, birch or willow leaves/catkins)
fresh fruit if available ½c
(lingonberries, bunchberries, blueberries, red currants, raspberries, highbush cranberries, cloudberries, rose hips, Saskatoon berries, pin cherries, crowberries, bilberries)
Supper - 1 day:
macaroni and real cheese 2c (Kraft™ Deluxe Original Cheddar or Four Cheese 400g)
Supper - 2 days:
oriental noodles 2x85g (Chicken Soup Mix No MSG Low Sodium 1tbsp replaces 2 spice packets)
or stuffing mix 120g
Brunswick® sardines 106g can (in soy oil plain label, olive oil, or lemon sauce, or hot peppers)
Supper - 1 day:
orzo ¾c (plus nutritional yeast 1tbsp, Chicken Soup Mix No MSG Low Sodium 1tbsp)
fish fried (coated with cornmeal ⅛c, Dash™ Extra Spicy 1tbsp), fried in Crisco™ shortening (½lb saved and used over a period of two weeks)
Supper - 1 day:
fried fish sauteed in ghee with couscous (See recipe below.)
Supper - 2 days:
fish chowder [fish diced, boiled in double the usual amount water before adding potato flakes 1c (with added nutritional yeast 1tbsp, Chicken Soup Mix No MSG Low Sodium 1tbsp)] plus Parmesan cheese ¼c and ghee 2tbsp
OR
small game instead of fish (roasted over coals, or meat sliced and sauteed in shortening 1tbsp)
Bannock ("Butter" Bannock):
3¾c (~572g) premixed before the trip (whole-wheat flour 1⅜, currants ½c, cornmeal ¼c, chickpea flour ¼c, skim milk powder ¼c, ground flax seed 2tbsp, baking powder 2½tsp, sugar 1tsp, salted butter 12tbsp). Add ½c cold potable water to make soft dough, mixing with a spoon then kneading. Sprinkle a thin layer of 1tsp cornmeal in mixing pan before flattening the dough; lift bannock and sprinkle another layer of 1tsp cornmeal in pan before flipping bannock so both sides are coated. Bake ~350°F for ~30 minutes, or slanted in pan in front of fire. I premix batches of eight bannocks at a time and package in doubled medium Ziploc® bags, stored 4 per large Ziploc® bags.
Sauteed fried pike or walleye recipe:
Sautee freshly fried fish in 2tbsp ghee, turning to coat both sides. Break up the fish into small pieces. Add a mixture of ¼c Parmesan cheese, 2tbsp sugar, 1tsp Dash™ lemon pepper, turning the fish to coat. Next add ¾c whole-wheat couscous (cooked in 1c boiling water with added 1tbsp nutritional yeast, 1tbsp Chicken Soup Mix No MSG Low Sodium), mixing with the fish to soak up the ghee.