Quoted By:
i think a lot of people approach backpacking cooking the wrong way, especially for short trips. unless its stupid hot and humid theres no real reason you cant bring fresh food to cook with for the first couple nights of a trip. freeze dried and the rice/dried meat/powdered stuff type meals are only really needed multiple days into a trip or if you really need to save weight/time/space. i also often just bring leftovers for the first day/night. if i made a stir fry at home the day before i can just bring a bag of those leftovers, fry back up to temp and make rice.
my most common first night meal is chicken pesto pasta. i cook the chicken at home beforehand, and bring some pasta, pine nuts, tomatoes, and pesto or a balsamic vinegrette thing i make. even if its gonna be hot out you can still pack to keep things like cheese cool. ive seen a guy pack a lil tub of ice cream into the backcountry and it still be frozen
ive also brought salad makings, or veg/sausage to make a lil stir fry. and if im somewhere i can catch fish then i can do things like bring fresh cilantro and limes to have trout/cilantro/lime/rice/beans
really just figure out how to make the meals you already like with backpacking cooking gear and just cook. the harder part should be cooking not in a full kitchen, not the bringing only dry food.
