“What am I packing for food?” This is the age-old question I dread answering whenever I’m gearing up to go out into the backcountry. Inevitably, I end up having to make the choice between going light, but slurping down burnt semi-coagulated re-hydrated glop that only resembles the fare printed on the packaging if I use my imagination, or I carry non-freeze dried food (read: HEAVY), but have to bring twice as much food to compensate for the extra effort to carry it. If I had a dime for every time I have asked myself, “Wouldn’t it be nice to actually enjoy lightweight backpacking food?” I could afford a llama that would carry steaks, eggs and a cast iron skillets into the backcountry for me. Well, the folks at Good To-Go may have created the Shangri-La of lightweight dehydrated backpacking meals (and saved a poor llama from a lifetime of grueling work, too).
They currently have three menu items (with more in the works). However, with offerings such as Smoked Three Bean Chili, Thai Curry (my favorite), and Herbed Mushroom Risotto, you could probably eat them for a week or two straight and not regret it.
Thoughts
- All three of the menu offerings from Good To-Go passed the most important part of this test: they are exceptionally tasty.
- The no-nonsense ingredients list. Everything on the ingredients label I can pronounce and I don’t need a Ph.D. in chemical engineering to decipher!
- My pet peeve with other dehydrated freeze-dried backpacking meals is that the amount of water needed to hydrate is NEVER right – it’s either soupy or crunchy. Not so with Good To-Go. Also, the timing for preparing is spot on; another area where other dehydrated meals are open to interpretation: altitude, the hardness of the water, how hungry you are and other unmentioned, yet to be discovered, variables.
- The meals are available in both single and double servings. I thought the single serving sizes were perfect for lunch and the double serving sizes were more suitable for sharing or for dinner.
I am excited to see what other non-GMO menu items Good To-Go will come up with as I really enjoyed all of their current offerings. On your next overnight excursion, I would highly recommend you check out Good To-Go. They are only currently available on the East Coast, but you can order them from www.goodto-go.com directly.
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