GORP recipes

Wondering what you all have for personal favorite gorp recipes. I've been on many solo over nights, but will be doing my longest one so far this summer, 8-10 days. I'm not a medical person but have heard about how one can become ill by depleting the body of salt by sweating, drinking too much water, and not consuming enough salt products. I don't want to be a statistic or get sick out there. What is the best thing I can do to make sure I get enough salt. I figured gorp was a good source and wonderd if there was a recipe that is much better than others, not just by flavor but what it can provide for the body.

adirobdack46r said:

I figured gorp was a good source and wonderd if there was a recipe that is much better than others, not just by flavor but what it can provide for the body.

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I've tried all sorts of recipes, but allways come back to Rasins, Peanuts, and M&M's... now if you want a little kick , mix in some vitimin I

Onestep

Mmmm...gorp...

I like to add cashews, pepitas, dried cranberries, reese's pieces or peanut butter M&Ms.

Don't add anything that could melt...that's never pretty.

Question: If you get away from just good ol' raisins and peanuts is it still gorp?

If I am going out for more than a day, I will bring a couple gorp mixes with me. One with chocolate and yogurt covered raisins, and some honey coated seed bars I've found at a local outlet. Good sweet carbs with a fairly quick energy gain. The other one that I always enjoy is half cornnuts and half garlic sesame sticks (bought in bulk). Yum. This one covers the salt fix, and has a lasting energy to it. I tend to go for high carbs, which seems to work for me.

Also, I usually try to go somewhat low on saturated fats if I can help it, but if I get rid of all of the bad fat, the mix isn't as fun.

trailbiscuit said:

I like to add cashews, pepitas, dried cranberries, reese's pieces or peanut butter M&Ms.

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You forgot Skittles. I love them too. I know it might sound odd but I love them with cashews and sometimes with m&m's but just the two of them are excellant. Not in the winter though. Your teeth will crack before they will.

Just use something you like that is sweet and something with a little sodium in it and you can mix it any way you want.

Keith

trailbiscuit said:

Mmmm...gorp...

I like to add cashews, pepitas, dried cranberries, reese's pieces or peanut butter M&Ms.

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I love the dried cranberries! I'm not a fan of raisins. To the dried cranberries I usually add honey roasted mixed nuts and plain M&Ms. On occasion I've also enjoyed adding honey nut cheerios (cereal makes me feel like I have something nutritious in there, and I like the sweet crunch), smart food popcorn, cheeze-its or goldfish crackers. It's pretty wide open.... I like your addition of pepitas and reeses' pieces.

Dried wasabi beans...

that you can get at places like Trader Joes give the mix a little kick (but not nearly as torrid as the green paste you get with sushi) and go surprisingly well with the sweet stuff. I love Reese's pieces but find that they do melt when it's really hot.

lightly salted cashews, m + ms, something with some spice...usually wasabi peas...need to keep it interesting or I will not eat. When it gets hot I try to let a 50 % Gatorade solution take care of the salt/minerals for me...seems to be easier to handle than salty foods.

Amicus, thanks for the reminder...
Wasabi peas, cheez-its, small pretzels and peanuts makes a tasty mix.

I hike, therefore I eat.

For me, cashews are the only absolutely essential ingredient, and raisins are the only thing that absolutely must not be in the mix.

My mix has varied over times, but I tend to use salted peanuts, almonds, and semi-sweet chocolate bits these days. Cashews, raisins, M&Ms, and candy corn have been known to sneak in now and then.

Don't forget things like fig bars. (I can get a pound of these for the cost of one of those new-fangled energy bars...)

I carry my gorp in a wide-mouth plastic bottle. Just pop the lid and take a swig. Easy to deal with in the rain or with gloves/mittens. Also makes it possible to eat through a facemask.

Doug

m&m's, peanuts, cachews, rasins, crasins, some other dried fruit (pineapple, paya, bannana chips, etc.) and I also add some granola type cereal.

ok you got me I will admit I use no set recipe, I just raid the cabinets at home (or the local Mr. Mikes or Cumby-farms) and just start pouring stuff into a zip lock. Just after Easter or Halloween I can also raid the kids' candy stash. -brianW

Gorp

When backpacking, I usually carry a big bag of Gorp. Usual ingredients:

Nuts, M&M's, and dried fruits. I add Granola if I want to stretch it.

Nuts can be peanuts (dry roasted) and/or cashews.

Dried fruits can be raisins, craisins, pineapple chunks, bananna chips, etc.

The mix depends on what I can find on the shelves, and what I'm in the mood for.

A couple of things to remember: Dried fruits will absorb salt from nuts and other salted ingredients and change the taste over time. (That's why I avoid things like honey roasted peanuts and pretzels in the mix). Also crunchy foods like pretzels, potato sticks and cereal will absorb moisture from dried fruits and raisins making them soft rahter then crunchy.

Ive taken to making homemade granola Bars. There are a BUNCH of basic recipies that allow you to dump your favorite items into them. So instead of "loose GORP" I now have it in bar form which makes for easier eating.

Brian

dried cranberries, and peanut-butter chips.

dried cherries, salted cashews, almond m&ms, chocloate covered raisins and honey nut chex

Variety of nuts,and dried fruit. One or both of, swedish fish, or sour patch kids. Love getting a jolt of sour in the mix. Just watch your teeth in the winter, eating frozen candy is like chewing on rocks.

dry roasted peanuts, cashews, chocolate chips, raisins and dried wild blueberries.

buy good raw peanuts and roast them yourself. takes about 1/2 hour and the difference in taste is unbelievable.

store in freezer.

Fish Gorp

While hiking in Norway I encountered a local trail mix that was pretty tasty. It had a lot of dried fish in it. Since then I put anchovies in my home made mix. Just don't want to breathe on anyone. Remember the deoderant thread?

A lot of things can be good in GORP, but IMO, there is one ESSENTIAL ingredient that must be in the bag :

Chocolate covered coffee beans.