Time to get a fire going for dinner. Unfortunately Mountain House Chili Mac is my least favorite of their nutritionally devoid meals. I swear Mountain House makes their products like this - Their cook throws white flour or white rice in, adds spices, and then stirs while looking at a picture of a chicken or a cow. I'd hazard to guess, if you ate these for breakfast lunch and dinner, while a control group did the same at McDonald's, the Mountain House group would die first. I look forward to buying our own dehydrator once we move. Mountain House never uses whole grains, only highly refined flour/rice, they put so little in the way of vegetables, you can barely find them, and the protein content is so low an environmentalist wacko vegan gets more having a salad.

Now you know why I carry mandarins, dehydrated fruit, cheese, and two huge protein sticks (summer sausage), among other things. I lose between three and six pounds on every 8 day trip. Never have I been able to eat enough to match my caloric output. It is not a matter of bringing more food. I eat until I'm full everyday. It is the amount of activity that creates the problem of stuffing enough calories in my face. This is compounded by these commercial backpacking meals. They are convenient, but super unhealthy, low calorie, high carb garbage. So my breakfasts, lunches and snacks are not lightweight, hence adding weight to my pack.