Expedition Food Planning

Although the scouts will not be carrying all their food like a ‘dofe’ expedition, we will have very similar cooking facilities as if they were. This means everything must be cookable with water and a single low-power gas burner. Everyone must also eat enough; I would expect for the activity levels we will be doing, each scout should aim for about 3500 calories on Saturday (including breakfast) and about 2800 on Sunday. Most of the food should be slow release with some snacks that are quick release if they need a burst of energy.

Porridge pockets (just add water) and dried milk that could be used with cereal

Ideas

Breakfasts

Breakfasts could consist of muesli, porridge, wholemeal cereals, noodles, etc. Dried fruit and/or nuts can be added to improve the flavour and add calories.

Squirty cheese

Lunch

Lunch will be eaten while we are on the go, so picnic or ‘packed lunch ‘-style foods that don’t need to be heated or kept chilled are ideal. Ideas for lunches include pitta bread or wraps (filled with squirty cheese, pepperoni, etc.) with other high-energy foods like flapjacks, cereal bars, nuts, dried fruit, biscuits, sweets, jelly, mint cake, and so on. A homemade or shop-brought wrap or pasta salad would work perfectly for Saturday.

Custard which brownie or cake could be added.

Dinner

For dinner, curry, stews, pasta, bangers and smash, or noodle stir fry are all great expedition meals. They can be followed up with a hot or cold pudding, such as chocolate cake or crumble and custard.

We advise using one of these readymade expedition foods as the main meal. They’re easy to prepare after a long day and have no washing up!:

• Fire Pot (recommended by DofE) – dried expedition food that is very lightweight –gooutdoors.co.uk/br:firepot/
• Wayfarer (recommended by DofE) – much heavier than firepot as it isn’t dried but tastes a bit better – gooutdoors.co.uk/br:wayfayrer/

Snack ideas

Snacks

For snacks, we recommend packing slow-release snacks like granola bars, breakfast bars, flapjacks etc and some fast-release snacks like raw jelly cubes, Kendal mint cake, fruit pastels, etc

Emergency Rations

We will also need to carry some emergency rations to help mitigate any problems and sustain us if we get stuck on the hill unexpectedly. I would typically choose food I wouldn’t normally eat so I wouldn’t be tempted to eat it for the sake of it. They are for emergencies only. Good ideas include a combination of flapjacks, granola bars, nuts, dried fruit, and Haribo’s.

Water flavoring ideas & hot Choc

Drinks

Everyone must carry 2 litres of liquid while walking preferably in two bottles (so, your pack is balanced, and if one bottle leaks you still have another) This can be just water (refillable at the accommodation) or flavoured water using squash, powder, or tablets. Flavoured drinks can improve the taste and provide some extra electrolytes which are good.

Hot drinks are also a must, especially for breakfast, dinner and supper. You may also choose to carry a flask filled with a hot drink instead of two water bottles.

Example Menu

Below is the menu I will carry (probably) to help you develop yours.

Printable Menu Plan

Each scout must fill one of these in and hand them to Alex (in person or via email) before the 17th Marh.

PDF Download