Food is important when walking not only from a nutritional point of view, it needs to be light in weight and compact. The food should not deteriorate for a period of 24 hours in the event of an emergency. The packaging should be minimal to stop materials being left on the Mountain.
I am always on the lookout for good recipes I am bored with the usual BLT and other easily knocked up offerings from the local supermarket. If you can think of a great meal which fills the empty tummy and gives pleasure while sitting on the top of a mountain .... Let's have it for publication here.
Don't forget that we have vegetarians in the group and vegetarian food is something I know nothing about so any help you can give would be appreciated.
Some of the following recipes must be made at home the day before the actual walk. However if your walk is to last for several days then cooking on the move is the only real alternative. One lightweight cooking pot for both dining and drinking is the easiest and lightest method. Perhaps I am old fashioned but the old military mess tins, or Dixie cans as they are sometimes called, are lightweight and strong. The little hexamine cooker and fuel fits into them, the two tins close together forming a box making a very compact and easily portable micro kitchen. These tins have very wide bottoms which makes maximum use of the heat from your cooker and work much better than tall cooking pots.
This little cooker is designed to MOD specifications to operate in extreme conditions it is simplicity itself to setup and operate. One tablet from the pack of 8 will boil well over half a litre of water within 10 minutes. The hexamine packs are very cheap and clean in operation. The entire kitchen weighs about a pound in weight and costs less than £10 or $20US it will work in places where nothing else will. Warm food in a cold place can be both a comfort and life saver.
This is a hexamine cooker, small lightweight and very practical and has been used by the Military since the year dot. Available for the price of a cup of coffee £2.99. It comes with 8 hexamine tablets to get you started. Look on the internet for this sort of equipment as it is much more expensive in the hiking and mountain shops. The refill tablets cost £1.50 for a packet of eight and will keep for years if you do not open the packet. There is a shop on the left hand side as you enter Newtownards on the Comber Road. It is called something like "CURIOS" ,,, You know the shop with Osama Bin Laden or Saddam Hussein standing outside, anyway it has everything in stock 'n ready to go. The mess tins, cooker and three packs of hexamine cost me under £20 and it works out the same as you don't have Post and Package to pay on top, if you were buying it over the internet.
One other essential thing to carry is a packet of water and wind proof matches or a good quality lighter with a full tank and a fresh flint. I have said this many times [almost to the point of tautology,] before the most important thing to carry is water for drinking, cooking and for damping your cloth to keep cool, and rubbing sticky and dirty hands. If you are high in the hills and water is flowing straight from melting ice it is probably safe enough to drink. In places further down the hills it is possible that the water could be contaminated regardless of how clean it looks. In an emergency you may need to drink it but at the first sign of trouble go to your Doctor and tell him what you did. Most of the time you will not suffer any ill effects but there is a chance that you will contract Weil's disease which can lead to renal (kidney) and hepatic (liver) failure, which can be potentially fatal. Boiling water will kill most bugs and make it safe for cooking and making tea but don't ingest water which has not been heat treated. Boiling the water and letting it cool before pouring it into your container is a method of topping up your supply in the wild. These modern TV survivalists are often seen drinking filthy water they are taking serious risks and then relying on a course of antibiotics to kill off any bugs they have ingested. Don't copy them unless you are in serious danger of immediately dying of thirst.
As with any fire it is best to ignite it out of the wind. If you can find a deep gully get into it and dig a shallow hole for your cooker or place some rocks round it. This will give it extra stability and ensure that the maximum heat is getting to your cooking pot. This also limits the number of sparks blowing about. Note that modern materials will be damaged if a spark lands on any of your kit, it also helps protect the environment. Place your warm jacket over your shoulders as you will lose body heat doing nothing. And don't forget to sit on your foam seat to insulate yourself from the cold damp ground. The broad brimmed hat helps to keep the sun or rain off and a cape gives you extra protection. This also gives a bit of privacy while you do the cooking. Bacon and sausages when frying gives off a wonderful smell.
Did you know that the smell of bacon frying can travel several hundred yards down wind and makes everyone within range very hungry indeed. Use olive oil to cook with and if necessary to provide light. Simply thread a cotton wick into the bottle and use a pin or hair clip to stop it falling in all the way, then light it. If the bottle is small 50 ml this crude candle will burn all night and there will be sufficient oil for cooking in the morning, without carrying excessive weight.. Start with some sausages as they take longest to cook then add a couple of slices of bacon. When it's nearly finished cooking drop in a couple of eggs to fry, lastly empty your beans on top to warm up. This stops the eggs and bacon from getting burnt and heats up the beans. Ok! I know it looks like a mess, that's why they are called mess tins. Use the smaller tin to boil up some water and make tea while you are eating from the other tin. Do not fill this tin with more water than you need to make a cup or mug of tea, about 15 mm is enough for two cups. The food from these tins tastes great and sustains you for ages, it also upsets the more cultured propensities of the gourmet, but who cares about the opinions of self-righteous twits like that. Of course you could redeem yourself in their eyes by uncorking a bottle of Pétrus or Romanée Conti. When you are hungry enough you will eat almost anything and what's more you will enjoy it out in the fresh air.
Just the basic equipment I have described in this section is all you need and if you think the previous day about your food you can have a menu fit for a king.
Carnation Condensed Milk is now available in squeezy tubes and is great in tea, coffee and porridge. Porridge can be cooked in minutes on the mountains on your little hexamine cooker. Just put a handful of oats into some water and bring to the boil then add the Carnation Milk and a little salt and sugar. This is good substantial, hunger satisfying food to set you up for the day and is lightweight before cooking.
Peanut Butter is another source of energy spread this on your bread and then make it even more creamy by putting carnation milk on top of it.

Let me put things into its proper perspective. In the RAF we complained about Carnation Milk, tinned sausages, tomatoes, beans potatoes and just about anything else the RAF gave us in tins. We also complained about the kit we were given to wear. We also grumbled about having to do route marches and taking exercise. Here we are in 2008 here I am telling you of the usefulness of Carnation Milk, powdered potatoes, dried onions, and a host of things I used to grumble about, how things have changed. We don't get paid to do any of this walking and there is nobody to listen to our grumbles, but we still turn up ready and willing to put ourselves through torture,... 'cos we love it. I must admit that the technology for manufacturing this convenience food has vastly improved along with the flavour and texture. How twisted can that be ?
I never thought that 40 years later I would be telling people how good dried food can be boiled on a bloomin stove in the back end of nowhere could be so good.

Here is a short list of lightweight dried items which can be carried with you. Providing that you keep them dry until you are ready to cook them they can be stored for months even years. All you need to do is add water and cook on your hexamine stove. This list is by no means exhaustive, there are thousands of ingredients out there for you to use. Just pick those you will be carrying on the day. Try them at home and select the ones you know that you like. When preparing to walk choose your items you want and pack in a freezer bag, seal the top with a rubber band, then go...

FLAVOURING Salt, pepper, sugar Oxo Cubes, stock cubes, Soup powder. dried herbs, dried onion. tomato paste,

BULKING powdered potatoes, cous cous, egg powder Fusillini pasta Orecchiette pasta Porridge Oats.

LUXURY milk powder or Tube condensed milk coffee powder tea leaves Horlicks Cocoa powder Sweets Mars Bars Dried fruit Biscuits Christmas cake