Iron Chef MDS - Evening Entries

This will be the last of my gastronomical entries.  I have covered breakfast, "lunch" and now finally dinner.

Expedition Foods Beef and Potato Hotpot:  6 oz/801 kcals/$11.95.  Generally a good entree however not very visually appealing, therefore this one is good when it is dark.  Could benefit from the additional of spices of your choice. Scores 3.5 out of 5.0.

Expedition Foods Asian Noodles with Beef and Mixed Vegetables:  6 oz/805 kcals/$11.95.  This was a very good meal.  Rehydration was fast and there was just the right amount of flavor with a little spicy after kick.  This one scores 4 out of 5.

Asian Beef and Noodles

Not bad.....

Expedition Foods Chicken Tikka with Rice:  6 oz/ 808 kcals/$11.95.  I really liked this one too.  Scores a 4 out of 5.  Unfortunately I could not get this for my kit when I ordered.  Replaced with Chicken Korma and Rice.

Expedition Foods Shepard’s Pie:  6 oz/805 kcals/$11.95.  Two words.....Dog Food.  No way.  I am going to replace this with spaghetti.

Expedition Foods Sweet and Sour Chicken with Rice: 6.5 oz/ 805 kcals/$11.95.  Very basic and palatable.   I will have this twice during the event.  Scores a 4.5 out of 5 also.

Backpackers Pantry Santa Fe Rice and Chicken: 7.5 oz/760 kcals/$10.50.  This was good.  This meal has much more of a “local flavor” than the Expedition Foods from over the pond.  Even has New Mexico green chile!  Weighs a little more, is more bulky and has slightly less calories but the taste more than makes up for that.  A 4.5 out of 5.0

I am additionally taking some extra food for the bivouac so as to assure that I have enough/likable food prior to departure.  Any leftovers will be abandoned or stored in my bag for delivery at the end.  Most likely will take some Expedition Foods Macs and Cheese along with some breakfast options.

As you can see chicken is the choice.  I would prefer beef but unfortunately chicken is more readily available.  Final menu for the event is getting close and will most likely be posted along with my kit contents prior to departure.  As mentioned before some of these may need to be repackaged due to space considerations.

Iron Chef MDS - Breakfast

This is the second installment of my culinary comments relating to my MDS nutrition planning.  Today I will be discussing my favorite and most important meal - Breakfast.

I have to eat breakfast, and a hearty one at that.  I am planning to try and keep the calories around 600-800 for this meal which limits choices but over the race that should not be a problem.  Below are some reviews of various offerings I have tried over the last several months.  From my experience most of the US brands do not offer the calories I am looking for and/or the taste.  I am leaning more towards the Expedition Foods brand.  Their packaging while convenient is a little heavy and contains trapped air resulting in volume issues and thus may need to be repacked.

First and foremost COFFEE:  Starbuck Vias of course!  These little "pixie sticks for grown-ups" are great.  I am planning on bringing 10 for the race.  I will throw in a couple of tea bags also.

Mountain House Eggs and Bacon:  2.25 oz/315 kcals/$5.50.  This meal was quite disappointing.  Besides calling for 8oz of water of which you eventually pour out 4-6oz, the eggs had the consistency of foam rubber and about as much taste.  Bacon consisted of a sprinkling of bacon bits.  This one will not make the cut.  I give this a score of 2 out of 5.

Mountain House Breakfast Skillet:  4.75 oz/680 kcals/$7.25.  This one was not bad.  Utilizes about 12 oz water but none is poured out.  Consistency and taste are acceptable but pepper is needed.  Just about the right portion size for me.  Scores a 3.5 out of 5.

Expedition Foods Scrambled Eggs, Potatoes and Mixed Peppers:  6.25 oz/828 kcals/$11.95.  Much better than the Mountain House Eggs and Bacon offering and quite filling.  Lots of potatoes and peppers while very light on the eggs.  These exist as somewhat of a coating on the potatoes.  This took quite a long time to rehydrate properly (at least 30 minutes).  While there is over 1.2g of sodium per package, additional salt and pepper help this out a lot.  Great candidate for some New Mexico green chile!  This receives a score of 3 out of 5.

Expedition Foods Scrambled Eggs Potatoes and Peppers

Dig in! Note water fill lines on inside of packet, a nice touch

Expedition Foods Custard with Apples: 4.0 oz/541 kcals/$12.  This is billed as a dessert item but any dessert is good enough for breakfast (I regularly have pie with my coffee in the morning).   This item re-hydrated quickly and was very tasty.  It was almost too buttery for my liking but if you enjoy it slowly with a cup of coffee it is great.  This scores 4 out of 5.  Based on this one I would also feel comfortable with the Custard and Mixed Berries.

Bla Band Apple Cinnamon Porridge:  5.5 oz/700 kcals/$6.00.  I ran across these in a grocery store in Finland so I pick up three.  Bla Band (Blue Ribbon) is from Sweden.  Taste was OK for a rye based product but set a little heavy.  Brown sugar would have helped this out a lot.  Scores a 3 out of 5.

Bla Band Apple Cinnamon Porridge

Other potential options would of course be some sort of nutrition/granola bar.  Pop-Tarts also come to mind.  While some like these, I am not a big fan.  I also am considering three other Expedition Foods breakfasts though I have not tried any of them:

Porridge with Sultans (You really can't mess up oat meal too bad)
Fruity Muesli with Milk Powder (I could do cold cereal once, with yogurt this would be better)
Hot Cereal Start with Mangoes (hmm....interesting but...)

I will be including a little bit of salt/pepper/sugar to help some of these out.  Given the options above it should not be too difficult to come up with six or seven breakfast options that will be palatable and varied. 

Hello Suomi

Hello from Finland!

On vacation with my extended family in Saariselka Finland.  We had hoped to see the Aurora Borealis but alas, it was cloudy the entire time we were here.  While I was taking it easy this week I still got in some runs up and down the local fell, and of course these were mostly in the DARK.  It is dark here 20 hours a day and when it is "light" it is the equivalent of dusk.  Fortunately it has not been too cold, only in the high teens/low 20's with the exception of when we arrived when it was around 0.  Definitely not heat training!  Great time relaxing with family and being somewhere different however it is nearly impossible to get over jet lag when there is no sun.

Dressed for the cold!

Marathon de la neige?

Next week it is off to Las Vegas and the desert for work.  Will be doing at least one run at Red Rocks and where ever else time will allow.   I will also be scheduling my EKG/doctor appointments for my medical within the next couple of weeks in order to assure I can get seen early in the 30 day window before the event.