Inexpensive Lightweight Fruits and Vegetables for Backpacking, Hiking, and Paddling

Food options just keep getting better for hikers and paddlers. When I started backpacking, affordable light-weight fruits and veggies were unavailable. The best I could do were raisins and "dried" apricots along with sneaking in a fresh apple. I am delighted to report stumbling upon a great source of lightweight, low cost fruits and vegetables. Target now carries Simply Balanced™ freeze-dried fruits and vegetables for a lower price than the freeze-dried fruits and vegetables available at outdoor sporting goods stores.


On our most recent canoe trip, I tried the Simply Balanced™ peas and cinnamon apples. I added the peas to our home dehydrated beef stroganoff while cooking it in water. The cinnamon apples I also heated in water for a couple minutes until they were soft rather than crisp all the way through. Both were fantastic.

Simply Balanced™ freeze-dried fruits and vegetables seem to be fairly healthy for prepackaged foods. They do not contain artificial flavors or colors and aren't super salty. Best of all, in my opinion, if you read the labels you will find plenty of options that do not contain sweeteners (no sugar, corn syrup, or artificial sweeteners).

Based on my positive experience with the peas and cinnamon apples, I stocked up for our upcoming outdoor adventures. Peas, corn, cinnamon apples, peach slices, pineapple wedges, strawberries, and mixed berries. Each package weights 1.5 - 2.5 ounces. I paid $3.49 per bag. I'm looking forward to enjoying these on future outdoor adventures.

disclaimer

I did not receive compensation for product line, brand, or store mentioned or reviewed in this post. All products mentioned or reviewed were purchased by me. All comments made are based on personal use and experience with these products.