Freezer Bag Meals

Breakfasts

• Instant hot cereal such as oatmeal is an excellent choice for easy freezer bag breakfasts. Simply place a single serving package of hot cereal in a small freezer bag. When you are ready for breakfast, boil some water and add it to the bag (use as much as the instant cereal directions indicate). Shake or lightly smash up the bag until the cereal is well mixed. Open the bag and eat the oatmeal right out of the bag with a spoon as soon as it is cool enough to do so. If you prefer a more flavorful cereal, add brown sugar, dehydrated fruit or raisins to the bag with the instant cereal to taste

  For easy morning coffee, put powdered instant coffee in a freezer bag, boil enough water according to taste, add the boiling water and shake vigorously. You can drink the coffee straight from the bag if you like, or you can bring your own cup along. Add powdered milk and sugar to the instant grounds if you prefer a more mild coffee.

Lunches

• Ramen noodles, rice and couscous are simple choices for lunches. For example, simply place instant rice, couscous or ramen into a freezer bag. Bring along a seasoning packet in a small Ziploc bag for flavoring after cooking. Ramen comes with its own seasoning packets, but you can easily make your own using dried chicken or beef bouillions and seasonings such as dried basil, dried cilantro, garlic powder, onion powder or chili powder. Boil enough water to cover contents of the bag and add to dried rice, couscous, or ramen. Let the watered bag sit until the packages contents have become tender, which could take up to an hour. Pour off the water and add the seasoning packet. Stir the contents and eat out of the bag.

  Instant soup powders make for other easy lunch meals. Simply add powdered soup into a freezer bag, add enough boiling water to meet the package's directions, shake and serve.

Dinners

• Most hikers, backpackers and campers need protein at dinner after long days of heavy physical activity to replenish energy levels. Dried tuna and beef jerky are easy ways to add this protein to freezer bag meals. For example, boil some dried couscous, pour off the water, add a premade spice packet and stir well. Let the couscous sit for a moment before adding a small package of tuna to the bag. Shake well to incorporate the tuna to the meal. Let the meal sit to cool and then eat from the bag. You can pre-shred some jerky and add the contents in the same manner as tuna if you prefer.

Considerations

• Make sure to buy freezer bags as opposed to normal plastic bags. Freezer bags are much hardier and can take the high heat of boiling water. Regular plastic bags will fall apart quickly. Always try out freezer bag meals at home before packing them up for a trip. It isn't a good idea to experiment on the actual road when it comes to your meals. It's also a very good idea to label each meal using a marker and some masking tape. You may also consider adding notes to the bag such as how much water to use, how long to let the contents cook or other directions.