ALPINEAIRE FOODS REVIEW – Average Outdoorsman

Good afternoon AverageOutdoorsman.com followers, today’s outdoor product review is for AlpineAire Foods freeze-dried and dehydrated meal packs. The meal packs were provided to me from our friends at FishHuntandCamp.com were AverageOutdoorsman.com followers get 10% off the purchase amount of their shopping cart when entering the code DEERCAMP at the check-out. First let me inform everyone about the Disclosure of Material Connection, you know, the boring stuff.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received AlpineAire Foods for free from FishHuntandCamp.com as coordinated by Outdoor PR in consideration for review publication.

Ok, now that I have that over with, on with the good stuff.

AlpineAire Foods produces several varieties of meal packs to suit just about anyone’s desired taste. There are no boring selections, choose from Beef meals, Poultry meals, Vegetarian meals, breakfast meals, side dishes and even tasty deserts. They are even building up their inventory of gluten-free meals. These meal packs are lightweight, very nutritious and have a long shelf life making them excellent for packing and utilizing in the great outdoors. All you need is a pan or dish able to safely hold (2) cups of boiling water and the package contents, (2) cups of water, of course a means to boil the water, something to cover the food to allow it to cook and a utensil to stir and eat with.

As mentioned earlier, our friends over at FishHuntandCamp.com provided me with a few meal packs for reviewing. There were a variety of (6) meals in total and I will list and break down their nutritional values for you.

Three Cheese Lasagna – vegetarian:

Nutritional Facts:

– Serving Size: 2.5oz (73g)
– Servings Per Container: 2
– Calories: 250
– Total Fat: 5g
– Saturated Fat: 3g
– Trans Fat 0g
– Cholesterol: 15mg
– Sodium: 420mg
– Total Carbohydrate: 44g
– Dietary Fiber: 3g
– Sugars: 8g
– Protein: 13g

Sierra Chicken Pasta:

Nutritional Facts:

– Serving Size: 3oz (85g)
– Servings Per Container: 2
– Calories: 270
– Total Fat: 2.5g
– Saturated Fat: 0.5g
– Trans Fat 0g
– Cholesterol: 35mg
– Sodium: 330mg
– Total Carbohydrate: 50g
– Dietary Fiber: 3g
– Sugars: 9g
– Protein: 21g

Leonardo Da Fettuccine:

Nutritional Facts:

– Serving Size: 2.75oz (78g)
– Servings Per Container: 2
– Calories: 330
– Total Fat: 10g
– Saturated Fat: 6g
– Trans Fat 0g
– Cholesterol: 30mg
– Sodium: 640mg
– Total Carbohydrate: 42g
– Dietary Fiber: 2g
– Sugars: 5g
– Protein: 15g

Teriyaki Chicken with Rice:

Nutritional Facts:

– Serving Size: 2.75oz (78g)
– Servings Per Container: 2
– Calories: 250
– Total Fat: 1g
– Saturated Fat: 0g
– Trans Fat 0g
– Cholesterol: 15mg
– Sodium: 380mg
– Total Carbohydrate: 52g
– Dietary Fiber: 3g
– Sugars: 5g
– Protein: 14g

Rice Burrito Bowl flavored with Beef:

Nutritional Facts:

– Serving Size: 1/2 package
– Servings: 2
– Calories Per Serving: 310Cal
– Carbohydrates: 58g
– Sugar: 5g
– Sodium: 400mg
– Protein: 15g
– Dietary Fiber: 9g
– Total Fat: 2.5g
– Cholesterol: 15mg
– Saturated Fat: 0.5g

Cinnamon Apple Crisp:

Nutritional Facts:

– Serving Size: 2oz (57g)
– Servings Per Container: 2
– Calories: 210
– Total Fat: 1g
– Saturated Fat: 0g
– Trans Fat 0g
– Cholesterol: 0mg
– Sodium: 30mg
– Total Carbohydrate: 57g
– Dietary Fiber: 1g
– Sugars: 24g
– Protein: 1g

As you can see, each meal pack provides plenty of protein and carbohydrates, which is needed for energy in outdoor activities. They are easy to prepare, delicious and very filling.

The first step in preparing these meals is to open the bag up and remove the oxygen absorbing packet. You can either cook the contents of the meal inside the bag or you can dump the contents into a pan or dish that will safely hold boiling water. I tested the meals in my home so I chose to use a bread pan to cook my meals. The bread pan is the perfect size and worked awesome for holding the heat of the boiling water to cook my dinners.

Now bring (2) cups of water to boiling. Once you have the oxygen absorbing packet removed and the water boiling, then pour the boiling water over the meal and stir completely. After a thorough stir of the meal, you will then need to cover the contents to allow for it to cook. I used simple tin foil to cover my meal. The time required for leaving the meals covered varies from 12 to 18 minutes. I recommend using the highest suggested time.

Your meal is almost ready now, just remove the cover and stir completely again. Now the AlpineAire Foods meal is ready for consumption. The meal I used for the pictures is the Three Cheese Lasagna – vegetarian. Each food packet claims that it will serve (2), but I did not leave any for anyone else or for left-overs. Call me a glutton if you must or just claim that I was hungry but the meal looked, smelled and tasted great and after a 13 hour work day outside, the meal was doomed.

I have to admit, I was a little hesitant to test freeze-dried or dehydrated meals considering I remember MRE’s. You other military veterans know what I mean. However, I will confess that the AlpineAire Foods meal packs were very good and I would recommend them to everyone (even if you don’t have the appetite I do). I would like to thank Patrick at FishHuntandCamp.com for providing me with the meal packets for reviewing. Remember, use the code word DEERCAMP at the checkout and receive 10% off your purchase.