Tortilla Time

As a parent, one of my largest on-trail concerns is food. Are the kids eating enough? Are the calories clean? Are they getting enough protein or electrolytes to offset the work? Then I panic the other way. Did we overload our packs with junk? Is the weight too much, or even necessary? It’s a fun little mental struggle I like to take myself on every time we do a large hike. Today, I’m going to talk about some of the snacks that we find worth it and their respective price point.

Tortilla meals are the major area that we are exploring lately. Back in the day, when we were very young and super poor, we did a lot of tortilla based meals. Derek always liked them, I did not. Tortillas, in my brain at least, should be filled with carnitas or fajitas or some whitefish covered in cilantro and onion. They should not be cold, flour, or even white. But after years of trying new things, I’ve learned that these lunches are easy to pack, customize, and pay for.

I’m going to preface this by saying that I did use some basic ground rules for the pricing. I literally just now went and looked at the prices of these items at my local Kroger. I noted the price, the serving size, and broke it down per serving. We are a family of 6, 4 of which eat “adult” sized meals. Per serving is the best method for us, so I hope it makes sense to you. I’m not using the “family size” anything, just normal things that won’t go bad before you consume them. Obviously, a bulk purchase of any of this would be cheaper. Also, some things like bananas and strawberries do not have serving sizes. I’m going with a large banana being used in 3 sandwiches and 32 oz of strawberries being 9 servings. It all depends on your preferences and nutritional requirements. I am not a dietary specialist and this is not medical or nutritional advice. Don’t sue me, I’m poor. I am also assuming that I don’t need to list spices because we are all fancy people and already have them and know what to put where. Use salt and pepper. Bust out the Old Bay or Dano’s. Season your food to your liking. Also, obviously if you grow your own produce, shop local, make your own pickles, what have you, the price will be different. Save that money, man.

Whipped cream cheese, turkey, cucumber tortilla. $1.37 per serving
White Flour Tortilla covered in whipped cream cheese. Two slices of turkey slightly overlapping in the middle. Thinly sliced cucumber throughout the middle in a line. Roll up and cut in half. I like to use a little cream cheese to “seal” the ends. This lunch doesn’t leak out and make a mess. It’ll hold for hours as long as you aren’t hiking in a desert. At the point, the cream cheese will leak out. You’re getting roughly 9 oz of protein here from the turkey alone. Dairy from your cream cheese, veg with the cucumber, this is rounded and the kid’s favorite easy trail lunch. If mom says she doesn’t have the energy for charcuterie or a fancy meal, this is the one they request. It’s so basic and easy to customize.

Peanut butter, grape jam, nutella tortilla. $0.81 per serving
Looking at your tortilla, put the P.B on top. Nutella on the bottom. Thinly mush up some jam throughout the middle. Roll towards you and slice in half. This one is the comforting hug of a summer lunch in the 90’s with the grown up hazelnut twist. Between the peanut butter and the Nutella, you have 9 oz of protein again. This will leak and mess up a sandwich bag real quick. It’s messy, we recommend baby wipes or eating near a moving body of water to wash with. You really don’t even taste the boring tortilla, which is my favorite part.

Ham, mustard, and pickle tortilla. $1.25 per serving
You know those classic ham pickle rolls at all of the baby showers? It’s like that. Take that tortilla and spread as much spicy mustard as you need to feel alive, cover with 2 to 3 slices of ham, and then cut up some thin pickle slices or spears for the very center. Fold away and cut into half or make a sushi roll out of it. This is the middle of the room for price The ham will have a higher sodium level, but after sweating as much as I do while hiking, it’s important to not just flush out all of your electrolytes. Get some salt, you’ve earned it. Would it make you feel better if I told you that the ham is giving you at least 10 grams of protein? Yes, yes it would.

The Elvis A.K.A Banana, honey, and peanut butter tortilla. $0.53 per serving
Tortilla slathered in peanut butter, thinly sliced up bananas, and drizzled in honey? I’m always down for that. You’ll be getting about 8 oz of protein and all of the amazing benefits that your local to you honey can provide. Plus, buying that local honey goes a long way to not only helping a member of your community, but also in turn helps the bees! I will eat this yummy snack to save the bees any day.

Strawberry Nutella tortilla. $1.21 per serving
Spread your Nutella on the tortilla and cover the middle with thinly sliced strawberries. This one is great to add sugar, nuts, honey, whatever to. Strawberries are loaded with Vitamin C, perfect for helping your immune system along while you wear yourself out.

Okay, so these are just some ideas of tried and true easy and affordable trail lunches. When the kids eat these, I don’t have to feel as bad. Don’t get me wrong, they have had their share of Lunchables on a hike, I’m not shaming anyone. Fed is best, right? But just financially alone, these are the winner to us.

Happy Hiking!

PB and J with Nutella in progress