Harmony House Foods, The Backpacking Kit, 18 Count, 1 Cup Zip Pouches

I bought this package for a 5-night backpacking trip and was extremely pleased with the quality and quantity. I'm a health-conscious foodie and outdoors enthusiast, and I refuse to sacrifice eating delicious, healthy meals just because I'm in the backcountry.The veggies were extremely fragrant and tasted wonderful, my trip mates with their factory-produced, pre-packaged meals were super jealous.I mixed and matched the items in this package (plus some additional outside ingredients as noted) to create the following meals:-Mexican-style bean and veggie blend: black and pinto beans, potatoes, tomatoes, bell peppers, corn, and onions. (Outside ingredients: corn tortillas, fresh avocados, herbs and spices, and dehydrated egg mix for a tortilla breakfast soup)-Italian white bean and vegetable soup: white beans, green beans, onions, celery, carrots, bell peppers, peas, and cabbage. (Outside ingredients: dry pesto sauce mix packet from Safeway, sun dried tomatoes, herbs & spices.)-Creole red beans and rice: red beans, bell peppers, celery, onion, corn, tomatoes. (Outside ingredients: minute brown rice, herbs & spices)-Deluxe vegetable ramen: cabbage, peas, green beans, carrots. (Outside ingredients: instant ramen package, dried shiitake mushrooms, dried nori, wakame, kombu, and dulse seaweeds)-Indian-style curried veggies and lentils: lentils, carrots, potatoes, green beans, peas. (Outside ingredients: curry powder, minute brown rice.)I really enjoyed mixing and matching the ingredients to make my meal plan for the week and the package included enough for 2 people (breakfasts and dinners, that is) for a 5-night trip like mine. Would definitely order again and recommend to all vegetable loving backpackers.

Overall, I rate this backpacking kit with 4 stars because there are a few veggies that take a very long time to hydrate. The peas would be a good example. The green beans don't seem to get too soft either. But overall everything taste fine in soup or whatever you're making. I definitely agree with the other reviewer who said the cabbage taste great alone. Actually, the cabbage is so good I plan to purchase a gallon size container of it from harmony house's website. I purchased the sample kit so I would know what I could order in larger quantities later on. As of right now, I love the cabbage, mixed peppers, carrots, celery, onions, northern beans, and tomatoes the best, and will order all of these in larger containers next time. The most simpliest way to use these samples is by adding any of them to chicken or beef broth or even use bouillon cubes, and that's all you really need. Taste just fine. And I make my own salad dressing so I take the onions and mixed peppers and hydrate them in oil, vinegar, water and seasoning, and it makes some really tasty salad dressing.UPDATE: During the holidays, I travelled via plane to several cities and I included some of these veggie packets in my carry-on. I ended up staying in a hotel that had a small kitchenette and making soup was a breeze using these dehydrated veggies. I'm on my way on another trip and I already have a few of these stashed in my carry-on. If you're a backpacker or not, these veggies/beans go great with rice. If you carry along some rice in your backpack and a few of these pouches, you can add the rice and red beans in a pot with water and seasonings and simmer and have a great lunch.

I got this product for my girlfriend for her birthday, and we were very happy with the food.We took the cabbage, onions, celery, potatoes, and carrots with us on our last camping trip, and it was so nice to have hot and hearty food for supper after hiking all day. Additionally, since I was the pack mule, I was happy because the dried food added little noticeable weight to my pack. I cannot recommend this product enough.Some things to note:1) Since these foods are dried, they use up a considerable amount of water and take a bit of time to cook; however, we figured out that this can be remedied by cooking the product in a pot with a lid on.2) A little goes a long way. Unless you have a big pot, you should only need a couple of tablespoons of each item you are adding to your dish. Next time, we plan on measuring our ingredients before the trip and mixing them together in separate bags.3) You only get the vegetables; seasoning is up to you. We plan to alleviate this issue by adding seasoning to our premixed bags of the vegetables. (see number 2)

Bought this product for a 10 day backpacking trip and was delighted with it! Easy to prepare meals in advance (just mixed in plastic bags then simmered in a small pot for about 10 minutes at meal time). Menus included were a good starting point for meal ideas - I enjoyed every one of the meals I made from the suggested menus, as well as those I created. The 'kit' has a great selection of foods and was excellent value.