DofE Expedition Food - The Best Choice for 2019
This year Wayfayrer is the food of choice for DofE and it will be our pleasure to introduce you this brand.
Real Turmat Freeze Dried Meals
Real Turmat meals available in the UK with free UK delivery. Lightweight and high energy, they have a long shelf life and are easy to prepare.
Gluten Free Backpacking Meals
Base Camp Food have a superb selection of freeze dried and ready to eat lightweight camping and backpacking meals, including vegetarian options.
Vegetarian Freeze Dried Meals
We have the widest selection of vegetarian and vegan lightweight outdoor meals available. Whether you need ready to eat or freeze dried!
Guest Review on Bla Band Wilderness Stew
Here is a guest review blog from expert wild camper Lee Taylor - you can visit his blog site here:
Lee bought a range of Bla Band meals from us...
Bla Band Wilderness Stew
Having used Mountain House for the last 3 years I was getting tired of the same old flavours and decided a change was badly needed. I had seen the odd picture and mention of a brand called Bla Band so I decided to give them ago, I ordered 10 from Basecamp Food, they were the cheapest I could find at £5.99 each. I purchased a mix of flavours and I tried the first one, Wilderness Stew with rice on my recent trip to the Howgills. I was blown away with the taste and quality of the meal, the meat used might not appeal to everyone as it's Reindeer meat which too me tastes similar to venison, but it adds so much flavour to the rice and cream sauce and there was plenty of meat in it as well!! The packaging is good and easy to access with a standard spoon with fill lines on the inside which is always beneficial. It says leave for 10 minutes to hydrate but I left mine for 15 minutes and it was perfect, it never touched the sides and is just what you need after a long day on the hill. I've put a short video on this Blog and I'll update as I try the different flavours, but after the first I have to say, the rest have a lot too live up too!!
DofE Approved Meals
Base Camp Food offer the best range of meals for Duke of Edinburgh expeditions through our range of DofE approved meals from Beyond the Beaten Track
The Widest Selection of Outdoor Meals in the UK
About Ready to Eat Meals
Base Camp Food have a wide selection of ready to eat camping meals. These meals have an advantage over our range of freeze dried meals as there is no need to carry, and add water. The disadvantage is they are heavier, however they make great meals for weekend expeditions and camping trips. The Beyond the Beaten Track meals in stock at Base Camp Food are ready to eat either hot or cold but we recommend you heat them for a tasty warming meal after a day on the hills! The Beyond the Beaten Track meals are approved kit for DofE expeditions. Our full range of Beyond the Beaten Track meals can be found here. We also stock the tasty and popular Wayfayrer meals.
The Widest Selection of Meals in the UK
Base Camp Food has a wide range of DofE approved meals. We stock vegetarian camping meals as well as meat versions and there is something to suit all tastes. To start the day, our DofE approved All Day Breakfast is warming and tasty. For a vegetarian ready to eat camping meal why not taste our Vegetable Curry with Rice is warming and tasty with a good blend of spice – a real team favourite! We also stock a range of desserts which are approved for DofE expeditions – we love the rich and creamy Rice Pudding from beyond the Beaten Track. Base Camp Food also stock a range of self heating Beyond the Beaten Track meals which come complete with a flameless ration heater so there is no need to carry a stove!
DofE Approved Stoves
Base Camp Food stocks also stocks a wide range of camping stoves and cookware, including the DofE approved stoves from Trangia. Trangia offers a superb coking system which is used all over the world. There is a collection of stoves to choose from which are various sizes and offers a choice of non stick options. The Trangia 27-1 UL is ideal for one or two backpackers and includes a stove, two saucepans and a frying pan – why not find out more here. We also offer some great utensils and cookware for backpacking – you will always find a Vargo titanium spork in out team packs (and lunch boxes!)
Free UK Delivery on Lightweight Outdoor Camping Meals
All camping meals, DofE expedition food, lightweight stoves and cookware come with free UK delivery from Base Camp Food, including the Beyond the Beaten Track meals. Our free delivery option normally takes 3-5 working days. If you need your Beyond the Beaten Track meals with next day delivery then we can do that too for a small charge.
Base Camp Food has the widest range of lightweight outdoor meals with free UK delivery.
Bla Band Meals at Base Camp Food
New Meals at Base Camp...
Here at Base Camp Food we are always on the look out for tasty new meals to add to range so you can try something new on your next trip
We already have the widest range in the UK, but during 2016 we are expecting more. This week sees the arrival of Bla Band meals at Base Camp. Bla Band are the market leaders in Scandinavia and have a tasty range of main meals, including more gluten free meals to add to our existing collection. Each meal contains 650Kcal and is priced at £5.99
Base Camp has over 100 freeze dried meals in stock, all with free delivery. Bla Band meals are a superb addition to our freeze dried meals. Why not try a gluten free Indian Chicken Stew on your next trip or for a tasty vegetarian lightweight meal, how about a Couscous with chilli spiced vegetables
Don't forget we also have a superb range of stoves and lightweight cookware including a great selection of Evernew titanium which arrived a couple of weeks ago and is already proving very popular
Thanks as always for supporting Base Camp Food
Lightweight Expedition Food
Expedition Foods are new to Base Camp Food from the start of 2015 but are already proving to be one of our most popular ranges! There is a good selection of gluten free meals and the lightweight, high energy range gives a great balance of weight and energy.
Full Range Available at Base Camp Food
About Expedition Foods
Established in 1995, Expedition Foods has been providing top quality freeze-dried meals to internationally acclaimed explorers, rowers, sailors, endurance athletes and mountaineers as well as campers, scouts, film crews, military personnel and rescue service teams all over the world.
Expedition Foods’ delicious light-weight meals provide the perfect nutrition for a wide range of outdoor pursuits. Manufactured in Britain, Expedition Foods is an expert in producing meals that retain all the nutrition of a perfectly balanced meal in a single, light-weight packet. The meals deliver the fuel and balanced nutrition required for the most gruelling of challenges!
Expedition Food of Choice
Expedition Foods have a number of accolades. They were recently voted the most preferred brand of meal at the prestigious "4 Deserts Race Series" and are the food of choice for world record holders, The Islanders, during their GB Row 2013; Meghan Hicks, the 2013 Ladies Champion of the Marathon des Sables; adventurers James Cracknell and Ben Fogle; our meals were even enjoyed by Prince Harry during his Walking With The Wounded South Pole 2013 Expedition.
Benefits of Expedition Food
- Freshest ingredients freeze dried for great taste
- Can be rehydrated in minutes
- Superb value, especially with Base Camp Food’s free delivery
- High energy 800Kcal options available
- No refrigeration required and long shelf life
- Ultra lightweight and easy to carry
- Great range of breakfasts, main meals and dessert recipes
Full Range Available
Base Camp Food have the full range of Expedition Foods available to buy. With breakfast, main meals for both meat-eaters and vegetarians and a selection of desserts. There is also a comprehensive offering of gluten free options.
Breakfasts include the tasty Oats and Blueberries for a high energy start to the day with 800Kcal and only 180g.
Already one of the most popular main meals containing meat is the Beef and Potato Hotpot 800Kcal. For those of you who prefer some spice the Chicken Tikka is a tasty combination of chicken and rice in a spicy Tikka sauce.
We also have a great range of vegetarian meals including the Spicy Vegetable Noodles and the Vegetable Tikka
If you have a gluten free dietary requirement then our Gluten Free meals include a good selection from Expedition Foods.
As always, Base Camp Food offer free delivery on all UK orders so is the perfect choice for lightweight Expedition Food meals in the UK.
Beyond The Beaten Track – DofE Recommended Food Supplier
Beyond The Beaten Track is one of our best selling expedition food brands owing to the fact they are a DofE recommended food supplier. Base Camp Food are proud to stock a wider range of these tasty ready to eat meals than any other UK supplier.
DofE Expedition Food of Choice
Benefits of Beyond The Beaten Track Food
Wider Range Than Any Other UK Supplier
About Beyond The Beaten Track
Beyond The Beaten Track is a brand produced by Vestey Foods Group, a family run business that dates back to the 1890s. The wide range of expedition food packs and outdoor meals they produce were developed from products originally supplied to professionals use to tough conditions, including the SAS and British Army. The team at Beyond The Beaten Track are all outdoor enthusiasts who have used their experience and know how to create a great range of nutritional, high quality and convenient ready to eat meals.
DofE Expedition Food of Choice
Anyone doing the Duke of Edinburgh Award need look no further than Base Camp Food’s fantastic range of Beyond The Beaten Track meals. This high calorie expedition food is designed to maintain your energy levels whether you are doing a practice walk or taking your DofE Gold expedition. These ready to eat meals are easy to prepare so ideal after a tough day when you are low on fuel. Whilst not as light as freeze dried alternatives, Beyond The Beaten Track meals cost less and are arguably more convenient given they can be eaten cold or warmed using the self heating meal kit version negating the need to carry a stove and fuel. The products have also been tested by the DofE’s very own product team. We have created a dedicated page with all the recommended DofE meals and stoves we stock.
Benefits of Beyond The Beaten Track Food
- Easy outdoor food, ready to eat hot or cold straight from the pack
- Fast cooking time if you like your expedition meals warm
- Great value, especially with Base Camp Food’s free delivery on all orders!
- High calorie content to re-energise you after a tough day
- No refrigeration required and long shelf life
- Relatively lightweight and easy to carry
- Great range of breakfasts, main meals and dessert recipes from across the world
Wider Range Than Any Other UK Supplier
Base Camp Food have 16 Beyond The Beaten Track ready to eat meals in stock, a wider range than any other UK supplier. With breakfast, main meals for both meat-eaters and vegetarians and a selection of desserts we cater for everyone’s taste!
For breakfast we have the best selling All Day Breakfast containing sausage, smokey bacon, omelette and beans in tomato sauce. For non meat-eaters we have the wholesome Vegetarian Sausage and Tomato Breakfast to give you a great kick-start to the day.
Our most popular main meals containing meat include Chicken Tikka and Rice, Chilli Con Carne and Pasta Shells and Bolognese. For those of you with a taste for the more traditional dish at the end of a tough day the Lamb Hotpot is a tasty filling alternative.
We also have a great range of vegetarian meals including the very popular Vegetarian Tomato Noodles, Vegetable Curry and Rice and Vegetable Korma.
If, like most of the Base Camp team, you have sweet tooth then you can’t go wrong with the Chocolate Pudding in Chocolate Sauce. Other desserts include Toffee Pudding with Toffee Sauce and the very filling Rice Pudding.
We also stock the Hot Meal Kit version in some of the range. These self-heating kits are very handy containing your meal, spoon, wet wipe and flameless ration heater.
As always, Base Camp Food offer free delivery on all UK orders so why buy your Beyond The Beaten Track meals anywhere else!
Mountain House Meals - Vegetable Tikka and Rice
Mountain House
Mountain House have been a leading supplier of freeze dried meals for over 40 years and are a leading brand in the US and are gaining popularity in the UK. Mountain House meals UK are made in Lancashire by European Freeze Dry.
Base Camp Food has a wide range of Mountain House Meals, all with free delivery to the UK. This includes main meals, breakfasts and desserts. We have a wide range of Mountain House vegetarian meals and I have been looking forward to taking the Vegetable Tikka and Rice out to lunch for a while!
During a few days of coastal walking in Cornwall, I stumbled across Vault Beach which provided a perfect lunch spot. My weapon of choice for this test was the Esbit 985ml Cookset which I was testing at the time
Packaging and Nutrition
The Mountain House Vegetable Tikka and Rice weighs in at only 112g making it lightweight and easy to carry. It comes in a tough pouch which can provides all the necessary protection for being tossed about in a pack.
For the weight, it has a relatively high calorie at 442 Kcal per 100g. Mountain House meals are prepared before they are freeze dried, meaning they have the original taste and texture when they are rehydrated.
The ingredients are mainly made up of tomato, rice, onion, peas, sweetcorn, pepper and cauliflower. This is in a Tikka sauce of garlic, ginger, lemon, coconut, tikka spices and coriander.
Preparation
All Mountain House meals are easy to prepare in the pouch…
Boil some water on your nearest Esbit 985ml Cookset!
Open the pouch by tearing above the zip lock and add approx. 400ml of boiling water to the pouch – give it a really good stir, making sure you get all the way to the bottom of the pouch!
Once stirred, simply seal the pouch at the top and set aside. I’d always recommend leaving freeze-dried meals for a little longer than suggested as it makes the rehydration perfect. All Mountain House Meals have this same ziplock on the pouch meaning they are very simple to prepare.
If you have managed to wait more than 10 minutes then it is time to tuck in! You can eat straight from the pouch (as I did) or serve in a bowl or mug.
The Taste
Mountain House meals are mainly very tasty and this one was no exception (thank goodness as I was particularly peckish!).
It rehydrated very well and all the pieces were tender and tasted like fresh vegetables. The benefit of freeze drying versus dehydrating means you get a great taste and texture and this meal tasted very fresh. I normally prefer the main pieces in the meal to be a decent bite size and my only slight gripe with this was the pieces are fairly small however this means you don’t get any hard, unhydrated pieces making it a pleasure to eat.
There is a great balance of curry and rice and the dish was very filling. I though the taste was superb, vegetable curry is a favourite of mine and this one has a really good balance of flavours and a nice amount of spice. The spice blend was well balanced and there was a good creamy, coconut(ty) flavour balanced with lemon and ginger.
Although small pieces, there was lot’s of cauliflower, totamtoes, peas and peppers and they really took on the flavours of the curry well. The Mountain House meals are a good portion size for one person and the meal really filled me up. Perhaps after a 12 hour mountain day, a little more would be needed but I would normally pop a pitta, naan or flour tortilla in and with that it would be plenty!
Final Verdict
Mountain House meals are always tasty and nutritious – this Vegetable Tikka with Rice was light to carry, easy to prepare and was really tasty with a great blend of spice and vegetables. Definitely recommended if you like curry, regardless of whether you are a vegetarian!
Mountain House meals are priced at £4.99 and come with free UK delivery
Base Camp Food Tasting Team
Here at Base Camp Food, our aim is to be the UK’s leading supplier of lightweight meals, cookware and stoves. It’s an easy thing to say and write but what does that mean in practice and how can we be ‘leading’?
It’s not just about having a fantastic range of meals, it’s not just about an expanding range of lightweight cookware and stoves. It’s about how we develop relationships with our customers. It’s about delivering outrageously good customer service. It’s about surprising and delighting everybody who crosses our path.
We are a small, but growing, company and we have been giving real thought as to how we can involve our customers and friends in developing our business and providing the best product range. Of course this because we want to increase our sales, without sales we can’t grow our business. It’s also about feeling great about our business and really feeling proud to say we are Base Camp Food.
One step on this journey is to create a panel of reviewers for our products. We want all kinds of people, who enjoy the outdoors in one way or another, to be a real part of how we develop our range. Over the last ten days, we have been looking for reviewers to volunteer for the first Base Camp Food Tasting Team and we now have the shortlist.
We will ask our review team to take one our products out on their next adventure – big or small. This may be one of our freeze-dried meals, but will also evolve in to the lightweight cookware, such as our titanium sporks, and stoves. We have some great woodburning, lightweight stoves like the Solo Stove Original, and we really want to get a balanced view (we obviously love our products!) so we can share with other outdoors folk thinking about trying something new.
The review process will be simple, and we will simply ask for some thoughts and opinions on the product and how it performs in different situations. It will also be great to get some photographs showing our range in it’s natural environment!
We now have a shortlist of panel members but if you want o be considered for the next round, please just email me at james@basecampfood.com
The First Vegan Meal!
Our friends at LYO Expedition food have created the first freeze-dried 100% vegan meal ever! This tasty barley and lentil risotto, with avocado mousse is both lightweight and nutritious. If you are looking for a 100% vegan camping meal then this is the answer. Combining lentils, red pepper, pearl barley, avocado and leek, flavoured with lemon, parsley, oregano and sea salt you don’t have to be vegan to enjoy this one!
Our range of LYO meals, fruits and soups – exclusive to Base Camp Food in the UK - are becoming increasingly popular with new and existing customers, but what makes it so special?
LYO use only 100% natural ingredients, with no additives or preservatives added. LYO even grow many of their own herbs in their fields.
Many other meals mix the ingredients after they have been cooked separately – LYO cook their meals and then freeze dry, meaning their lightweight expedition food has the taste of a homemade dish.
The freeze drying process used means the meals are high energy with a high calorie count. It also keeps all of the food’s natural vitamins and minerals giving great nutritional value. The process also removes 98% of the moisture content meaning the meals are lightweight and compact.
LYO Expedition foods also check their meals are safe twice – both after the cooking process and after the freeze drying process to ensure the highest safety standards.
Perfect for all backpacking meals, expedition food and lightweight camping meals – LYO food is simple to prepare:
- Tear off the top of the pouch above the zip lock
- Remove the oxygen absorber
- Add hot water and stir
- Close the zip for 5 minutes
- Open, Eat and Enjoy!
It’s no wonder that our customers love LYO!
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