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I’ve always loved Australians ever since I went to Russia with a large group of them way back when.  It wasn’t unusual to meet them for breakfast and find that one or more had, “had a fight with the sidewalk,” the night before. And how can you not like a gregarious guy who goes around with the name Fugly?  Seriously!  So when I had the chance to review Food to Go, written by three Australian hikers, I jumped at the chance.   I hoped it would contain some great survival and preparedness tips and recipes, and I was right.

The authors of Food to Go are absolutely mad about hiking and enjoying delicious food along the way. Some of us are absolutely mad about delicious food and enjoying a hike or two along the way, and that works too!  Although their primary audience is other hikers, SurvivalMoms will find the book a great addition to their survival libraries as well.  We don’t have to settle for eating cold ravioli or SPAM.  As these authors say, “Great food is always a priority!”  But this takes time and planning.

Planning what and how much food to keep in a Vehicle Emergency Kit or a Bug Out Bag is a dilemma for many of us.  As a mom, it’s hard enough to get those bags packed and ready, much less sit down to make plans for the best foods to pack.  I find myself tossing in bags of sunflower seeds or peanut butter/cracker snacks, when the truth is, it would be hard to keep a family happy on those snacks alone.  Likewise, camping trips and ventures into outdoor survival require forethought and planning ahead.

Note:  Americans may need a dictionary to help translate some of the terms in this book into American English!  I’ve never heard of a, “sachet of coffee”, before, but frankly, Frank!, that makes reading the book that much more fun.

In my family I’m not known as the Detail Person.  I tend to be more happy-go-lucky, so the planning charts in Chapter 1, have been very helpful to me.  Their menus assume the availability of water and a heat source, both of which should be part of a 72 Hour Kit.  Included in the chapter are the meal plans created by other hikers, and these include some valuable tips.  One in particular suggests putting servings of granola in Zip-Loc bags along with a couple of tablespoons of dried milk.  What a great idea for a quick meal on the road!

To further help with organization, there’s an entire chapter on organizing your meals.  Emergency bags are heavy enough with the basics of survival, and the authors include dozens of tips for reducing the weight of packed food.  I love the tip for using an empty milk, or soda, bottle for storing things like crackers.  Suggestions for adding flavor, different textures and combinations to keep food interesting can easily be applied to food storage.

Storing food for a hike is not all that different from storing it in a pantry.  The authors include twenty pages of directions for dehydrating individual foods and entire meals.  I had never thought of dehydrating a meal of curry and rice, but this book shows how to do just that in text, colorful photos, and charts.  Creative and portable ideas for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks all get the same, thorough treatment.  I’m excited about trying their recipe for dehydrating Chicken Fried Rice!

The more I read, the more impressed I was with this 161-page book.  I even signed on as an affiliate to promote the book on my blog.  Food to Go is an e-book, so you don’t have to track it down in a bookstore or wait for mail delivery, and readers of my blog can purchase the book at a 20% discount by using the discount code GOTOFOOD.  Enjoy the savings, and I know you’ll enjoy the information and recipes this book offers.

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