Bushwalk Australia

Who uses powdered cuppa soup sachets and, apart from soup, how do you use them?
Tonight i used one to thicken up a pasta that had too much water.
Also like using them to add variety to dehy meals and make rissotto with some freeze dry veg.
Someone told me they are good for marinading tofu and other stuff but i haven't tried that yet

OMFG - I seriously use them for either breakky , but mostly for a "horses Duvers" for dinner. Almost every other week either Coles or Woolies have them on sale for $1 per pkt ( 2 per pk).
My fave are the Tom Yum, Chinese Chicken n corn, Asian Laksa. and also Pumpkin and croutons
They work extremely well with Indome Mi -Goreng noodles - 2 pkts soup. 1 pkt noodles, then add some parmesan and also some ham or salami ( they keep well for atleast a week in winter), then jst eat.

Which soup flavor are you mixing with the noodles Matt?

Strider wrote:Which soup flavour are you mixing with the noodles Matt?

Well mostly the Chinese chicken n corn, but also the Pumpkin and also the Asian Laksa and or the Tom Yum.
They make a fantastic cheap, easy to make meal - and a massive "morale" booster. Not so much calories by themselves but with the Inomie noodles you are more than satisfied.
I mainly use the "hot n Spicy" ones....doesn't really matter as they are all good value. A pkt of 5 noodles from Woolies or Coles in abot $2.99
I also normally add dehy peas, corn and onion and mushrooms...just to "jazz" it up

There are also Cream of Mushroom, Potato & Leek, Pea & Ham, and Dutch Curry & Rice.

Just reading the sodium content on the back of the packet is enough to give you an instant heart attack so you don't have to worry about the long term effect on your health. Enjoy your bushwalking while you still can.

Just be weary of their MSG and other "chemical" content. Best limit them to irregular-rare consumption.

I really like Cup a Soups for a couple of mains I make up, especially for meals at the back end of a few day trip. One of my favorites is Thai green curry for two people.

I use dehydrated and vac sealed (in one bag) green capsicum, coriander, palm sugar and lemongrass. Chicken - I haven't tried to dehydrate chook, and tend to use canned chicken but frozen and vac sealed rather than in the can.

To that I add 2 Continental Thai Chicken Cup a Soup. Put it all into one bag, re-hydrate and boil in bag.

I then use the water left from boiling the bag to cook rice.

The reason I do that is because of the fat content of coconut milk, and the cup a soup is an ok substitute.

Makes it hard to simply dehydrate a home made Thai green curry.

Goddo wrote:The reason I do that is because of the fat content of coconut milk, and the cup a soup is an ok substitute.

Makes it hard to simply dehydrate a home made Thai green curry.

Maybe you could dehydrate the meal before adding the coconut milk and then take some powdered coconut milk to add when rehydrating your meal?

I sometimes add a cuppa soup to deb mashed potato to give it extra flavour, a quick and easy meal with some tuna added.

GPSGuided wrote:Just be weary of their MSG and other "chemical" content. Best limit them to irregular-rare consumption.

+1...only cause i believe that all that chems might be bad for smalls walks but i believe the high sodium will help replenish whats lost when hiking

Apologising in advance for this rant.

MSG is an ionic compound of glutamic acid (an amino acid) and sodium.

When both of these separate in water, the sodium is identical to any other sodium. The glutamic acid is now identical to the glutamate produced by every cell in the body during nitrogen dispersal, identical to the glutamate produced in the citric acid cycle, identical to the glutamate stored in vesicles in the brain - OK, you get the picture, it's everywhere in our body.

There are a huge multitude of studies showing that there is no noticeable effect with food, but we all know that's just so-called settled science.

So, you say, but it all depends on the amount you eat. Exactly! In fact the mean deadly dose of MSG is over 4 times that of normal salt. (14g/kg vs 3g/kg) For me, that just under one kilo of MSG. Even paracetamol is much more deadly.

Lastly, there have not been any double blind controlled trial challenge-confirmed MSG-sensitive asthmatics in the scientific literature. In other words, if it exists, it's rare as hell.

Please read thisfor an accurate, detailed explanation.

Oh, did I mention that there is glutamate in every bit of meat you eat?

And, off topic I know, but cholesterol is essential for every cell membrane in our body, and its an alcohol, not a fat.

Icefest, two of your links are to the same thing - an article only available to website members or "for purchase". The other link is to a 7.30 Report transcript from 2009 on an unrelated topic. ??

That said - I can feel, and see, the effect that cup-a-soups have on my body when I consume them. It's not good.

Eremophila wrote:I can feel, and see, the effect that cup-a-soups have on my body when I consume them. It's not good.

Listening to your body is the best idea.
Some people's bodies can't do MSG.
I can't do meat, makes me sick, nothing scientific, just my sensitive guts.
(btw T, I tried out the Lentilicious range and loved them, they might be helping me out with some for the big walk. Thanks for the tip)

Nice one, Terra
I will have to try them.... just find the price of $6.99 a little OTT for everyday use.

Eremophila wrote:.... just find the price of $6.99 a little OTT for everyday use.

It put me off a bit too because I'm usually only cooking for myself.
One bag ended up being quite economical when I cooked them up for 4 people served with rice and fresh salad (it's never winter up here in Northern Rivers so the garden keeps on growing). It was also a wee bit cheaper buying them in Mullumbimby where they are made. The family meal ended up costing less than $8 total. Beats cuppa soup any day

On a recent weekender trip, I found I had forgotten the rice packets that normally form my meal base. So I made up a Chicken and Corn at triple strength (well, 1/3 the water) and threw in some dehy'ed mince and vegetables. No masterchef stuff, but it kept me fed.

madmacca wrote:On a recent weekender trip, I found I had forgotten the rice packets that normally form my meal base. So I made up a Chicken and Corn at triple strength (well, 1/3 the water) and threw in some dehy'ed mince and vegetables. No masterchef stuff, but it kept me fed.

How salty was it?

Perhaps a little, but the same quantity of salt as if made up normal strength.

While I normally watch my salt intake, I'm never too concerned while bushwalking - I figure I'm losing enough electrolytes through sweat.

Eat what u want , life is short. Enjoy it.

KANANGRABOYD wrote:My fave are the Tom Yum, Chinese Chicken n corn, Asian Laksa.

Mine too - particularly the Asian Laksa. Always have one as soon as camp is set up, and another with dinner.

And normally I only buy and use the Tomato flavour.

Any one with some spice is great when your out bush in winter. Aldi do a yummy noodles too.

I'd recommend also the Trident soup packets. They are a little more pricey (i.e. over the $1 mark, nearly $2 sometimes and sometimes hard to find in woolies or coles) but their Tom Yum Goong flavour is excellent. We take out the little flavour sachets, take them with us and stir them through our rice and veggie. delicious and spicy.

You can also use Mi Goreng noodles with dehy'd pasta sauce and serve the sachets as a soupy entree

Sounds good. Might give them a go

if you can get hold of the hearty beef ones, and if you have a few bits of dehydrated meat, onions, veg, mushrooms, you can make a fantastic stew with "dumplings" (damper mix). really good if on a long walk eg AAWT, and you really want a change

olderwalker wrote:if you can get hold of the hearty beef ones, and if you have a few bits of dehydrated meat, onions, veg, mushrooms, you can make a fantastic stew with "dumplings" (damper mix). really good if on a long walk eg AAWT, and you really want a change

Try adding Jack Links beef jerky nuggets. Great as a snack or to turn a soup into a stew.

I never thought about that but its a good idea. Arent they a bit sweet for that though? Tbh ive only had the standard jacklinks jerky but I assume its the same