In the past I always went with the easy to fix Mountain House or Backpackers Pantry premade meals and I still do but sometimes I want to go a cheaper; the less sodium route or for just plain variety.  I came across an article from someone who mentioned these Far East meals so I gave them a try and found them to be very good and quite a bit cheaper and they don’t require too much prep work before you go.  Basically, they are just couscous so there isn’t a whole lot of nutrition to it so you have to add some. My favorite backcountry meal combos so far would have to be Maruchan Ramen Noodle Soup, Idahoan Mashed Potatoes or Near East Couscous after adding some Harmony House Foods Soup Mix, Dried Vegetable, 12 Ounce Quart Size Jar or Just Tomatoes Just Veggies (8-Ounces ), Large Pouch (Pack of 2) and some Packit Gourmet freeze-dried meat(the roast beef is outstanding).  Either of these methods is easy and gets the job done.  The ramen noodles and couscous are good by themselves but they lack much nutritional value because they don’t contain any meat or vegetables.  Both Near East Couscous  and Maruchan Ramen Noodle Soup come in several different flavors so that makes for a pretty good amount of variety.

I repackage the ramen noodles by removing them from their original packaging; breaking them up and adding them to a boil in bag.  Then I add the vegetables and Butter Buds(or olive oil later) to the boil in bag as well.  If I don’t add the Butter Buds then I’ll just take an empty Mio container filled about halfway with olive oil and add a little out in the field.  I also add some  freeze-dried meat from Packit Gourmet and that completes the meal for me. I can usually get two meals out of one package of the Idahoan Mashed Potatoes and Near East Couscous so beforehand I put each half into boil in bags, Ziplocs or steam bags and then add the vegetable mix.  Now this works fine for me but some people might like the vegetables a little softer so they would actually boil the vegetables for a bit before adding the other ingredients. Good stuff!