What seems a long time ago we opened a post about TentMeals with….

“We are absolutely and wholeheartedly dedicated to making the best expedition meals.
We love being outdoors.
We love camping and adventuring.
And we love feeling great.”

Jess went on to say

“Our meals are a delicious combination of natural, calorie dense, and easy to prepare. No faff, no hassle, no nasty additives – just high energy health when you most need it.” – again sounds bloody great and I look forward to following up with taste tests soon! … fast forward to now…

.. its been a busy and somewhat bonkers few months but in that time I did get the envious opportunity to test some of Jess’s creations while out and about in the Scottish mountains , in the snow and ice and also share with a vegetarian friend for some objective feedback.

The result?

Awesome frankly! I was given selection of Breakfast (various types of porridge), snacks for the hill (fruit, nuts etc) and also a few main meals to try (all vegan I add!) – and test I did ..

When I say “test” I mean… eat 🙂

We were in the Cairngorms for a weekend of panned Winter climbing and ..we ll some drinking. Based as is traditional at the Aviemore Youth Hostel (SYHA) I took along a couple of breakfasts and the snacks, knowing we would probably be hitting the local pub for dinner. As a stroke of luck Jess had connected me to SIGG so I also got hold of one of their “food jars” which are ideal for carrying and keeping food warm.

My feedback? Thanks goodness the fruit porridge is VERY tasty as after a typical night with my buddies in the pub we tend to be a little fragile in the early morning before a climb yet I managed to eat it , almost completely! Good consistency….

To add some objectivity to the test I also offered a meal (The Almond Jalfrezi main meal) to a colleague at work who does some hill-walking and who also happens to be vegetarian and knows typically what can be achieved in such meals available today. I left her to to it, no instructions from me and then received  this mail along with a couple of pics (Thanks to Claire for getting involved!)

“I was pleasantly surprised and thoroughly enjoyed this. I imagined something named “Tent Food” to be bland and maybe stodgy. This was far from it. Firstly it is as it says on the packet, quick to make and delicious. It takes no longer than ten minutes in boiling water. The portion can be large enough for 2 people, I could only eat half however I would imagine if you were on an a large expedition this would be perfect. As a vegetarian I tend to make meals from fresh produce as it can be hard to get a tasty readymade meal that’s not watery and bland. This was lovely. The almonds were lovely and not too crispy or soft and the flavors of the coconut and peppers could be tasted. Absolutely loved this and highly recommend.” 

So in conclusion – vegan or not if you are seeking a  more natural (non dried)  tasty option for expeditions , camping or just travelling food I cannot fault Tentmeals, for meat eaters if you really need to its simple to add some chicken or sausage .

A great find and one that i’ll be including in my food options.

For more info see their website https://tentmeals.co.uk/ or check them out on Twitter @tentmeals or Insta at instagram.com/tentmeals_expedition_food/