I recently ordered from a similar online site that seems to share the same philosophy as Packit Gourmet, but it is called Packlite Foods.
http://www.packlitefoods.com/index.htmlPacklite appears to be a small family-run business with a good selection of dehydrated one-pot dinners for "backpacking" that are 100% vegetarian, and free of preservatives, fillers and added msg. Their website and online ordering had some glitches when I ordered, but the owner was prompt with customer service.
I was happy with the hot dinners I ordered: Meals with Wheels (like Mac & Cheese with veggies), Mom’s Pasta Primavera and Bountiful Bean & Lentil Chili. I could tell by taste that the meals are not high-fat and not high-sodium. I did not get the urge to break out the salt packets, condiments or add spices. I did eat more than 1 serving, though 2 servings was too much (even for the husband, who is an extremely big eater). Dinners were priced at $4.75 for 1-serving , $8.25 for 2-servings and $14.50 for 4-servings (excluding shipping).
I used to eat a lot of Rice-A-Roni and would end up drinking a ridiculous amount of water due to the high salt. Even their lower sodium line still contains unhealthy levels of sodium, downright suicidal if you down the whole box yourself (I know because I have)!
The Packlite 2-serving pouches are about the same size or slightly bigger than the Rice-A-Roni box emptied into ziplock (Rice-A-Roni boxes are between 3.5 to 2 servings depending on the product). The Packlite dinners have alot of vegetables, compared to Rice-A-Roni that are carb heavy.
The owner communicated by e-mail to me that their product has no expiration date, storage temperature is not an issue, and that they have had hospitals purchase these meals as emergency food supply. I would exercise judgement on the expiration and storage temperature. I did find that their directed 5 minutes of cooking time (for the hot dinners) would yield some crunchy bits. Either pre-soak and stir constantly when cooking, or cook longer (8-10 minutes).
It's nice to have a healthy hot dinner that does not taste awful. Of course it tastes better if you add a little butter/olive oil (or powdered milk for those so inclined). For extended trips I would add carbs and protein to each serving to have more variety (eg. add saltine crackers and a pouch of tuna to the 2-serving Meals with Wheels to make a very hearty Tuna casserole for 2).
I second instant mash potatoes as the easiest and tastiest backpacking "hot" food. Good item to add to long trips, but mash for dinner every night will get to you in more ways than one ...
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/21/2010 04:27PM by Ferrum.