you had me at breakfast

We’ve put together five of the best brekkies you can use to prime yourself for a big day’s adventure, with an emphasis on being nutritious, high in energy, light to carry and easy to prepare.

Porridge - Some hikers might argue that there is only one breakfast – and that breakfast is porridge. Porridge is indeed the Breakfast of Champions, it’s high in energy, it’s light to carry (just add water), releases energy slowly, has plenty of fibre and, if you use quick oats, it doesn’t take much fuel to prepare. You may think porridge on its own is dull. To make your porridge more delicious (and energy-rich) pre-pack each serving of oats in its own snap-lock bag with any of the following options: powdered milk, brown sugar, sultanas and a dessertspoon of LSA (ground linseeds, sunflower seeds and almonds). There are also many other ingredients you can add, including other types of dried fruit (apricots, apples, bananas, dates, peaches) or different kinds of seeds (pumpkin or chia) or nuts (walnuts, cashews, brazil nuts), which can add extra interest, crunch and nutrition. Experiment at home to find your perfect mix. Muesli - If you want to go light and choose a breakfast that doesn’t require any fuel to prepare, then consider muesli – all you need to do is add cold water.

You can be boring and buy your muesli from the supermarket, but if you want to look forward to a killer breakfast, we suggest making your own. You can find some really amazing muesli recipes online, hop on and Google to find one that suits your tastes.

Once you’ve bought/made your muesli, pre-prepare each day’s portion in a snap-lock bag with powdered milk and any extra additions, then every morning all you have to do is add water and you’re away.

Gluten-free - Sadly, not everyone can tolerate the delights of that wonderful protein gluten, so we’ve come up with a few gluten-free alternatives for those who can’t stomach it.

A great replacement for oats is quinoa flakes, which can be used to make a healthy and nutritious porridge. Quinoa is very low in fat and calories and is cholesterol-free. Even better, just like instant oats, you only need to add hot water to prepare them, which keeps fuel use at a minimum. Quinoa flakes are also dull on their own, so we recommend that you add powdered milk, brown sugar, cinnamon and dried fruit – you could also add seeds or nuts for extra crunch and nutrition.

An even easier option than quinoa flakes is gluten-free muesli and again you can make your own or you can buy it. If you are also lactose intolerant, replace the milk powder with soymilk powder. Coconut milk powder is another delicious alternative.

Breakfast scramble -

The breakfast scramble is the closest thing you can get to an egg fry-up without actually frying up. And while it may not sound that delicious from the comfort of home, everything tastes better in the bush, right? We’ve found it pretty damn tasty when you’re facing a big day on the go, and a nice break from porridge or muesli.

To make your breakfast scramble pre-pack the following ingredients in a ziplock bag: a cup-and-a-third of freeze-dried or powdered potato, half-a-cup of freezedried or powdered egg (with