what food to take on D of E expedition?

[NoTruckWithFrontedAdverbials]

My DS is off on an expedition over the weekend and apparently there will be only one communal meal. there's no refrigeration but there will be some pots and pans.
they have to carry everything.

Ideas so far

1. apples and oranges
2. cereal bars for breakfast
3. high qualify ready meal in a pouch of some sort (have no idea!) ideally something you rehydrate for weight.
4. wholemeal bread rolls.
5. maybe some roast meat if not too hot (he doesn't eat cheese).

Any recommendations appreciated.

They are supposed to plan the meals themselves & arrange who buys/carries what.

My DS did his last weekend.

He didn't take anything in a can (too heavy). He took:
Hard boiled egg
2 x Mug Shot pasta (dehydrated, just add boiling water)
Banana
Flapjack
Small waffles in individual pouches for breakfast
Dehydrated meat to snack on (biltong)
Things like peperami are also good
Sachet of hot chocolate (just add boiling water).

Basically, anything that is small/light/doesn't require cooking/fridge. The heaviest thing was all the water they had to carry (it was really hot last weekend)...

Couscous bulks up well with hot water. Add spices and seeds and dried fruit to a bag and just tip out and add boiling water. Take nuts for added protein.

without refridgeration I wouldn't risk fresh meat.
dried sausages cabanossi or peperami perhaps or tinned sausages.
breadrolls also don't keep too well ime. bagels or ryvita is better.
dried fruit is dangerous if he isn't used to it.

If they have a camping stove then they can cook things for dinner and breakfast - not just the boil in bag meals but eggs, beans, tins of spaghetti etc. Fruit and bread will be fine too.

Snacks - cereal bars are a good option, rice crackers, nuts, anything he likes really.

PB&J sandwiches are a good choice too as no need to be refrigerated.

A couple of sachets of instant hot chocolate.

I wouldn't take roast meat personally. Really needs to be refrigerated or you will get bacterial growth on it.

Dehydrated meats like kabanossi are a good shout! Can get them from Lidl.

Small tin of sardines doesn't sound too bad weight wise.

Two or three hard boiled eggs for snacks.

John West do ready to eat (no heating) meals of fish and grains/chickpeas, in pouches. Take a couple as they are light.

Forget the bread rolls and sliced meat.

Kendal mint cake. Water.

DD is going tomorrow for her delayed bronze expedition she has,

trail mix made from lucky charm cereal, mini pretzels and chocolate M&M's
Oat so simple porridge to go bars, mini soreen loaves, pepperami, Colin the caterpillars, primula cheese spread and ritz crackers, sandwiches for Saturday lunch and for dinner they have pouches of rice and chicken curry along with some nan breads.
I also think someone is bringing a loaf cake and custard for pudding.

@LIZS

Some assessors do not rate "instant" food like mugshots and Pot noodles

Agreed. When I did my assessor training I was explicitly told that they have to COOK at least one meal. Adding hot water to noodles or heating up a ration pack was not classed as cooking. They had to be able to show they had combined ingredients, even at the very basic level of cook pasta, stir in sauce, chop up 1 tomato and add it all together.

We took porridge oats and powdered milk mixed in a bag - just added hot water.
For evenings we took super noodles. A little tin of tuna would be good too. Flapjack, nuts and chocolate for snacks.

I wouldn't take apples and oranges, they're heavy, oranges are messy to eat and relatively low in calorie / energy content. Dried fruit and nuts would be better. He's not going to get scurvy from 48 hours of no fresh fruit!
The microwave pouches of rice can be warmed up in a pan in a couple of minutes. If you buy pasta get the quick cook macaroni or fresh pasta so it takes less time to cook.

My son took tinned steak . Actually he took loads of food (and a tin opener!) but he was 6ft 6 and ate loads more than his friends and ended up carrying way more stuff than they did just because he had bigger shoulders to spread it across . Their team also got told to walk an extra 3 miles because they got to one of the checkpoints so much earlier than anyone else.

Chocolate. Lots of chocolate. Seriously - I reckon I got about half my calories from it, and I did bronze, silver and gold. Though it does rely on him being able to eat a good amount of it (not a problem for me!).

Then again I wasn't the most conscientious student. You know the little cartons of orange and apple juice you can get? In Spain you can buy cartons like that but it's wine .

This reminds of when my spouse came back from Uni fieldwork trip, and one of the others had brought those mini-bottles of alcohol -- including absinthe. There were some interesting stories from that trip One of his professors recommended those big cheese puffs, particularly Cheetos - apparently they burn really well if needed...

The flapjack trays are a good idea. Also protein bars/cookies rather than the cereal bars, just avoid the chocolate kind in case it gets hot.

Another D of E Assessor here. To repeat a few other PP, food is for your DS to sort, all part of the experience. Taking the wrong stuff / heavy stuff and getting stuff squashed is all part of the learning and fun. It's one night, he'll be fine. But whatever he eats he'll be starving Sunday night so maybe plan his favourite dinner?

I hope he has a brilliant time, it's so nice seeing teenagers out and about again :-)

I run DofE - always recommend students make something at home, freeze it and then it defrosts on the trek so it can be heated through in the evening. Lunches/breakfasts are on the go - egg and ham muffins, John West tuna lunches, anything high protein. Flapjack is a good shout, plus dried fruit. Get them to liase with their team and everyone bring something.

I wouldn't take apples or oranges, or any fresh fruit - too heavy for the calorie content, dried fruit would be better. I used to like chocolate bars on long walks, but if it's hot they tend to melt, so now prefer cereal bars. I also like nuts or trail mix, allergies permitting

my most popular thread ever!

Mini brioche rolls?

DS and his pals cooked hot dogs having lifted a load of ketchup sachets from the school cafeteria

Flapjacks more calorie dense than cereal bars. When my DS went I think they paired up to bring pasta / pasta sauce to share between them.
Ambient rice pudding pots

You need to leave him to it.

Don't heniz do the "posh beans" in a pouch.... Some of those warmed up with some pouch rice stirred through on a big wrap/tortilla would make a great filling burrito

Does he know his group? If so get him to communicate and share the load. It makes it much easier and the weight can be spread round the whole group.

Others have given really suggestions so hopefully you're sorted. Good luck to your son!