DofE food

[Sarong]

Hi there,
I need some advise on high energy food to carry for DofE bronze for my son.

Nuts/dried fruit mix
Chocolate
cereal/protein bars

Packed lunch for day 1
Take a portion of pasta to cook for the evening with a stir in sauce
Instant porridge for the morning

Pepperamis are good for high-protein snacks, lunch and for adding into evening pasta - though you find them in the fridge at supermarkets, they don't actually need refrigerating.

Babybels will also do ok for a day or two out of the fridge - those and oatcakes are good for lunch.

Instant porridge (two sachets per serving instead of one) and dried fruit for breakfast.

Pasta, a pot of stir-in sauce (the ones in the little plastic pots, not a glass jar!) and pepperami for dinner.

Nuts, chocolate, dried fruit, cereal bars for snacks.

Do they still have to do a "three course meal" on the trangia for dinner? Cuppa soup followed by pasta and stir-in sauce, with instant custard (possibly with banana) for pudding.

For snacks on the go he doesn't want to have to stop and take his rucksack off every time he wants an energy boost so something that can go in a front pocket is ideal - packet of nuts and raisins, jelly babies etc.

Homemade trail mix works well. Basically a mix of dried fruits, nuts, chocolate and a cereal like cheerios. Obviously check for nut allergies in the group first. Dried banana chips are good too.

I bought the proper hiking meals from go outdoors and honestly they were the best thing ever for the end of a hiking day. Also took pasta and sauces, a whole bag of cereal and instant porridge. Did it all the way up to gold and survived on the above x

Agree @MAY324 they are really expensive but the meals from go outdoors were consistently voted the best by my dc over many doe and scout expeditions

Hey Sarong.

Ive done multiple DofE expositions through scouts so I think I can give some insight.

•Firstly bronze DofE is not a really physically tough expedition in general. It's normally done in relatively flat un-hilly terrain. And is only 2 days of walking and one night camping.

•Secondly it depends on your childs physicality and size. When I did DofE I carried more food than my friend because I was physically bigger than then.

•Thirdly you want show release carbohydrates such as dried fruit and rice/pulses, crackers.

With that being said, what I took on a bronze DofE with me was:
2 uncle Ben's rice for dinner,
died fruit like mango and apricots raisins (dates are also good for energy due to their sugar content),
a sandwich for lunch on the first day and also an ambient sandwich filler for the second days lunch.

P.s:

Your child size will definitely be a factor in how much they will want to eat during DofE. Also when/if your child does silver and gold DofE you will want more protein to help repair the muscles more as those terrains are harder on the body.

Hope this helped,
Jav

Great thread. Thanks!

Dc1 found bronze actually toughest. Maybe didn't know what to expect and because he was younger. Also there were more unfit people in the bronze group so ended up having to carry extra stuff for them.

For dc3 also got dried milk powder.
Drinks in evening those little packs for hot chocolate.

Go outdoors have 2 different kinds. One that just need heating up and are therefore heavier. And those that you have to add water so lighter....

Yeah I know that feeling about having to carry more weight 😔. I was always physically bigger and stronger than my scout friends and as such I would take on more stuff (ie. The tents ect) plus my own food which was heavy in of its self.

There was one guy who was way weaker than the rest of us in the group and we had to take some of his stuff out and carry it ourselves just to make sure he kept up with the group.

That's why I personally disliked DofE because I was carrying most of the weight

Kendal mint cake for an energy boost.

John west tuna pots