It happens all the time. You are on the trail, a few hours into your adventure, and the two most dreaded words in any hiker’s vocabulary creep into your mind. It could be you just talking to yourself or it could be your hiking companions voicing their opinion, but the dreaded "I'm hungry" has reared its ugly head. The average hiker, depending on terrain, burns up to 4,500 calories a day. That is a lot of food to keep your stomach happy.

You could fill your pack with candy bars, toaster pastries or other low energy snacks. Or you could satisfy your taste buds and nutritional needs with just a little pre-hike planning.

A few simple things to consider when planning for and packing your outdoor meal are: How much is all this going to weigh? Since you are going to have to carry all this food on your back, steer away from canned food and foods that will take up a lot of space in your pack. Next, how much energy is this meal going to give you? Since your food is your fuel, plan high calorie and high nutritional meals. And last, how good will it taste and how easy will it be to make?

One option for trail meals are the commercial brand freeze-dried or dehydrated items. The quality and taste of these meals has improved over the years. Today’s entrees are flavorful and packed with the energy you need for a long hike. A good example of a satisfying meal would be the El Cap 3 Bean Chili by Enertia Trail Foods. The meal is advertised as "A mildly spicy chili with red, pinto and black beans topped with parmesan cheese." The one-person serving tastes as good as it sounds, plus it has 19 grams of protein and 71 grams of carbohydrates.

The Enertia Trail Food meals are dehydrated, while other options available are freeze-dried. What is the difference, you ask? In the end it will all boil down to taste, so let’s start there. The freeze drying process first freezes the food and then removes any remaining water. Since the process uses very little heat the meal will retain most of the original flavor. Dehydration uses low heat to remove the water in your meal, which some people may find changes the flavor and texture. After a long day on the trail, your inner hunger gremlin will probably not notice a difference.

Both processes will make your food lighter, by removing the water, and they will also reduce the space your food takes up in your pack. Freeze-dried slightly wins the weight battle while dehydration wins the space saving battle. This is because freeze-drying removes slightly more water but retains close to its original shape while dehydration causes the food to compress from its original shape.

Freeze dried foods are typically pre-seasoned and pre-mixed, so preparation will be a little shorter. Your dehydrated meal improves in taste when you add your own spices and seasoning.

If you have looked at the commercial meal choices and can't find one that satisfies your taste buds, make your own. While home freeze drying equipment is priced out of the range of the average frugal backpacker, a good food dehydrator costs less than a brand name daypack. You can make a variety of meals and snacks to meet any taste with your dehydrator. After one or two backpacking trips, adding up the price of commercial meals, the dehydrator will pay for itself.

A few things to keep in mind when shopping for a home dehydrator are temperature control and air circulation. Since meat dries at a higher temperature than vegetables, a thermostat to control temperature is a must. A fan that circulates the heat will help to evenly dry your food. Another consideration is size. It takes about a square foot of space to dry one pound of food. Some dehydrators have expandable trays to add more drying space.

It is time to eat something. Read the instructions that came with your dehydrator and learn the times and temperature settings needed to dehydrate meat and vegetables. Once you have that information in hand, gather the following, ground beef, green peppers, onions, tomatoes, dried black beans, rice, flour tortillas and your favorite hot sauce or taco spices.

When drying the beef, first crumble in to small pieces and spread evenly in your dehydrator tray. When fully dried a pound of fresh beef will yield about a cup of dried beef. Next cut your vegetables into small pieces, small pieces dry quicker. One pound of peppers and onions will equal about three quarters of a cup of dried ingredients. You may notice, like any good cook, we are not being too accurate with measurements, but this will give you a starting point.

Pack about a quarter of a cup each of dehydrated beef, peppers, onions and tomatoes, a quarter cup of the dried beans and about a half cup of rice in a zippered freezer bag and hit the trail. When it is meal time, rehydrate all the items in water for about ten minutes then bring to a boil and cook for about three or four minutes. Once fully cooked, add you hot sauce or taco spice and wrap in a flour tortilla and enjoy.

Pre-packaged trail meals or do-it-yourself dehydrated creations, either way you are soon on the way to ending those mid trail hunger pains.

The end of winter is in sight and hiking season is just around the corner. Stop by your local outdoor outfitter and check out all the new gear they have when you are ready to Take It Outside.