I like the soup idea a lot. These could all be soups. just change the ratio and add some kind of boullion.
This past week I enjoyed my diet more than ever while out backpacking. I did have to use a few tricks to get everything to rehydrate thoroughly. In my day-before testing I realized a few items seemed to take a lot longer. On the trail I removed the chicken and whole olives (next time Ill slice them) on an afternoon break and put them in my DIY insulated Ziploc container with a little bit of water and olive oil and let it soak in my pack until supper. When it was time to make supper both had swelled up and were nearly soft already. The edamame needed a similar treatment but I just put the entire meal in a little water and olive oil and it turned out great.
I made a big batch of jerky from venison backstraps, sirloin steak, and flank steak. I cant believe how good it is. I ate it all day long with the dried fruit and had energy all day. I did about 3/4 of a lb of honey baked ham too. (you have to try this)
To reduce fuel and water use we decided beforehand to not do breakfasts. We would brew up a little water in the mornings for two cups of coffee and that would be it. My suppers however all turned out to be a little more than I could eat all at once so I saved the leftovers and ate them each morning for a quick power breakfast. It seemed to work really well.
The Trip turned out awesome. We had snow, sleet, rain, and hot days.The Foothills Trail may not get as much publicity as The Smokies but it is a beautiful and very tough trail. We started at Table Rock State Park in SC and ended 77 miles later at Oconee State Park. The ONLY bad thing about the trip and any thru-hiking trip is that there is no time for fishing or many side adventures.
To what you see below I added 4 powerbars, a few apples, 2 oranges, and 2 tuna foilpacks for the trip.
1.almonds, mango, blueberries, golden raisins
2.strawberries, apples, raw walnuts
3.yellow rice, dried ground venison, edamame, carrots, portabella mushrooms, feta cheese, olives
4.brown rice, red beans, carrots, venison, cavenders seasoning
5.brown rice, chicken, black beans, olives, atichoke hearts, red chili powder, pepper
6. 2 spaghetti
2 bags of jerky and one of ham
I added one more entree for a total of six but didnt need it.
While the meat was marinating I cooked and ate some 
By the 3rd day it was finished off. The aroma of the marinade in the house "made me doit" 
