I get bored. I’m also on a restricted diet, being diabetic. On top of that, I’m a project manager and all-around numbers and analysis guy. Put these together and I do something that makes my doctors very happy. When they ask what I think my carb count was at any given meal, I can usually tell them. And not just the carbs, but the calories, protein, fat, and fiber too. Why? Because I use a spreadsheet to calculate recipes.
Well, I got bored enough to do the numbers on that Fallout: New Vegas favorite, the Caravan Lunch. It holds the distinction of being one of the top two foods for satiating your hunger in Hardcore mode, right up there with the MRE, of which you find what, a half dozen? And all things considered, it wouldn’t be an awful meal — seasoned pork loaf, baked beans, and mashed potatoes is good eatin’.
Assuming a brick of regular Spam, a can of pork & beans, and a packet of instant store-brand mashed potatoes (chosen because they only require water to prepare), the whole deal ends up coming in at 1,900 calories, 145.5g net carbs, 71g protein, and 105.5g fat, while costing $7.41.
If I ate this as a single meal, you would likely hear my doctors screaming. Split up over three meals with some fresh fruit or vegetables for sides and snacks, that’s another story. Chopping it into thirds, it comes in at ~633 calories, 48.5g net carbs, ~24g protein, and ~35g fat per meal. And less than eight bucks for a day’s worth of food. I’ve spent more than that on a halfway decent breakfast.
Not sure how well that would work following a couple of pack brahmin on a caravan route, but in the modern day with tupperware it wouldn’t be anything to complain about — cook everything up in camp when you get up, eat some for breakfast, stick the rest in one or two containers (ideally two so you just stuff them in your backpack and eat one container at a time), and you’re good to go. Sure, you’ll get bean juice on your Spam and taters, but you were probably going to do that on purpose anyway.