Good To-Go Bibimbap and Breakfast!

It’s official, Good To-Go now has a full menu. In 2014, the startup was launched by award-winning chef Jennifer Scism with just four dehydrated camping meals and a focus on quality, gourmet food in the backcountry. Their success was bolstered by rave reviews for the Thai Curry, which indeed matches and even surpasses many restaurants’ versions of the same dish. In 2016 the Maine-based company added Indian Vegetable Korma and Pad Thai to their fire-side dinner menu. This year Good To-Go whipped up two breakfasts as well as two additional suppers — both keeping in their internationally inspired theme.

We were blown away when we got our first taste of the flagship Thai Curry. Food eaten from of a bag on the forest floor isn’t supposed to taste that good. The bar was raised. Nowadays, when Good To-Go releases a new meal, we get pretty excited. Each dehydrated concoction is made from quality whole foods ingredients, purposefully crafted for active outdoor pursuits. Each Good To-Go meal comes in a nicely designed foil package that’s easy to heat and eat. You simply add boiling water, wait the allotted time, and eat directly from the bag. At $6.75 for a single and $12.50 for a double serving, they are on the top-shelf in the price department, but sometimes you have to treat yourself. And what’s better than ending a long and beautiful ride with a good beverage and a fine feast.

Good To-Go BIBIMBAP

Spicy Korean ‘mixed rice’ with sesame, carrots, and spinach.

I was pretty excited about Bibimbap, really because I’d never heard of it before, and I pretty much live for spicy Asian cuisine… of all varieties. The name literally translates from Korean to ‘mixed rice’. Normally that might seem kind of bland, but what makes bibimbap special is gochujang, a red, spicy, and intensely flavorful sauce made from Korean chilis and fermented miso. The reason I listed this one first is because it’s really good, and totally up my alley. I love spicy Asian food… to the point where I’ve been known to walk out of Thai joints dripping with sweat. Good To-Go Bibimbap isn’t overly spicy, in my opinion, but it does have a little kick. It is, however, a solid, flavorful, and hearty meal. It certainly warmed my bones as night fell and temps dropped atop Farlow Gap Saturday night.

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As with other Good To-Go meals, I find a single serving pouch to be a bit slim for a bikepacker, especially after wrenching up a 2,800′ ascent with a loaded rig. I would normally [slightly] overindulge in a two-serving pack, but for this feast, I brought a single Bibimbap and a single of the Mexican Quinoa Bowl. After adding boiling water and waiting the requisite 20 minutes — which seems like an eternity to a starving solo bikepacker — I opened the bag to a waft of spices. Similar to the Indian Korma, one of the main ingredients is carrots which help give it a rich, thick texture. But bibimbap also features big chunks of zucchini, massive slabs of shitake mushrooms, and spinach. This along with the medium grain rice gives the dish a nice meaty bite.

As I mentioned, other than this I’ve never tasted bibimbap before, but if it’s anything like Good To-Go’s version, I’ll be seeking it out. If you like spicy food, this should be on your post-ride menu. Like most GTG meals, bibimbap is gluten-free and vegan-friendly too.

• Price (1 serving/2 serving pack): $12.50/$6.75
• Weight (1 serving/2 serving pack): 3.4oz (96.4g)/6.7oz (190g)
• Protein (total): 8g/18g
• Calories (total): 370/740
• Contact: goodto-go.com

Ingredients: Carrots, Medium Grain White Rice, Onion, White Distilled Vinegar, Dried Zucchini, Gochugaru (Korean Red Chile Pepper), Brown Sugar, Dried Shiitake Mushrooms, Sesame Oil, Sesame Seeds, Garlic, Red Miso Powder (Fermented Soybeans, Salt), Dried Spinach, Sea Salt, Dried Scallion

Good To-Go Mexican Quinoa Bowl

Butternut squash and black beans in a mole poblano sauce.

While mole was never my favorite dish at a Mexican restaurant, after cycling through Oaxaca, I developed quite a fondness for it. When done right, it’s really good. Oaxacans have several varieties of mole — rojo, amarillo, coloradito, and verde included. Mole Negro is the typical savory-sweet version found on most American menus. Most of the time though, Americans make it a little too sweet; I tend to like it richer, deeper, and earthier. For me, its perfection hangs in the balance of poblano spices and sweetness.

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Again, Good To-Go did a wonderful job making it very real and nailing the flavor balance. Using cacao, poblano pepper, and an array of spices, the flavors run deep in this bag. While I may have liked it with a tad more heat, mole negro is not typically spicy hot. However, their version is nice and earthy with just a hint of sweetness from a bit of agave and corn.

The Mexican Quinoa Bowl is another impressive dish from the kitchen at Good To-Go. The flavors are earthy, rich, and the organic cacao is a nice touch. While it’s not quite as calorie-dense as a few of their other meals, it does offer about 13g of protein per serving; not a ton, but a few more than that of Bibimbap. My only suggestion is that if you tend to like your food a bit salty, bring a shaker, this meal could use a pinch.

• Price (1 serving/2 serving pack): $12.50/$6.75
• Weight (1 serving/2 serving pack): 3.4oz (96.4g)/6.7oz (190g)
• Protein (total): 13g/26g
• Calories (total): 350/700
• Contact: goodto-go.com

Ingredients: Quinoa, Black Beans, Winter Squash, Corn, Dried Butternut Squash, Dried Tomato Flakes, Poblano Pepper, Agave Nectar, Grapeseed Oil, Garlic, Cacao Powder, Sesame Seeds, Sea Salt, Ground Cumin, Cinnamon, Ancho Chile Powder, Ground Coriander, Fennel Seed, Dried Scallion, Dried Oregano

Good To-Go Granola

Whole grain oats, figs, blueberries and almonds with milk.

I’ll have to admit, when I heard that Good To-Go would be introducing a breakfast menu, I was kind of hoping for something savory. Perhaps a dish with potatoes and cheese. But, granola and oatmeal simply make sense as healthy, high-energy, calorie-rich meals to start the day. As with spicy Asian food, I’d consider myself a connoisseur of granola. At times, I’ve lived off the stuff on a bike and have even made it from scratch to save money.

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And, of course, this is a meal you could make yourself. But for convenience, Good To-Go created their own take on a bowl of granola. The best part? They included dried milk in the mix. So you simply add hot or cold water and eat immediately. I went with hot water as I awoke to an 18°F morning, but having the option is nice. Good To-Go Granola has a solid, crunchy bite with calorie-rich ingredients such as almonds, flax seeds, raw pumpkin seeds, and pecans. They also included chunks of chewy figs, dried blueberries, maple syrup, and honey to add a nice array of sweetness.

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As I mentioned, I ate mine hot just before packing up and setting out on the rugged Farlow Gap trail. Even though it’s mostly downhill, I still had quite a bit of climbing, a couple stream portages, and a lot of miles to do before lunch. I never got hungry. Good To-Go did an outstanding job with the Granola. It’s a tasty breakfast that packs a whopping 580 calories into a small package. A perfect way to start a ride.

• Price (1 serving pack): $6.50
• Weight (1 serving pack): 4.8oz (136g)
• Protein (total): 17g
• Calories (total): 580
• Contact: goodto-go.com

Ingredients: Gluten-Free Rolled Oats (Whole Grain Oats), Diced Figs (Turkish Figs, Rice Flour), Almonds, Maple Syrup, Honey, Dried Blueberries (Blueberries, Sugar, Sunflower Oil), Raw Pumpkin Seeds, Whole Milk Powder (Dried Grade A Milk), Pecans, Grapeseed Oil, Flax Seed, Sesame Seeds, Sea Salt

Good To-Go Oatmeal

Peace, love and oats with quinoa, chia and hemp hearts.

I’m generally bored with oatmeal, so I wasn’t terribly excited by this one. It’s the obvious breakfast for bikepackers and backpackers alike. It’s lightweight, easy to prepare, and generally healthy. I’ve never found it to particularly stick with me though. I found interesting that Good To-Go get’s extremely creative with their dinners, but simply plopped oatmeal on the breakfast menu. That said, according the GTG, they wanted to get back to the basics with their version of a backcountry staple. And they did get fairly creative with it. Gluten-free rolled oats, quinoa flakes, and dried currants make up the meat of the dish, while hemp hearts, raw sunflower seeds, pumkin seeds, banana flakes, coconut, and chia seeds add to the performance value.

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I tried Good To-Go Oatmeal one chilly morning on the Palmetto Trail. Preparation requires 300ml of boiling water and a five minute wait. The mix of interesting ingredients made this probably the best bowl of oatmeal I’ve eaten. But, it will still be difficult to justify paying $6.50 to carry a larger than necessary bag of the stuff. I will add that this Oatmeal stayed with me almost to lunch.

• Price (1 serving pack): $6.50
• Weight (1 serving pack): 4.3oz (122g)
• Protein (total): 16g
• Calories (total): 490
• Contact: goodto-go.com

Ingredients: Gluten-Free Rolled Oats (Whole Grain Oats), Whole Grain Quinoa Flakes, Dried Zante Currants (Currants, Non GMO Vegetable Oil), Coconut Sugar, Raw Sunflower Seeds, Raw Pumpkin Seeds, Dried Banana Flakes, Shredded Coconut, Chia Seeds, Hemp Seed Hearts, Cinnamon, Sea Salt, Ground Turmeric, Ground Cardamom