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Review of Greenbelly Mud Meals | Average Hiker

Original Mud Meals

Mud Meal Update

Greenbelly rolled out new Mud Meals this past Monday.

These come in Vanilla and Strawberry, and the Strawberry option is plant-based.

If I’m able to get less than a 15-serving, 69-dollar size, I’ll definitely review them.

Until then, if anyone has tried them, I would love to hear your feedback in the comments section of this post.

Thank!

Why Greenbelly Mud Meals?

Greenbelly Mud Meals kept popping up in my email feed. I had reviewed their bars, so I guess I was in their “Que.” The bars had been pretty good, so I decided to give the Mud Meals a shot.

When hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, I carried Muscle Milk and Nido. I had pre-mixed the Nido and Muscle Milk – like having a milkshake each night, albeit a lukewarm milkshake. The calories and protein made a big difference on big-mile days. My legs always felt as if they were better recovered the next day.

Mud Meals reminded me of my PCT concoction and appeared to have a better nutritional mix of ingredients. I liked that they appeared not to have a lot of sugar. I’ll even go so far as to say they tasted as if they had NO sugar, although the ingredients did list a small amount.

Greenbelly – The Company

Chris Cage founded Greenbelly. Having bike packed across New Zealand, and thru-hiked the AT, Chris recognized the need for nutritious backpacking foods. I also like to support small, growing companies.

In addition to selling Mud Meals, Greenbelly also sells Food Bars (mentioned above), and provides good articles on their blogs. The articles discuss backpacking gear, food, ultralight hiking, reviews, etc. Over the last couple of years, they have begun to provide some of the better articles on these topics.

Greenbelly Mud Meal Flavors

Greenbelly offers two Mud Meal Flavors. These are Original and Chocolate. The Original Description grabbed me instantly, with hints of macadamia, cinnamon, and vanilla – all flavors I like. I was a little more hesitant about the Chocolate since I like sweeter chocolate, and “a hint of coffee” made me pause. Coffee was usually associated with darker chocolates.

Original

Upon opening the Original Flavor, I immediately smelled the nutty cinnamon. It smelled good and gave me flashbacks to my grandmother’s house on Christmas. The smells were fantastic! The texture of the powder was as expected, although slightly moister than some protein powders I’ve used in the past.

Greenbelly Mud Meals Powder

The description on the package included “All Natural Ingredients,” which was appealing. The ingredients in the Original flavor included the following:

  • Sweet Potato Flour
  • Tapioca Flour
  • Pea Protein
  • Almond Flour
  • Macadamia Nut Oil
  • Avocado Oil
  • Brown Rice Protein
  • Sunflower Lecithin
  • Cinnamon Bark Extract
  • Matcha Powder
  • Spirulina Powder
  • Monkfruit Extract
  • Guar Gum
  • Xanthan Gum
  • Tart Cherry Powder

Fat was a little higher than I like at 17g per serving, but only 5g of sugar. I saw 14g of protein and 25g of total carbohydrates. These would be good for long-distance hiking.

Nutritional Facts

Eating the Mud

I filled the water to the fill line on the first regular pack and began mixing. I’ll admit I had a hard time breaking up the clumps. I kept stabbing them with my Spork until I got a less lumpy, thick mixture of Mud. Honestly, it was far too thick for me, and I glued my mouth shut. I had a hard time swallowing the mixture after a few Spork fulls.

My solution was to break out my heavy-duty protein shake mixture and make a protein shake with much more water. The best way to mix is to add a little water, pour in the powder, finish the mixture with more water, and shake vigorously! I found the protein shake MUCH better than the mud. There were still clumps I could not break up, but the beverage was pretty good. I don’t like overly sweet protein shakes, and the Original Flavor is definitely NOT sweet. As a matter of fact, many people will probably want to add a little sweetener. I enjoyed the nutty cinnamon flavors.

Mixer for Mud Meals

Chocolate

As I opened and sniffed, I knew the Chocolate was a darker, more bitter chocolate. The texture was virtually the same as the Original. “Hints of Chocolate” were included in the description, but I did not notice any in the smell of the mixture.

The ingredients were identical to the Original Flavor. The only ingredient that was not the same as Cocoa Powder.

Eating the Mud

The Chocolate Mud was a little too bitter for me. Mixing the powder provided the same experience as the Original Flavor. It was much better as a beverage than the gooey mud. If I chose to carry the Chocolate powder, I would probably add sweetener and Nido. That is entirely a personal preference, though.

Mud Meals Nutritional Facts

Final Thoughts

Mud Meals, as intended, are thick, and I prefer them as a protein drink. The Chocolate was too bitter, but I enjoyed the Original Flavor. I finished off the Original and will probably purchase more, as it is better than my current protein shakes. Keep in mind they are NOT sweet. If you want sweetness, you will need to add it yourself.

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