Trail Talk: Making Ramen Soup Healthy (and hearty)

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I don't know a single hiker or camper that doesn't have at least one pack of ramen in their kit when they head out on the trail. The downside is that the flavor packet is loaded with sodium. If you are active and in generally good health then having packaged ramen a couple times a month isn't going to be a big deal but if you have heart, circulatory or vascular issues it could cause water retention, but unnecessary stress on the heart muscle and could lead to congestive heart failure. Most people don't know that you can buy the blocks of ramen noodles without the flavor packet but if you want to take it one step further, you can make your own ramen noodles. They aren't going to look like the neat rectangular blocks but you will know what is in them and you can adjust the flavor and taste of them. Most ramen comes with a flavor packet but if you are seeking a way to eliminate the sodium you can buy dehydrated vegetables to add to the water when you are cooking the noodles. A slick trick to this is to rehydrate the vegetables about a half hour before you plan on stopping to eat or setting up for the night. They will still need to hit the hot water but it will take a fraction of the time to cook them. You can dehydrate your own if you like certain vegetable combinations. If you are a meat eater you can dehydrate chicken or beef (cut into strips) or chop up some pork and dehydrate it. I am still playing around with the meat because you want to dry it out but not to the point that it is tasteless or leathery when you rehydrate it. When I get the process right I am going to start making meat in batches so I can pack it up in the vacuum sealed (FoodSaver) bags. I have a list of places where boxes can be sent to on the Appalachian Trail; you have to ballpark when you are going to arrive and arrange for someone to send you what you need. That eliminates having to carry a massive amount of stuff and allows you the chance to restock with things that you might not be able to get when you are on the trail. You can dehydrate just about anything so if you want to beef up your ramen and make a true soup meal out of it, you can do it for a fraction of what you would pay for packaged soup mixes and without all the sodium. Do you eat regular or low sodium ramen? Would you ever consider making your own ramen noodles? Do you ever add things to packaged ramen to improve the taste?