freshness of chicken in plastic pouches, vegetables

i was talking to my bro about backpacking food. we used to just buy backpacking food in the plastic bags at rei and the like, but they have a decent amount of air, are kind of overly spiced/salted, and are bulky. we started thinking we could bring a zip lock bag of brown rice, some chicken in plastic pouches you can buy in grocery stores (or fish) and some vegetables and just add in small sauce packets or whatever. it would be cheaper and smaller. that being said, how long would you suppose the chicken or fish in packets would last? as far as vegetables, frozen ones that you let thaw then pack (its cheaper) probably wouldn't last near as long as raw vegetables would they? because they have inherent moisture in them i mean. i would guess raw broccoli and carrots would be the best since they have very little moisture held within.

just trying to hash out ideas for cheap, light weight food that won't go back if on the trail for 3-4 days.

We used to pre-make meals of our own. Vacuum seal and freeze then just put in boiling water. Little bit of work but it made life easier on the trail. The only consideration in back packing of course would be the weight. [Beer]

I do alot of dehydrating to make meals for backpacking. There is a great recipe book for dehydrated foods called Fork In The Trail. I initially checked it out from Douglas Co library and then purchased it. Also, if I buy the Mountain House freeze dried meals I usually repackage them into ziploc bags to cut down on the weight and package size. If the temps are fairly cool you can take frozen meals for first night, but would be sketchy after that. Another veggie that keeps pretty well is green beans. And they actually taste pretty good raw - it's amazing how things taste so much better in the backcountry after a day of hiking :)