I have always found it good to have a dehydrated meal in the camp box, just in case (extra day out, ruin a meal, add a visitor or just a more robust lunch for instance). Dehydrating can be fun, but it is a bit challenging to put all the ingredients together pre-trip when you are being pulled in a hundred other directions (if you have the itch, you can of course plan and dehydrate weeks in advance of any trip, when things are not as frantic).
Packing is an art form for sure, some (not me) claim to have it down to where it flows together like a smooth bourbon. Mine tends to have lots of fits, starts and stops and hemming and hawing. And like that aged alcohol, it should 'improve' with age...