Fore scouting I either take
dehydrated meat orn jerky if Ive been stocking up
ant eggs if Ive raided them
or a mix of toastems and whatever is going to spoil and pork sticks and otherwise unpackaged cardboard boxed goods that are filling. Cookies arent filling, but you can eat them without cooking them. Flour is not good, etc.
But toastems are my favorite food in the early game because of how much they increase your morale.