Bryan Black's comments are in line with my experience in walking outdoors at night, something very frequent in SAR. Ideally, as twilight deepens, one just keeps going, and if there are lots of stars, or even just a bit of moon, you may not need any supplemental illumination at all. There are critical exceptions, of course.

Most of the time, I was following a trail, and I found that my feet could tell me when I had strayed from the trail tread. In fairly dense vegetation, you could look up and observe an open lane in the trees which would let you know you were headed right. It really helps if you have been on the trail before and have some notion of where it is going.

On occasion, we were tracking at night, which has its advantages, but we always used the lowest light possible to bring out sign.

On the food thing, I would cook (thoroughly!!) the chicken and refrigerate, not freeze, the dinners. Probably best to thoroughly cook them as well.

Remember that my guidance is worth every penny you paid for it. Mrs. Hikermor is much more conservative than me. She would probably pitch the lot. I don't do that until green slime is oozing from the packages.