Backpacking Ideas Wanted
war...@mdcbbs.com
I'd like to get ideas for food to take which is lightweight
and easy to prepare, or ppared ahead of time.
(things besides trail mix, jerky, and dehydrated
backpacking food please!) We'll hopefully be catching fish
too, so any preparation methods besides breaded and fried
would also be appreciated. If you'll all send me
mail I'll post a summary later if anyone is interested.
Thanks!
Connie
andrew balinsky
>I'm going on a backpacking trip for a week in August.
>I'd like to get ideas for food to take which is lightweight
>and easy to prepare, or ppared ahead of time.
Well, I made almost this exact request back in May, and promised to post
a summary. I guess this is the opportunity for me to do it. The
suggestions are rather scrambled, and have more to do with when I received
them than anything else. I have lost some of the sender's names, so I
apologize. The last half of the article is all from a discussion on
rec.backcountry in February, so if you followed that, you may begin to
recognize the articles. Sorry I've taken so long to post this. Thanks
to all who replied with suggestions. My backpacking trip was wonderful. If
there is sufficient interest, I will drag out my notebook and type in my
food packing list for the trip.
Andy
bali...@cs.umd.edu
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Dried Hamburger
Get the leanest meat you can get. Fat causes the dried
meat to go rancid. I often grind my own to really get
it lean.
Cook it, breaking it into small pieces.
Drain the grease, paper towels help sponge it up.
Spread on a cookie sheet, don't crowd it.
Put in the oven overnight, (6-8 hours)
Oven should be on as low as it will go. I believe
the exact recommended temp is 125 - 140 degrees, which
is lower than the first marked number on most oven dials.
The meat will come out in small, hard, dry, dust like pieces.
Seal in bags. ZipLoc are OK, Seal-a-Meal is better.
To use, boil in some water for about 5 min to rehydrate.
Makes great Spaggetti sauce.
(chunks of cooked chicken are supposed to work also, but
all I ever get is un-re-hydratable rocks. I possibly
overdryed it)
While you have the oven fired up, make some Jerky also.
Oven conditions are the same. Don't precook the meat.
Take a very lean (Trim off all the fat) flank steak.
Cut it in very thin strips. Partially frozen steak makes this easy.
Soak it in your favorite marrinade. Soy sauce with ginger root works
good. Don't overdo it as it will get a strong flavor.
hang it from the oven racks, and dry with the hamburger.
Tastes GREAT!
To REALLY get all the fat out, put browned hamburger in a large wire
collander (like a large tea strainer), and then put the whole thing into
a large pot of water and let it sit for a while. The fat will go to the top
a harden. Take of the fat, remove you collander with meat, and let it
drain a bit. Then go through the drying process. Obviously, because the meat
has been soaked, it will take longer to dry, but the lowered fat content
makes a BIG difference in storage and rehydration time.
For really good results, buy or make a dehydrator :-)
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From m...@garlic.Stanford.EDU Mon May 7 12:55:58 1990
First, if you buy bisquick or Jiffy Baking Mix, you'll find recipes for
biscuits that require only milk to be added. By using powdered milk, these
are pretty easy to make while backpacking. Haven't tried it myself, but I've
heard you just make the dough and squish it into the bottom of a pan or wrap
it around a stick.
Last summer, I went backpacking with a vegetarian, and we brought falafel
mix. It comes in powdered form. You just mix it with water, form it into
little balls, and fry them for about 5-10 minutes. It's great backpacking
food if you like falafel. If you aren't sure, I'd try it in advance! Falafel
is generally eaten in pita bread, which is good, because pita bread is
another of my camping staples. It doesn't squash very easily, and it
stays fresh pretty long.
Another good thing is to buy squeeze tubes (at a camping store) and fill them
with peanut butter or honey or jam.
For meat, we often bring one of those big 1 or 2 lb Italian "dried" salamis.
They don't go bad, they don't get squashed, and they're pretty concentrated
calories. The drawback is that they're pretty greasy, which can get
to you after a while.
When we're car camping, we'll often mix a can of chicken soup with
extra canned chicken meat, to form something between a soup and a stew.
You can add carrots, extra noodles, etc. too. It's a bit heavy for
backpacking, but you might be willing to carry it for one day, and eat it
the first night.
And of course, there's that college favorite-- Mac and Cheese mix. The
butter/oil that it calls for is a bit messy to carry, but it isn't
strictly necessary. You can use powdered milk instead of regular.
I find that backpackers are generally one of two types- the grazers and
the gorgers. Grazers are happiest eating gorp, fruit, etc. all day long.
Gorgers like to wait until dinnertime, and then eat one huge meal (saves
time and effort, they try to tell me!) Best to figure out which type you
are, so that you won't plan on eating huge dinners, then find yourself craving
cookies and gorp, or vice versa.
Finally, there's a book that's been recommended to me which I've never
looked through. It's called (I believe) "Simple Foods for the Pack", by
Axcell (?) and Cook (?). Sorry for the vague reference, but if you get
the Campmor catalog, I always see it listed in there. If your library
has it, you might want to browse through it.
Please do post a summary on this-
Margaret Martonosi
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From gre...@csri.toronto.edu Mon May 7 13:35:27 1990
We bought a home dehydrator for less than $100 years ago. We dry raw veggies
(including frozen corn straight from the bag), jerky made with raw meat, and
cooked meat, all following the instructions in the book that came with it.
I'm sure you could build your own machine with the help of a book on
drying foods.
Then, and this is the key for us, we *do not* sit down at home, decide
what we will eat on each day of the trip, and pack it up into a gazillion
Ziploc bags labelled Tuesday's Dinner etc. I am sure a lot of people
will tell you to do this, but I think it's stupid. You have no idea how
hungry you are going to be at the end of day seven while you are still in
your living room. We take *ingredients*. Each morning, we decide what
meat we will be having. We put the dried cubes in a plastic bottle, and
pour boiling water on them - it was boiling for coffee anyway. It soaks all
day and at night we cook noodles or rice or instant potatoes, make
a sauce (tomato, mushroom whatever) for the meat cubes, and presto.
We have had chili, stew, curry, spaghetti, you name it. The dehydrated
stuff comes out remarkably like the real thing. People who travel with
us always feel spoiled because we eat real food. Oh yes: take a real
onion or two, the flavour and texture of dehydrated onions is awful.
Another thing we do that may be too heavy for hikers is take old cheese,
a long keeping sausage like Schneider's Summer Sausage, and bagels or
English muffins for lunch sandwiches. We also eat a lot of jerky and dried
fruit. And of course, frozen steaks wrapped in newspaper for the first
night dinner: fried steaks, fried onions, and instant au gratin potatoes
(ask me how to do oven recipes with a pot and a towel!) along with the last
of the ice water (started the day frozen solid, thaws in the pack). That
is always our traditional first night.
Everything we take (except the steaks) is non-perishable within a few
weeks. Some of it would keep for months or years. We take no cans, no
bottles, and because its dehydrated, it's light. Everyone who has
travelled with us, and several more who haven't, have bought one of these
home dehydrators. I often wish I had a cut of the ones my friends had
bought (but, of course, I don't).
If you want actual recipes or suggestions for ingredients to take that
can go into many different dishes, mail back. This letter is long
enough already.
Kate Gregory
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From skyw...@dino.qci.bioch.bcm.tmc.edu Mon May 7 13:36:48 1990
Go with as much powderd mix as posible, drinks etc.. Asfor the
dry foods I prefer Mountain House and Alpine-air. Both are fast
and easy to cook, just boil water. Alot of dried fruit comes in handy.
Jerkey is quick energy on the trail (I live on it !) and instant oatmeal
is a high protein quick breakfast. One special treat I always take is
a boxed spagetti dinner (you know the cheap ones) It really hits the spot
for dinner about three days into the trip, easy to fix, easy to clean-up.
One last thing, I always carry a plastic jar of peanut butter to snack on.
Or some packages of pre-made cheese & crackers....
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From mc...@grads.cs.ubc.ca Mon May 7 14:41:50 1990
you have a choice when packing your food to do it by day or by meals, ie
all lunches together or breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks for each
day.
I prefer the later method - as then I know what I can look forward to
for treats later in the trip rather than eating all favorites first!
I always take hard candies - as I get very thirsty and they seem to help
and give a little energy boost at the end of a day's hike - you'll
probably get lots of food tips - but here is one - take instant puddings
add dry milk and then you only need to add water for a nice dessert. I
also take granola with dry milk in it - then you can add water either
hot or cold for a good breakfast. Do take some onions (dried or fresh
for adding flavour)
REMEMBER do not wash your dishes in the stream or fresh water -
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From l...@boulder.Colorado.EDU Mon May 7 19:25:35 1990
A lab mate of mine went on a 10 day trip last year and used recipes
he found in a book called "The Sierra Club Guide to Backpacking Recipes"
or something like that. He can't seem to remember the exact title, but
he says the food was great, especially the ANZACS (stands for
Australian New Zealand Army Corp), little cookies that are essentially
crystallized brown sugar and oatmeal. I know, he brought some into
the lab. But they become little rocks, you can use them in a
sling-shot if you get hungry for meat.
But there are also recipes for polenta cakes, etc, high carbo food.
It sounds like he ate very well on this trip.
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From d...@fibercom.com Tue May 8 09:24:00 1990
For some really great ideas, find the book "The Hungry Hiker's Guide to Good
Food" by Gretchen McHugh. It's a cookbook/tipbook especially for hikers and
campers. It includes lots of tips for dehydrating your own food (including
plans for an inexpensive, do-it-yourself dehydrator), as well as recipes for
meals which can be made from store-bought and home-dried foods. I've tried
many of her ideas, and I've been very pleased.
If you get many replies, I'd appreciate a copy. Thanks.
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From eng...@gumball.ils.nwu.edu Tue May 8 10:15:52 1990
My wife and I never buy the expensive dehydrated foods sold in outdoor stores.
Everything from the local supermarket. I think we eat better than most in
the back country. We`ve carried 10-12 days worth.
Here are a couple ideas:
1) I dry my own hamburger. It`s not too hard and the only equiptment
you need is an oven, cookie sheets, lots-o-newspaper & paper towels.
We use the hamburger to make hamburger helper - there is a wide selection
of types to choose from - my favorite is lasagne & my wife like oriental
beef.
2) The Lipton noodle dinners are quite good. Parmesian noodle &
Fetucinni Alfred are two favorites. Kraft Macaroni & cheese is
also good.
3) There are various instant puddings, cheescakes, chocalate mousses
you'll see in the pudding section. Royal & Jello are two brands we've
tried. They`re all good. You can`t really make the crust of the
cheescake so we just sprinkle the grahm-cracker crumbs on top.
Some of these things need milk. Dry milk is fine for cooking -
you can`t taste it. I hate it`s taste otherwise.
4) For lunch we carry bagels, peanut butter, cheese, a big stick of
peperroni. Stuff like that. Crystal light is really light weight
compared to cool-aid, but you don`t get those sugar calories.
The weight diff is so great - we go for it anyway.
I can`t offer much help for breakfast. My wife eats oatmeal which I
can`t stand. I have Carnation instant breakfast drinks (at least
it`s over quick) Pancakes take too long, but there are plenty of
dry mixes to choose from. Brown sugar disolved in hot water will make
a passable syrup. You`ll need oil or margerine + spatuala and pan to cook
them with. If you`re really weight consious pancakes are out.
One thing I`ve wanted to dry is dried eggs - like dorms serve. The
problem is I don`t know where to get them. Obviously the outdoor stores
sell them, but I know that they`re available to dorms, etc at much
cheaper prices.
If you get any good breakfast ideas please forward them. If you want
more details - email me back.
-ME
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From eng...@gumball.ils.nwu.edu Tue May 8 10:24:38 1990
One more tip - nothing to do with food. To keep your sleeping bag
(and whatever else you cram in your stuff sack) dry, use a plasic
trash bag. NOT on the outside of the stuff sack like most people
do, but on the inside.
i.e.
First open your stuff sack. Then put the plastic trash bag inside,
like you`re lining a trash can. Then stuff your bag, etc inside.
It`s a little tricky, but you`ll get the hang of it fast. Then,
before closing the trash bag all the way, squeeze the excess air
out (I use my knee). Then close the trash bag up - usually there
is so much xtra plastic you don`t a twist tie - just sort of cram
the plastic down the side. Then close up the stuff sack.
I learned this trick on an Outward Bound course. It`s great because
stuff sacks never stay waterproof long and plastic bags tend to get
torn by branches, etc. This combo gives you the abrasion resistance
of nylon + the waterproofness of plastic.
I do a similar thing to line the lower compartment of my back pack
where I keep my clothes. I usually carry a couple of spare trash
bags, but I`ve never had to use them.
-ME
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From ri...@smaug.enet.dec.com Tue May 8 12:12:54 1990
Some friends of mine had great luck carrying little other than beans, rice, and
cheese. Believe it or not, they brought a pressure cooker. EMS used to carry
special lightweight ones years ago, but I believe you can't find them any more.
These folks just bought the lightest aluminum one they could find. Dried
veggies and bouillion cubes might give you a bit more variety. The cheese will
mold, but it's not harmful (especially low-moisture cheeses like cheddar and
swiss.)
For sandwiches, get the densest whole-grain bread you can find (around NE the
brand is Munzenmaier's) so it can't be crushed. It also keeps much better than
ordinary bread.
Pasta is great; butter or margarine are problems but olive oil is not (and more
healthful, to boot.) Romano and Parmesan are relatively imperishable.
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From ca...@col.hp.com Tue May 8 16:08:31 1990
I would sure be interested in a summary of any recipes you get to this
posting. I don't have any myself, but I have seen some books of
backpacking recipes at the local outfitters. The return address makes it
look like you're at University of Md., so you might try the school library.
One book I like is _The_Hedonist's_Guide_to_Backpacking_; I can't remember
the author. They have some suggestions for breads in there.
We have made pancakes in the backcountry. The way we did it was to take
Bisquick (sp?) and powdered milk along. The milk was made in a water bottle
and then we added the Bisquick. Be aware, though, that it is really a pain
in the butt. You have to carry butter to keep the pancakes from sticking to
the skillet. Also, as a spatula seems frivolous we flipped the pancakes in
the skillet -- this requires some practice and a well lubed skillet. Carry
some honey to put on the 'cakes if you try it. This is a painfully slow,
but really delicious meal.
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From: cscnj!p...@rutgers.edu
Make a bunch of granola. It's light, needs no preparation so you can
munch it dry on the trail, keeps well, tastes good and is healthy.
(of course you will need something to wash it down with)
You can also eat it with milk if you like that sort of cereal.
Bean salad is good too for many of the same reasons.
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From sgi...@cbnewsl.att.com Wed May 9 11:17:52 1990
Pancakes are easy. Use almost any recipe you want. You can simply
take the recipe and put all the dry stuff in a baggie. Use dry milk
instead of liquid, and add that to the mixture also. Eggs can be
a problem, if you want to use dry, they can be found, we always
carried a few with us. When you want to cook the pancakes, add the
eggs, and the correct amount of water into the baggie, close and mix.
You have pancakes.
Falafel is another. You simply need any falafel mix. We bought in bulk,
so we carried it in a baggie. Again, all it needs is water. Mix in the
bag and cook. For a sauce, we used catsup and/or mustard.. from the little
packets you find in fast food restaurants.
There is a pan cornbread that I like a lot. The recipe is in Joy of Cooking.
I've made it almost every time I've been on the trail. Wonderful.
All these recipes depend on your using some kind of oil. I've always
taken a bottle of liquid margerine -- it keeps well.
If you're going to be high enough in the mountains it might be cool at
night, I suggest some instant hot chocolate of some kind.
Other stuff -- instant oatmeal. (It was great for the first couple of
days, but went downhill rapidly in how much I liked it.) Of course
peanut butter and jelly. If you like cheese, you can carry a hunk
and use it for snacks or filler. The packaged instant foods (Lipton
rices, for example) work very well.
We fixed beans to go with the corn bread. Carry them dry until the morning
of the day before you intend to eat them. Then stick them in a water
bottle, fill the bottle with water and carry for that day. Twenty-four
hours later, the beans are ready to cook.
Sean L. Gilley
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>From: sha...@asylum.SF.CA.US (Sharon Fisher)
Recipes for a Small Planet by Ellen Ewald has a large section on just
this topic.
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From m...@iies.ecn.purdue.edu Wed May 9 14:29:19 1990
Pancakes: batch for 18 pancakes ( mix dry ingredients ahead)
-------------------------------
2 c. flour 1 TBL. sugar
.5 tsp.salt 2 TBL. dry milk
1 TBL. baking pwd. .5 c. shortening
1 tsp. butter or oil
1. Add 2.25 c. water to 3 c. mix. Stir until mixed, but don't try to get
all the lumps out.
2. Heat a teaspoon or so of butter or oil in a frying pan. When the pan
is hot enough to cook a drop of batter, ladle out spoonfuls of the batter
and brown the cakes on both sides. The first side is done when you can
see bubbles forming in the batter and the edges browning.
Note; Use up all the batter; it is much more pleasant to eat leftover
pancakes than to contemplate disposing of unwanted batter. Cold pancakes
make a good lunch dessert when you spread them with butter or a little
honey or with whatever seems tasty, including granola or gorp.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Jim Hewein's Sourdough Pancakes
--------------------------------
Ingredients (mix dry ahead) - 10 to 12 servings
3 c. flour 1 or 2 eggs, or 2 to 4 Tbls.dry egg
1 pkg. dry yeast 1 TBL. oil
1 tsp. salt butter
1 tsp. baking soda syrup
1 TBL. brown sugar
Packing the Food
Put into 3 separate bags, then package with the trail directions:
1. flour
2. yeast
3. salt, baking pwd.,sugar,and dry egg, if used.
Carry in general provisions: oil, fresh eggs, if used;butter; and syrup.
Trail Directions
1. The night before, put the flour and yeast into a large pot and stir
in 3 c. warm water. Cover and let sit all night.
2. In the morning, add 1 TBL. oil, the salt, soda, sugar, and dry egg (or
fresh) to the batter. Froth it up, as the woodsman says, and let it
sit for 30 minutes.
3. Lightly oil a skillet. Fry the pancakes, serve with butter and syrup.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Buckwheat Cakes Nick Adams
--------------------------
Ingredients
2 c. buckwheat flour 4 TBL. dry milk
.5 tsp. salt 2 TBL. dry egg
4 tsp. baking pwd. 1 tsp. butter or oil
Trail Directions
1. For 6 pancakes, add .75 c. water to 1 c. mix. Stir but don't worry
with all lumps.
2. Heat 1 tsp. butter or oil in frying pan and fry.
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Basic Biscuit Mix - for four camp breads
-----------------
2 c. flour 1 Tbl. sugar
.5 tsp. salt 2 Tbl. dry milk
1 Tbl. baking pwd. .5 c. shortening
Mix together the dry ingredients. Cut in the shortening with two knives,
mixing until the shortening is in tiny pieces (amaller then tiny peas).
Put the mix into a plastic bag and label it "Biscuit Mix - add .25 c.
cold water per cup of mix."
Trail Directions -biscuits
1. oil frying pan, bottom and sides. Coat with flour by shaking.
2. Mix up mix. Easier with floured hands. Shape the dough into thin,2 in.
wide biscuits, and set in the pan. Cover.
3. Cook over a flame or shove the pan into some hot coals, covering it
with coals.
When cooking over heat, the flame must be low. If it isn't, don't despair,
simply move the pan around the heat and hold the pan off the heat part
of the time, to keep the bottoms of the viscuits from burning. Cool them
5 to 7 minute on one side, then turn them with a spatula and cook 5 min.
more. Be patient, and give the baking powder time to work.
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Dumplings
---------
Ingredients
1 c. biscuit mix
Trail Directions
1. Mix up by biscuits directions
2. Form the dough into balls the size of ping-pong balls. Set these on top
of a stew or soup and simmer covered for 15 -20 minutes, or until the
middle of the dumplings is dry.
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Doughboys
---------
Ingredients
2 c. biscuit mix
butter or margrine
jam or honey
Trail Directions
1. Add .5 c. cold water too 2 c. mix. Do not add more water than this or
the doughboy will fall of the stick.
2. Mix and pat the dough around the ends of 4 sticks. Make each doughboy
about 4 in. long by .5 in. thick.
3. hold the doughboy over the fire to toast them slowly for about 10 min.
or until the inside is done. Turn them as you would a marshmallow you
were roasting to perfection, and occasionally pat the dough to keep it
evenly distributed. (If it gets lopsided, it will tend to crack and
fall)
4. Pull the doughboys off the sticks gently and fill their cavities with
butter, jam, or honey; add other ingredients accordinf to whim.
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Cornbread and Johnnycakes
---------------------------
Ingredients
.75 c. cornmeal 1 TBL. dry egg
.75. c. flour 2 tsp. baking pwd.
.25 c. sugar .25 TBL salt
2 TBL. dry milk .25 c. shortening
Trail Directions
1. Grease a frying pan and shake a little flour in it.
2. Add .75 c. water or less to the mix (2.25 c.), and stir just until
mixed.
3. Cook in the covered pan in coals for 20 minutes or until done.
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East Meets West Stew
--------------------
Trail Information
Time 1 hour soaking, 45 min. to 1 hr. cooking
Water 2 to 3 cups
Equipment 1 pot (2 if cooking rice)
Serving 3 (eaily expanded by doubling or tripling the recipe)
Prepare Ahead
Ingredients
2 ounces beef jerky
8 medium or 6 large dried Oriental mushrooms
2 TBL. dried sliced onion, or 1 TBL. dried minced onion
1 beef bouillon cube
1 TBL. flour
pepper to taste
1 cup biscuit mix, 1/2 c. rice
Trail Directions
1. Soak the jerky in water to cover for 1 hr. ina pot. The last 30 min.
add the mushrooms and onions, and more water if necessary.
2. Take out the mushrooms, remove their stems, cut them up, and return
them to the pot. Bring the water and contents, plus bouillon, to a
boil, cover and simmer for 30-40 minutes.
3. In a cup, mix a tablespoon or so of flour with water to make a thin
paste. Stir this into the stew.
4. Set dumplings (made from 1 c. biscuit mix and 1/4 c. cold water) on
top of the stew. Cover, and cook 20 minutes longer. Or cook 1/2 c.
rice in 1 cup water in another pot.
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Beef Hash with Gravy
Trail Information
Time 15 minutes
Water 3 cups
Equipment 1 pot, 1 frying pan, and a spatula
Servings 4
Ingredients
two 2 1/2 ounce pkgs. cooked pressed beef, dried and crushed
1 Tbl. dry milk
2 tsp. Butter Buds
2 TBL. dried minced onion
1/2 c. French's instant mashed potato powder, or 2 c. potato buds
3 to 4 TBL. butter or margarine
1 pkg. instant brown gravy mix
Trail Directions
1. Boil 2 c. water in a pot. Add the contents of the beef bag, cover,
and simmer for 2 to 3 min.
2. Off the heat, add the potatos and stir; cover and let sit for a few
minutes.
3. Heat 3 to 4 tablespoons butter or margarine in afrying pan. Fry the
"hash" over medium heat until browned on one side.
4. Rinse out the pot that the hash was in and boil 1 cup water in it.
Add the istant gravy and cook 1 min.
5. Turn the hash. Pour the gravy over the top. Brown the side that is down.
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Lentil Soup
----------
Trail Information
time 30 min.
water 3 cups
equipment 1 pot
servings 2 to 3
Ingredients
1/2 c. lentils
1 tsp. dried carrot flakes
1 tsp. dried minced onion
1/4 to 1/2 tsp.salt
1/4 c. potato buds
1 tsp.butter or margarine
or 2 TBL. parmesan cheese (opt.)
1 c. biscuit mix for dumplings (opt.)
Trail Directions
1. Add 3 cups water to the lentil mix ina pot. Cover and bring to a boil;
then take the pot off the heat to sit for 15 min.
2. Boil again, simmer for 15 min. Add potato buds and cook a few more
minutes. Add 1 tsp. butter or margarine or cut some parmesan cheese
into the soup.
3. To make dumplings: add 1/4 c/ water to 1 cup biscuit mix and make stiff
batter. Follow earlier directions. Cover so they steam and cook until
done during the last 20 min.
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Black Bean Soup
---------------
It is possible to use other beans, like navy or pinto, to make this.
Trail Information
time 10 minutes
water 4 cups
equipment 1 pot
servings 4
Ingredients
2 c. dried cooked black beans*
2 beef bouillon cubes
1 Tbl. dried minced onion
1/2 tsp. dry mustard
2 cloves garlic
2 TBL. each dried green pepper and parsley (opt)
2/3 c. grated cheese (opt)
1 TBL. butter or oil
Trail Directions
1. Smash the garlic cloves with the flat of your knife to remove their
skins. Cut into bits and cook for a few minutes in 1 tablespoon butter or
oil in a pot.
2. Add the remaining contents of the bean bag and 4 cups water, and cook
10 min. Add grated cheese or cut in a few tablespoons of cheese.
* Dried Canned Beans (or cooked beans)
Drain a 16 ounce can of beans of your choice. Mash or leave whole.
Spread beans on a greased flat pan and dry in oven at 140F with the door
propped open, for 6-8 hours, until they are crumbly. Reconstitute with an
equal amount of water.
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Quick Chili
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Trail Information
time 15 min.
water 1 1/2-2 cups
equipment 1 pot
servings 4
Making and Drying the Chili
1 pound ground chuck
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 c. finely chopped green pepper
Big pinch of oragano
small pinch of powdered cumin
1 TBL. chili powder
1/2 tsp. salt
6-ounce can tomato paste
Brown the meat and spoon the fat off. Add the onion, garlic, green pepper,
spices, salt, and tomato paste. Stir and cook for 15 min. Let it sit
for an hour if you can- this enhances the flavor. Spread chili on a greased
shallow pan and dry in the oven at 140F with door propped open.
Trail Directions
1. Add 2 cups water to the 2 cups dried mix, stir, cover, and bring to a
boil. Cook slowly for 10 minutes.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Kasha (buckwheat groats)
----
Trail Information
time 20 minutes
water 1 cup
equipment 1 pot,a second pot or frying pan
servings 3
Ingredients
1/2 c. buckwheat groats
1 TBL. dry egg
2 TBL.dried leeks or onion (opt)
1 TBL.dried green pepper (opt)
generous TBL. butter or margarine
Trail Directions
1. Boil 1 c. water.
2. Add 1 1/2 to 2 TBL. cold water to the buckwheat mix in the bag you
brought it in and mix it up.
3. Melt 1 generous TBL. butter in afrying pan or second pot,
add the buckwheat mix and stir until the grains are coated and separate.
Add 1 c. boiling water, cover, and simmer 15 min. or until the water
is absorbed.
I have run out of time for now. These all came from -The Hungry Hikers
Book of Good Cooking- by Gretchen McHugh. If these sound interesting,
she has a few stew and soup recipes. Let me know if you want them.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From met...@ea.ecn.purdue.edu Fri May 11 11:00:21 1990
Local sporting goods or camping supply stores should be able to supply dehydrated
foods for backpacking. You can also get pancake mixes that require only the addition
of water at your local grocery store.
One of my favorites is to mix peanut butter with honey or preserves in about equal
ratios and use it on bread or pancakes, it's easy to carry and not perishable...
Bisquick is also a staple for quick breads and/or biscuits that can be cooked in a
pan or on a stick.
Some simple fishing gear is also nice to have, just some hooks, line and sinkers in
a small plastic box...you can usually find some grubs or such for bait.
Of course, your biggest problem, weight wise, will be water. If you intend to use
available sources, carry purification means, either chemical or a container for boil-
ing it.
Ron Metsger
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I recommend the book "Simple Foods for the Pack". It is full of
the type of recipes you're looking for.
Dana
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: pj...@cgdisis.cgd.ucar.EDU (Peter Rayner)
Firstly the generic `stew' is the standard fare for us. We tend to eat
vegetarian on hikes, reduces spoilage problems. Besides, this is an
Australian talking so it can be bloody hot and meat, even precooked and
preserved, is a dangerous substance after 9 days in a hot pack!
The freeze-dried prefab meals, prevalent in this country, are too expensive
at homeso we only carry one of those for emergencies.
Our staples will hence consist of:
red lentils, rice (brown or white depending on how much of a hurry you're
in to eat), black-eyed peas, bulgar wheat (the densest dried food ever
invented), maccaroni or shell noodles, maybe cusscuss (sp?), maybe green
lentils too if the trip's long enough.
Fresh vegetables. This was the innovation which made long trips more
bearable. The choices are limitted of course, carrots, potatoes, ONIONS,
garlic, also carry nuts, maybe carraway seeds, sesame, croutons, ...
Also a piece of fresh ginger, vital.
Carry dried vegetables, the fresh ones are for taste, these probably
provide the dietary balance, dried peas, carrots etc. Also dried Chinese
mushrooms (or are they Japanese, shatake mushrooms I think they're called).
What else, a bewildering array of spices. The cases from old 35mm film
make great spice jars. Dried tomato powder or even dried tomatoes are a
must too. As you can gather, the meals have an eastern flavour.
Also carry dried packet soups, these are the appetizer.
Utensils: two pots and maybe some heavy gauge foil, a sharp pocket knife.
Ok some specifics:
Pilaf: chop one onion fairly roughly and cut carrots into sticks. Add
cummin seeds (whole) to the bottom of a hottish billy with melted butter
(preferably margarine it saves you carrying oil). When they start popping
add onion and chopped garlic (I didn't mention chopping garlic did I,
remind me never to write a cookbook). Maybe some fnely chopped ginger
too. Now chop some nuts add them and fry for a minute or so. Add bulgar
wheat. If you're ambitious you can fry this for a few seconds too but over
a fire it's a great way of burning your meal (he remembers ruefully). Add
water, this is the tricky part,you don't want to drain the meal at the end
so you should add too little rather than too much, this will require
watching though. You may want a touch of chilli here too and one of your
packets of dried vegetables. Cook until the wheat absorbs enough water
(not long fortunately). Serve and garnish with raw carrot.
Another is a dahl: again fry some cummin, preferably ground this time but
it doesn't really matter. This time chop the onion as finely as you can be
bothered (the real recipe calls for onion paste). The main spice here is
garum massala (sp again) which is a mixture of cummin, coriander, cardamom
and, hmm, whas it nutmeg? Also add some cayenne or chilli. Fry this
with the ubiquitous onion and garlic, for longer this time. Then add
cubed potato, red lentils, rice and a biggish supply of tomato powder and
maybe a dried tomato to remind you what it should taste like. This one can
take half an hour to cook with the lid on and with constant vigilance.
Near the end add some lemon juice (did I mention the lemon?)
Ok general format:we always carry two billies, largish and smallish. It
goes as follows:
when we arrive, soak soup, our favourite brand (forgotten what the
quivalent is in this country) requires soaking. This is for the small
billy. As soon as the tent is up and it's a decent hour, cook soup and eat
immediately. Feel two orders of magnitude better. Prepare meal in the big
billy. Meanwhile: rince small billy well and soak dried fruit in hot water
with some spice or sugar or lemon or all 3. This is a great dessert,
reconstituted dried fruit is something I'll even eat at home! As soon as
the main meal is finished, fill large billy with water or maybe rince
immediately and heat water for postmeal coffee (or, if you're civilized,
tea 8-). Eat dessert followed by tea and chocolate.
Notes1) never be ashamed of a three course meal on a hike!
2) the interleaving of billy access.
3) all this goes out the window if lotsof water is hard to come by, hence
fresh vegetables and dried fruit, you've got no idea how good a carrot can
taste under those circumstances.
Ah yes, why the foil. Well I think there are lots of equivalents to this
recipe, the Australian version is called damper. Mix up plain flour and
water into a sort of library paste. Add dried fruit. Wrap AND SEAL in
foil. Bury it at bottom of fire for about half an hour. Extract cooked
fruit bread from foil. The outside will probably be burned, but unless
something's gone awry that can just be committed to the flames and the rest
enjoyed.
Hope this helps
Peter Rayner
ps probably the longest e-mail ever written!
pps soaking the black eyed peas? add them to boiling water, either the
night before or over breakfast. Let them cool as much as you can then
drain them and add moist beans to a plastic bag. Put back in billy which
should be carried in another bag or so of course. Then they'll soak during
the day.
Someone I know had a more elaborate version of this where they carried a
billy with water inside an insulating jacket. They literally cooked their
beans on the fly!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From efr...@upenn5.hep.upenn.edu Tue May 22 11:28:19 1990
Below is the backpacking menu which I used during my six week hike.
Rather than carrying preplanned, or packaged, meals, I prefer to cary
the ingredients needed to make filling meals. This makes it easier
to estimate how many calories are being consumed. The only pitfall
is that some ingredients are added to boost up the calories, and you may
need them in excess of your tastes. Thus, there might be a tendancy to
skip ingredients, leading to insufficient consumption of calories.
I do not have any experience in cold weather camping,
and I suspect that the diet below is grossly insuficient
for that kind of hiking. One of you mentioned canoeing, and I wonder
if canoeing falls into a similar catagory because of the high intensity
of the sport and the cold water. You must judge. YOU MUST ALSO BE
THE JUDGE OF THE APPROPRIATENESS OF THIS MENU FOR YOUR TRIP: I AM NOT
AN EXPERT ON THESE MATTERS.
The diet below was designed to feed two people for a 6 day trip during
summer at moderate backpacking exertion, ie., averaging 10 miles per
day, not 20 or 5. In practise, it lasted seven days, frequently.
Constraints were that the ingredients must be
common enough to find at small town stores because we replenished our
supplies weekly by hiking down off the trail into town, and then back
up (oh! the pain of those road walks with a full pack after being on
soft trail with an empty bag!) This 6/7 day menu was repeated for
six weeks. Finaly, I only cook one meal per day,
and then only on a stove. I will not use a fire for environmental
reasons: the appalachian trail receives so much use that it realy
can not support the use of campfires. Thus, this diet has minimal
cooking.
Ingredients:
-----------
2 lb. pasta (usualy macaroni)
1 lb. drink mix, e.g., Kool-aid (intentionaly adding sugar, for calories)
1 lb. rice (I used 20 minute rice,like Uncle Ben's)
1.5 lb dry milk (Again, calorie booster. I don't think I
used as much as this, in practice. cf note
on taste, above)
1 lb peanuts
1 lb sunflower seeds In practice, these ended up as another
pound of peanuts
12 oz parmesean cheese GREAT source of calories: light, & keeps well
1 lb peanut butter another energy source
2 lb cheese provolone seemed to keep best, others get
soft and oily, but are ok
3 pkg soup mix (1 box?) used to flavor rice
2 oz bullion cubes (makes 16c.) In practice, I may have used soup mix, but
I don't remember.
1 lb raisins
1 lb dried fruit In practice, this was another lb of rasins
1 lb. crackers vehicle for ingestion of peanut butter :-)
2 lb. bread have fun packing this one. it does better
than you would expect.
1 lb. vegetables usualy carrots and celery. These don't
pack much umph, but are necessary, for me.
1 lb chocolate m&m's, everytime!
2 sticks margarine/butter Essential: this is one of the calorie
powerhouses.
1/2 lb fresh fruit add according to your strength and desire
2 lb. cereal, e.g., granola, used to make gorp. cary more if you work
grape nuts, etc. harder, or are hungry. Sugary ones add
calories, but are hard for me to swallow.
1 box pop tarts these were added half way through the trip
to beef up breakfast. They get smashed in
your pack, but still are good. (NOTE: if
you use a fire, don't make the mistake of
thinking that foil wrappers burn. IT DOES
NOT! Don't burn your trash: cary it out.)
dehydrated vegetables You can find them as Salad Greens next
to the spice rack in most stores.
Using the Ingredients
---------------------
The basic procedure is to eat constantly. Don't wait until you are
hungry. For this, some of the cereal, peanuts, m&m's, rasins get mixed
together to make gorp. As the week proceeds, you will need to mix up
more, but I like to keep the ingredients separate. Sometimes I will be
sick of gorp, but the individual ingredients taste good. Beware of
m&m wars with your hiking partner: they can get bloody! Other snacks
are peanut butter on crackers, half a piece of fruit (split one with
your friend), celery, or carrot. The fruit and vegetables must be rationed
because they are so heavy.
Breakfast consisted of cereal w/ (reconstituted) milk, half a piece of
fruit every other day (alternate w/ the fruit used for lunch or snacking.
Thus, I had half a piece per day.), pop tart every other day, crackers
with peanut butter, or bread w/ peanut butter. also gorp and cheese are
ok.
Lunch was cheese on bread, finnish the bottle of drink mix you started
in the AM, crackers & peanut butter, gorp or its makings, fruit as described
above. Vegetables, as described above. Peanut butter and jelly works, too.
Dinner: this is the time to use the margarine and milk powder to cram
calories in. I had three meals which we used.
1.) Rice&veg. Cook up rice using soup mix for flavoring. Add dehydrated
vegetables to the water. I tried to reserve some fresh vegetables for this,
but did not always succeed. Add 1/3 stick of margarine or butter for the
oil. Add dry milk, if you can. I think I used 1/2 lb of rice.
2.) Linguine al Fredo (backpacking style)
cook macaroni (2/3 lb). Use 1/2 cup water, 4 tbl dry milk, 1/3 cup
margarine, 1 cup parmesean to make a sauce. I carried oregeno, pepper,
salt, and basil for seasoning. To make: boil macaroni (if you're clever,
you can add just enough water to get it cooked, plus 2 cups extra which
can be used with bullion to make broth. I try very hard not to throw
away boiled water: you caried it, and the stove fuel, so use it!)
After macaroni comes to a strong boil, take it off of the stove, and
put on a small pot (large Al cup is fine. Sierra cups don't work well,
so I carry a larger one) and heat the water. melt margarine, and add
milk. You will swap the two pots as you do this to keep the water in
the macaroni pot hot enough to cook the macaroni. When both sauce and
macaroni are ready, add seasonings to sauce, pour over macaroni, and
dump on the parmesean cheese. The result if *thick*, and has more
calories than anything you'll find in an instant pouch.
3.) Potatoes: I did not list this in the ingredients because it's not
on my list, but I do remember doing this once or twice, probably when
I was tired of rice, and macaroni. Just make instant potatoes, but
beef them up with the standard 1/3 stick or margarine, dry milk, and
parmasean cheese. some fresh cheese is good too.
NOTES
-----
I remember eating more than the meals above, but I can't
remember what. Just be creative. If you are hiking hard enough to
worry about the calories, you will eat anything. One hiker we met
described dinner succinctly: eat until you're ready to gak. It's hard
to get the calories down. The first day pack can be loaded with all
sorts of good stuff: extra vegetables, fruit, muffins, etc. I hiked
with a group that had a simple rule: someone had to carry the pineapple.
Ettiquette required that the pineapple be eaten mid-trip. Sooner was a
cop-out, later cruel. Melons can be substituted.
I hope some of this is useful for you. It's been 5 years since my
last serious trip (grad school), and I have forgotten much of what I
did. Please let me know if you have improvements to the diet. The
fats should be switched over to carbohydrates, where possible, but
it is very hard to ingest that much food.
One final note, which should be something you already know. You should
scald your pots with boiling water BEFORE using them. Scalding them when
washing is a waste of time: they just go into your dirty pack.
As a duty to the people that taught me how to hike, I must include the
admonition to never wash your pots or selves in a stream: cary the water
well away from the stream, or you will polute the stream. Take only
pictures, leave only footprints. If you can, don't even leave the
footprints.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Timo Kiravuo
kir...@hut.fi sorvi::kiravuo kiravuo%hut...@uunet.uu.net
I was the cook on our Easter trip to the Finnish Lapland, so I
can give some hints. These are for a group of three persons.
Each morning we would eat some oatmeal, bread with butter, wurst
and cheese and tea. For oatmeal we used those "just add hot
water" portion packages, two of those and then we would split a
package fruit soup between us three (really not a soup, but
"kiisseli", "thickened fruit juice" says my dictonary).
With wurst I mean that German sausage that looks like pepperoni,
but is less spicy. It has plenty of taste and does not spoil very
easily. For bread we had Finnish sour rye bread and hard rye
bread, the former somewhat soft, the latter dried and hard. I
don't know if you can find those in the States, most bread I have
seen there is so full of chemicals and poisons, that even the
bugs won't eat it. This package of bread at my kitchen says that
it is made of flour, yeast, water and salt.
For lunch we would eat more bread and some "hot cup" instant
soups. Just add some water. Once again easy and simple and I
usually prefer a light lunch, when on route. I would usually eat
an ordinary soup with some wurst added for taste and then a fruit
soup as dessert.
We all three had thermos flasks that I would fill them up at the
morning and so that we would not have to use the stove until
evening.
After the days skiing we would then have a bigger meal. Before
the trip I had dried one kg of ground beef. This was done by
browning the meat in a skillet and then placing it in oven at 50
degrees for overnight. The meat shrunk to 300 g, but would be
usable again with some water added. Great for stews and like.
Less weight and does not spoil as easily.
Our first mail meal was the traditional Lapland reindeer stew.
Our total group was eighteen strong, and we were staying on a
lake (frozen, of course). So when we were digging tents in, one
of our group "found" a package of frozen lingonberries (like
blackberry, but red and very sour) on his pack. While he was very
loudly wondering what ever use could he find for those berries,
another member of our group found one kg of reindeer meat in his
pack.
Now all I had to do was to fry the meat in a quarter kg butter
and then let it stew for a quart, adding some salt and pepper,
after which I made mashed potatoes in another kettle from water
in the thermos and dried mashed potaoes. By that time our tent
was up, too, and I served a perfect reindeer stew to my friends,
complete with mashed potatoes and lingonberries.
The next night we were staying in one of those government cabins,
which had a gas stove, so I made some spaghetti bolognese.
Nothing special to it, I had again a sauce mix, so I just added
some water and spices and garlic and herbs, and made the
spaghetti on the other burner.
Other dishes were an Italian stew right from package, with some
dried ground beef, spices and macaroni added and dried beef with
mashed potatoes. Latter one was very simple, put water and dried
ground beef in a kettle, heat up, add mashed potatoes and spices.
In the last morning of the trip I made some finnish thin
pancakes, which we would the fill with a freezedried stew. Beats
oatmeal for sure. Otherwise I stayed far of those freeze dried
foods, which taste all the same. Of course they could be
developed with some garlic and spices...
Spices, really, take a lot of those. Salt, pepper, chili, oregano
etc. And some garlic, too. That way most anything can be made
edible.
Most of the time we could get water from the lakes, but once or
twice we had to melt snow, which takes more time and fuel. We did
not have to bother with filtering or boiling the water, since the
water in Finland is mostly clean, especially so in Lapland, where
we were close to the source, like twenty or fifty km from the
start of the river.
When camping out, I would build a wind breaker from snow blocks
to shelter my kitchen. This was not as good idea as it sounds
like, since I had soon ten other people there, messing my
kitchen. Us cooks don't like that too much.
As to Andy's original question, I would recommend some freeze
dried meals, since the supply is much more plentiful in the USA
than here. And then use a scale to weigh different things and
make your mind up. Canned foods are not usually worth the extra
weight, furthermore you have to carry the can back. Oh yes,
remember to take an extra plastic bag or two to use as a trash
bag. Personally I try to be very careful and not leave anything
behind me.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
sc...@solarvax.UMD.EDU
Well, to start off, Pancakes are EASY. (Well, the Cooking takes practice,
but they are easy to get) Just buy "Just-Add-Water" Pancake mix at the
Supermarket, Don't Bother with the Same stuff packaged by Backpacking food
companies... Measure it out ahead of time, and put it in DOUBLE plastic
baggies. Oh, and don't forget the cooking oil. You can get the Special
cooking oil at a camping place, or just fet a small bottle of regular.
Stews: Lots of things can be had commercially, (like at REI) but you may
want to pick something up and then supplement it with a large amount of
regular Egg noodles. Anything works fine, just make sure that they are
thin enough to cook quickly. You don't want to wait longer just to have
Thick noodles.
Sandwiches: Forget anything in the traditional sense except for maybe the
first day. Try a Cracker and Spread type of lunch. You can get it in
the Supermarkey also, but remember UNSALTED crackers, or you will make
yourself miserable. Spreadables brand ham or chicken "Salad" works, but
I hate the taste. Personally, I would go with the Cheese in a tube kinda
stuff (Kraft makes some) or Cheese Whiz.
Other Lunches: Personally, I like a lunch of "trail mix" and Beef Jerky/
Beef Sticks (like generic Slim Jims) But whatever you get, make sure that
you have a variety of stuff.
There are a few books that you might want to try, including one about
Backpacking foods that can be gotten in the Grocery store. E-mail me,
and I will try to find it.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We regularly bake fresh bread on backpacking trips. Take wheat flower and
yeast with you. Mix the yeast with some water and set in the sun. (i dont
have the exact amount of water handy, buts its the same as if you were baking
bread at home). Let the yeast and water activate in the sun for a half hour
and then knead with the wheat flour. Place flour in a pot roughly 2" larger
in diameter; I mean place the dough in a pot 2" larger than the ball of dough
Have a good set of coals burning. Find a flat rock roughly the same diameter
as the pot, place it in the center of the fire, place the pot on top of the
rock, cover the pot. The pot acts as an oven, and the flat rock keeps you
from burning the bottom of the loaf. I forgot to mention to let the dough
rise for 45 minutes to an hour. It sounds like a long process but it is well
worth it and its very simple. Let the bread bake about 45 min to an hour,
check it with a fork, eat it while its warm.MMMMMMMMMM
-Pete
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[ed. These next articles all came from a rec.backcountry discussion in
February. I don't remember who sent them to me. -Andy]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: m46...@blake.acs.washington.edu (Erostratus)
This has become a traditional "first night" meal:
1 packet instant marinara mix
1 packet instant tomato soup
1 tube tomato paste
1 packet instant tortelini
Ignore all the directions and just dump it together
The next is really disgusting to even think about, but somehow really hits
the spot after a real death march:
1 or 2 ramen bricks
good sized handful of instant rice
1 packet cheese soup
whatever else is loose and rolling around the food bag
again, just boil and simmer a bit. The result is very much like glue and
might also be good for sealing seams, but the cheesy starch hits the spot
like nothing else does.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: mhe...@farside.Sun.COM (Michel Helft)
REI (no not them again!) has a little "outdoors cookbook". It costs very
little (under $5) and has some good suggestions. Not all the recipies in there
are good but some are worh trying.
One summer I spent 3 months backpacking in Alaska. I started the trip with
20 packages of ramen noodles. After a few days I was pretty tired of it. I
kept getting suggestions from other people I met in the wilderness and ended up
with dinners that where quite varied. Lunch and breakfast were harder (cheese-
crackers/oatmeal). Fresh food is ok. You can carry fruit and veggies that wont
spoil and if you are not going for more than 10 days at a time you can afford
the wieght (unless you have a change of clothes per day). Try onions, peppers,
cucumbers....
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary: suggestion with an eye towards minimizing cost
Reply-To: eng...@shorty.cs.wisc.edu (Mike Engber)
My wife and spent 2.5 months backpacking in various places in the Northwest.
Needless to say we had to solve the "food" problem and do it cheaply. The
store bought dehydrated meals are way to expensive.
Dinner - we use a lot of grocery store noodle dinners. Lipton makes a
variety of them like "Noodles Alfredo" or "Noodles Parmesan". Of course
Macaroni and Cheese is always good. To get some beef into the menu we
dehydrated our own hamburger and made Hamburger Helper - there are lots
of varieties of this - our favorite was the lasagne. I can give you
details on drying the hamburger. It's very cheap, especially when you
compare it to the cost of buying dried meats or even making your own beef
jerky.
Desserts - You can use dry milk to make pudding and it tastes just fine.
Along similar lines - we discovered we could make the instant cheesecakes
and instant chocolate mousse's you can find in most any grocery stores.
Of course we weren't able to make the crusts, but we just sprinkled the
Grahmcracker crumbs on top.
Lunch - Peanut Butter is a staple, but for variety we started carrying
a stick of pepperoni & block of cheese. Both kept pretty well, even in
hot weather.
Breakfast - this is the toughest meal for me as I hate oatmeal and
that's by far the best soln. I eventually resorted to using dry milk
to make some of those instant breakfasts - at least it goes down fast.
I'm considering trying to dehydrate scrambled eggs - does anyone have
any experience?
None of my suggestions will appeal to the gourmet pallete, but they are
very affordable and very easy to prepare.
Also, if anyone knows how to dry their own spaghetti sauce, I'd like to hear
about it.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: to...@vicom.COM (Tom Pohorsky)
In article <7...@blake.acs.washington.edu> m46...@blake.acs.washington.edu (Erost
ratus) writes:
>
> 1 or 2 ramen bricks
> good sized handful of instant rice
> 1 packet cheese soup
> whatever else is loose and rolling around the food bag
I like spiking the ramen with a can of tuna (large or small, waterpack
albacore in LiteWeight (TM) aluminum can), raw egg (I usually stir it
in, Japanese soups often leave it softboiled) or some summer squash or
whatever sliced up. This can give it a remotely food-like character.
The can is actually very little extra weight, though Eugene may not
want to drag it up the face of Half Dome ...
I like the price and unpretentiousness of food that can be bought
at Safeway, not just the Karmic Mountainerring Institute.
For the bread "food group", I have been unable to tire of Ak Mak
"Armenian Cracker Bread". The label claims it is ultra nutritous, and
it's light and VERY tasty. Reasonably priced and the best cracker I've
ever tasted. Good with salami and Tillamook for a non-cooking lunch.
As it is a cracker, it gets crumbly after time in the pack.
pack, though.
Also, I'll second the longevity of raw eggs. After a week on/off the
trail, salami scrambled into fresh eggs and cheese are wonderful, life-
style/diet permitting. I agree too, with the egg man: soft cheese for
the start of the trip, hard cheese for later.
--
ames!vsi1!tomp to...@vicom.com
Some of my favorites:
Breakfast-
The dehydrated eggs/omelets are pretty good. Adding a real egg to the dish
improves the texture and taste considerably.
Eggs are best carried in the cardboard containers which they come in from the
store. Cut the container to the number of eggs needed for the trip and wrap
it in a plastic bag in case of breakage. Place it in your pack near the top
to avoid breakage, don't forget its there and sit on your pack when you take
a break.
Oatmeal is always good, lightweight and sticks to your ribs.
Ever had oatmeal with brandy in it for breakfast? 8-)
Spam, scallion & cheese omeletes are good for a change of pace.
Lunches-
I like soup for lunch, it is lightweight and can be made thicker by adding
more noodles, rice, etc.
Also those little cans of Underwood Deviled ham, chicken etc. (about 3 oz.)
make a nice sandwich. I usually carry some type of rolls instead of bread
as they stay fresher and you can just tie the bag to the outside of your
pack to prevent crushing.
Dinners-
There are several types of rice/noodle dishes carried by grocery stores which
are pre-flavored. Add a small can of chicken, tuna, beef etc. for additional
flavoring if you desire. (Or a fresh caught trout on the side)
I don't particularily like the Freeze-dried Backpacking meals (with the
exception of Moutain House Chili) ventilate the tent well after this to
prevent spontaneous combustion in the middle of the night! :-)
General-
Trail mix is nice but gets boring real quick. I usually use it for snacks
while on the trail. I like to mix my own making two or three different
combinations for variety.
A touch of spice makes any dehydrated meal much better.
Get those small plastic spice and condiment containers from your local store.
I like to carry mustard, salt, pepper, lemon-pepper, butter etc.
I carry some fresh garlic and/or shallots.
I also like to carry fresh green peas or beans. Corn on the cob is an option
but is rather bulky and heavy for the food value.
food from nature if you get into the right areas.
DON'T EAT IT IF YOU CAN NOT POSITIVELY IDENTIFY IT, it might be OK, it might
just give you stomach cramps or the sh*ts, it could (rarely) kill you.
Carry 2-3 days of extra meals (freeze-dried this is only about 1&1/2 lbs)
You will carry these back out 99% of the time. The other 1% makes it worth
the extra bother however.
The US Navy Submarine Service keeps eggs on board ship without
refrigeration for *weeks and weeks*. How?
The eggs are waxed.
The wax coating prevents air from crossing the boundary of the eggshell
and spoiling the contents. (neat, huh?)
How do they wax the eggs? I dunno. Feed the chickens parafin? Wax
the underside of the hen and let her set awhile?
How can you wax your eggs? I dunno. But I thought you'd like to know
this bit of trivia :-))))
Ron Miller
(backcountry in a submarine means where the rudder is)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
20 packages!? This reminds me of the time I went hiking with an older
(read I thought he knew it all) friend who bought the food. He bought
a monster box of Grandma's ginger snaps and a few pans of Jiffy pop. I
HATE ginger snaps to this day, but really enjoyed the popcorn. Every
once in a while, I still will take a Jiffy Pop along. Its great for
casual summer camping. The added advantage is that the pan works well
for a signal mirror when you get lost.
Other favorites to carry are carrots - they last a long time, garlic, onions,
(hey my polypro stops grizzley bears after a few days, so whats a bit of
breath enhancer between fiends?), and tart apples are a great way to start the
day. They seem to keep their crispness best when winter camping. Store
bought tortellinis aren't too bad either.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reply-To: ba...@bud.UUCP (Barry Needham)
In article <28...@ihuxy.ATT.COM> da...@ihuxy.ATT.COM (Dawn E. Howe ) writes:
>
> 1. Dehydrated/"packaged backpacking meals":
> What brands have you tried? Any favorites out there?
I've had some good luck with some of the mountain house stuff especially
the chile and lasagna. The real trick is the extra stuff, spices and additions
that you cook with it. I often take some extra packets of freeze dried meat
to toss in with the main meal.
> 2. Breakfast suggestions?
> Is there anyway to bring eggs in? (do they spoil?) recipes?
Eggs work well and should keep for at least a week, longer if you greese
them. I just cut up the carton as required for the trip. Bagles work well
and (at least in the winter) you can carry cream cheese to go with them.
Watching somebody toast bagles over a wisperlite while sitting in a snow
cave is something I won't forget for a long time.
> 3. Lunch on the trail: HELP!!!!
> Any non-cooking (who wants to drag out a stove?) items?
> Or, maybe something prepared ahead of time.
Meat, bread and cheese. Bagles again, any of the dark heavy breads.
Packaged or canned meat. Mustard, mayo or any of the deli type spice
packets work well. The small cans of meat (6 oz?) work well split between
two.
> 4. Dinner: Recipes? Good pre-made items? Desserts?
Just came back from a trip where I packed in a steak. Made a small fire,
threw in a couple of potatos wraped in tin foil, let the fire burn down to
coals then put a small grill on it and cooked the steaks. By the time that
the steaks were done the potatos were done and I even had some sour cream to
with them.
Something that nobody else has brought up yet, SPICES:
Red pepper and parmesan cheese saved from take out pizzas.
Tabasco sauce.
Horseradish and mayo in little packets saved from the deli.
A good hot mustard (well OK, so I like hot food..).
Garlic powder to mix with the fake butter (giving garlic bread to have with
the lasagna.
Barry.
--
Barry Needham (408) 922-1767
821 Fox Lane, San Jose, Ca, 95131 sun!arete!barry
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>I often take bagles for lunch. Why? They're dense so they pack small and
>the will last for 4-5 days before they get too stale to eat!
Another option to bread are tortilla's. They are also dense so they
pack up small. The can be filled with virtually anything and rolled
up like a burrito. They're great in the morning filled with scrambled
eggs, onions, bacon and a little tobasco sauce.
FRIED RICE
To feed 4
List of Ingredients
1 lb rice
1 lb meat - ham, bacon
2 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp dried onion
2 tbsp corn oil (if ham is very lean)
1 pkg Kikoman fried rice seasoning mix
Soy sauce for additional seasoning
Procedure
1. Cook rice.
2. While cooking rice.
A. Cube ham, or bacon to ~1/4" squares.
B. Heat sesame oil in fry pan.
C. Fry ham and reconstituted onion until ham is slightly crisp
NOTE: Stir ham frequently and rice occasionally.
3. When rice is done rinse with cold water twice.
4. Add the cold rice to the just crispend ham mixture.
5. Gradually add the seasoning mix while stirring continuously
over a VERY HOT fire.
6. Continue cooking until evenly fried.
This meal may be somewhat salty, but after a hard sweaty day on
the trail that should not pose any problems. Most of my camping
is being done in the BWCA of minnesota, which is canoe country,
and most of the time we are just paddleing the load with portages
in the 1/2 to 1 mile range, so the extra weight is not much of a
problem. However, BWCA rules ban cans or bottles, and our trips
last up tp 2 weeks so most perishables are out at least for the last
half of the trip. (BTW. Hunts has tomato sauce in a paperboard box)
Other meals I have come up with include Pizza, Beef Stroginoff,
Spaghetti and Chicken rice-a-roni.
As for Ziplock's, I use seal-a-meal so I do not have to worry about
the seal opening up. In fact, I have been sealing an entire meal into
one large bag so I do not have to search thru all the packs for the
varous ingredients as they are all in the one bag (including matches
and dish soap).
Here are a few kinds of backpacking food that people haven't mentioned:
Yogurt - It keeps well for at least a week (even in the summer) if you
keep it on the inside of your pack away from the sun. Use it
wherever you might think of using powdered milk. It's good in
instant pudding, in curry (made with freeze-dried chicken, apples,
raisins, your own spices and minute rice), with granola, etc.
Couscous - This can be a good breakfast with dried fruit and honey
to add a little flavor. To cook it you just let it sit covered
for 5 minutes after you pour boiling water over it.
Taboulli - made from a mix. Just add cold water and let it sit for
half an hour.
Asiago (or dry jack) cheese and Thuringer sausage - both travel very well.
This kind of cheese doesn't get runny in the heat.
Packages of (already-cooked) dinner rolls - these are good for sandwiches.
Fresh garlic - okay, I guess this isn't a dish on its own, but it's worth
taking. It really adds something to a lot of main dishes. Just
smash the unpeeled clove with the side of your knife or a rock
and it'll be easy to peel and chop.
Clarified butter - if you want to cook something with butter instead of
oil, clarify it and it will keep for a long time. To do this,
melt the butter and pour into your container only the clear part.
Question: has anybody successfully made pancakes from a packaged mix or
their own mix? At home I don't use mixes, so I don't know which
ones are any good. I tried one store-bought mix and it was
*horrible*. I had to dig a hole and bury it. Also, even though
I used lots of butter in the (aluminum) pan, I had a lot of
trouble with sticking. Any advice?
Vicki O'Day
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: m...@ttrdc.UUCP (Michael Cross )
Pita Bread works well too. I haven't seen my favorite lunch posted yet;
Peanut Butter on Bread/Bagel/whatever eaten with a handfull of Granola.
It's quick to eat on the trail and the only cleanup is to lick the knife
clean. I just love those plastic Peanut Butter jars! My favorite Granola
usally consists of 1/2 fruit Granola (apple-blueberry-almond-date) and
1/2 Confetti Mix (Peanuts,rasins,sunflower seads,soybeans,cocanut and M&Ms)
Dried Soups are usally a large part of my backing foodstuffs also. We have
a bulk foodstore called THE HOME ECONOMIST which sells all kinds of things
that are good for the trail. They used to sell dried eggs which we would
use for breakfast (mixed with cheese powder) or dinner with dried potatoes
and a bacon bar for a sort of hash. Getting rid of the eggs has been sort
of a mixed blessing - they tasted terrible and gave us gas, but now we
have to resort to oatmeal.
<Mike
--
Michael S. Cross (att!ttrdc!msc) (312)-982-2018
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Spaghetti Sauce
I have had quite good success with dried hamburger and dried tomatoes to
make a decent spaghetti. The other ingredients - spices, noodles - are
easily backpacked.
In camp, add water to the tomatoes and hamburger several hours prior to
cooking. Close to dinner, the tomatoes will be the consistency of tomato
paste. Combine everything with more water and start simmering.
The result was a very good semblance of kitchen prepared spaghetti
sauce. We had this meal early in the trip and again later. The meat and
tomatoes seemed to keep fine (average temperature during trip was
60F). The only problem was the noodles. During the trip, the noodles got
crushed up. It was like eating Spaghetti-O's or some other kids meal.
2. Spices
Dried and fresh spices are the easiest, most useful food to
pack. Beefing up (so to speak) any packaged meal with your own personal
touch of spices really makes a difference. It can make the difference
between grub and a meal.
3. Bread
Any flat bread is great to pack. My favorite is Pita bread. Also, if you
have never tried making bread in camp, you are missing at least half of
the food fun. It takes no trouble at all to make biscuits. Very little
trouble to make rolls of some sort. Virtually painless to make real
bread. Honey packs very nicely and with bread makes a great treat
any time.
4. Cans
Several of you have mentioned taking canned meats or canned something
else along. I don't like to take cans. Even after crushing them down, I
always feel it is a pain to have to bring them back out. I also have
seen too much litter strewn throughout wilderness areas to think that
everyone packs out what they pack in. I don't what to even accidentally
add to the wilderness litter.
I don't pack in anything that can't burn. Although necessary, I hate the
foil lined packets of stuff. Most people throw them in the camp fire
which leaves the unburnt foil part behind. I always burn them separately
and pack the foil out. I always pack out other garbage that I find.
Travis Marlatte ihlpa!travis 312-416-4479 AT&T Bell Labs
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I've experimented with several different ways of taking eggs on camping
trips. As noted by others, eggs seem to last longer if bought fresh (not
from Safeway). Also, you're a lot less likely to be carrying Salmonella
along this way ...
I usually break the eggs into a Nalgene bottle, and scramble them before
I leave. I've kept them for 4-5 days like this in moderate heat, but they'd
last longer unbroken. Note- don't do this on a bicycle or motorcycle - I
ended up with a custard last time from the shaking and the heat. If you want
to avoid breakage, *and* keep the eggs whole, put them in a Nalgene bottle,
and pour corn meal, cereal, or flour around them. Then you have everything
you need to bread and fry those trout !
When car camping or short backpacks, I just store the eggs in my cook kit,
wrapped in my cooking towel, to avoid breakage, or I just take them in the
carton.
For mountaineering, I've learned to adapt my meals around my cook kit. I
bought a medium size pot, with a lid, which is just big enough to fit my
Whisperlite stove, (w/o fuel bottle), a bowl, cup, spoon, and cooking
towel. I start water boiling or melting in the pot. I place one meal item
( like Lipton noodles & a can of deviled ham ) in the lid, which is also
a 1" deep fry pan. I place another item, like oatmeal, in my bowl, and a
hot drink powder in the cup. I then distribute the water form the main pot
to the bowl, cup, and fry pan, leaving enough left to make Knorr soup
( the best I've found ) in the pot. I eat directly from the pot and pan.
This also allows others, if you're cooking in a group of 2-3, to make their
own special stuff in their bowl or cup, and share the common items in the
pot and pan. Everything fits snug inside the pot, which protects it all
from damage, and keeps it out of the way when you're searching for something
else in the pack. I don't carry a fork - they have a tendancy to damage
things, and a spoon with teeth filed on it is just as serviceable.
When we camped in the BWCA years ago, we often used the Seal-a-meal
machines to package meals. We would package up things like sloppy joes
mix, and eat them on the first 2-3 days out. Then we'd fall back on the
lightweight foods later. This extra weight is something you can afford
when canoe camping. Also, we would be sure to hid some food as we went
in if the route was and out-and-back route. If you bury it under the
leaves or dirt in a shady spot, the natural coolness of the ground
( ~ 60 degrees ) will keep food for a long time. Put rocks on top to keep
small animals away, and don't bury anything like cheese that would have
odors on the packaging that attracts bears.
My cuisine as grown out of backpacking in New Zealand.
(this is a warning):
drink - try HOT jelly. Crystals or cubes. Strawberry is my favourite.
powdered drinks help displace taste from iodine crystals. loose tea.
breakfast - porridge. Those little packets which u just add water
to are nice and convenient. Muesli, although nicer, I always find
to be eaten quickly. Add lots of marg. to increase the fat content.
I have travelled with ppl who add chocolate pudding (or any other
milk based pud) to muesli. This can taste gross (avoid lime flavour) ,
but boosts the fat & calorie content heaps.
lunch - I always take Ginger Snaps cookies or digestive biscuits
for long trips (>4 days) and dispense with bread.
If I do take bread, it's the rye (& heavy) variety.
Wrapped in newspaper to extend it's "pack" life. Cheese, peanut butter,
marg. Small cans of tuna, pate, mussles, oysters etc.
dinner - invariably, it's a combination pasta/dried vege/dried potatoe
combination with meat if poss. Add chilli powder to it and anything
tastes okay. Minute noodles.
Always bring bisquick. It's wonderful stuff. Add marg. to everything.
I'm not much of a cook when I go away, because I'm normally too exhausted
to carry it and cook it.
Reply-To: eng...@shorty.cs.wisc.edu (Mike Engber)
drying hamburger algorithm
I got the idea from an AT hiker in the Smokies.
The main goal of the process is to extract as much grease as possible
from the meat. For blotting grease I used newspaper covered with a
couple layers of paper towels. Maybe someone has a better suggestion.
1)get some ground beef. The leaner the better
2)cook it up and drain off as much grease as possible
3)spread the hamburger out in a cookie sheet on something to blot the
grease. Put this in the oven at ~100 F for ~8 hours. There is a
significant color change (darkening) to let you know when its done.
You'll need to change the grease blotter a couple times and stir the
hamburger around to make sure it all gets dried.
4)spread the hamburger out on a grease blotter and let it sit out
and dry at room temperature for a few days. You'll need to keep it
covered and you'll also need to periodically change the blotter and
mix up the hamburger. I found that after a day or so it was sufficient
to just change the paper towels as not much grease was getting through
to the newspaper anymore.
Now, what you have closely resembles gravel, but don't worry it becomes
edible if you just boil it for ~5 minutes. We mainly used it for
Hamburger helper:
1) boil the water (hopefully purifying it)
2) add the gravel and wait 5 minutes
3) add the Hamburger Helper noodles & let them cook
4) add the Hamburger Helper seasoning and cook to your own taste
I also used the stuff to make some pretty good taco's once. We found we
could get 2 meals for two people out of a single box (but then we
always had a substantial dessert with it - pudding or cheesecake)
We packaged the gravel up, using a Seal-A-Meal, into 1/2 pound
(original weight) packets. A pound of hamburger turns into about a cup
of gravel after drying. I don't know the weight off hand, it isn't
much, maybe 8 ounces. All this will vary greatly depending on how
finely you break up the hamburger and how lean it is to start with.
Questions or suggestions are welcome.
Last year (or so?) Quacker came out with another instant oatmeal which
they call _Fruit_&_Cream_ (damn, now Im not 100% positive of that).
Anyway it's just a whole whole lot better than they're old instant
oatmeal. It comes in three or four fruit flavors. It's not as good
as some alternatives but is quick and easy (if you're already starting
the stove, that is).
Peter B
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In response to the recommendation for Fruit & Cream oatmeal.
I tried that stuff last summer. In my book it cannot be considered
food. I'm not positive, but I think instead of using evaporated milk,
they use Coffee Mate creamer. I have a fairly forgiving digestive
system, but it revolted big time with that stuff.
I'd suggest buying regular oatmeal, adding evaporated milk, and your
own cinamon, raisins or what ever.
Ugh. Just the thought of it makes me want to......
Randy Marks
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: car...@ico.ISC.COM (Steve Carnes)
>I'd suggest buying regular oatmeal, adding evaporated milk, and your
>own cinamon, raisins or what ever.
>
I've always carried packets of instant milk. DairyMan(tm), I think the
name is. They come in a box of 12, each makes a quart, and it is
surprisingly tasty. Plus, the paper pouch can be burned afterwards!
Colin Fletcher recommends carrying some of the milk in one of those
plastic ketcup/mustard squeeze bottles. Out here it works great, even
in windy conditions -- just flip the lid and squirt dry milk. Under
humid conditions, I wonder if it would glom up the spout?
A great cuisine idea is to fill one of those plastic, refillable,
"toothpaste"-type tubes with ghee - i.e. clarified butter. It won't
go rancid for a *long* time, even when it's quite hot. And you can
add nice real butter flavor to everything. You can make ghee yourself
(i've heard a microwave helps immeasurably) or go to your local store
selling Indian foodstuffs - you'll find imported ghee by the jar, on
the shelf (not in the refrigerator - I'm not kidding it won't go bad
for a *long* time) and at a reasonable price, although quality varies.
I usually make my own.
--
Andrew Balinsky (301)454-8094|For my purpose holds to sail beyond the sunset
UMD, College Park, MD 20742 |And to the baths of all the western stars
bali...@cs.umd.edu | until I die.
..uunet!mimsy!balinsky | -Tennyson, "Ulysses"
bruce bowser
Thomas
bruce bowser
Jim Lahey
<bruce2...@gmail.com> wrote:
>Ammo for an Uzi is very difficult to find.
--
The real Jim Lahey posts with a fifth of whiskey at all times
--
The real Jim Lahey posts with a fifth of whiskey at all times
Graham
>
> Ammo for an Uzi is very difficult to find.
>
Jim Lahey
Dave Smith
Most Uzis are 9mm Parabellum, one of the most popular handguns rounds
available. They also come in .22LR and .45, also very popular.
Dave Smith
--
This is a message from the other Dave Smith.
Dave Smith
Dave Smith
wrote:
>On Sun, 23 May 2021 14:49:25 -0700 (PDT), bruce bowser
><bruce2...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>Ammo for an Uzi is very difficult to find.
>
>1432 lines of unedited crap, just to say that?
>
>--
>The real Jim Lahey posts with a fifth of whiskey at all times
Dave Smith
Thomas
Ruger competition mark 3 slabside .22 lr semi auto with Nikon nickle plated scope. I would ditch the scope for a month long backpack ride.
It is in the backpack ie bugout bag right now.
Dave Smith
wrote:
>Someone does not know what a Mark 3 is. I had to delete all 50000 lines to post this.
>Ruger competition mark 3 slabside .22 lr semi auto with Nikon nickle plated scope. I would ditch the scope for a month long backpack ride.
>It is in the backpack ie bugout bag right now.