Convert Cook-In-Pot Meals to FBC?

[David White]

Does anyone have some general rules or guidelines to convert meals that were originally designed to be added to boiling water in a pot to freezer bag cooking? The pot meals usually call for bringing the meal back to a boil after adding the ingredients — which you can't do with FBC.

I'd like to try some of Pack Lite Foods meals that are lower in sodium but I'm not sure if I need to change the amount of water or cooking time. Emails to Pack Lite went unanswered.

[Greg Mihalik]

What are the instructions? Specifically, how long to "boil" again?

Many foods do well just soaking in boiled water for 15 minutes in an insulated bowl, with lid. (Ziplock 3-cup refridge container, insulated.)

I'd order a couple of meals that look good and try it.

(Edit: Or in a ziplock bag in a fleece cozy.)

[Sarah Kirkconnell]

Which meals? I am happy to hand out advice ;-)

Btw, you don't need to bring back to a boil for many hiking meals – what that does is cut down the rehydration time. If you are patient and can wait an extra 5-10 minutes more, and you put it in something insulated, it works well.

[David White]

The Pack Lite Food meals I'm looking at converting are:

Bountiful Bean & Lentil Chili (252mg sodium): Add to 2 cups cold water, soak 5 minutes, bring to boil and cook 5 minutes.

Wild Will's Wild Rice (260mg sodium): Add to 1-1/2 cups cold water, bring to boil and cook 3 minutes.

Green Bean Cuisine (313mg sodium): Add to 1-1/2 cups cold water, bring to boil and cook 5 minutes.

Pea Pickin' Jambalaya (350mg sodium): Add to 1-1/2 cups cold water, bring to boil and cook 3 minutes.

South o' the Border Chili (369mg sodium): Add to 1-3/4 cups cold water, bring to boil and coook 5 minutes.

Sarah I believe you mentioned these meals before. Do you remember how many servings per package? Like you, I'm supposed to limit my sodium to 300mg per meal and that's really tough! I'm trying to add a little variety to my trail meals short of buying a dehydrator and making it all myself.

Thanks for your help (and thanks Sarah for your inspiration — love your website and book).

[Greg Mihalik]

Add boiling water to your cozy-ed food mix and soak for 10 – 15 minutes.
(10 for rice. 15 for beans. YMMV.)

Eat with gusto!

[Sarah Kirkconnell]

David, I want to say the meals are single serving – they REALLY fill you up!

Edit: Ok I went back and looked in my blog ;-)

http://blog.trailcooking.com/2013/07/08/new-meal-get-up-go-country-potatoes/ That was a good one – it did need actual cooking.

http://blog.trailcooking.com/2009/10/30/commercial-meal-review-green-bean-cuisine/ And yes, it is one serving. And good! And you could FBC it.

http://blog.trailcooking.com/2009/09/15/meal-review-meals-on-wheels/ Read my notes on it :-)

[David White]

Thanks for your help Greg and Sarah. I'll probably pick up a couple of these and try converting them to FBC at home before taking them afield. Maybe I'll start with one rice and one bean dish.

The Get Up and Go Country Potatoes sounds good but no longer appears on their website.

The Meals on Wheels also sounds good but is too high in sodium for me.

I like the idea of adding chicken to the Green Bean Cuisine. Canned chicken is way too high in sodium. Do you think I could get away with cooking some fresh chicken at home and vacuum sealing it as long as I eat it as my first evening's meal?

Thanks again for your help!

[Sarah Kirkconnell]

I would suggest freeze dried chicken IMO. The only way I'd carry fresh meat is you freeze it first. On the other hand, if you like tuna, you can find low sodium in cans easily in most stores. I prefer tuna in olive oil – it has more flavor and is higher quality.

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