What’s your favorite boil in a bag meal?

[Tony Fleming]

I'm finally switching from non-stick pan full up cooking to boil in a bag meals, and need a few good recipies. I know there are several websites, and books out there on this subject.

What I'm looking for is your favorite one or two recipes that you make on just about every outing. Preferably something simple, like I mix … and … with instant mashed potatoes or Ramen noodles. I'm used to adding chicken to Rice-a-Roni.

It seems like several people on this site are using the boil in a bag cooking method. What are you cooking?

Thanks,

Tony

[victoria maki]

tony, i started boil in bag cooking this last summer. besides the wonderful book, "Freezer bag cooking", there is another book which i found years ago that easily converts to this type of cooking..it is "Backpack Gourmet" by linda frederick yaffe. you do need a dehydrator and alittle cooking experiance, although the recipes are quite easy to make. i have been busy making meals from this book and testing them out on my husband. so far he has liked the ones i have fixed. mostly breakfast meals. have fun and eat hearty….

[Sarah Kirkconnell]

Tell me what you like/love/hate and I can steer you to the right recipes :-)

For me though I'd say I could eat my Cranberry Chicken Rice on every trip. I just like it :-D

[Nate Meinzer]

I like the Mountain House Lasagna…..YUMMY. The Beef Mac Chili isn't bad either.

[Sarah Kirkconnell]

From my site:

Cranberry Chicken Rice

In a quart freezer bag:
1 cup instant rice
2 Tbsp dried veggie flakes or freeze-dried mixed vegetables
3 Tbsp dried cranberries
1 tsp low sodium chicken bouillon
1 tsp Parsley
1 tsp diced dried onion
1/2 tsp granulated garlic

Also take a 3 to 5-ounce can of chicken

Add the chicken with broth and 1 1/4 cups near boiling water. Stir well, seal tightly and put into a
cozy for 15 minutes. Fluff up and salt to taste, if desired.

Serves 1.

Greens & Reds

In a quart freezer bag:
3/4 cup instant mashed potatoes
2 Tbsp dried milk
2 Tbsp dried spinach
1 Tbsp dried diced tomatoes
2 tsp chicken gravy mix
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp dried chives

Also take:
3 ounce can of chicken
1 ounce of Swiss cheese

FBC method:
Add 1 1/4 near boiling water and the chicken with broth. Stir well, seal tightly and put in a cozy for 10 minutes. Stir in the diced up Swiss cheese.

Mug method:
Add 1 1/4 cups boiling water and the chicken with broth to the dry ingredients. Stir well, cover tightly and let sit for 10 minutes. Stir in the diced Swiss cheese.

Serves 1.

Spicy Beef & Tomato Couscous

In a quart freezer bag:
1/4 cup cooked and dehydrated hamburger or 'beef' TVP
1/4 cup diced sun-dried tomatoes
3/4 cup couscous
1 1/2 tsp low sodium beef bouillon
2 Tbsp dried onions
1 Tbsp dried chives
1 Tbsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp ground cumin seed
1/2 tsp dried minced garlic
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

Also take 1 Tbsp olive oil

FBC method:
Add the oil and 1 1/2 cups near boiling water and stir well. Seal tightly and put in a cozy for 10 minutes. Fluff up. Salt to taste, if desired.

Mug method:
Add the oil and 1 1/2 cups boiling water to the dry ingredients. Stir well, cover tightly and let sit for 10 minutes. Fluff up. Salt to taste, if desired.

Serves 2.

You can find more by flipping through the food section here (I have posted a number of recipes over the years) or visit our site at: http://www.freezerbagcooking.com/

[P. P.]

Yep, that's a good one, Sarah. We just used your recipe 'Thanksgiving On the Trail' on a long day hike the day after Thanksgiving. Just used turkey instead of chicken. Yummm.

[Sarah Kirkconnell]

Thanks! I love the "Thanksgiving" set so much I reposted it this year on our blog! Yum!

[te – wa]

quick, low cost, easy

dehydrated Black Beans can be found in many supermarket "hispanic" sections. The brand to look for is "mexicali rose"
Idahoan brand "loaded baked" potatoes

mix together half and half to make 5 very large burritos

I usually take 1/2 cup of each in a freezer bag and it makes a filling burrito using a jumbo sized tortilla.
cost is about $1 for each meal.

special thanks to Andy Skurka for turning me on to mashed potato burritos. now im addicted :)

[Kathleen B]

Pasted in below are 2 of my favorites that Sarah has posted on BPL and on her website. Although I've copied the recipes verbatim, I really recommend leaving out the mushrooms in the stroganoff recipe. I don't know why it's called stroganoff, either, because it has tomato powder in it, but it does taste excellent.

Perk's Beef Stroganoff:
In a quart freezer bag put:
2 Tbsp powdered milk
1 tsp Butter Buds® (or use fresh butter/margarine, 1 Tbsp)
1 Tbsp tomato powder (or tomato soup mix)
1 Tbsp flour
Dash of pepper
2 Tbsp dried onion
1 cube beef bullion (crushed) (or use low sodium Beef bullion)
1/4 Cup diced dried mushroom slices (or freeze dried mushrooms) YUCK!
1 Cup cooked & dehydrated noodles (egg noodles work well, see drying section.)
1/2 cup dried hamburger

In Camp top with boiling water and cozy for 10 minutes.
Serves 2.

Nacho Taters:

In a quart freezer bag put:

3/4 cup instant mashed potatoes
2 Tbsp freeze dried corn
2 Tbsp dried bell peppers (diced)
2 Tbsp instant dry milk
2 tsp fajita seasoning mix
1/4 tsp dried diced garlic

Also take:
1 ounce cheddar cheese
tortilla chips

Cube up the cheese and add to bag. Add in 1 1/2 cups hot water. Stir fast, and stir well. Seal bag and let sit in a cozy for 10 minutes. Stir again and enjoy. Munch away with chips.

Serves 1.

Note: As usual this is not high in sodium, so salt to taste if you feel it needs it.

[Steve Parr]

Boil some water & pour part into a ziplock with 1/2 pack of Mt. House Beef stew. Put ziplock in cozy for a few minutes.

Let it rehydrate for a little while, then pour rest of water into 1/2 pack of instant potatoes (Yukon Gold or your favorite),

Line bottom of pot or bowl with a few melba toast (for a crust), then put stew over the top. Next, smooth a layer of potatoes over the stew & put back in cozy. Potatoes will soak up some of the moisture from the stew if it is too soupy.

As a last step, put a few strips of cheddar cheese over the top and let melt (in the cozy) before eating.

Guaranteed to make your hiking partners drool …

[lynda schroeder]

We can not go on a trip without Sarah's cranberry chicken and rice! It has gone on every trip since I discovered it years ago. Thanks Sarah

[Tony Fleming]

Thanks for all the great responses. There are several here that sound very good. I'm not picky, I like Italian, spanish, and oriental dishes as well as meat & potatoes. I just want to keep it simple, easy and very tasty.
Sarah, I did look through several recipes, but rather than try them all. I was looking for a few real winners to try first.

Thanks again to all those who responded.

Tony

[Kathleen B]

Tony – one thing I discovered as I tried Sarah's and Dicentra's recipes for breakfast in their books is that there seemed to be a pattern to them. So I came up with my own formula:
1/3 C grain (rice, couscous, or minute oatmeal are the ones I like)
1 TB powdered milk (Nido brand is good)
1 TB brown sugar
1-2 TB dried fruit (blueberries, craisins, raisins, cherries, pineapple, etc.)
1-2 TB nuts (pecans, walnuts, almonds)
Sometimes a dash of salt helps the taste

Add enough water to reconstitute – either hot or cold. Cold water takes a bit longer to reconstitute everything.

Mix and match to your heart's content with whatever appeals to you. The possibilities are endless!

[Mark Verber]

I typically don't do extensive planning for food… I raid our food pantry and skip going to the grocery store when ever possible… so my recipes are highly variable based on what's on hand. I think one of the more tasty "recipes" was cous cous, foil packed garlic/herb chicken, some olive oil, fresh garlic, dried fruits that are on the tart / flavorable side like cranberries or mangos, and some chopped cashews or macadamia nuts.

At least one meal is almost all trips is "chicken" flavored ramen noodles + foil sealed herb&garlic chicken. No other extra additions. I hate to admit it, but not only is this the most common meal, but it's one that I actually enjoy a lot. Somehow, ramen noodles has become associated with comfort and they are a special treat in my family.

–Mark

[D G]

Angel hair pasta or ramen noodles (just the noodles-minus the seasoning packet) with garlic salt, parmesan cheeze, and olive oil. Real basic but tasty and simple to make.

[Dennis Park]

The recipes sound great. Are most of you finding the ingredients in your local grocerie store, esp the veggies and dried meats?

[Sarah Kirkconnell]

Dennis, in many recipes you can find them locally. Some you might need an online purchase. The nice thing is if you do order online from say Harmony House Foods or Packit Gourmet they are both economical, fast and have very high quality products. (And sometimes they offer great free shipping offers!)

[Steve Parr]

>> The recipes sound great. Are most of you finding the
>> ingredients in your local grocerie store, esp the
>> veggies and dried meats?

Veggies are fairly easy to find … look at the dried soup mixes in your grocery store or checkout some of the excellent suggestions on Sarah's FBC site.

Dried meats are the thing I haven't found an easy way to get (without going the dehydrate @ home route).

[Sarah Kirkconnell]

Steve,

While it can be a bit odd at first, flavored TVP can be great for trail meals :-) The "beef" version for me tastes just like hamburger. And you can carry it for a long time in a pack.

While I wouldn't eat the stuff plain, in meals it works well. I add about 2 Tbsp dry per person.

Just don't get plain TVP. YUCK!!!! Gotta get beef or ham! And get the smallest size as well (HHF's sells all of it as well in small bags too!)

[Denis Hazlewood]

For years now, I keep thinking I'll get tired of it but my favorite BIABM is Ramen with freeze dried Vegetables and Chicken.

I crush the Ramen before opening the package. Put crushed Ramen into snack-sized baggie. Throw away the "flavor" packet. Add one crushed chicken bullion cube. Add an amount of Just Veggies, mixed, freeze dried vegetables. Add a third of an ounce of freeze dried chicken – or, for the first three days, a 3 ounce can of cooked chicken, including the broth. If using canned chicken I remove air from baggie, roll tightly, fasten with rubber band and freeze.

Variations of this use instant brown rice and, perhaps, curry powder, ground ginger, crystallized ginger, raisins, and sliced water chestnuts. Still adding the chicken.

I always look forward to eating this and only try changing it every few years. If I hadn't just finished a great barbeque dinner, from Gracie's, in Vallejo, I'd whip up some right now.

[Patricia Combee]

Miss Q's tater Delight from Sarah's Freezer Bag Cooking book. MMMMMM Good! My friends all stopped eating their "food" and started to drool when I pulled this one out. I thought I might have to beat them off with a trekking pole.

I also make a mean Mountain sghetti by adapting a recipe I use at home. At home I use linguini and fresh ingredients.
On trail I use a block of Ramen (ditch the spice pack) which I put in a freezer bag or steamer bag. Add boiling water and let sit a while. Drain it. Add can of chicken or use freeze dried (which you would add to bag with the ramen to rehydrate it), add a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, and lots of parmesan cheese.
The possibilites are endless!

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