Mark, keep experimenting like you are doing. It will take only a short time to learn about the water amount, ratios of ingredients, your preferred spices, etc. There are no real rules as to how to do this–just experiment at home, try new ideas, ingredients, etc. If you are a meat eater, you might consider putting a tablespoon or so of FD beef or chicken into the mix. For me, the most essential item is the choice of spices I add. Once you become comfortable with a few dishes, then there's a whole new arena you can get into. I like adding FD olives slices, yoghurt powder, FD cheese, dehydrated fat-free sour cream and the like. Be careful, though–if you get into doing this like some of us, you'll end up buying a dehydrator and maybe even a vacuum sealer. Then you'll know that you've passed on to the level of true food geekdom! But it sure as hell beats Mountain House.
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