Best no-cook food on my last trip

[Diane “Piper” Soini]

I blew up my stove on the first night on a 10 day hike along the first two sections of the PCT. Did a little shopping in Lake Morena. The best no-cook foods I ate:

• Mashed potatoes with real California olive oil and cheddar cheese. The big winner.
• Foil pouch salmon, mashed potatoes, cheese, mustard, sriracha and olive oil.
• Spam singles, cheese and mashed potatoes.
• Butter slabs on top of swiss cheese slabs.
• Rehydrated ground beef with mashed potatoes and olive oil.

I think from now on I’ll just bring fresh foods and instant mashed potatoes. I’ll be Dutch and just eat a lot of butter and cheese and fish.

[Daniel B]

Those sound like good options. Would you be concerned over the lack of fruits or vegetables?

[Diane “Piper” Soini]

Absolutely not. In my opinion, animals convert vegetables into food for humans. If I want a salad, I’ll eat some in town. And dried fruit is closer to candy than fresh fruit. But I do usually include a little bit of dried spinach or something in my dehydrated meats.

[Nick Smolinske]

Cous cous also rehydrates well with cold water.

[David Thomas]

Tabouli can be found in any supermarket.  The (separate) olive oil has a lot of calories.  I use an old, small “disposable” water bottle to transport the oil.

[Tipi Walter]

I pulled a no-cook 18 day backpacking trip last April 2015 and it was okay but I missed my morning stove ritual of hot herbal tea with honey.  Being a vegetarian, I brought a couple loaves of Ezekiel bread and made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches; also alot of cold oatmeal soaked in water with raisins.

I believe on long trips (exceeding 7 days or so) it’s lighter to go with a stove and carry dehydrated meals requiring boiling water and a pot cozy to reconstitute.  And a small high quality fry pan REALLY helps to make trail food more interesting—think scrambled eggs or egg-in-bread (see pic below), or toast or fried whatever.  Grilled cheese sandwiches come to mind.

[Ryan K]

For no-cook, rehydrated cold mashed potatoes are hard to beat – they go well with a lot of things, easy to have a large bag and then just pour a meals-portion and add a different combination of seasoning each day.

I really like rehydrated hummus as well.

And both go really well with fresh sprouts for your fresh vegetables, if you want to try sprouting on the trail.  I like brown lentils best – the root usually starts to emerge within 12 hours after soaking.

But I can live on nuts, dried fruit, and chips for a long time. I don’t really crave more traditional cooked meals, although I do crave fresh fruit.

 

[Matthew / BPL]

How do you sprout lentils in the trail?

[Ryan K]

Outdoor Herbivore sells hemp sprouting bags, which I haven’t tried.  My preferred method is basically the same I use at home.

1. Get a plastic peanut butter jar, pierce a bunch of holes in the lid, and take your choice of seeds.  I like best regular brown lentils and dark green French lentils.
2. Before bed, fill your jar with 1/4 to 1/2 cup seeds, rinse and drain once with fresh water, then refill with water to soak overnight.
3. In the morning, drain the old water, rinse and drain again if you want, put the cap back on, and put in your side pocket.  You can start eating them now.
4. Once or twice during the day, rinse and drain when you collect water.  You just don’t want them to dry out.
5. By dinner, some should just start to have their root poking out, which will continue to grow if you don’t eat them all for dinner (which I do and start a new batch).

Leafy sprouts like broccoli and alfalfa take longer, but this is a great way to make some beans edible with no cooking. Garbanzo, mung, and soy work, but IMO are not as yummy and/or not as fast. This probably won’t work or be much slower if daytime temperatures are below around 60 or nighttime temps are under 40.

[Matthew / BPL]

Very interesting. Thank you for sharing this process.

[DAN-Y/FANCEE FEEST]

today I had the thought of pickled eggs vacuum sealed in plastic bag. Anyone heard of pickled eggs being vacuum sealed and taken on a field trip, no refrigeration needed?

Made me think of Timmons

 

 

[Diane “Piper” Soini]

The nice thing about mashed potatoes, aside from their easy no-cook properties, is you can find fairly bland flavors. Lots of other things, like hummus, tend to have garlic or other seasonings. I love garlic in normal life, but on the trail I don’t like it for some reason, and I don’t like the way products with garlic or other strong seasonings affect my other food.

Sprouting sounds interesting. I bet you can do it in a plastic bag. I make yogurt in a plastic bag when I’m backpacking. As long as the milk + starter stays between 70-90 degrees for most of the day, it’ll sour properly. Leave it out in the cold at least the last few hours of the night and it firms up, chills and is ready for breakfast. To keep it warm I put it in my bra, put it in a shirt pocket, sleep with it or put it somewhere in my pack where the sun will warm it but not too much. Too much heat and you get something closer to cottage cheese.

[Tipi Walter]

Instead of sprouting (I used to have an alfalfa sprout farm back in 1979), I pick wild edibles as I hike like violet greens and chickweed and others.  These supply a goodly amount of sprout like freshness.

[Nick Smolinske]

today I had the thought of pickled eggs vacuum sealed in plastic bag. Anyone heard of pickled eggs being vacuum sealed and taken on a field trip, no refrigeration needed?

That might work, but I would be leery storing any wet food in a vacuum without refrigeration.  It’s a perfect breeding ground for botulism.  You’re unlikely to grow enough botulism toxin to harm you over the course of a backpacking trip, but I would still be nervous.

That said, I do love me a pickled egg once in a while.  Yooper-style only, of course.

 

[Ryan K]

Piper, that’s pretty crazy, making yogurt on the trail.  I’m surprised it works with powdered milk.  Do you think starter with soy milk made from soy powder would work?  I’m pretty much vegan now and for a while I used to eat a lot of soy yogurt, although I don’t much anymore.  Freshly-made soy yogurt, granola, freshly picked wild blueberries, watching the sunrise on top of a mountain, is probably the best breakfast I can think of.

A plastic bag can work for sprouts, but they do need to breath. And you have to be careful not to crush them.

I went through a bit of a wild edibles craze a while back, but now I get tired very quickly of eating anything bitter.  Sour leaves like sorrel and oxalis are good.  Plus it seems like I see a ton around the trailhead parking lot (weeds) and then nothing edible on the trail, with the exception of making tea.

[DAN-Y/FANCEE FEEST]

Nick, I did a little googling and found some interesting info on pickled eggs and concerns about botulism:

Note of caution:

There is a potential risk of botulism. Here are the facts surrounding home canning pickled eggs:

The NCHFP (The National Center for Home Food Preperation) states that home canned pickled eggs should always be refrigerated at 39 degrees F (3.8 C) or lower. The reason for this is that botulism can grow in the following conditions: • No Oxygen
• Temperatures above 39 Degrees F
• Where the PH value is greater than 4.6
What does this mean? • There is no oxygen inside of the canned jar which could breed botulism.
• If unrefrigerated, the temperature inside the jar will be above 39 degrees (also can breed botulism)
• But the recipe calls for 5% acidic vinegar, which has a PH of 2.4 – which prevents botulism from growing
Hard boiled eggs have a PH around 6.8 – So it is possible for botulism to grow because the vinegar does not penetrate deeply into the egg. Therefore, you must make sure your peeled, hard boiled eggs do not have any cracks, cuts, splits or tears in them. They should be blemish free. Doing this will prevent botulism spores from entering the egg.

The following points are the most critical to ensure safety from botulism: • All peeled eggs used should be free of nicks, cuts, holes or punctures
• Use all vinegar with a 5% acidity level, do not cut with water
• Cooking times and temperatures related below should be strictly adhered to
• Sterilization of all jars, lids, rings, and paraphernalia is required
What is the probability or risk of getting botulism? • On average, in the USA, there are 23 cases of botulism per year. (out of 450 million people)
• Millions of home brewed pickled eggs are consummed each year.
• There has only been 1 reported case of botulism caused by home pickled eggs, back in 1997.
See: Botulism in Pickled Eggs – In this report you will read that this individual did a number of things wrong when he prepared his pickled eggs.
If you have any doubts about canning pickled eggs, simply refrigerate your jars.

If you do choose to keep your canned eggs un-refrigerated, you should keep them as cool as possible and out of direct sunlight.

The following recipes assume you are experienced with canning and all the safety requirements that go along with canning, such as: Keeping everything sterile, washing your hands, rinsing the eggs and pre-heating them to kill any surface spores before packing in the jar etc.

Having dispensed with the litigical requirements, onto a mouth watering treat:

[Laura O]

I tried cold Chicken Street Tacos and it is great! It has chicken, bell peppers, green chilies, and enough seasoning that it is not bland.

Here is the recipe. Just mix all the dry ingredients together beforehand, add cold water, and serve on a tortilla.

Recipe

 

I am an independent consultant for Thrive Life.

[Laura O]

I got a message from someone saying my link to a recipe for Street Tacos did not work and wanted the correct link. Here it is.

http://lolson.thrivelife.com/recipes/recipe/view/id/1199

 

I am an independent consultant for Thrive Life

[DAN-Y/FANCEE FEEST]

Diane, tell us a little about what caused your stove to blow up.

I blew up my stove on the first night on a 10 day hike along the first two sections of the PCT.

[Author]

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