Meal Challenge

My fav meals are always comfort food, like Mac n cheese, or simple miso or ramen soup (of whatever brand or flavor). I like to mix up new ones and try them out at work for lunch, as a test. Glad I do that, because every once in a while that has me skipping lunch! For the really bad experiments, such as anything containing TVP. I used to like that stuff. I’d rather burn fat reserves nowadays.

My latest favs are:

1. Ramen with tomato powder and marinara style spices, sundried tomatoes and peppers, Parmesan cheese packet, and adding summer sausage at time of prep. Everything goes into baggie until prep time except the meat. Dried mushrooms instead of meat sometimes.

2. Ramen with Thai red curry powder (not paste) which I mix myself. Add in coconut powder, a packet of peanut butter (added at prep time), and some chopped peanuts. Super easy and tasty. Extra dried chilies for the husband and sometimes for me. More dried veggies sometimes too.

3. Dessert! Rehydrate freeze dried strawberries, put on top of reconstituted cheesecake mix. Yuck at home, gourmet when camping, especially when it’s cold out.

i love Sarah Kirkconnells recipes, and also Inga’s Hungry Spork, But I tend to adapt all recipes to suit my cooking style, which is exactly what you describe – all in a pot, boil and eat. No eating from plastic bags, ugh. I know some people like that but not me. No putting things in bags and cozies and whatnot. Boil it up, eat it, clean it,done. All plastic bags get packed out, washed at home and reused until they can’t go any longer (probably 5+ uses).

Soups are filling,hot, modifiable, cheap, and keep me warm at night. In warmer weather, which I hardly ever hike in, soups help rehydrate.

i hope someone chimes in with new ideas.

Basically I often start with a side of something. Rice Side. Noodle Side, or something along those lines. Each packet weighs between 5.5 and 6.5 oz. I will add about 2oz of some preserved meat. Jerky, pepperoni, salami, dried fish, summer sausage, etc. Also about an ounce of pemmican. If I find anything edible along the trail (mushrooms, veggies, roots) I will add those, also. Bring the whole thing to a boil, then under a cozy (my hat) for about 20min.

When I prepare my own stuff, I will start with about 4oz of some carb: Rice, macaroni, polenta, noodles, rice noodles, etc. I will add about 2oz of beans of some sort. About 2oz of meat as above. If I’ve managed to forage for anything (cattails, apples, etc) they get cut up and tossed in. As above, I add a couple cups of water and bring the whole thing to a boil then cozy it.

Sometimes I find something really good, like oyster mushrooms or a bed of wild carrots. These I boil, and cozy for about 20 minutes, then make cocoa out of leftover liquid. Really tasty with a shot of scotch! (And, It kind’a covers up the boiled sand & grit.) Then fry it up with olive oil. But this is not really a one shot meal. It takes about 10 minutes to fry up a batch of something after boiling/cozy.

Soups and stews are easy, they are generally one shot meals with about 2oz of mixed veggies, about an ounce of dried onion, a pinch of garlic, about an ounce of quick barley, 2 ounces of some sort of meat in three cups of water. Then this is heated till the water starts to steam. In the mean time I add a couple tablespoons of water to about a quarter cup of bisquik in my cup and make a soft dough. I open the stew as it starts to steam and drop in 1/2″ balls of dough, then cover while it boils about a few seconds, then cozy it for 20min or so. Stews are about the same, except I substitute a few tablespoons of instant potatoes for the dumplings.

2 cups of water, 3 oz of precooked/dried beans, 2oz of rice, 1 ounce of dried green pepper bits and 3ounces of chunked dried beef and plenty of chilli powder and cumin makes a fair approximation of a chilli.

Strangely, I don’t care for boxed Mac& Cheese. It has a funny aftertaste. I boil up about 2 cups water and 5oz of some small elbows, cozy it for about 10minutes. Then add about a half ounce of olive oil and 4 ounces of small pieces of cheddar cheese stirring it in. Then cozy it for about 15 min more. Real mac&cheese.

2 cups of water and a cup of macaroni boiled, add some minced garlic and cozy for 20. After opening add about an ounce of olive oil about an ounce of red pepper flakes stirring it in well. Hot and spicy! Believe it or not, it will actually cool you off when it is hot out. The red pepper “heat” will actually cause over sweating causing you to cool for about an hour after eating it.

Note I did not mention spices. This is highly individual. Being of Italian descent, I like all sorts of spices, dried fish, salami’s, sausages and cheeses, and, use these as spices.  I usually carry some dried onions, red pepper, black pepper, salt, and dried garlic. I have other packets of basil, cayenne, oregano, thyme, chilli powder usually leftover from other trips/specific meals. They all taste good on the trail, even mixed in odd proportions.

Fresh trout chunked and placed over rice, just as the water boils, then cozy it for 20 is excellent. But try to insure you have a campfire to dispose of the bones.  Remove the fins, tail and head first, of course.