Recipes in PACK LIGHT, EAT RIGHT an online book
by Brenda L. Braaten
Nutritional recommendations for backpackers
and other endurance exercise enthusiasts.

From: Marion Davison [email protected]

I am posting 7 of the recipes, after reviewing them on the trail.  These are the
good ones!
Features of these recipes:
They do not have added meat.  We are vegetarians.  Most contain some kind of
soup broth that may have a beef or chicken base.  Feel free to add dehydrated
meat as desired.   Our bacon bits are imitation.
They do not require cooking.  Bring water to a boil, add boiling water to the
food in a one quart plastic measuring cup, stir,cover with a lid, and let stand
about 20 minutes.  Stir and eat.  For cooking purposes we carry only the
following:  a 2 quart aluminum coffee pot, and an MSR stove, Each person carries
a spoon,  a plastic one quart measuring cup, with lid and handle, and a 12 oz.
insulated plastic drinking mug with lid.  We can make two dinners and fill both
mugs for cocoa with one pot of boiling water.
The ingredients listed are for one serving.  Put all the ingredients together in
a ziplock sandwich baggie.  Pack a baggie for each person in your group.  These
are large servings.  We are both tall people and big eaters.
We make our own dried brown rice by cooking rice and drying it in the
dehydrator.  You can substitute brown or white minute rice.
We make our own dried cooked beans by cooking them in a pot and then drying them
in a dehydrator.  I don't know of any substitutes on the market.
Dried onion flakes and dried vegetable flakes should be run through a food
processor before packing to make the particles smaller.  They will reconstitute
better.

1.  Bacospuds
pack in a baggie (for one person)
2/3 cup mashed potato flakes
2 tbls. dry milk powder
1 tsp. butter buds
1 tsp. cilantro flakes
1 tsp. finely minced onion flakes
1/2 package (1.25 oz Schilling) Alfredo Sauce Mix
dash black pepper
2 tbls. bacon bits
To prepare in camp:  Add 1 and 1/2 cups boiling water, stir, add a little more
water and stir to desired consistency.  Eat immediately.  This is a good cold
weather meal as it doesn't have to sit around reconstituting and cooling off.


2.  Italian rice and beans
pack in a baggie for one person:
1/2 cup dried cooked brown rice
1/3 cup dried cooked beans
1/4 cup beef flavor minced TVP
2 tbls. minced dried vegetable flakes
1 tsp. italian seasoning
1 tsp. minced onion flakes
1 tsp. garlic and herb seasoning
1 tbls. Knorr tomato bouillon
To prepare in camp:  add 2-3 cups boiling water (depending on your preference
for thickness), stir, cover,  and let stand 20 minutes.  Stir and eat.

3.  Asian Ramen
pack in a baggie for one person:
1 brick of ramen noodles, crushed
1 creamy chicken ramen packet
1 tbls. minced dried vegetable flakes
1 tsp. butter buds
1 tsp. minced onion flakes
dash black pepper
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. Tofu Helper Shanghai Stir Fry seasoning
1/3 cup dried cooked beans
To prepare in camp--add 2-3 cups boiling water (according to your preference for
thickness), stir, cover, let stand 20 minutes, stir and eat.

4. Teriyaki Ramen
pack in a baggie for each person:
1 brick ramen noodles, crushed
1 teriyaki chicken ramen packet
1 tbls. minced dried vegetable flakes
1/2 tsp. lemon pepper
1/2 tsp. parsley flakes
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 cup dried cooked beans
1 tsp. onion flakes
1 tsp. Tofu Helper Shanghai Stir Fry seasoning
To prepare in camp--add 2-3 cups boiling water (according to your preference for
thickness), stir, cover, let stand 20 minutes, stir and eat.

5.  Bean and Bacon Soup
Pack in a baggie for one person:
1 cup dried cooked brown rice
1/3 cup dried cooked beans
1 packet of Washington Onion Broth
1 tsp. minced onion flakes
dash black pepper
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. parsley flakes
2 tbls. bacon bits
1/4 tsp. soul seasoning
To prepare in camp:  add 2-3 cups boiling water (according to your preference
for thickness), stir, cover, let stand 20 minutes, stir and eat.

6.  Curried Ramen
Pack in a baggie for one person:
1 brick ramen noodles
1 packet creamy chicken ramen flavor
1 tsp. curry powder
1 tsp. minced onion flakes
1 tsp. dried minced vegetable flakes
1/3 cup dried cooked beans
1/4 cup chopped cashews
1/4 cup raisins
1/2 tsp. garlic and herb seasoning
To prepare in camp:  add 2-3 cups boiling water (according to your preference
for thickness), stir, cover, let stand 20 minutes, stir and eat.

7.  Potatoes and Gravy
pack in a bag for one person:
2/3 cup mashed potato flakes
1/2 package La Loma mushroom gravy
1 tbls. powdered milk
1/3 cup minced beef TVP
1 tsp. parsley flakes
1 tsp. minced onion flakes
1 tsp. butter buds
To prepare in camp:  add 1 and 1/2 cups boiling water.  Stir.  Add a little more
water to desired thickness, stir, and eat.

Baco Spuds. It's out of the Lipsmackin' Backpackin' book by Connors. Dry a 5 oz can if chicken and a 4oz bag of mixed vegetables. I liked it with a lot of vegetables. Mix up 1.5 C of potato flakes (In my opinion Hungry Jack are the only edible ones); a serving of Butter Buds, a pkg. of gravy mix and 1/2 C of Baco's or cooked bacon. I used Hormel's real bacon bits and sealed them in a pouch and it kept for 8 days plus. Add water and heat. Veggies need to re-hydrate for a while.

From: Jerry

SECRET HAMBURGER TECHNIQUE
Brown X pounds (I usually do 4 – 5 pounds at a time and store it in the freezer) extra lean ground chuck. As it is browning, add Sweet Basil and fresh garlic to taste. Break up the ground beef as much as you can. If you want it to keep for an extended time at room temperature, rinse it in a strainer in the sink until you feel you've gotten out as much fat as you can. If you are going to use it for short trips, don’t rinse that yummy garlic out. Just drain it well and, after you dehydrate it, store it in the freezer. It should end up pea gravel sized when dried. I use a store bought dehydrator. I dry it until it is rock hard. If you've broken it up into small enough chunks, it will re-constitute as the water is coming to a boil. It will also reconstitute in cold water in 20 to 30 minutes or so for tacos, etc. I use 1/3 cup in most things I make, except chili. It tastes pretty much normal, if you know what I mean.
The only special procedure for the sauce is to run it through the blender before and after you dehydrate it. I dehydrate mine over night making it completely dry. After you run it though the blender the second time it should be a powder.
Since you are going to make regular pasta, I'd use just a little more water than absolutely necessary to cook the pasta and throw in the ground beef with it. When it is done, drain all of it and add the sauce. The sauce should be in a separate baggie. I usually use 1/4 to 1/3-cup dry sauce. Add a little hot water from your pot. I get mine before I add the pasta to cook. The amount depends on how thick you like your sauce. Start small and work up. It will reconstitute virtually immediately I carry another baggie with real shredded Parmesan.
If it doesn't turn out in a way you think is right, email me your address and
I'll mail you a meal.

Our hot meals are a stew of some kind. We use instant bean flakes, dried
shrimp or jerky for protein, instant rice or quinoa for grain, a dried
vegetable mix we buy in the bulk section of the co-op, along with maybe some
dried mushrooms or peppers, and a block of commercial organic broth powder.
And then the tablespoon of olive oil before eating. We've started mixing
each meal at home, in waxed bags, so it's basically just dump when the water
boils. We put in our spices at home, too, the curry, garlic powder,
whatever, but we also take containers of lime juice, hot sauce, garlic
powder & salt

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From: Trailblazer75

There are meats that you can take on the trail or keep for several days or even weeks without refrigeration. In the average supermarket you will find displays of summer sausage in 4 to 8 oz casings. It is displayed without being cooled. Unopened, it will keep for several weeks on the trail. Once opened, it is good for several days if protected from air, say in a zip-lock. Cut only what you need, sliced it spoils quicker. Pepperoni is another sausage that will keep. Find good Polish, Italian, German, Spanish delis. There will often be an open air hanging display of dry-cured and possibly smoked meats of different kinds as well as sausages of various kinds. Bacon in the slab, often much leaner than commercial bacon. Smoked and cured porkchops. Canadian style bacon, smoked and dried sausages. Always buy in a piece, and in the field cut only what you will use. Occasionally, you may find a bit of mold on the outside, just trim it away, if the inside of the meat starts to look green or brown, or if it gets slimy, chuck it, but it seldom happens. I once worked a half slab of bacon for a ten day trip on Isle Royale. It seldom lasts that long since we eat it too fast. We used the bacon rind to grease our pans. The walleye were delicious just dusted with flour and fried in minimum fat. Fillet them without scaling. Cook meat side down until flour is lightly browned, turn only once, and cook with skin side down till lightly browned, and serve. The meat will slide right off the skin. Best way to cook trout also.

 

 

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From: BRANDON STONE [email protected]

1.

instant brown rice
freeze dried corn
instant refried beans
freeze dried tomatoes
chili powder
one large clove raw garlic (this was great; I sliced it up just before
adding the boiling water)

2.
"long rice" (as it's called in Hawaii; these are very fine rice noodles,
available in Asian markets; they hydrate just fine after a few minutes
once you've poured the boiling water into the Stand-and-Zip bag)
freeze dried carrots
dried mushrooms (sliced shiitake are good, available at Asian markets)
kombu (a type of dried seaweed; looks like green jerky, cut with scissors

into 1" segments when preparing the mealpak at home)
one miso soup packet (serving for two)
(I didn't have them with me, but a bit of sesame oil and chili paste
would be great with this)

3.
couscous
walnut pieces
dried cranberries
dried onions (or onion flakes or whatever; I got them in the bulk spice
section of our health food store)
(again, I didn't have it, but a little olive oil would be good)

I put together a lot of one-, two-, and three-serving mealpaks, which I hydrated with
boiling water in the new stand-and-fill Glad brand ziploc bags. Those
bags are great, by the way. I reused each one several times, both the
quart and half-gallon size.

As a vegan, I'm surely in a minority (of one?) on this list, but I
thought you might be interested in some of my combinations. These are all
assemblies--I just dumped varied amounts of the ingredients into the
bags. No pre-cooking, dehydrating, or anything else. I haven't included
quantities because I never measure anything, and you can add amounts to
your own taste.

corn meal
sunflower seeds
dried, shredded greens (Korean; I'm not sure what kind of greens they
were)
freeze dried tomatoes
fried onions (a Korean thing)
dehydrated garlic slivers (also a Korean thing)
olive oil

"long rice," which in Hawaii refers to bean threads, a type of noodle
that turns clear and sticky when cooked
dried tofu chunks (Japanese)
freeze dried peas
shredded black fungus
packet of powdered teriyaki sauce

somen (very fine wheat noodles which cook fast)
dried mushrooms
sesame seeds
miso soup packet
vinegar

instant brown rice
mixed freeze dried vegetables
dried bean curd (a kind of stick-like dried Chinese tofu)
dried mushrooms
Szechuan spice packet

Thai rice noodles
freeze dried corn, tomatoes, peppers, peas, and carrots
dried coconut milk powder (from a Thai market)
thai green curry paste
peanut paste (from a Thai market)

instant brown rice
dried cranberries
walnut pieces
fried onions
(if this sounds odd to you, try it; it's delicious; it's loosely inspired
by the heavenly Persian dish fesenjan)

instant brown rice
freeze-dried corn kernels
dried refried beans (hydrated separately and added on the side)
chili powder

instant brown rice
sushi mix (vinegar powder, sugar, etc)
shredded seaweed
nori (sushi wrappers)
(from these we made our own sushi)

couscous
dried mushrooms
dehydrated garlic
freeze-dried tomatoes
a packet of sphagetti sauce

side dish:
hijiki (a type of seaweed)
sesame oil
shoyu
vinegar

oatmeal (regular rolled oats, not the quick kind)
raisins
[this is for breakfast; the regular oats soften up just fine after having
boiling water poured on them; I never use the quick kind anymore]

I carried an ounce or two of roasted sesame oil, olive oil, rice vinegar,
chili paste, honey, and shoyu (=soy sauce) for livening up these meals.
These I stored in one- or two-ounce Nalgene bottles which I found at the
Nature Company, of all places.

Goodies added by my trailmates included powdered hummous mix and
crackers, miso soup with somen, Thai veggies with dehydrated potato
sticks, rum and spiced cider, etc., etc. Also dried cuttlefish,
distinctly and odiferously non-vegetarian, but enjoyed by all.

We found fresh watercress in two places along the trail and on those days
I prepared it Korean-style, boiled for a few seconds (to kill any
microbes, since it grows in freshwater), drained, and then tossed with a
little sesame oil, shoyu, and vinegar.

I must humbly add that these meals went over well with my trailmates,
none of whom are as vegefied as I am. Also, since this was a first
attempt, my quantities were huge. My meals for three were really meals
for five or six, so we ate a lot and gave much away. I must measure more
carefully.

All agreed that this approach was much tastier and more satisfying than
using the commercial mealpaks. There is much more to explore. I have only
begun to spice!

 

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…variation on the Brandon’s Thai noodles. Since this was a short trip I used coconut

milk in little 7 fl oz aseptic packs instead of the dried milk. One was more

than enough for a rich two to three person recipe. Found it at Trader Joes,

but haven't seen it at the Asian markets. The brand is "Kara" and made by PT

Pulau Sambu, Indonesia. No preservatives either. The cooking was easy; the

only thing I would change would be to start the noodle soak in water earlier

in the day to save time at dinner. This was easy, heat up the coconut milk,

add the chili paste peanut butter mix, simmer a bit (if possible!) then dump

in the dried veggies and the noodles. Let it sit for about five minutes.

The rest of our "meals" were things like carrots, apples, dried

fruit,seaweed salad with a tamari, rice wine vinegar, and toasted sesame

seed oil dressing, (another soak it in the morning, pack it along for lunch

kind of thing). Seaweeds that need little or no cooking are best, like

wakame, and arame.

tasty and pretty. Instant greens and great vitamins. Simple, and fresh;

the

weight wasn't a big deal since we were light on gear and water. More room

for food! :)

My favorite must have spices are homemade curry powders (try curried oatmeal

or cous cous with some fruit or maple syrup or powdered honey for

breakfast), garlic, ginger, miso, and some kind of tamari concoction. This

covers most bases for me. Also have recently discovered instant ginger tea

with sugar or honey in one serving foil packets, so good on a cold morning!

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