This page is dedicated to outdoor cooking.
De-hydratred
Unless stated otherwise these are all meals that are stored in pint size ziplock freezer bags with one person's meal per bag. When back packing I then normally store all of the meals in my bear container. Unless otherwise stated all of these meals are best eaten with a spoon.
Stir Fry
This has proven to be a very successful meal that is both tasty and satisfying. The mix of carbs, protein and vegetables is also very good for the hiking body. This receipt made two meals.
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound steak
- 1/2 yellow or red onion
- 1 jalapeno
- 1 green pepper
- 1 red pepper
- liquid soy sauce
- powdered soy sauce (amazon)
- crushed garlic
- ginger
- jasmine minute rice
- crushed red pepper
Process
Cut up the steak, green pepper, red pepper and onion into bite size pieces. Chop the jalapeno into sizes that you find palatable based on your enjoyment of spice. Pan fry and flavor with soy sauce, crushed garlic and ginger as desired. Try not to have extra fluid when you are done fully cooking the meat. Extra fluid will interfere with the dehydrating.
Take the cooked place it in the dehydrator over night. Makes sure it is spread out on the trays to ensure good airflow. The next morning place the stir fry in two separate pint size ziplock freezer bags. Add rice to full the remainder of the bags. Then add to taste the powdered soy sauce and crushed red pepper.
Quick comment on portion size. In regards to health you cannot eat too many vegis. The health question in this recipe is the amount of protein you want to have from the steak. Must of us eat more protein than we need. Clearly, during backpacking getting enough protein to repair damaged muscles is critical so I recommend you adjust the amount of steak in this meal to ensure every day you are getting enough protein. One thing to keep in mind with protein and repairing muscles is that it is best if you can take that protein into your body within thirty minutes of working out. So, if you hike for the day and then set up your tent and then get around to heating your water you might want to look at eating something like jerky immediately after you take your pack off to help feed the healing of your muscles.
Soft Tacos
This has been a breathtaking success for me. Maybe it was just the moment and company in which I at this, but this meal was simple and yummy. Unlike the other meals you will have a ziplock back of the main meal AND a ziplock bag of soft tortillas. Do not forget the tortillas. This recipe makes two bags.
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 green pepper
- 1 jalapeno
- 1/2 onion
- 1 packet taco seasoning
- taco sauce packets (amazon or other provider)
- Dehydrated cheese
- 4 soft tortillas
Process
Pan fry the ground beef and drain excess grease. Add a small amount of water and packet of taco seasoning. Do not use excess water as we are going to dehydrate this later and will take longer. Add onions, green pepper and jalapenos as the taco seasoning is mixing with the ground beef. Remove from heat and let cool. Then place in the dehydrator ensuring it is well spread out. Let it dehydrate over night. Then add place into two ziplock bags and add dehydrated cheese to taste. For simplicity you could also add the taco sauce packets into the zip lock bags.
Meaty Mashed Potatoes
Ingredients
- Powdered mash potatoes
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 onion
- 1 green pepper
- BBQ sauce
- Garlic salt
- Salt
- Pepper
- Dehydrated cheese
Process
Pan fry the ground beef and drain the grease. Add onions, pepper and BBQ sauce. You want to add as little BBQ sauce possible but ensuring it is well season. Once cool put into dehydrator and ensure it is well spread out for air flow. Let is dehydrate over night. Then fill two pint size ziplock bags with meat and vegis. Then fill the remainder of the bags with powdered mash potatoes. Season with garlic salt, salt, pepper and dehydrated cheese to taste.
Regarding portions and ingredients, this is a good meal to add more vegetables and reduce the powdered potatoes if you want.
Oatmeal
Ok, this was my least favorite meal of this list. Though healthy and functional it was just boring and after eating it for several days in a row I found myself not eating it all. I am not doing a very good job of selling this, but here it is.
Ingredients
- Quick cook oatmeal
- Fresh raspberries
- Whey protein
- Brown sugar
Process
Dehydrate the raspberries over night. Then mix oatmeal, whey protein and raspberries. Add brown sugar to taste. And there you go. We added the whey protein to add protein to our breakfast meal in the hope the meal would stick with us. Well, it did, but it also made the oatmeal even more sticky than it normally easy. Doing it again I would add more brown sugar and raisins. I was bored with this meal after one breakfast and I think the raisins and brown sugar would help with that.
Dutch Oven
Work in progress.