Lightweight cooking

“OK I'll start it. Does anyone have any receipes for lightweight cooking. No cans.”

“SierraMel is the queen of back country recipes and is supposed to be getting a book published this year. GET ON IT Mel!

I just tried a pasta recipe from the newest Backpacker Mag that is #1 of pasta, 2 tbs. of parsley, 6 cloves of fresh garlic, 1/3 cup of parmesan cheese (fresh is best), ½ cup of very fine olive oil and pepper to taste. Just mix all this together. It is very filling and tastes great!

One of my favorites is chili mac and cheese. I dehydrate a can of meatless chili, and while the water for the mac is boiling I rehydrate the chili and set it aside. By the time the mac is ready the chili has come back from the dead. Just pour the chili on top of the mac and cheese and dig in. I know mac and cheese is supposed to be the scourge of the earth but I still love it. I love mixing in pepperonis too.

If I know I?ll have a fire the first night and I don?t mind a little extra weight the first day I?ll cut up a good steak into bite-sized pieces and wrap it in foil with a chopped up onion and pepper and then freeze it. By the time I get to camp it is thawed and ready to be thrown in the fire. Cutting it up beforehand keeps me from having to try to cut a steak in a little bitty fry pan/plate.

My newest project is navy beans and ham in the dehydrator. Hopefully it will come out good.”

“drying out veggies as we speak! But how do you do the veggie chili?? like fruit leather??

When I'm beat and can't think about putting together a good menu-mac and cheese (velvetta) and cooked choc pudding.

I found dried tortelini, adding any Knors sauce and dried mushrooms works out great! Takes alittle cooking though for the tort.

I like dried spinach with alittle parm cheese.”

“I have been thinking of drying a mixture that I use as a pasta topping. I have started chopping up and mixing Red, Yellow and Green Pepper with some pepperoni then seasoning it and freezing it for a quick meal in the evening it is great over pasta. I wonder how it would be dried?”

“Hey m&m, I also use that Bertagni Tortillini. It is great. I just have a hard time with the sauce. I too, purchased some Knorrs sause mix but did not make it on my last trip because I could not find any powdered milk in a small quantity. When I found the powdered milk it was in a huge box. I wonder if those Ragu sauces will keep unrefrig'd. for a couple of days. Has anyone tried this?
Top Ramen noodles are also lightweight and cheap.”

“anything but ramen noodles!!!!!

You can also make your own pesto and just bring that for the tort.
I always have parm cheese in my pack.

Does anyone have a good scone mix receipe to use when there's berries to be found??????”

“Lefty,

Most tomato-based products will last quite a while due to the acid in the tomatoes. As long as it isn't moldy I think it would be okay. Someone correct me if I'm wrong! I'd probably get a sauce without meat in it though. I dehydrate Ragu on plastic sheets (it looks like fruit leather), then I peel it off tear it up in little pieces and rehydrate in a zip lock - it only takes 15 minutes or so to rehydrate and comes out great!”

“Cork was the one who taught me about dehydrating spaghetti sauce. The stuff I had for the llama trek, had little pieces of sausage in it, and they dehydrated just fine into the tomato paste leather. No spoilage or distaste either.

I think almost anything can be dehydrated and will taste just fine, as long as you rehydrate it long enough before you cook or warm it up.

I think Ramen noodles are a good substitute, as long as you don't use the seasoning they include.”

“Knorrs also makes potatoes, dried like their other stuff. I have tried the hash browns they are great-seasoning is good and they cook up well. I'm not sure how to make a meal of them yet.
Maybe they would be good with a aspargus and cheese omlette. . . .

Not lightweight, but good with red wine on the first night-tortillas in the frying pan, sliced cheese and granny smiths and fold over. cut in pie pieces.”

“Oh boy oh boy ohboy! Good Thread!!

OK, I think I was the veggie chili person, and others have answered, but yes, dry it on a plastic sheet. I tried waxed paper, it didn't work well. Plastic wrap should work.

Next: I haven't dried fish, as oil doesn't dry and leads to early spoilage. I can't imagine you need to deydrate salami/meat suasage products as they are so highly salted/seasoned/nitrated. Anyone care to comment on dehydrating things with oils???
(all meats are oily, even lean beef, but the leaner the better for dehydrating). Whoever asked about keeping meat out of fresh sauce, you are correct, unless it is a sausage type. Then you are ok for a while.

Oh no, one more: m&m, tell more about your dried spinach and parmesan. Do you cook the spinach first? What with? Sounds good!

And: does anyone have a meat smoker??? I'd love to carry smoked trout... Talk about nibbles of heaven ;-)

Next: as for the sauces: has anyone tried grinding them after deydrating? A blender or food processor would chop, but a powder would certainly increase the surface area and make rehydrating easy! I bought a commercial 'three cheese polenta' that was pretty good on the trail,
and will try deydrating my own to see if it rehydrates better than cooking raw cornmeal. And if you deydrated it cooked, prep would be a snap on the trail...

Nigal, Please report on the ham-n-beans!!!

m&m: Nothin' wrong with mac&cheese, LOTS wrong with Velveeta... Try 'Annie's Homegrown' Mac and Cheese boxed stuff. Very wonderfull stuff, even the sauce packet. Many good varieties, even 'Bernie Bunny' shaped pasta! Mild Mexican is a good one. I just bought a whole wheat pasta one.

Whoever posted the problem with buying small quatities of Pwdr Milk, I can't believe your store doesn't have the small 12 oz box of Carnation Instant, or even the envelopes of 1 or 2 Qt... MilkMan is best due to the fat content, tastes better... (but usually in a HUGE box)... Does anyone have experience with using milk man and no butter/margerine when cooking mac and cheese? How does it taste???

Lastly, (for now), m&m and Lefty,
tell more about the dry Tortellini. I've not seen it, and may need to describe it to a grocer to get it. If you aren't into making your own tomato sauce for dehydrating, try the Classico brand 'Pecorino Romano & Herb', you'll never go back to Ragu. I dump some over Polenta, with some steamed veggies for a quick meal!”

“Scurvy- I needed the chili thing-dehydrating some right now.
We carry smoked fish all the time-But I'm not the one who does the smoking, sorry
Just dry the spinach at home in the oven on cookie cooling sheets, Be sure to pull the stems off an up the back of the leaf. At camp: throw in a small amount of boiling water, drain slightly and add parm, you could add alittle olive oil if you wanted.
I don't eat meat so sometimes I'm left hanging alone.
No Annies mac and cheese, but I'll be a good girl and check out the Health Food Store
The Dried Tort is in the regular pasta isle, they also make gnochi(?) but that's it.
Dried milk- you can also use soy milk powder-its alittle sweeter so I would only use it in desserts and breakfasts.
Another great source of protein is soy nuts- it's like 11 grm of P per oz. very lightweight.”

“Scurvy-
Butter???? use butter flavored crisco. There used to be "Backpackers Butter" at Campmor, but I haven't been able to find it lately.
I need to find dehydrated shrimp and asparagus that doesn't come in hudge quanities??? anyone??
Tell me more about polenta-never had it before.”

“m&m--what's your source for dried spinach? I used to get it in bulk from Backpacker's Pantry, but they don't carry it any more.

Scurvy--there are various butter-flavored powders around (Molly McButter, e.g.), probably not nearly as good as the real thing but a little might enhance the dish.

Speaking of flavored powders, check out the King Arthur Flour catalog. They have a whole passel of flavored powders, including spinach, tomato, various cheeses, sour cream, buttermilk, and of course butter. They also have powdered yolks and whites, and meringue powder. Plus pecan meal, which is great for all sorts of things; I use it in mole, and it's great in instant pie crusts (just toss the crumbs and use pecan meal instead).

And then there's Penzey's Spices, a great mail-order source for an incredible variety of spices (for example, 3 different varieties of saffron); they have some good dehydrated vegetable and fruit type things, but most importantly, they're the only source I've seen for ground chipotles. Don't leave home without the chipotles!

Now here's a pasta recipe that I serve on the last night of every trip, because it's always a hit--but it's really simple: combine Knorr's Alfredo Sauce mix, sun-dried tomato bits (Trader Joe's have some good seasonings in them), powdered milk, and maybe a little butter flavoring. Just cook the sauce more or less per directions. You can't go wrong.”

“Face it--Mountain House is the lightest stuff around. However it is expensive and I only like a couple of kinds.
Some things I have done lately are the afore mentioned dried spagetti sauce--it does fine in the blender. I package freeze dried beef and home dried mushrooms separately to go on top. Garlic butter on melba toast and parmesan and it is almost the real thing.
Cream of chicken soup powder and instant rice are ok. Freeze dried chicken and green beans and mushrooms make it better. I don't mix things up too much or you loose the flavor of each thing.
I'm trying a new one this week. I'm taking dehydrated homemade salsa, store bought refried beans and tostada shells, freeze dried beef and some grated cheese. We shall see.
You can buy #10 cans of Mtn House for things you use frequently. LDPcampingfoods.com has a 20% off sale on them this week--you need to buy $150 minimum order and they pay the shipping. Just put in an order last night. Mary”

“Mary-I do the same with soft tortilla minus the meat and add small can of olives and a plumb tomato

Tephipite-dry your own spinach. Look up.

I get my porriage & soy grits from King arthur. Good people.

One thing the kids seem to like.
Stove top stuffing, gravy with rehydrated chicken.”

“one thing with drying spinach, when you use the cookie cooling rack, place it over a roasting pan because it is really thin and dries quickly and will flake right thru the grates.”

“Sorry, m&m, missed it the first time. I was hoping you had found a freeze-dried source. Haven't done any dehydrating yet because I'm usually doing food for 10-15 people for 9 or 10 days...which rules out anything too labor-intensive.

Here's a happy hour derve idea (to go with that "Party on the Trail"): there are lightweight tubes of anchovy paste, caper paste, sundried tomato paste, garlic, pesto, etc; just bring a couple different tubes and wheat thins or Carr's, and you've got some very classy (lightweight) derves. All you need is the Chardonnay...which I'm having a very hard time finding freeze-dried.”

“Are we talking about drying fresh spinach or canned? If fresh, does it taste like the canned stuff when it comes back?

MaryPhyl- I do burritos and they are great. They don't look very good because I just dry beans, peppers and fine shredded cheese all together. That's how they got to be called "Babyshit Burritos". Very filling though.”

“I'm excited!!! trying the "derves" next trip out. I usually only cook for myself or 1 more.

going to start adding the sundried tomatoes”

“Nigal, Fantastic Foods has some very good instant refried black beans you might check out. Cheese is an item where I'll just take the weight...it doesn't sound like it'd be that great dehydrated--but let me know if I'm wrong.

(And having changed a fair number of diapers, I'm not sure I could erase that image while eating the burrito...which could be a problem.) ;-)”

“No Spam?”

“I was wondering what the "babyshit burrios" were and you're right, especially when you use cheese powder instead of the real thing.

Fresh spinach-and it rehydrates/cooks quickly and tastes just fine. I don't eat canned/frozen veggies, whatever is in at the time.
Just got done today pulling the rest of my veggies from the garden

Help- I tried drying the veggie chili- didn't work, I put it on paper (I did it before your post)

Can you just buy the veggie chili in the instant cup stuff and add a smaller amt of water???”

“I just remembered something,

There's a company that sell stuff like "Just Veggies, Just Cherries, Just Soy nuts, Just Tomatoes" We eat the Just Veggies and Soy Nuts like popcorn. The Dried fruit is good too. Got them at our health food store.”

“Cous Cous was a great find. Little pasta pieces that you don't have to cook, just add boiling water.

I made some homemade spaghetti sauce all out of the garden and dried some into roll-ups. Can't wait to try it.

I dry salad shrimp on my dehydrator. Good in rice with dried mushrooms. Have to be soaked a little first.

Try Potato Buds w/ dry milk and Butter Buds ( a dried butter you can find in the grocery). Dried Beef from the store, dried more and crumbled. And an envelope of brown gravy mix.

Polenta is just grits around here.”

“Polenta is jest grits... WHO SAID THAT!!!

m&m: Listen up. You haven't lived yet, apparently.
Polenta: staple in Italy. Basically cornmeal mush with cheese stirred in.
Traditional service-chill in round roll, slice and fry in a little oil. I've not
tried the 'squeeze' looking tubes of it you can buy in the fridge section
of the store (near the cheeses and the fresh pasta/tortellini/string cheese).
Cook cornmeal just like any grain (or polenta, a courser grind of corn)
and stir in cheese before serving. I like sharp cheddar and Havarti with
Dill. I put some garlic and chives in the water before it boils. I can eat
it until I get ill. Is real easy to add some Pecorino Romano and Herb
sauce and steamed veggies on top,and chow down with a nice piece
of sourdough bread!!! My first Polenta was traditional, at Boyington
Canyon Resort (Sedona) on honeymoon. Side dish/appetizer with the
green salad (that had out of this world raspberry vinagrette). Polenta
was so good we ordered more from room service. I have a whole book
on Polenta, it can be used in many ways...
The three cheese stuff I used backpacking was like the cup o soup
kind, and was actually pretty good!

OK, thanks for clarifying the spinach, I would never have thought of
drying it fresh. Sorry your veggie chili crashed... and I don't use butter
or margerine or crisco, but was wondering how milkman milk might add
to mac and cheese.

Ranger D: you're a crack up!!! I feel that SONG coming on again!

Tehipite: I'd like to hike with you!!! Thanks for the tip on sun dried
tomato paste, I can hardly wait to find some... And CHIPOLTEs!!!
Wow! Dried/ground chipoltes! I found some chipolte hot sauce once.
I've almost carried a can of S&W beans with chipoltes on the trail
just so I can have em'! I make a veggie burger with green chili and
cheese on sourdough and eat with a big ol' bowl of chipotle...

OK, last bit: who has tried dehydrating cheese??? What's the
technique? I saw the topic on another forum, but no one would
divulge the 'secret'. I'd have to agree with just carrying the weight.
Cheddar gets slimy, you just use it quick...

Sorry about the length of this, like I said before... GREAT THREAD!!!”

“So I treat Polenta like I would farina-but not sweet. Same consistency/ratio to water as farina??? I make miache (farina pie) which sounds like polenta- in the slice-it stage. Two ways of doing it-right
I'll try it out.”

“m&m, I don't know how I missed it this far, but the granny smith Quesidilla's sound GREAT!

You might try making a Latke with your dried potatoes and some dried/powdered eggs... Top with rehydrated dried apples and cheese slices and WOWSERS! Hey, I'm going to go cook up some shredded potatoes and dry them...

And MaryPhyl, you beat me to it.
I have been meaning to dehydrate some homebrew salsa, but it always gets eaten before I get the dehydrator trays out! Let me know how it turned out!
I really REALLY miss the southwest, no salsa to be found here in No Utah. These bastards make their burritos with a WHITE sauce, YEEEeeeaaaUUCK. (oh, sorry, with cream of mushroom SOUP white sauce).”

“m&m,
Polenta: 2 parts water, 1 part cornmeal. Stir cornmeal in just before water boils to keep from clumping... Should cook until the stage of popover dough, like, it starts to clean off the side of the pot. Take off heat, cover, let sit a few... I wouldn't know about farina, must be the most bland, over processed stuff on earth! Oh, right. You have kids then, huh?!?”

“Thanks all !!!”

“I'm hungry!”

“looked for polenta receipes-got it now.

desserts-jello BP pie is my favoriate.

really don't have any dessert receipes.”

“I love the Jell-O no bake cheese cakes and pies for when I'm with a group. A good simple desert is to take vanillia or banana instant pudding and layer that in a cup with smashed up Nilla Waffers and a few berries on top[ if you find any. This also is for groups. I ussually have a candy bar for desert if by myself.

I am really getting a lot of great ideas from you guys. Keep it coming!”

“hi everyone,im new here really like the thread its great.my hubby and i usually dehydrate ground round by cooking it first then rinse with very hot water to remove any grease.then dehydrate .it works great to use in hamberger helper meals.just take everthing for one meal, like dryed milk,butter buds ect.and put it all in one plastic zip lock then when you get ready to eat you just pull out1 bag and you have dinner in min.you would be surprised how much better hamberger helper tastes out there than at home. also it takes very little time to rehydrate the hamberger i just put it in the boiling water when i put in the noodles or potatoes and let them cook together then add spices.it quick,easy and cheep.”

“Hamburger Helper? Well, I never thought about doing that because it takes so damn long at home. Maybe I'll try that next time I go out. I bet it does cook faster when thrown all together like that.

BTW, welcome AllofusLs. Where'd you get your name?”

“I really detest min. rice. Has anyone tried cooking real rice and then drying it??? Does it work? Does it save time by just recooking on the trail???”

“Brown Rice.”

“I've been dehydreating cooked hamburger for a number of years now, yu can do amazing things with it. You might try the same trick with ground turkey meat, it re-hydrates just as well as the hamburger. Add the meat to any pre-mixed pasta dish - I prefer Lipton side dishes personally - and you have a wide variety of dinner options to choose from.”

“Well, I did my first run of beans and ham last night and tried some. I put it in a bag just like on the trail, waited for the very first bubbles to rise and poured it in the bag. I let it sit for ½ an hour and some of the ham and beans were still a bit dry. I think this may be one of those things that?s better to go ahead and simmer it over the stove for a while or cover with water a few hours before lunch and then heat it up. It was very tasty though. I plan on baking some corn bread and then just crumble it up in a baggy to pour on top of the beans? and of course we have to have catsup on there too. I'm putting on a big pot of Cajun blackbean soup today and will also try that.”

“Scurvy, I don't like Minute Rice much either....but I've used Uncle Ben's instant, and I think it's better than MR.”

“tehipite,

I'm not sure I could even do the UB. I worked food service too many years and tired of UB...
(now just what to do with the few hundred coupons I have saved...)

I may just have to try cooking up some short grain brown and re-drying it. Gee, seems kind of silly... I have taken cooked rice in small quantity for the first night out.

MMmmmm, Nigal,

When did you say the beans would be ready??? I'll be over. I'll supply the cerveza! :-)”

“Okay, I cooked up (45 min) some brown rice, dried it and it rehydrated/cooked it and it only took 5 minutes. So I think this might be better for me.

I went out last weekend, made beans, rice and veggies. Used the Nalgene method of rehydrating. Poured some water in at lunch and hung it off the back of my pack. Worked very well, dinner was ready in 10 minutes.

Whoever posted the Nalgene thing, Thanks.

Also, brought some Frangelica for the coffee. Nice. Alot better than wine on the second night.”

“I thought that taking black duct tape to a bottle would be good for a bit more heat while rehydrating. I?ve been thinking about sewing a little bag to fit a full zip lock in that would be black on the outside with a heavy foil liner inside. I want to put hooks or something to hang it on the top of my pack to heat up dry food in. Good idea or just kooky talk?”

“HMMMMMMM!! Wow, I may have to attend one of these Trail Talk trips just to eat! I'd probably gain weight! I may try some of this stuff at home. I've got a 19 month old and I'm always looking for stuff to feed him. Polenta is something I've wanted to try for quite a while and I think I will now. Nigal, I think you're idea for a rehydrating cook bag is a good one. If you make it of a thick cordura fabric and line it with something like space blanket material you'd get a mini convection oven thing going on. Let us know if you do it.”

“I hung the Nalgene from my loop on the bottom of the pack. I put the rice and stuff in the zip before, the problem is that the rice expanded and I had a problem getting the damn zip out. Made for some entertainment though. Next time I'll just suck it up and put the rice directly in.

Tell me if the black stuff works. Anything to speed up the dinner process. I get real cranky when I'm hungry.”

“m&m,
You need to be sipping on your Tang to keep the blood sugar up.
(and keep the crankies away).

Thanks for trying the rice! I'll bother to cook/dehydrate it now!”

“Keep a little hard candy around, too, or some of those little sticky sesame sticks.
Nigal....
I think you've got an idea there.
Lets' patent it and make a mil.
You can market it along with Tarpies' new line of "TRF" gear!
You heard it here FIRST!”

“I love the sesame candies. Rasianettes, nuts, and parillo bars are my snacks of choice. I eat ALL the time.

On weekends we usually have our "cocktail hour". If the weather is good.

This weekend, it rained just as we got into camp, it was already dark, and the temp went down under 40. Had babyshit burritos within minutes with no cleanup.

I sometimes use Jell-O water instead of Tang, gatorade, etc.
A thru hiker told me that the protien in the Jello slowed down the carb usage. Don't know if this is true? But I go for water before anything, even at home.”

“I see recipies for drying spaghetti sauce but no mention of drying the cooked pasta. Prepare the pasta then dry it. When ready to use, cover with hot water and let sit fo a while,[till soft] then pour off water and cover with warmed sauce and enjoy. I use the cork screw type as it is easier to store when dry.

Also, next time you cook London Broil, trim fat from leftover meat, slice 1/4" thick [easy when cold] and dry. Can be left as is or broken up and used as hamburger. The larger the pieces the longer it must soak. Good with instant gravy on instant potatoes or Stove Top dressing.

Someone talked about dried milk in large quanities, no problem get some baby bottle liners and package your own in the quanities you need.”

“HEY! What's wrong with ramen! I lived on that stuff through college! My daddy told me polenta was greek, like he was.
Nigal: Just got my zip stove. Worked GREAT! Only thing is it comes with that little pot which is fine but if one is camping with 2 people what do ya do? How do you cook all that fancy schmancy stuff? Do you do it in courses? Oh sure I could get a bigger pot but that defeats my purpose of going lite. What to do oh great zip guru!”