Making a Better Dinner on the Trail

[partinj]

Ok here one you folks Ramen Noodle i know you can add tunerfish and spam ever hotdogs. I was in the foodloin today looking in the froze food part and saw some froze veg. now have any of you try carry froze veg. to add to the raman noodle give then a better taste alone with the other things What do you thing.
:-?

[Alligator]

I dehydrate a mix of veggies specifically for ramens, so a veggie mix is a nice addition.

[windex]

Precooked bacon.... dehydrated mashed potatoes... parmesan cheese....a lipton meal... stuffing mix....dehydrated refried beans and some salsa packets from mcdonalds = all things that I have added to ramen, sometimes just one at a time... but for a real feast, throw all of that together in a pot!
I highly recommend carrying a salt/pepper and garlic powder kit... it really livened up a lot of what I ate and didn't weigh much.

[fiddlehead]

It's pretty easy to dry your own hamburger and it is my favorite add-in.
I have a dryer for veggies but do the burger in the oven.
Use the search feature to find out how if you are interested.

[Lone Wolf]

Ok here one you folks Ramen Noodle i know you can add tunerfish and spam ever hotdogs. I was in the foodloin today looking in the froze food part and saw some froze veg. now have any of you try carry froze veg. to add to the raman noodle give then a better taste alone with the other things What do you thing.
:-?
i take fresh veggies

[Grinder]

Read through the "cooking and food" section. There is a wealth of good ideas regards eating well on the trail.

One big area is that of home dehydrating. You can carry fresh veggies, but you are carrying a lot of water. Leave the water, bring most of the taste. All common veggies (corn, beans, onion, pepper) can be purchased in dehydrated form. It's cheaper and fun to dry them yourself (IMHO)

Grinder

[budforester]

I've used frozen mixed vegetables, first night on weekend trips. Just take out a handfull for one meal, and the rest of the package stays home. Package size would be large for a single Ramen; perhaps could be shared with other hikers. The frozen stuff sweats and gets mushy, so I'm with LW: fresh is better. Either way, I pre- cook the veggies some, before adding the Ramen noodles and seasonings.

[mrc237]

Fresh IS better! ... Remember all food is disposable weight, ya ain't gonna carry it forever! So ya might as well make it good.

[4eyedbuzzard]

I've carried frozen food, especially meat(small steaks and lamb chops are my favorites--red meat keeps better than fish or chicken), for up to two days packed tightly and sandwiched between some 1/2" styrofoam shaped into a small mini-cooler and taped together to keep it airtight. I'd lean more towards dehydrated veggies just from a weight consideration, but it's amazing how long frozen food will remain cold enough to stay safe with a little lightweight insulation. I just use the styrofoam packaging from stuff like knock down furniture, small appliances, etc. I've also used a couple of layers of the meat trays they use in the grocery store.

Fresh is always better, and especially for the first night out I wouldn't consider anything else.

[SGT Rock]

I've seen Tipi Walter do just this. Stir fry with fresh veggies, edd, rice... Mmmmm

[Lone Wolf]

i came out of waynesboro one time with raw shrimp and veggies. did a stir fry at the shelter.

[4eyedbuzzard]

Speaking of stir frying, I'm still looking for a small light weight wok. The "extreme wok" from gsi weighs 1 lb 7 oz... 1 lb 7 oz to me is definitely pretty extreme. Won't be hauling that uphill anytime soon. I know that woks need to retain heat, usually via thermal mass, but given that there are lightweight frying pans in the under 6 oz range, you'd think some mfg would build a lighter weight wok shaped pan to seve as a multifunction pot/pan. Maybe I'll hammer the snot out of a small lightweight frying pan for an experiment:-?

[sarbar]

Speaking of stir frying, I'm still looking for a small light weight wok. The "extreme wok" from gsi weighs 1 lb 7 oz... 1 lb 7 oz to me is definitely pretty extreme. Won't be hauling that uphill anytime soon. I know that woks need to retain heat, usually via thermal mass, but given that there are lightweight frying pans in the under 6 oz range, you'd think some mfg would build a lighter weight wok shaped pan to seve as a multifunction pot/pan. Maybe I'll hammer the snot out of a small lightweight frying pan for an experiment:-?

In all honest, the HAE Wok by GSI (which isn't light by any means) does work well...but here is the thing: you can do the same stuff in a deep/wide 2L pot, and most likely make less of a mess. Mostly you just have to keep stuff moving - and a non stick pan makes that work well.

As for the veggies....the bags of chopped, small uniform frozen ones dry fast and carry well in the pack. Keep everything the same size and small for best results.

[Ramble~On]

I was looking for a wok - I ran across the GSI but the weight doesn't suit me.

An ultra light Titanium wok - 6" or 8" with lid would be just about perfect..something that held maybe 24 ounces. You could cook your lipton in it, boil water and saute, steam or fry.

[JAK]

I carry lentils and pot barley for soup. I add this dried veggie mix I get at the Bulk Barn, but its a bit pricey for mostly potatoes and carrots. I think next trip I will just bring along some fresh carrots and parsnips and chives and stuff. I could oven dry them some, but the lentils and pot barley make up most of the soup, so one carrot and one parsnip and whatever else per soup can't be much water. How much water is in a carrot? Looks like about 90% water. OK. So adding say 4oz of fresh veggies to your soup each night for 5 nights might add a pound, first day. When resupplying on the fly, or even just bugging out from home on short notice, grabbing a few fresh veggies aren't a bad way to go.

What are some other fresh vegetables worth their weight even if not dehydrated?

Winter Soup:
100g lentils
100g pot barley
100g bacon
1 medium carrot
1 medium parsnip
1 small onion
1 sprig parsley
1 sprig cedar leaves
maybe some dirt and sticks and stuff

[budforester]

Moderators: the OP's question seems to have been answered, but he topic has generated broader interest, could it be removed from "Straight Forward" to facilitate further discussion?