View Full Version : Stoveless "Cooking" Book recommendation
I have a 2 1/2 week section hike coming up this fall and I'm probably going to try out going stoveless. Dinners will be the main stumbling block for me. So far I have successfully made instant mashed potatoes and couscous using cold water but I don't have any other dinner ideas at the moment. I also don't have much time to experiment before my trip so I'm hoping to find some ready source of ideas in the form of a book. I'm doing some searches but also would like recommendations on books to purchase with recipes that have been tried and tested on long distance trips. I'm OK with ingredients that have to be sent ahead as I will be using mail drops for the trip. However, I don't think that I'm going to want to dehydrate anything myself so I want to use mostly ingredients I can buy. Thanks.
Rocket Jones
08-11-2015, 09:47
I don't know of a book (watching this thread for ideas), but another possibility is instant refried beans. Could add hot sauce, summer sausage, cheese and other goodies. What about boxed stuffing mix? Might work, add a pouch of chicken.
wannahike
08-11-2015, 10:14
I haven't seen any book either. Dried lentil soup mix is good. You can rehydrate for soup or a thick dal. I think some of the cup a soups or microwave in cup foods can be rehydrated cold, I haven't tried tho. Tabouli mixes are good cold. I have seen instant sweet potato in the grocery store, I can't deal with cold mashed potato but I like cold sweet potato.
Is there a brand of dried lentil soup worth trying? I was at Whole Foods yesterday looking at some of the packaged dry soups and they all seem to require quite a bit of cooking time so I wasn't optimistic on how they would react when rehydrated cold.
Tabouli is a good idea. I've made it cold before.
Walkintom
08-11-2015, 11:14
I'd bet that almost any freeze dried meal will rehydrate just fine with cold water and additional time.
Also, I'd trysoup mixes. Those should work. Look for ones that have ingredients that were cooked and then deyhdrated instead of ones that have ingredients that need cooking. I'd probably dodge anything with rice or beans unless I knew those were already cooked.
wannahike
08-11-2015, 12:47
I've bought lentil soup mix from the bulk bins and I have dehydrated my own mix. If you start soaking your dinner during the day it should be ready to eat when you stop. Food that is powdered rehydrates fast, lentil soup takes some time.
I'd bet that almost any freeze dried meal will rehydrate just fine with cold water and additional time. I've re-hydrated Mountain House Breakfast Scramble with cold water and put it in a tortilla for dinner. I forget how long I soaked it. Probably 2-3 hours. I've also re-hydrated ChiliMac with cold water.
I've dehydrated angel hair pasta at home and re-hydrated it and added parm cheese and olive oil and eaten it cold.
I think that any backpacking recipe book with do-it-yourself dehydrated meals will work.
This shredded chicken dinner looks really good.
http://gossamergear.com/wp/backpacking-with-no-cook-foods
My sister had good luck shopping for resupply food at Cost Plus. They have salami and cheese that is shelf stable and was not refrigerated. It sat in a bear box in a parking lot for a week and was fine.
I went stoveless for 10 days, but I mostly ate "lunches" for dinner. I usually ate peanut butter and jelly for lunch and salami or tuna for dinner.
Best wishes. Let us know how it goes!
Is there a brand of dried lentil soup worth trying? I was at Whole Foods yesterday looking at some of the packaged dry soups and they all seem to require quite a bit of cooking time so I wasn't optimistic on how they would react when rehydrated cold. I'd look more at the "Cup of Soup" kind of lentil soups. I've taken the cup of lentil soups and put them in the blender dry and powdered them so that they rehydrate faster.
truRoots Sprouted Green Lentils package says, "Rehydrate them without cooking for raw-food diets and an extra fresh crunch". I didn't care for the raw taste, but others apparently do.
http://www.amazon.com/truRoots-Organic-Sprouted-Lentils-10-Ounce/dp/B002VLR9YQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=grocery&ie=UTF8&qid=1439318357&sr=1-1&keywords=tru+roots+green+lentils
I think that you might have more luck Google-ing blogs vs. a printed cookbook.
http://gossamergear.com/wp/going-stoveless-dinner-jar
In addition to the sandwiches already suggested one could also consider MREs and canned food including things like Chef Boyardee. Some of their products are in sealed styrofoam containers, not actual cans. Of course now you're carrying the hydrated, heavier food for each day, instead of adding water midday to one meal and carrying the next few days meals in the dehydrated and hopefully lighter state.
I think that you might have more luck Google-ing blogs vs. a printed cookbook.
http://gossamergear.com/wp/going-stoveless-dinner-jar
There's definitely a lot of information out there. I was just being lazy hoping for a consolidated recipe list but I should just run some more searches. thanks for all the ideas.
Here's a promising recipe that I plan to try: http://www.trailcooking.com/fbc/pepperoni-pasta-salad/ I might sub additional freeze dried vegetables for the pepperoni. http://www.trailcooking.com/fbc/pepperoni-pasta-salad/
nsherry61
08-12-2015, 10:52
I've found powdered hummus to be an excellent, healthy, tasty, no-cook meal ingredient.
nsherry61
08-12-2015, 11:05
Miso is another food I have read many positive reviews of for no-cook backpacking, although, I have not yet tried it myself.
I've found powdered hummus to be an excellent, healthy, tasty, no-cook meal ingredient.
Definitely. I can never find it anywhere in local stores but Amazon does carry a couple of brands. I used it on one trip and should do so again.
nsherry61
08-12-2015, 14:44
I can never find it anywhere in local stores . . .
I bought mine in the bulk food section in Market of Choice, a higher-end grocery chain fairly common in Oregon at least. From that, powdered hummus may be more common in higher-end or healthfoodish shores and/or stores with a broad selection of bulk foods?
It's just so darn simple to rehydrate on-the-spot for lunch, dinner or whatever.
Market of Choice also had several bulk dried soups like corn chowder, lentil and split pea, all of which were surprisingly good, and would probably work no-cook quite well, although, I didn't personally try rehydrating the soups with cold water at the time.
Why couldn't you put the dry food and water in a clear container strapped to the top of your pack and get some solar warming to assist in rehydrating and warmish food.
We used to make tea like that in the backyard. The water got quite warm.
Wayne
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Country Roads
08-14-2015, 20:27
I have made pasta "salad" using Ramen noodles. They are already cooked and just need to soften up & then drain it off. You can add pretty much anything to it: dried or fresh veggies, pepperoni and/or summer sausage, some kind of cheese and a packet of Italian dressing.
garlic08
08-14-2015, 21:56
It's probably not the answer you're looking for, but cookless works best for me if I stop thinking in terms of "meals." I have a bag of food I can eat anytime and that's exactly what I do. At least every two hours I eat my fill out of my bag. When I stop for the day, usually in the early to late evening, I'm seldom hungry enough to want to eat much more than a snack.
That said, I do carry traditional breakfast foods like muesli which I will usually have in the morning (but often in the evening) and traditional dinner items like instant mashed potatoes which I seldom have before early afternoon.
Along the line of what garlic said, my stoveless cooking is no cooking, no soaking. Walking down the aisles of a good grocery store there are hundreds of items that don't require any cooking at all and would hit the spot if you were hungry. Think outside the box and it's a piece of cake.
garlic08
08-15-2015, 14:00
...Think outside the box and it's a piece of cake.
...and now I'm picturing the boxes of cake mix in the grocery store, right below the canned frosting, next to the one pound bags of walnuts....
Five Tango
08-15-2015, 16:57
...and now I'm picturing the boxes of cake mix in the grocery store, right below the canned frosting, next to the one pound bags of walnuts....
Let's not forget that FruitCake is just about an indestructible survival food-and chock full o' calories too!
I'd bet that almost any freeze dried meal will rehydrate just fine with cold water and additional time.
I only know about the vegan Backpacker's Pantry meals, but yes, they rehydrate fine. What I do is run them through the food processor and then add Harmony House vegetables (spinach, carrots, shallots, leeks, tomatoes as well as lentils and potatoes) and then repackage. I reserve some unfiltered water from an earlier stop so that it isn't glacier-cold and then filter and rehydrate into a plastic container. Usually ready to eat in 15 to 20 minutes.
I don't have any idea how this would work with the meat meals.
Wise Old Owl
08-15-2015, 21:33
In addition to the sandwiches already suggested one could also consider MREs and canned food including things like Chef Boyardee. Some of their products are in sealed styrofoam containers, not actual cans. Of course now you're carrying the hydrated, heavier food for each day, instead of adding water midday to one meal and carrying the next few days meals in the dehydrated and hopefully lighter state.
Strangely if the product doesn't contain too much corn syrup it will dehydrate and rehydrate reasonably. That said, rehydrate it will be bland - you need to add some spice and a touch of oil to the batch prior to treatment.
Vegan Packer
08-19-2015, 02:15
I made a bunch of Roasted Red Pepper Hummus from Another Fork in the Trail by Laurie March. This link (https://books.google.com/books?id=_-NLDDs-LEwC&pg=PA95&lpg=PA95&dq=Laurie+march+dehydrated+roasted+red+pepper+humm us&source=bl&ots=DNiodzbW6_&sig=L3A5mWtXFsnsHk5BF71OrGdHXPo&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CC4Q6AEwAmoVChMIwOaxqL60xwIVSHYeCh1CVweh#v=on epage&q=Laurie%20march%20dehydrated%20roasted%20red%20pe pper%20hummus&f=false) has the recipe. I boosted the flavor a bit by adding more garlic and lime than called for in the original recipe. I brought along bagel chips, but your choice for bread is up to you.
I never got tired of this recipe, and I am even going to start making it for at home, but without dehydrating. It is really easy to make, tastes great, weighs little, and it rehydrates easily with even cold water.
I made a bunch of Roasted Red Pepper Hummus from Another Fork in the Trail by Laurie March.
I haven't wanted to purchase a cookbook in a long time, but that recipe got me. While browsing amazon I also came across another interesting looking book. I guess these are mostly of interest to vegetarians though. My copies are ordered. Here are the links for both:
Another Fork in the Trail: Vegetarian and Vegan Recipes for the Backcountry Paperback by Laurie Ann March (http://www.amazon.com/Another-Fork-Trail-Vegetarian-Backcountry/dp/0899975062/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1439976993&sr=1-1)
Vegan Unplugged: A Pantry Cuisine Cookbook and Survival Guide Kindle Edition by Jon Robertson (http://www.amazon.com/Vegan-Unplugged-Cuisine-Cookbook-Survival/dp/0980013127/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1439976942&sr=1-1)