Food Prep For My Next Trip

[Tipi Walter]

Okay boys, I might as well share some of my new dehydrator meal ideas for an upcoming trip.

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This is self explanatory---as these veggie patties are easy to dry and you can crumble them up and add to soups or brown rice etc.

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This is a brand new idea I got from the Walmart dairy shelves and so I thought I'd give it a try---Dried egg white thins. I'll either eat them as a trail snack or add them to my meals.

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A staple of my backpacking diet is organic brown rice---and here's my way of preparing it for backpacking:
** Cook up 2 full cups of dry brown rice with 6 cups of water, salt and plenty of olive oil. Cook for around 60 minutes at simmer.
** Once cooled put in blender and thoroughly blend, adding water to allow it to blend. Not too thick, not too thin.
** Pour on dryer tray sheets.
** As above, when done crumble up in ziplocks. Cook in field as you would oatmeal. Add dried beans for a complete protein meal---for those of us who are vegetarians.

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The obligatory dried fruit tray. This time peaches.

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This is another new idea I got from the grocery store---dried mashed cauliflower. Add to soups etc.

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Other frozen meals are also excellent to dry---just dry and ziploc and then put in pot with a little water and bring to a boil and shut off stove and put in pot cozy for 30 minutes.

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Another Amy's meal idea---Pasta and cheese!!

[Hikes in Rain]

Looks good enough to eat! Got a question on the frozen meals, since I've not tried drying those. Do you cook them prior to drying, or just thaw and dry, letting the residual heat cook them in the cozy?

[Tipi Walter]

Looks good enough to eat! Got a question on the frozen meals, since I've not tried drying those. Do you cook them prior to drying, or just thaw and dry, letting the residual heat cook them in the cozy?

My experience is that the frozen meals are already cooked at the factory and you just heat them up in the microwave to thaw and heat. So, after letting them sit out to thaw I just spoon them onto my trays and dry and then put in a little boiling water and shut off the stove and sit in the pot cozy for 30 minutes. Saves on stove fuel.

[chef4]

With your dried foods like the bean burgers, do you make up full meals at home for rehydration, or take the individual ingredients along and mix them up in the field when you cook (trying to decide which is best)?
thanks

[Tipi Walter]

With your dried foods like the bean burgers, do you make up full meals at home for rehydration, or take the individual ingredients along and mix them up in the field when you cook (trying to decide which is best)?
thanks

Obviously the bean burgers are not full meals and as mentioned these are added to brown rice and soups in the field. A full meal on a trip is to mix brown rice with separately dried beans (like dried red lentils or Amy's veggie refried beans) and this becomes dinner.

The one exception to this are my pasta with spaghetti sauce meals---cooked up pasta with sauce added and the whole wad dried for the trip. Already-cooked pasta requires no cooking in the field---only boiling water for rehydration in the pot cozy.

[Hikes in Rain]

My experience is that the frozen meals are already cooked at the factory and you just heat them up in the microwave to thaw and heat.

You're right; I'd forgotten that! Thank you again, this opens up a whole new world of possibilities!

[Jaymorley1433]

I appreciate your creativity and experience! I know the post is kind of old, but have a question: I’m on a low cab diet and I’m into chicken so can you recommend me some chicken meals that are dryable?

I tried making many healthy chicken recipes I found on the net and dried the leftovers afterwards but it turned out bad, so I’m trying to find my favorite store-bought chicken meal.

Additionally, the chicken recipes I found on twohealthykitchen, healthy kitchen 101, ect are hardly reliable. They said I can make the meals ahead but they always taste worse than store-bought products. So I think I’ll stick with those I buy from the mart, then.
Anyway, thank you for your sharing!

[Tipi Walter]

I appreciate your creativity and experience! I know the post is kind of old, but have a question: I’m on a low cab diet and I’m into chicken so can you recommend me some chicken meals that are dryable?

I tried making many healthy chicken recipes I found on the net and dried the leftovers afterwards but it turned out bad, so I’m trying to find my favorite store-bought chicken meal.

Additionally, the chicken recipes I found on twohealthykitchen, healthy kitchen 101, ect are hardly reliable. They said I can make the meals ahead but they always taste worse than store-bought products. So I think I’ll stick with those I buy from the mart, then.
Anyway, thank you for your sharing!

I have no experience dehydrating meats of any kind (vegetarian of course)---but what's wrong with carrying regular chicken in store-bought pouches like tuna??? It'll stay fresh for weeks and then you pop open a pouch and eat away. Put it in soups, eat some on a rice cake etc.

One thing you could consider---and it's a technique which helps in dehydration and reconstitution in the field---is to blend up, say, cooked brown rice with chicken---thoroughly blended with added water to aid in blending---and then pour this mix on your silicone sheets and dry. Then in the field you just add some dry mix to a pot and bring to a boil and let sit in a pot cozy for 30 minutes. Voila! You've got a gruel of chicken and rice---dinner is Soup. (Of course you blend up just the meat---not the bones!!)

[Tipi Walter]

Btw---my latest batch of crap for the next trip---fully cooked spiral pasta with ample spaghetti sauce. Once it's cooked soft and ready to eat you don't eat it but immediately dry. Reconstitutes great in the field.

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