2 Cheezy Questions

[stoikurt]

I'm developing my own freezer bag recipe for Shepards Pie. Instead of getting cheese powder that would have to be ordered what do you think abot the following:

1. Individually sealed cheese sticks from the cheese section in the grocery store. How long will they keep unrefrigerated and still be OK?

2. Buying some cheap mac n cheese and using the cheese packet that comes in it. What's the best way for rehydrating it? My guess is a little milk powder, a KFC butter packet or 2 and boiling water.

[Frolicking Dinosaurs]

The cheese sticks are good for about 4 days in my experience. If you use the cheese packet from cheap mac'n'cheese, it substitutes well for cheese sauce mix.

If you like Parmesan, dried Parmesan will pack well in a Ziploc for at least a week. I use it in place of mozzarella in all trail recipes and substitute it for other cheeses in other recipes. It works surprising well in many recipes.

[Doctari]

OOOHH! Be sure to post your results/findings & recipe here. Sounds like a good idea.

Doctari.

[gsingjane]

If you're fond of the bright orange color in foods, you can try "Kraft Macaroni & Cheese Cheese Topping" - it is a popcorn topper, but I've also used it as a semi-cheese substitute in recipes. That way you wouldn't have to buy mac & cheese just for the cheese powder. Another thought would be cheese or cheese food slices, the individually packaged kind (you can even go vegan on these if you want). If the weather isn't too extremely hot, these seem to keep almost forever.

Jane in CT

[Skidsteer]

http://www.us.knorr.com/products.asp?brand=1&group=5&pid=9&nav=11

Available in most grocery stores.:)

[stoikurt]

I (http://www.us.knorr.com/products.asp?brand=1&group=5&pid=9&nav=11) have some of the Knorr Four Cheese sauce mix mentioned in your link. One packet uses 1 1/2 cups milk. Maybe if I just use about 1/4 to 1/2 cup powdered milk and the same amount of boiling water it will be a little thicker for a topping for the Shepherd's Pie.

[sarbar]

All of the above will work well :) Shelf stable parmesan cheese lasts near forever also..adn one can get packets of it if they beg nicely at pizza joints (or free at any Costco).
The string cheese or little round wheels of cheese do fine for a couple days.
Also, you can find a cheddar cheese Knorr pasta sauce packet.
And yes, the mac and cheese packets work fine-just add ins oem powdered milk to make creamier.

[LIhikers]

I've had individually wrapped string cheese sticks in my pack for up to 8 days in cool or cold weather. In the heat of summer I eat them within the first few days just to make sure they don't spoil.

[JojoSmiley]

I have seen some cheese powders sold in natural food stores too. Check them out.

[fivefour]

i think i bought a powdered bear creek cheese sauce from the food kitty. the package was 8 servings so you should be able to divide that up nicely.

[ffstenger]

You may also want to consider Velveeta type cheese which is shelf-stable until opened. You can get it in the "mini" size which should be the right size for shepherds pie. A little more weight than powder, but oooooh so gooood!
Show-Me

[grrickar]

I found some cheese at our local Target, made by a company called Laughing Cow. They had swiss and garlic and herb. It was not refridgerated, so it must be shelf-stable. It comes in a wooden wheel box, and inside are individually foil wrapped triangles. Looks to be decent. I'll be carrying some this next hike out (in two weeks). I flew about 3 weeks ago and they has some pretty tasty cheese in the little Delta meal kits they hand out now. It looked to be shelf stable too - no fridge.

[grrickar]

http://www.thelaughingcow.com/lc/lc.nsf/ProductsL2-Wedges?openpage

Says on the website they can be kept unrefrigerated for some time. It looks to be tastier than simple string cheese. Some of those taste like hot glue sticks to me...not that I eat hot glue sticks:D

[mweinstone]

cheese stix keep over a year . and freash cheadar cheese in a hot as hell pack keeps two weeks. people are so scared to eat sometimes it freaks me out.and cheese pacs from mac and cheese dinners dond make cheese sause. cheese sause is melted cheese.freash butter lasts and margerine after the wheather gets cool.this year at standing bear farm i bought cheese stix that were dated march 05.they sucked but were perfectly edible.

[latte]

Block cheese is 40% water. If you have a food dehydrator, put some in and dry until it's hard. A trip through the blender gives you the powder.