Sauces, Sauces, Sauces....

[88BlueGT]

Well, unfortunately I'm in a bad habbit of eating mountain house meals for dinner whenever I go out. I usually have some type of bar or poptart for breakfast, tuna of something equivalent for lunch and than dinner is always bagged dehydrated foods. Thats all I have ever eaten while hiking but I'm planning a thru-hike for April so I need to start experimenting with different meals. I've been through my local grocery stores but cant seem to find any SIMPLE sauces to use with pasta. I just bought a 10lb bag of pasta at a bulk food store so I'm looking for suggestions!

Also, if there is a cookbook or simple recipe book someone can recommend that would be great. Looking for simple meals, I'm not a big cooker but I like to eat good tasting foods! (like everyone else I guess) Thanks.

Dan

[jrwiesz]

Well, if you've paid for Mountain House foods in the past, I would suggest you try:

www.maryjanesfarm.com

Buy the sample meals packet to try. No need for sauces, spices, etc. Boil water, pour into your eating container, stir, let sit, stir again, eat.
Pretty simple, elegant ORGANIC eating, available in bulk, and as reasonably priced as Mountain House products.
Sarbar [WB member] has a highly recommended cookbook, you might want to check out.

[Lone Wolf]

Knorr has a good line of pasta sauces. i used to carry tomato paste a lot and and make a sauce using spices, fresh peppers, onion and canned chicken. easy to do

[Lone Wolf]

Knorr has a good line of pasta sauces. i used to carry tomato paste a lot and and make a sauce using spices, fresh peppers, onion and canned chicken. easy to do

http://www.thefind.com/food/browse-knorr-pasta-sauces

[Pokey2006]

Get your own dehydrator. Good ole fashioned spaghetti and tomato sauce dehydrates, and rehydrates, excellently. Add cooked hamburger or chopped zucchini for extra-special treat.

[sarbar]

You can't go wrong with pasta tossed with love oil, Parmesan cheese and lots of herbs and spices - my comfort food

[Grinder]

Pokey2005 is on the money.

Last year, I dehydrated home made pasta sauce (meat, Ragu Primavera and onion, garlic) I needed parchment paper under it. The sauce dries into a "leather" which I ground up in a food processor. I cooked the pasta (whole wheat)in short lengths and dehydrated that separately. Mixed in a freezer bag and rehydrated in camp.

Everyone in the area was jealous, it smelled so good!!!

Remember to bring some parmesan.

Grinder
P.S. The meat may have been "gravel" added after dehydration. It would work either way. but no chunks of meat if it gets ground up

[Doctari]

I use dried soup mix that I Usually get at BigLots, I fix the noodles / pasta & add the soup mix when the pasta is nearly done, maybe with a little extra water. Usually, my pasta is Couscous, but I have also done this with rotini, egg noodles & spaghetti, AND rice.

[DDuhon]

I like pesto. It is the traditional way to preserve fresh basil. I make my own, garlic olive oil, basil, and parmesan. Traditially you also have pine nuts, but I sub walnuts or sunflower seeds. This keeps a while without refrigerating, and a tablespoon can flavor all sorts of things pretty well. I blenderize a few tablespoons of nuts, add garlic (as much as you can handle, blenderize, add enough garlic oil to make a slightly runny paste, then add and blenderize the basil. Parmesan is last, and can be kept seperate and added as needed. I suspect store bought stuff would keep similarly. I only have experience with keeping it for a week, but the italians keep it for months with a film of olive oil on top. David

[sarbar]

The big shakers of Parmesan cheese sold in the pasta section (Kraft, etc) are quite shelf stable and carry well Almost any meal gets better with a hefty shaking

[Lead Dog]

I recommend Enertia meals for supper and breakfast. Especially supper time I'm wanting a hot meal and something hardy. These are great dehydrated vacuum packed meals at $4.50. Example: Switchback Spaghetti, my favorite El Capitan Black Beans with a hot sauce and many other pastas with various 'sauces' like tomato and cream based for good flavor. Breakfast meals have oatmeals with fruits too.

[Farr Away]

Throwing a boullion cube (or two) in the water you're cooking your pasta, rice, etc in is a good way to add some flavor (and sodium unless you choose a low-sodium brand). Not a sauce, but very easy when you're too tired to bother with much cooking.

[Lellers]

My father, right-off-the-boat-Italian, made simple olive oil and garlic sauce. I carry olive oil with me on all my hikes. Just cook the pasta, toss with olive oil, fresh or powdered garlic, some cheese, maybe chunk in some pepperoni or other dried sausage. It's one of my faves.

[russb]

My father, right-off-the-boat-Italian, made simple olive oil and garlic sauce. I carry olive oil with me on all my hikes. Just cook the pasta, toss with olive oil, fresh or powdered garlic, some cheese, maybe chunk in some pepperoni or other dried sausage. It's one of my faves.

mmmm pasta con olio e aglio

[brooklynkayak]

You can't go wrong with pasta tossed with love oil, Parmesan cheese and lots of herbs and spices - my comfort food

Hi Sabar

Mmm. Yes.
But block Parm keeps much better than the standard Kraft shredded Parm and packs smaller. For most trips, Kraft is fine and you can pick it up at any convenience store.

I always carry a block of Parm and shred as needed and if I remember right ,you are a big fan of shredding as needed as well.

Powder eggs, chopped beef jerky, packaged tuna, dehydrated spinach, and many other items can work as variations.

[sarbar]

Yep! On trips where the miles are not hard I am known to carry my tiny GSI grater I love that thing....and a little chunk of the good stuff. Yum.....

[Blue Wolf]

http://www.freezerbagcooking.com/dinnerpastaetc.htm

Try this site they have some good stuff on there I dehydrated some squash & zuchinni and made one of these it was pretty tasty but the angel hair pasta didn't cook all the way so it was chewy.

I think next time I will add more water and bring it to a full boil.

[fiddlehead]

If you like Thai food, carry some red curry paste and powdered coconut milk. Experiment with those two, you can't go wrong.
If you like Indian food, carry the yellow curry powder and mix it into your food (i like the powdered coconut milk with that also)

[Toolshed]

88,
I am another Fan of simple sauces. Like others have said -
Olive Oil is the base for everything.
I then carry dehydrated onion, garlic powder, dried Basil, small pack of pine nuts, Parmesan or Romano cheese - All packed in small bottles Nalgene HDPE bottles - weighs very little and gives a bit of variation.
I also carry dehydrated peas, green beans, peppers & tomatoes, some peanut butter, Chipotle Tabasco and Cumin.
All of this weighs very little- Really gives you an opportunity for a different meal for 4-5 nights in a row.

[Toolshed]

If you like Thai food, carry some red curry paste and powdered coconut milk. Experiment with those two, you can't go wrong.

MMM... l like. Thanks for the idea.