Whats on the menu?

We don't talk much about trail dishes here and was just wondering what is some of your favorites. Mine is Jambalaya. It is hearty and gives you lots of energy.

Don't leave me hangin' Snow...how do you go about making your jambalaya? I honestly haven't spent very much time finding yummy recipes for the trail simply because I love ramen noodles.. I occasionally take pouches of meat (chicken) to add in some protein and Taco Bell Fire Sauce packets to spice it up (go ahead and laugh if you want, but I like it!)

I really like the Mountain House Lasagna too.

Good post.. I was thinking last night about posting this very question, but maybe trying to put together a thread for recipes. lol. I like most of the freezer bag stuff.... a great website is www.freezerbagcooking.com... lots of great info there and they have a book out and working on the second one. Lot of pasta and rice dishes. Well worth both checking out and adding to your favs.

Here are a couple of other links for trail food ideas.
http://www.aforkinthetrail.com/

http://www.onepanwonders.com/

Some of the dishes on these sites are pretty good. I personally like the freeze-dried dishes from Inertia or Mountain House. I also like ramen with added meat if I'm making it for two.
Like willky, I'm trying different things in the dehydrator too.
UL

The store bought ones are ok... they are much better than they use to be.. I remember when the packaging was more tasty than the food... lol. They are good for a quick out of the pack that you don't have to fiddle with much. I still perfer my freezer bags and the one pot stuff. The one item that I refuse to leave without when overnighting is my hot coco.. lol.

I'm here to tell you, I've made quite a few dehydrated dishes myself, but I still find myself buying the Mountain House mexican beans and rice or four cheese lagsania (sp?...haha, who am I kidding, I know that isn't right!). They are awesome!

I like to go to Ozark Natural Foods in Fayetteville. They have Dehydrated Vegetarian Chili, refried beans, soups, etc. The beans and the chili are great and spicy. Just boil water and viola

Dwight

How much do they cost though. The one thing about premade dehydrated foods is they are usuallly expensive. I refuse to buy Mountain House and the others because of that reason. Some of them are good though. I will have to try that chili, I love chile.

I agree with you, Snow. MH and some of the other brands are expensive. I am looking at doing more of my own dehydrating because of that reason. Plus, I know more about what goes into the meal if I make it myself. Good point.
UL

I have been wanting to get a dehydrater for a long time and just seem to always somehow not get one for some reason. I know they are pretty cheap now to. Someday.

25 years ago, the options were really limited. Basically, we had to pony up and buy the dehydrated meals that were bland and tasted like cardboard most of the time.

Mountain House, Enertia and others have come a long way to make deyhdrated meals more palatable.

However, the greatest leap forward has been at Wally World. You could hike the entire AT and have all your meals off what you can find on the shelf. Pasta, rice, spuds, drink mixes.....the list goes on and on in things packaged for convenience that work well for backpackers.

However, I have become a freezer bag cooker for the last several years and this site is my fav. Meals can be as elaborate as you want.

http://www.freezerbagcooking.com/

Chili:
The only problem I have with Sarah's site is that, because of her low-sodium dietary needs herself, she doesn't add a lot of salt to her dishes. I guess you could season to taste, but she tends to take the low-salt thing a little far sometimes.
UL

The bulk stuff from Ozark Natural Foods (ONF) is not that expensive at all. I cannot remember how much it is, but I buy a huge bag of the chili (about 5lbs.) and I never thought that it was expensive. I also get dehydrated papaya, for $.99/lb., it takes a lot to get a pound. It is all in the bulk foods section. The Chili really expands, and makes more than you would expect.

Dwight

Preacha where is ONF?

It seems that everyone is holding out. No one has posted that secret freezer bag meal that makes everyone jealous on the trail.


There is a Tuna Bruschetta wrap on freezerbagcooking.com that is one of my favorites.

Another helpful website is www.minimus.biz. they sell in samll quanities the foil condiment pkgs. They have the hard to find this such as Extra virgin olive oil etc.

HBH

ONF is on HWY 71 in Fayetteville, I heard that Ft. Smith has an organic food store, you might try there too. ONF is by Uncle Sams Outfitters, Chucky Cheese, and is across the street from the VA Hospital.

Dwight

We have a store that is nice but they are lacking in the prepared foods like the chili of which you spoke.

UL,

I tend to add salt to everything in her cookbook, except the seafood chowder. The Old Bay adds enough sodium.

Personally, I can't understand why anyone would want to go low sodium on the trail. However, I am guessing you could substitute potassium cloride.

chili:
I'm with you on the low-sodium diet on the trail, but in Sarbar's defense, she has some health issues that requires her to remain on a strict low-salt diet, even on the trail. Subsequently, she tends to think that everyone should watch their sodium intake.
UL

Overall, I have been impressed with her cookbook.

These days, you can make just about anything in freezer bags. Last Thanksgiving, I spent the weekend at Cumberland Gap and had turkey with dressing and gravy, peas with butter, mashed potatoes, and brownies (baked in a pan by the fire)(although it was mixed in a freezer bag and "poured" into the pan).

I have been buying these dried soup mixes from walmart that makes somewhere around a gallon of soup, and I just dividing the big bag into little sandwich bags. It's been a while since I have bought any, but I don't recall the prices being that bad not like the ones in the camping section. If I am correct it's like Mountain House Kitchen. I have tried the Potato, Broccoli & Cheese, and the tortilla soup mixes. They were all pretty good.

I had my sister check about that soup while she was at Walmart and it is called Bear Creek. She said it was around two bucks for the potato soup mix, and it makes a gallon and a half. Hope that helps anyone out. It's not bad for a quick trip unless you don't like soup.

On the subject of Salt. I looked at the beverage section of freezerbagcooking.com. I learned that Morton Lite is very high in potassium. This helps with leg cramps. I plan to include in my drink mixes. 1/8 tsp in a 20 oz water bottle taste alot like gatorade but is higher in Potassium.

Thanks for the info. I will have to keep that in mind.