Cous-cous grain is incredibly useful stuff. You don't cook it, just pour
boiling water over it. You can have it for breakfast like porridge, or use it
instead of rice (in fact, try veggie cous-cous, with carrots, raisins,
garbanzos, allspice, onions as a sauce).
Below is the backpacking menu a six week hike. Rather than carrying
preplanned, or packaged, meals, I prefer to carry the ingredients needed to
make filling meals. This makes it easier to estimate how many calories are
being consumed. The only pit fall is that some ingredients are added to boost
up the calories, and you may need them in excess of your tastes. Thus, there
might be a tendency to skip ingredients, leading to insufficient consumption
of calories.
The diet below was designed to feed two people for a 6 day trip during summer
at moderate backpacking exertion, i.e.: averaging 10miles per day, not 20 or
5. In practice, it lasted seven days, frequently. Constraints were that the
ingredients must be common enough to find at small town stores because we
replenished our supplies weekly by hiking down off the trail into town, and
then back up (oh! the pain of those road walks with a full pack after being on
soft trail with an empty bag!) This 6/7 day menu was repeated for six weeks.
Finally, I only cook one meal per day, and then only on a stove. I will not
use a fire for environmental reasons: the Appalachian trail receives so much
use that it really can not support the use of campfires. Thus, this diet has
minimal cooking.
Ingredients:
ù2 lb. pasta; (usually macaroni) ù1 lb. drink mix; Kool-aid (intentionally
adding sugar, for calories) ù1lb. rice; (I used 20 minute rice, like Uncle
Ben's) ù1.5 lb dry milk; Again, calorie booster. I don't think I used as much
as this, in practice. see note on taste, above ù1 lb peanuts ù1 lb sunflower
seeds; In practice, these ended up as another pound of peanuts ù12 oz Parmesan
cheese; GREAT source of calories: light, & keeps well ù1 lb peanut butter;
another energy source ù2 lb cheese; provolone seemed to keep best, others get
soft and oily, but are ok ù3 pkg soup mix; 1 box?, used to flavor rice ù2 oz
bullion cubes; (makes 16c.), in practice, I may have used soup mix, but I
don't remember. ù1 lb raisins ù1 lb dried fruit; In practice, this was another
lb of raisins ù1 lb. crackers; vehicle for ingestion of peanut butter :-) ù2
lb. bread; have fun packing this one. it does better than you would expect ù1
lb. vegetables; usually carrots and celery. These don't pack much umph, but
are necessary, for me ù1 lb chocolate; m&m's, every time! ù2 sticks
margarine/butter; Essential: this is one of the calorie powerhouses ù1/2 lb
fresh fruit; add according to your strength and desire ù2 lb. cereal;
(granola, grape nuts), used to make gorp. carry more if you work harder, or
are hungry. Sugary ones add calories, but are hard for me to swallow. ù1 box
pop tarts; these were added half way through the trip to beef up breakfast.
They get smashed in your pack, but still are good. (NOTE: if you use a fire,
don't make the mistake of thinking that foil wrappers burn. IT DOES NOT! Don't
burn your trash: carry it out.) ùdehydrated vegetables; You can find them as
Salad Greens next to the spice rack in most stores.
Using the Ingredients: The basic procedure is to eat constantly. Don't wait
until you are hungry. For this, some of the cereal, peanuts, m&m's, raisins
get together to make gorp. As the week proceeds, you will need to mixup more,
but I like to keep the ingredients separate. Sometimes I will be sick of gorp,
but the individual ingredients taste good. Beware of m&m wars with your hiking
partner: they can get bloody! Other snacks are peanut butter on crackers, half
a piece of fruit(split one with your friend), celery, or carrot. The fruit and
vegetables must be rationed because they are so heavy.
Breakfast consisted of cereal w/ (reconstituted) milk, half a piece of fruit
every other day (alternate w/ the fruit used for lunch or snacking. Thus, I
had half a piece per day.), pop tart every other day, crackers with peanut
butter, or bread w/ peanut butter. also gorp and cheese are ok.
Lunch was cheese on bread, Finnish the bottle of drink mix you started in the
AM, crackers & peanut butter, gorp or its makings, fruit as described above.
Vegetables, as described above. Peanut butter and jelly works, too.
Dinner: this is the time to use the margarine and milk powder to cram calories
in. I had three meals which we used.
1.) Rice&veg. Cook up rice using soup mix for flavoring. Add dehydrated
vegetables to the water. I tried to reserve some fresh vegetables for this,
but did not always succeed. Add 1/3 stick of margarine or butter for the oil.
Add dry milk, if you can. I think I used 1/2 lb of rice.
2.) Linguine al Fredo (backpacking style):
cook macaroni (2/3 lb). Use 1/2 cup water, 4 tbl dry milk,1/3 cup margarine, 1
cup Parmesan to make a sauce. I carried oregano, pepper, salt, and basil for
seasoning. To make: boil macaroni (if you're clever, you can add just enough
water to get it cooked, plus2 cups extra which can be used with bullion to
make broth. I try very hard not to throw away boiled water: you carried it,
and the stove fuel, so use it!) After macaroni comes to a strong boil, take it
off of the stove, and put on a small pot (large Al cup is fine. Sierra cups
don't work well, so I carry a larger one) and heat the water. melt margarine,
and add milk. You will swap the two pots as you do this to keep the water in
the macaroni pot hot enough to cook the macaroni. When both sauce and macaroni
are ready, add seasonings to sauce, pour over macaroni, and dump on the
Parmesan cheese. The result if *thick*, and has more calories than anything
you'll find in an instant pouch.
3.) Potatoes: I did not list this in the ingredients because it's not on my
list, but I do remember doing this once or twice, probably when I was tired of
rice, and macaroni. Just make instant potatoes, but beef them up with the
standard 1/3 stick or margarine, dry milk, and Parmesan cheese. some fresh
cheese is good too.
One final note, which should be something you already know. You should scald
your pots with boiling water BEFORE using them. Scalding them when washing is
a waste of time: they just go into your dirty pack. As a duty to the people
that taught me how to hike, I must include the admonition to never wash your
pots or selves in a stream: carry the water well away from the stream, or you
will pollute the stream. Take only pictures, leave only footprints. If you
can, don't even leave the footprints.
***GENERAL ADVICE***
Most people agreed that carrying meat into the backcountry is more trouble
than it is worth, due to preservation/freshness problems. And everyone showed
me that vegetarian food is very easy to come by while camping. Most
meat-eaters also stated that they are more than happy to skip the meat while
camping.
One important consideration is fuel. Beans and rice are staples of many
vegetarian meals, but if they need to cook for a long time they can be
fuel-consuming. Choose instant rice and beans that cook quickly (i.e.
lentils).
BRING YOUR FAVORITE SPICES!! Curry powder, oregano, garlic powder, thyme,
basil... everyone seemed to agree that good spices can make or break a meal
and add infinite variety to a menu.
Many people recommended premixing your meals at home, and bringing them in
Ziploc bags to be cooked in the backcountry, which seems to eliminate things
such as measuring cups, etc.
Also, many people suggest using pre-made mixes such as humus mix and tabouleh
mix. Although I generally avoid these at home, they seem to have a lot of
merits in the backcountry when conditions are a bit more primitive.
Don't forget to soak beans overnight! This will cut down on cooking time.
Someone suggested soaking them while you hike, by keeping lentils in a Nalgene
bottle, filling it with water, and carrying it in your pack. Many people said
that one-pot meals are the best--rice, lentils, dried veggies, spices, curry
powder, salt, etc. Someone recommended rice: lentils in a 4:1 ratio. Butter
and cheese add flavor.
***FOOD IDEAS***
1) vegetarian chili: chili powder, kidney beans, fried onions, chili peppers.
2) split pea soup: dried split peas, thyme, onions, carrots, mustard.
3) lentil soup: lentils, onions, carrots, celery, tomatoes, your favorite
spices.
4) cous-cous!! many people suggested this grain. It doesn't need to be cooked,
just soak for a few minutes in hot water. Add raisins and cinnamon for an
oatmeal substitute, or cheese and pepper for grits substitute. Or add spices,
or serve under stew or lentils, or...
5) pasta in general: look for types that cook quickly (look for thin spaghetti
instead of the usual kind). Sauces can be carried in or made very easily with
tomato sauce, mushrooms, onion, garlic, oregano.
6) humus: several people recommended the Fantastic Food brand instant humus.
You can just add water, and some lemon juice if you have some.
7) tabouleh from a mix--add water, oil, and tomatoes. I personally often make
tabouleh from a mix that I absolutely love, but I can't remember the brand
name right now...
8) bring flavoring bases such as tomato powder, tamari, mushroom soup mix, and
Knorr vegetable bouillon to complement your spices.
Nuts and seeds add texture and variety.
9) little packages of brie and Camembert make good trail treats.
10) granola: a staple for everyone! someone suggested mixing it with powdered
milk and carrying it in a wide-mouth Nalgene bottle. Just add water!
11) Many people suggested carrying cheese, which survives well without
refrigeration. Someone found that cheesecloth preserves the cheese better than
plastic bags.
12) Canned fruit makes a good evening treat or dessert.
13) Instant rice can be used as a side dish or can be made into a pilaf with
your lentils, spices, bullion, etc.
14) barley and bulghar wheat (one of my favorites) are also quick-cookers and
can be served under stew, beans, etc. Or can be jazzed up with spices and
served as a side dish.
15) add dumplings to any soup
16) ramen noodles are light and easily cooked--just check the "spice packet"
for meat products. You can always substitute bullion for the spice packet.
17) potato stew--pancakes--omelets--macaroni and cheese--pasta salad.
18) Radhika's favorite lunch pack: tomatoes, onion, cucumbers, pita bread,
bottled jalapenos, and instant humus. Make a paste with the humus and water,
spread in the pita, add other sliced ingredients, and wrap sandwich for lunch
on the trail....yum!
19) sweet potatoes wrapped in foil on a fire cook well.
20) hot dog substitute: someone suggested white wave soy foods' 'meatless
healthy franks' so you aren't left out and lonesome when everyone else is
roasting Mystery Meat over the campfire.
21) boy scout/ hobo dinner: wrap chopped potatoes, onions, carrots, etc. in
cabbage leaves and then wrap the whole thing in foil. Make sure you season
with spices and a bit of water for moisture. Use your judgement for cooking
time, and beware of the steam when opening the foil.
22) peanut butter cookies--high energy fruit bars--fruit leather--fruit-nut
rolls--potato-cheese soup (all from gorp, glop, and glue stew cookbook)
23) fruit that lasts, such as grapefruit and cantaloupe (too bad I'm allergic
to all melons =( )
24) several people suggested using TVP (Textured vegetable protein)and adding
it to rice, stews, etc for more texture and extra protein.
25) Vegetarian manicotti: stuff shells with spicy refried beans, cover with
enchilada sauce (or spiced up tomato sauce), and cheese.
26) fried potatoes with dill and carrots: curry, lemon, and cayenne; carrots
and canned tomatoes and chili powder.
27) cheese and peanut butter on bagels
28) dried cheese tortellini can be cooked en masse with a good tomato sauce,
with onions, basil, Parmesan cheese.
29) clarified butter from Indian grocery stores travels well and is tasty in
small quantities.
Another great thing for the first day or two out was to make Quesadillas. I
dried a bean paste at home. Out on the trail I reconstituted it, spread it
between two flour tortillas, stuffed in a little cheese and browned the
tortillas on each side. It doesn't take as much time as pasta so it saves
fuel. The only thing is that you have to make them in the first few days while
you still have cheese and mold-free tortillas. If you really want to spoil
yourself take along a small can of salsa.
One last thing that worked nicely on a ten day trip was to take along a small
can of minced clams and a couple of cloves of garlic, some dried milk, flour,
noodles, and salt and pepper. We put up with the extra weight of the can so
that we could have a nice meal on the last night out. Spaghetti with white
sauce with clams and garlic. It was worth the weight! A six and a half ounce
can of clams and 1/2# of noodles fed two hungry women easily.
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