New favorite trail meal

T

TFin04

Joined
Aug 21, 2005
Messages
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I'm always trying out new stuff since cooking in the woods is one of my favorite things to do. Made a combo today that was excellent.

It's nothing fancy so anybody is able to replicate it:

1/2 packet of Lipton's Teriyaki Rice:
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4 tablespoons of dehydrated ground meat. I've had both beef and turkey and prefer beef.

Put in your pot, cover with water, bring to a boil and let simmer a minute or two. Remove from heat and let stand for another minute to two to be sure everything is rehydrated. It's thick and flavorful. The packets are available at Wal Mart for a little more than $1 each. Lots of flavors, but this rice is my favorite so far.
 
I just had the same thing for lunch in the Aisian flavor.

Good stuff. I bought it to try out before I threw some in my BOB.

I like the meat idea. I hadn't thought about that. Where do you find it, and what does the packaging look like?
 
p220c said:
I just had the same thing for lunch in the Aisian flavor.

Good stuff. I bought it to try out before I threw some in my BOB.

I like the meat idea. I hadn't thought about that. Where do you find it, and what does the packaging look like?
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I always add some sort of meat to my meals. Adds flavor and protein.

Today I used ground beef that I cooked and dehydrated myself. If you like to cook on the trail, a dehydrator is a must. Wal Mart sells a cheap one for about $35 and it works great.

Cook the meat thoroughly like you would for tacos, drain the fat as much as possible (start with the leanest meat you can), place on dehydrator trays and give it about 8 hours. Dries to a crumbly mixture that I put in vacuum sealed bags and store in my freezer. I grab a bag of it and a bag of whatever pasta, rice, etc I want for the day and head out.

Another good option is tuna, salmon, chicken, etc that come in the little foil packets. Perfect size for one serving, cheap, packaged to last forever and pack super easy since they're flat.

I like to dry veggies, jerky, fruit and other stuff for my trail adventures as well. Got a batch of onion and beef going right now.
 
Now these are just my opinions, but here's my take on bug out bag/get home bag food:

Keep it as simple as possible. Simpler than these meals.

I don't have a 'bug out bag.' I have a 'get home bag' that will bring me from work to home. All trail stoves are finicky, they take time to cook and are more weight in your pack.

My only hot food for my GHB is a packet of ramen noodles and a USGI canteen cup w/ trioxane heat tabs. If I'm in a survival situation for a few days I DO NOT want to be messing with a cook kit and spending my time and energy there. I can live a few days just fine on dry foods, granola bars, etc.

Again just my take. I like to cook while hiking because it's relaxing. I plan to be MOVING with a GHB/BOB and dont want to sit stationary that long.
 
TFin04 said:
I always add some sort of meat to my meals. Adds flavor and protein.

Today I used ground beef that I cooked and dehydrated myself. If you like to cook on the trail, a dehydrator is a must. Wal Mart sells a cheap one for about $35 and it works great.

Cook the meat thoroughly like you would for tacos, drain the fat as much as possible (start with the leanest meat you can), place on dehydrator trays and give it about 8 hours. Dries to a crumbly mixture that I put in vacuum sealed bags and store in my freezer. I grab a bag of it and a bag of whatever pasta, rice, etc I want for the day and head out.

Another good option is tuna, salmon, chicken, etc that come in the little foil packets. Perfect size for one serving, cheap, packaged to last forever and pack super easy since they're flat.

I like to dry veggies, jerky, fruit and other stuff for my trail adventures as well. Got a batch of onion and beef going right now.
Click to expand...

I had never thought of doing that. I always cook hamburger meat and then just freeze it. Never crossed my mind that I could dehydrate it.

I made jerkey out of about 8 lb. of sirloin before out last hurricane, and that was nice to have when we were without power for four days.

You're right about a traditional BOB and the cooking. I'm kinda letting my bag serve double duty as a day hike/picnic bag with the wife and kids/BOB. A fueled, MSR liquid fuel Dragonfly or butane Pocket Rocket adds 2 lb. or 1lb. respectively makes sense. I imagine the most likely use this bag will get is a driving trip out of town before a hurricane, so some backup hot food might be helpful to keep the troops spirit's up.

I really haven't wrung all of these details out yet.

I imagine that my ideas will change the more I use my gear on short hikes and playing in the back yard. Spent some quality time in the back yard late Friday night (after it had been raining for three days) seeing exactly how hard it is to start a fire with wet wood. Petroleum jelly and cotton balls are neat and light, but waxed cardboard rolls are where it is at for that situation. So I am still in the learning process. Probably end up with a small waist pack for short hikes, my camel back Mule for a 1-day pack, and maybe a 3-day frameless pack for the true BOB.

It's a fun process, that I had never even considered before hanging out here and over at ar15.com's outdoor/survival forum.
 
I change around my hiking stuff so much that it is rarely all together and ready to go like a bob/ghb should.

I finally bit the bullet, created a ghb kit and bought all new items for it. I practice with it but it stays loaded up in my vehicle at all times. The other stuff is just play gear.
 
TFin04 said:
I change around my hiking stuff so much that it is rarely all together and ready to go like a bob/ghb should.

I finally bit the bullet, created a ghb kit and bought all new items for it. I practice with it but it stays loaded up in my vehicle at all times. The other stuff is just play gear.
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Bullets are my problem. Been buying too many of them (along with their accompanying receptacles so I'm short on blow money.

Lately it's 5.56 mm to run through my new LMT and .45 to run through my Sig.

Between that addiction and my surefires I'm a lost cause. *shrug*
 
I dry all my food now my self.. One of the better dishes i like is the dry mashed potatoes, I add alot of dry vegtabels like onion broccli peppers tomatos and everything else with some dry meat. Finish it off with Miso soup with extra sea weed.
153.jpg


Thats the same dish but with rice instead of mashed potatoes.
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Sasha
 
p220c said:
Bullets are my problem. Been buying too many of them (along with their accompanying receptacles so I'm short on blow money.

Lately it's 5.56 mm to run through my new LMT and .45 to run through my Sig.

Between that addiction and my surefires I'm a lost cause. *shrug*
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I shoot 5.45 and 9 mike so I get by cheaper, but I still feel your pain. :D:thumbup:
 
sasha said:
I dry all my food now my self.. One of the better dishes i like is the dry mashed potatoes, I add alot of dry vegtabels like onion broccli peppers tomatos and everything else with some dry meat. Finish it off with Miso soup with extra sea weed.
153.jpg


Thats the same dish but with rice instead of mashed potatoes.
096.jpg


Sasha
Click to expand...

The little packets of seaweed miso soup kick ass.
 
TFin04 said:
I shoot 5.45 and 9 mike so I get by cheaper, but I still feel your pain. :D:thumbup:
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Bah. The .45s not so bad. My dad bought a Dillon, so whever we take the kids by to see grandma and grandpa, I'll sit down and load a couple hundred rounds. We've got 3k .45 cases between us, so we're good there.

I haven't started reloading the 5.56 yet. Waiting to get to the 3k mark for brass before I am comfortable that I have enough brass to last until I'm old and grouchy.
 
So Sasha, you dehydrate your mashed taters like anything else? Cook it up then spread it in the rack of the dehydrator? I may have to try that... would be nice to have some dehydrated 'home cookin' at work for lunch without having to rely on the fridge... things sometimes disappear from the fridge :D
 
I also dehydrate all my own meals. I don't trust or want to buy Mountain House and other similar products. Plus, I know what's going in it.

I got my recipe start from Freezer Bag Cooking. Once you get a start, it is easy to come up with your own.

B
 
briangandrews said:
I also dehydrate all my own meals. I don't trust or want to buy Mountain House and other similar products. Plus, I know what's going in it.

I got my recipe start from Freezer Bag Cooking. Once you get a start, it is easy to come up with your own.

B
Click to expand...

I like to cook deer meat and dry it and mix it with steamed and then dried sweet potatos and onions and ginger. Tastes great!:thumbup:
 
I save the flavor packets from ramen noodle to use on the trail. It totally jacks up the flavor of any bland dish. That is usually cous cous for me. I also take miso soup packets (white) and add just enough water to make a paste. spread over some freshly caught fish, bluegill rocks though I originally got the idea from a salmon recipe, and cook over an open fire. It's so good it boggles the mind! I'm really impressed with the idea of dehydrating meat. It's yet another reason to pick up a good dehydrator. Does anyone have any experience with freeze drying?
 
You guys are going to laugh, but first night on the trail when hiking in cold weather we always have Kielbasa and basmati rice.

My most hard core hiking buddy is a Pollock (no offence intended), and I developed this meal with him in mind.

I leave the trail head with a package of fresh kielbasa that’s frozen (unless it’s really cold) and when we get to camp we cook it over an open fire.

We cook-up the rice while the meat is cooking.

The meat is sliced and added to the rice at the end.

It’s usually served with some Jagermeister.

It’s not a quick meal, but it sure sticks to your ribs.

With a good combo of protein, fat and carbos, it’s sets us up the next days hike.
 
For the mashed potatoes i do find it easier to buy it. One of the best things is the vegtables. On the way back i ran across a girl she was hiking at PCT she was saying that one the big things she realy miss is vegtables on the trail. I left her all the extra food i had. Got an Email i think about a week later saying that she had some of the best food with what i gave her. If it gets realy cold a cup of miso soup with dry shrimp in it is a life saver. Another good thing is dry Homuos with some dry bagels.... I also had some refried beans in a can that i dried out and crushed. On the trail i added them to boiling water and when they were almost done added some cheese and mixed it. With some dry bread it was such an energy kick i loved it. If feels you out so much that in the evening i still wasnt hungry, So a large bowl of Miso soup was all i had.
HD do you add anything extra to your Miso soup??? I sometimes add one leaf of seaweed that they sale for Sushi and sometimes dry shrimp that i fried before or dry chicken..

Sasha
 
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