Fuel saving tip, cold soak your meal with half the water requirement while you hike. For dinner boil the other half (usually 1 cup), pour the boiling water into the cold soaked meal to warm it up. This takes considerably less fuel.
My go to easy 2 ingredient trail meal is regular lasagna hamburger helper with a pouch of tuna. Boil the noodles, then drain most of the hot water into a cup, add sauce powder to noodles, add back whatever water is needed to mix the powder, then stir in the tuna.
Early on in my thru hike I tried lots of creative things like that, then I got lazy about making complicated meals while hiking. Then I made a fabulous discovery. One night I was cooking my Pasta Sides alfredo, and after running out of tuna and chicken, all I had left was a pouch of Spam...And voila! Spam Alfredo was born and was my favorite trail dinner for many months.
To keep from burning pasta or rice in a pot, I made a heat diffuser out of a can lid, cut off with a side can opener so it had smooth sides. Then drill three holes and added 3 #10 screws, nuts, and lock washers. Put the diffuser on the stove pot stand and the heat radiates through the can lid onto the cook pot without burning the rice.
@@nancyrogge796 I have the nut side on top and I used a grinder stone on my drill to file the screw even with the nut. Stainless steel screws are soft and file down quickly.
one of my close friends is a nutritionist who makes all her food for the trail from whole foods! she calculates calories and nutrients and emphasizes nutrients that help with energy and recovery. it’s amazing what she does and i’ve been bugging her to start a blog or a website or write a book for ages!
There are some backpacking recipe books out there. We have one, I don’t remember the name. I’d love it if your friend wrote another! We have dehydrated a lot of things, lol.
@@misham6547 you can, and many people do, but eating Twinkies and taking vitamins obviously isn’t the same as eating real food. Eating as much real food as you can is always best.
Heres one that was a trail hit, if you want people wanting your food and not your weight this is it. Hot fresh popcorn in abundance. Did this many years ago, 2.5-liter pot aluminum on a white gas stove. Today it would be titanium pot. Supplies, one paper bag to pore popcorn in (popcorn is very hot when pored and melts things but not the paper bag) from the grocery store, two zip lock bags. Packaging vacuum seal popcorn mixed with butter-flavored Crisco together. It is shelf-stable and keeps a long time(months or years). Results, two-plus gallons of hot fresh popcorn. Some to eat now and the rest for trail snacks tomorrow. It is lots of fats and carbs and hits the spot while walking. To make it more balanced add nuts after it is done in the bags. Happy trails.
Thai Peanut Noodles: Packet of chili flavored ramen, two Tbsp crunchy PB, packet of True Lime, fresh or dried cilantro, and a protein such as sweet and spicy or Thai tuna or butterball Thai flavored turkey jerky. You can really put this over the top by carefully toasting some extra crushed ramen as a final topping. Also a great tramily meal that can be served in tortillas. Looking forward to meeting you at the fall ALDHA Gathering👊
Dear Jessica, I just finished watching your through hike of the PCT and yesterday I was fortunate to watch your through hike on the Camino de Santago. I want to say thank you. Thank you for the beautiful person you truely are. Little things of saving little lives of insects, your funny, funny original and special sense of humour caught me with deep gratitude and love. I have been hiking for a few years in Australia but nothing like what you do. You really inspire me to take my hiking to another level. Thank you for your honesty and sweetness. May you be truely happy, umesh.
Last summer on the PCT we did shepards pie just like this only we didn't use cheese. We used powdered butter. Everything else is nearly identical. Another item we did was scrambled eggs for breakfast. The OvaEasy eggs work well. We just cooked them up with chives and bacon bits. Just be careful to use low heat and stir often, or if you have two pans, do a double boiler. Speaking of bacon. There is pre-cooked bacon that needs no refrigeration so all you do is take it and as long as you eat the packet you open on the same day or so, you are good.
I like those meals. It turns out that time in the woods and in the sun may help fight off the virus. Our skin, in sunlight, produces vitamin D which has shown to fight respiratory infections. A study in Japan showed that a 2 mile walk in the woods can give a boost to your immunity for a week. Get outside and be active, even if it's just mowing the lawn and gardening. Good Luck to Us All, Rick
For the Shepard’s pie I made my own mashed potatoes by cooking the potatoes in beef stock. After I dehydrated them I ground them so it would turn into mashed potatoes when rehydrated. I also added mushrooms that I sautéd in beef broth and then dehydrated. I didn’t need to add another packet of seasoning. It tasted wonderful.
A small garden, a cheap dehydrator and an Aldi's. The cherry tomatoes from my garden make the best sun-dried tomatoes, just split in half and plop them on overnight. I get the ramen and mushrooms from an Asian grocery. Also the pre-cooked bacon bits at Walmart.
I've been testing out camping meals with my new dehydrator for the last couple months...and cheese has proven to be the most difficult ingredient to clean from my camp pot. I think cooking/rehydrating in a seal-able silicone cup could be a lightweight option that might be easier to clean than a pot.
easy, dry wash it with dirt. Please note that this works best when the food is wet. Put dry powdery dirt into the pot and move around with your hand working it into the remaining food. Dump it out. continue until there is no food remaining in the pot only a thin layer of dust. Rince pot in water and leave to dry.
Fake Pizza, cooked on the John Muir Trail when 3 hungry backpackers randomly came together for lunch, with a hodgepodge of ingredients: Place your frying pan on top of canister stove, drop in a corn tortilla, add cut up cheese. When the cheese is melted, add pepperonis and several generous splashes of Tobasco. Tasted excellent at 9,000 feet in late August.
Dandelion root coffee: Dig up and clean the roots Dice to a consistent size, about the size of coffee beans Roast in a frying pan until the centers are firm and crunchy. Grind and brew like normal coffee, but with about 40% more grounds than real coffee. Enjoy! It takes quite a while to harvest and make, so it is good to make a bunch of "beans" all at once. The whole dandelion plant is edible and is best as a soup.
I make a lot of homemade meals for the trail. I would gladly share any if my meals. I have made shepherds's pie (differently), chicken dinner, burritos, cheeseburger casserole, chicken broccoli casserole, goulash, baked beans bacon and bannok, pizza biscuits, beef steoganoff, chili, sausage eggs and hashbrowns, cake, rice pudding, the list goes on. I plan to eat excellent on the trail. Almost everything is homemade and home prepared but most require a full pot set to cook (2-3 pots) for them to turn out correctly. Most I created myself, others i borrowed
Thank you for another good video. I love watching them. Great recipes to try. You have helped inspire me to start my own channel to capture your Backpacking trips. Thank you for that. I wish I would have started sooner!!
Dixie, on the revolutionary original MSR stove (way before you were born(g)) there was no "simmer" either. MSR's simple solution was to supply an extra tin can lid, which you place on top of the burner, then place the pot on top of that. Same thing will work for alky stoves. One or two lids, to diffuse the heat.
Thank you for mentioning some vegan options. Some vegan foods I like to take camping (not necessarily backpacking) are Soon brand veggie flavored noodles which I can find at ralphs and food for less. they come in a cup of noodle style packaging. you can also find them in baggie form like top ramen at some Asian markets. Knorr veggie soup with a can of lentils are also really good. I mainly eat some kind of bean or legume and junk food lol. I believe Knorr also has a Spanish rice side meal which is also vegan.
I LOVE watching people cook, even trail food. But I've had some great stuff from Harmony House myself. The Alpine Pasta looked the yummiest to me! Great to see you Dixie! ~Allie
This is a great video and perfect to try some new things during this weird time! So glad you tried out the Alpine Pasta, and yes I forgot to mention, I have added dried spinach and even mushrooms before. It's kind of easy to customize how you like! We will be adding it back into our meals this year after a couple year hiatus.
Always find it interesting re: different approached to backpacking food, Yours looked good! Here in the UK where camp fires aren’t generally possible, we have a cautious approach to fuel use and tend to opt for dehydrating home cooked whole meals and then rehydrating and pot-cosying on our walk. Ps what we call shepherd’s pie is made with lamb mince; cottage pie with beef mince. Another across the pond difference 🙂
Sweet treat/desert. Coconut milk powder, rice, jam/honey/dehydrated fruit /berries/sweetener of choice basically. Cook rice in coconut milk. Stir in sweetener options of choice. Add allspice, nutmeg or whatever :)
In the Army 30 yrs ago(87) we used to take the MREs and make all kinds of stuff with the accessory packs. There are recipes on line. A lot of the food was freeze dried and they had a pork patty the size of a credit card. Eat it dry then drink water. It would blow up in your stomach and you were instantaneously full. I saw guys get in knock down fights over the cherry pie.
Ramen noodles are the cats meow. Cheap ( 10 cents a pack ) and light weight. You can add anything to them. I like to add an egg to my Ramen with the other stuff. A whole egg in the shell comes out soft or hard boiled depending on cooking time. Eggs in the shell last a year un-refridgerated. OR you can break them into a container...if the container is full, the eggs survive w unbroken yokes, and can be poured out one by one. Otherwise they make containers especially for backpacking whole eggs.
My all time favorite Backpacker recipe; i came up with it when i lived in NM and sent several packets to myself on the AT in 2019. Enjoy! NM Backpacker Vegan Green Chile Stew Combine the following in a plastic Ziplock Freezer Bag: 1T Imitation Bacon Bits 1T Minced Onion Bits 2/3C Potato flakes (instant mashed potatoes) 1T coconut milk powder ½ tsp Powdered Garlic 1 tsp vegetable broth powder 1/8 tsp smokey salt 1 pinch of ground black pepper 1 tsp hatch green Chile powder seasoning (Santa Fe Seasons makes a pretty good powder) 1 tsp dried Cilantro 1 SEALED packet of coconut oil or olive oil (approx. 1 T) Optional: 1tsp dried spinach or kale powder Freeze Dried corn or other veggies to taste 1 tsp Nutritional Yeast (will add a cheesy flavor) When ready to eat, boil 1 to 1.5 C of water. Empty oil packet into bag contents then add water, stir briefly and let set in an insulated envelope or container until re-hydrated. This recipe can be a bit salty so adjust to taste, and is quite flexible if you want to add dried sweet pepper flakes or other veggies or make a non-vegan version, though the vegan version was a big hit among my AT Hiker Trash friends.
Coconut milk powder, curry powder (pinch to taste), dehydrated cauliflower, chicken (flavour) stock cube (we use a vegetarian option)... Mix to make a hearty soup and serve with homemade damper :) (flour, water [flavoured with stockcupe if desired] , herbs if desired, optional: oil or coconut oil [solid] to taste. ) Warms body, useful anti inflammatory properties in tummeric (main ingredient in curry powder).
My Wife asked me if id sent ya the taco ramon recipe lol. That almost exactly how i make it to eat at home cept i mix my own spices and tend to make it a little to spicy at times.As for adding corn chips to it, ease back on the spices a bit and use BBQ corn chips or honey mustard. Really adds depth to the recipe for me.
Been doing this too!! Thought I was being weird, it's so super reassuring to hear others are doing the same. It feels comforting to use my gear while in quarantine.
It really helps me to know i'm not the only one having Cabin fever these days... good suggestion to use this time to try to make a future hike better. Many thanks from Canada,
My GoTo meal is half a package of dry cheese mini tortellini with dehydrated vegetables (carrot, celery, onion, and sun dried tomatoes are what I normally use) and a bouillon cube (chicken or vegetable is what I use). At home: Portion the pasta along with the veggies. I include the bouillon cube for convenience. Add all ingredients (remember to unwrap the bullion cube) to about 2c/500ml of water, bring to a boil, stir to ensure the bouillon is fully dissolved, and then wrap in cozy for about 5-10 min, or until the pasta stuffing is fully moist. You can also simmer for about 5min in place of using the cozy.
We feel your pain Dixie. Was lookin forward to the hiker conference and some quality time on the Pinhoti also. We'll get there directly I reckon. Thanks for the video and sweet hiker dreams.
My main go to meal that requires cooking is split peas/lentils and a packet of instant turkey gravy , super cheap and filling but deep fried beans/chik peas if not cooking are good also. Nice channel btw.
I’ve done a shepherd’s pie too. Never added cheese though. Like that you can easily modify it so you can really mix it up and get some variety. I can take one meal using onion gravy and another one adding dehydrated peppers, on and on.
I experimented with some trail recipes. I liked spaghetti (or macaroni noodles) with ground beef. I boiled spaghetti noodles and cooked ground beef, dehydrated those. Marinara sauce I dehydrated right out of the can . I put the dehydrated sauce in the blender to make marinara powder. On trail, I re-hydrated noodles and ground beef by boiling together and letting rest in a cozy. I I drained, but left enough water to reanimate the marinara. Add the powdered sauce and stir to reconstitute. Came out pretty good, just need to experiment a little with water content, but I loooove spaghetti on the trail:)
wow. that’s amazing. I normally carb load in the morning only with organic hulled millet. for lunch/dinner, I eat dehydrated pasture raised eggs, 100% grass-fed beef, wild caught sockeye, wild caught sardines, gelatin and a lot of cheese. I tend to add a lot ghee and a lot of Irish butter to add more calories. If I need more calories, I will have peanut butter with flaxseed oil or sometimes 100% grass-fed beef tallow. I don’t have variety at all. If I get bored what I am eating, I skip a meal or skip eating for the day.
Oh-yea boy!!! A true woman after my own heart! I've found some great things at the Oriental stores such as dried seaweed, kelp, and squid or if you prefer, calamari. They also have things like truffles, mushrooms, and spices. You may also find a great little bamboo steaming basket that serves as a really good pot huggy and a lightweight cook kit stowaway. I've found, country ham and instant oatmeal/ grits is a good breakfast that will keep you going right threw to lunchtime. Chipped beef and gravy mix over an English muffin is a hikers true S.O.S. friend and doesn't use a lot of fuel. Scalloped potato mix is a lite add-in for many dish enhancers. Spot on Miss Dixie. Love you love your channel! I know I'm about to go nuts to hit the trail because I can't find anyone to take me to the A/T and at least slowdown and throw me out for a week or two.LOL! I live near Yorktown Va. and that's about 300 miles+/- from Crabtree falls and I can't get any info when the park service is going to reopen the trailheads. Does anyone have any suggestions? Live, Love, Repeat!
We call this Chicken-Broccoli Cous-Cous. Recipe feeds 2 normal people or 1 hog. You need dehydrated chicken and broccoli (about 1/2 cup each), a box of Parmesan cous-cous, and 3-4 little tubs/pats of butter from a restaurant. Measure the water needed for the cous-cous, and add just a little extra splash for the chicken and broccoli to re-hydrate-(about a cup and a half total). It will expand, so allow a little extra room for that in your pot. Heat the water with the chicken, butter, broccoli and flavor packet from the cous-cous just to a boil, and set aside in the cozy to re-hydrate for 5-10 minutes. If you did not use a cozy, or you let it cool down for an hour while taking pictures and videos, bring it back to a boil, remove from heat and the add the cous-cous granules, cover/cozy and wait another 10 minutes. Fluff and mix it up, salt and pepper to taste. Bonus points for extra parmesan and butter. It is a recipe that is easy on the fuel too.
There is a Swedish breakfast chees that comes in a tube (Like a toothpaste tube). Could be worth checking out if you’re a cheese lover. Great for adding cheese to things on the trail. It’s called mjukost (soft cheese).
Hi, Dixie. Thank you for your brightside view. You're definitely an inspiring person. I'm using this time to improve my camping gear for more lightweight. Trying new recipes for stove cooking with a pot cozy (thank you for this tut, it works great). Big love from Russia
2 oz dehydrated refried beans 1 oz dehydrated rice 1 oz fritos 1 oz cheese Boil 12 oz water, add rice and beans, cook another 1-2 minutes. Add cheese and chips. Eat from cookpot or slap on tortillas. Around 180 calories/ounce. I'm I big fan of this one.
Sounds great I will have to try them before my next hike. I miss the woods bad. I might have to sneak out and hit the trail for a day hike and try out one of these. Thanks Dixie.
I recommend cold soaking the dehydrated meats and vegetables for a few hours then it can be all tossed into a freezer bag and add boiling water to the bag put the whole thing into a cozzie, saves more on fuel
frozen shrimp vac seal then put in a brown paper bag throw it in your pack even in the mid summer it will stay frozen all day. also pre cook a steak or pork chop freeze it then vac seal when you get to camp boil some water then put sealed meat into pot and let sit about 10 mins.
Shephard Pie Mix - check in the international/British section for a SP seasoning mix - instead of using the Beef Gravy - And everything else the same as you presented it. Thanks for the recipies.
You should check out Next Mile Meals' Beef Taco meal. You can add a little bit of this mix to ramen to make the Taco Ramen and so easy to do on a trail. They have keto-friendly, low-carb dried meals so definitely a great alternative if you're sick of eating rice and beans. I also love adding French's Crispy Jalapenos to everything.
I love what you’re doing that’s so important that we learn how to survive and live off the land as well as homesteading- I’ve started this with my family and channel as well
Love your vids, Dixie. BTW: Do Alabamians know that the word "boil" actual has two syllablels? (smiley-faced emoji here). Helped brighten my afternoon today. Thanks.
Interesting thanks Dixie. Just to be a pedantic Brit, Shepherd's pie is made with lamb or mutton, hence the name. What you have there is trail Cottage Pie 👍
I feel bad for anyone who has symptoms and has to quarantine, hope you are well dixie. I have been doing a lot of hiking and backpacking the past month since I have had a lot of free time. I will try one of the meals for my trip next week, I have been dehydrating food :-)
Fuel saving tip, cold soak your meal with half the water requirement while you hike. For dinner boil the other half (usually 1 cup), pour the boiling water into the cold soaked meal to warm it up. This takes considerably less fuel.
That is a good tip
My go to easy 2 ingredient trail meal is regular lasagna hamburger helper with a pouch of tuna. Boil the noodles, then drain most of the hot water into a cup, add sauce powder to noodles, add back whatever water is needed to mix the powder, then stir in the tuna.
Dixie and her Ray-men noodles 😂
Is that not how it is pronounced?
Jason - Ra-Men
@@GastoniaJack Raw-men might be easier to decipher, cheers!
Might be a southern thing because I grew up in Alabama /Georgia and we also pronounced it RAY-men. I learned RAH-men when I went to college.
beeroux you now you’re in the south when someone says raw-men noodles
Early on in my thru hike I tried lots of creative things like that, then I got lazy about making complicated meals while hiking. Then I made a fabulous discovery. One night I was cooking my Pasta Sides alfredo, and after running out of tuna and chicken, all I had left was a pouch of Spam...And voila! Spam Alfredo was born and was my favorite trail dinner for many months.
Yup, since I discovered SPAM Singles Packets at Wal-Mart, I mix them with instant mashed potatoes for lunch at work every week. SPAM is amazing.
To keep from burning pasta or rice in a pot, I made a heat diffuser out of a can lid, cut off with a side can opener so it had smooth sides. Then drill three holes and added 3 #10 screws, nuts, and lock washers. Put the diffuser on the stove pot stand and the heat radiates through the can lid onto the cook pot without burning the rice.
Mike N - do you have the screw side on top, so the pot sits on them, or the other way around?
@@nancyrogge796 I have the nut side on top and I used a grinder stone on my drill to file the screw even with the nut. Stainless steel screws are soft and file down quickly.
Maybe i can pay you to make me one lol
one of my close friends is a nutritionist who makes all her food for the trail from whole foods! she calculates calories and nutrients and emphasizes nutrients that help with energy and recovery. it’s amazing what she does and i’ve been bugging her to start a blog or a website or write a book for ages!
Yes, that would be great. Maybe you could ask her for one recipe at a time and put them together:)
Any updates re a blog or yt channel? Please tell her enquiring minds want to know :)
There are some backpacking recipe books out there. We have one, I don’t remember the name. I’d love it if your friend wrote another! We have dehydrated a lot of things, lol.
Can't you just carry suppliments? I lm not hating just a genuine question
@@misham6547 you can, and many people do, but eating Twinkies and taking vitamins obviously isn’t the same as eating real food. Eating as much real food as you can is always best.
Heres one that was a trail hit, if you want people wanting your food and not your weight this is it. Hot fresh popcorn in abundance. Did this many years ago, 2.5-liter pot aluminum on a white gas stove. Today it would be titanium pot. Supplies, one paper bag to pore popcorn in (popcorn is very hot when pored and melts things but not the paper bag) from the grocery store, two zip lock bags. Packaging vacuum seal popcorn mixed with butter-flavored Crisco together. It is shelf-stable and keeps a long time(months or years). Results, two-plus gallons of hot fresh popcorn. Some to eat now and the rest for trail snacks tomorrow. It is lots of fats and carbs and hits the spot while walking. To make it more balanced add nuts after it is done in the bags. Happy trails.
Thai Peanut Noodles: Packet of chili flavored ramen, two Tbsp crunchy PB, packet of True Lime, fresh or dried cilantro, and a protein such as sweet and spicy or Thai tuna or butterball Thai flavored turkey jerky. You can really put this over the top by carefully toasting some extra crushed ramen as a final topping. Also a great tramily meal that can be served in tortillas. Looking forward to meeting you at the fall ALDHA Gathering👊
Dear Jessica,
I just finished watching your through hike of the PCT and yesterday I was fortunate to watch your through hike on the Camino de Santago. I want to say thank you. Thank you for the beautiful person you truely are. Little things of saving little lives of insects, your funny, funny original and special sense of humour caught me with deep gratitude and love. I have been hiking for a few years in Australia but nothing like what you do. You really inspire me to take my hiking to another level. Thank you for your honesty and sweetness. May you be truely happy,
umesh.
Last summer on the PCT we did shepards pie just like this only we didn't use cheese. We used powdered butter. Everything else is nearly identical. Another item we did was scrambled eggs for breakfast. The OvaEasy eggs work well. We just cooked them up with chives and bacon bits. Just be careful to use low heat and stir often, or if you have two pans, do a double boiler. Speaking of bacon. There is pre-cooked bacon that needs no refrigeration so all you do is take it and as long as you eat the packet you open on the same day or so, you are good.
I like those meals. It turns out that time in the woods and in the sun may help fight off the virus. Our skin, in sunlight, produces vitamin D which has shown to fight respiratory infections. A study in Japan showed that a 2 mile walk in the woods can give a boost to your immunity for a week. Get outside and be active, even if it's just mowing the lawn and gardening. Good Luck to Us All, Rick
Richard Ross ruclips.net/video/PgDjVEpEOdQ/видео.html here’s the study
For the Shepard’s pie I made my own mashed potatoes by cooking the potatoes in beef stock. After I dehydrated them I ground them so it would turn into mashed potatoes when rehydrated. I also added mushrooms that I sautéd in beef broth and then dehydrated. I didn’t need to add another packet of seasoning. It tasted wonderful.
A small garden, a cheap dehydrator and an Aldi's. The cherry tomatoes from my garden make the best sun-dried tomatoes, just split in half and plop them on overnight. I get the ramen and mushrooms from an Asian grocery. Also the pre-cooked bacon bits at Walmart.
Great topic and ideas Dixie. An idea to extend Mountain House meals to make 2 dinners is to just add Instant Potatoes to half of the bag.
Next video: how to wash a cheesy pot while on the trail.
You wash your pots while on the trail?
I've been testing out camping meals with my new dehydrator for the last couple months...and cheese has proven to be the most difficult ingredient to clean from my camp pot. I think cooking/rehydrating in a seal-able silicone cup could be a lightweight option that might be easier to clean than a pot.
Thanks for the great content. I concur with other viewers: curious to see a video for “on trail dishwashing”.
Stay safe and healthy!
easy, dry wash it with dirt. Please note that this works best when the food is wet. Put dry powdery dirt into the pot and move around with your hand working it into the remaining food. Dump it out. continue until there is no food remaining in the pot only a thin layer of dust. Rince pot in water and leave to dry.
@@ericericson192 I learned that in Boy Scouts and used that process in the Army. Works great!
Fake Pizza, cooked on the John Muir Trail when 3 hungry backpackers randomly came together for lunch, with a hodgepodge of ingredients:
Place your frying pan on top of canister stove, drop in a corn tortilla, add cut up cheese. When the cheese is melted, add pepperonis and several generous splashes of Tobasco. Tasted excellent at 9,000 feet in late August.
Dandelion root coffee:
Dig up and clean the roots
Dice to a consistent size, about the size of coffee beans
Roast in a frying pan until the centers are firm and crunchy.
Grind and brew like normal coffee, but with about 40% more grounds than real coffee.
Enjoy!
It takes quite a while to harvest and make, so it is good to make a bunch of "beans" all at once. The whole dandelion plant is edible and is best as a soup.
Can lower the heat on an alcohol stove by raising the pot. A few rocks or sticks under the pot stand should do the trick.
That logo placement! 🔥🔥
Ha! I had missed it again, but it was worth replaying :)
Glad I'm not the only one who notices. Aaron gets creative. I asked him in some other video this week to put together a video of his favorites.
I make a lot of homemade meals for the trail. I would gladly share any if my meals. I have made shepherds's pie (differently), chicken dinner, burritos, cheeseburger casserole, chicken broccoli casserole, goulash, baked beans bacon and bannok, pizza biscuits, beef steoganoff, chili, sausage eggs and hashbrowns, cake, rice pudding, the list goes on. I plan to eat excellent on the trail. Almost everything is homemade and home prepared but most require a full pot set to cook (2-3 pots) for them to turn out correctly. Most I created myself, others i borrowed
Thank you for another good video. I love watching them. Great recipes to try. You have helped inspire me to start my own channel to capture your Backpacking trips. Thank you for that. I wish I would have started sooner!!
Dixie, on the revolutionary original MSR stove (way before you were born(g)) there was no "simmer" either. MSR's simple solution was to supply an extra tin can lid, which you place on top of the burner, then place the pot on top of that. Same thing will work for alky stoves. One or two lids, to diffuse the heat.
Keep up the good spirits! Whether you're on the trail or off the trail, I'm still watching. You spread a lot of joy. Thanks for what you do.
Thank you for mentioning some vegan options. Some vegan foods I like to take camping (not necessarily backpacking) are Soon brand veggie flavored noodles which I can find at ralphs and food for less. they come in a cup of noodle style packaging. you can also find them in baggie form like top ramen at some Asian markets. Knorr veggie soup with a can of lentils are also really good. I mainly eat some kind of bean or legume and junk food lol. I believe Knorr also has a Spanish rice side meal which is also vegan.
Love you for this, I have fired up my dehydrator lately and have been testing them with straight cook and cold soak cook.
I LOVE watching people cook, even trail food. But I've had some great stuff from Harmony House myself.
The Alpine Pasta looked the yummiest to me!
Great to see you Dixie!
~Allie
Rip hank. You were obviously a good friend and well loved
This is a great video and perfect to try some new things during this weird time! So glad you tried out the Alpine Pasta, and yes I forgot to mention, I have added dried spinach and even mushrooms before. It's kind of easy to customize how you like! We will be adding it back into our meals this year after a couple year hiatus.
jsf898s Thank you!!
Those look really delicious outside the trail lol. I'll have to try them!
Always find it interesting re: different approached to backpacking food, Yours looked good! Here in the UK where camp fires aren’t generally possible, we have a cautious approach to fuel use and tend to opt for dehydrating home cooked whole meals and then rehydrating and pot-cosying on our walk. Ps what we call shepherd’s pie is made with lamb mince; cottage pie with beef mince. Another across the pond difference 🙂
Dehydrated kimchi is amazing. You just need to squeeze out the liquid before dehydrating
Sweet treat/desert. Coconut milk powder, rice, jam/honey/dehydrated fruit /berries/sweetener of choice basically. Cook rice in coconut milk. Stir in sweetener options of choice. Add allspice, nutmeg or whatever :)
Love hearing from you! Literally just got done watching your AT journey!
In the Army 30 yrs ago(87) we used to take the MREs and make all kinds of stuff with the accessory packs. There are recipes on line. A lot of the food was freeze dried and they had a pork patty the size of a credit card. Eat it dry then drink water. It would blow up in your stomach and you were instantaneously full. I saw guys get in knock down fights over the cherry pie.
You never saw anyone fight over that damn fruitcake though! Dear God in 4 years I only ate it ONCE, it was that bad.
Ramen noodles are the cats meow. Cheap ( 10 cents a pack ) and light weight. You can add anything to them.
I like to add an egg to my Ramen with the other stuff. A whole egg in the shell comes out soft or hard boiled depending on cooking time.
Eggs in the shell last a year un-refridgerated. OR you can break them into a container...if the container is full, the eggs survive w unbroken yokes, and can be poured out one by one. Otherwise they make containers especially for backpacking whole eggs.
Good recipe ideas! This is def a good time to work on skills from home.
My all time favorite Backpacker recipe; i came up with it when i lived in NM and sent several packets to myself on the AT in 2019. Enjoy!
NM Backpacker Vegan Green Chile Stew
Combine the following in a plastic Ziplock Freezer Bag:
1T Imitation Bacon Bits
1T Minced Onion Bits
2/3C Potato flakes (instant mashed potatoes)
1T coconut milk powder
½ tsp Powdered Garlic
1 tsp vegetable broth powder
1/8 tsp smokey salt
1 pinch of ground black pepper
1 tsp hatch green Chile powder seasoning (Santa Fe Seasons makes a pretty good powder)
1 tsp dried Cilantro
1 SEALED packet of coconut oil or olive oil (approx. 1 T)
Optional:
1tsp dried spinach or kale powder
Freeze Dried corn or other veggies to taste
1 tsp Nutritional Yeast (will add a cheesy flavor)
When ready to eat, boil 1 to 1.5 C of water. Empty oil packet into bag contents then add water, stir briefly and let set in an insulated envelope or container until re-hydrated.
This recipe can be a bit salty so adjust to taste, and is quite flexible if you want to add dried sweet pepper flakes or other veggies or make a non-vegan version, though the vegan version was a big hit among my AT Hiker Trash friends.
Coconut milk powder, curry powder (pinch to taste), dehydrated cauliflower, chicken (flavour) stock cube (we use a vegetarian option)... Mix to make a hearty soup and serve with homemade damper :) (flour, water [flavoured with stockcupe if desired] , herbs if desired, optional: oil or coconut oil [solid] to taste. )
Warms body, useful anti inflammatory properties in tummeric (main ingredient in curry powder).
My Wife asked me if id sent ya the taco ramon recipe lol. That almost exactly how i make it to eat at home cept i mix my own spices and tend to make it a little to spicy at times.As for adding corn chips to it, ease back on the spices a bit and use BBQ corn chips or honey mustard. Really adds depth to the recipe for me.
Slap yo momma good- even for backyard campsites 🏕and da “Raymond” noodles are the cutest sounding noodles- ❤️you Dixie
I've been sleeping on my uberlite and eating hiking food because I'm depressed lol. Thanks for the new video
I totally understand.
Hear ya.
Been doing this too!! Thought I was being weird, it's so super reassuring to hear others are doing the same. It feels comforting to use my gear while in quarantine.
Just slept on my mat last night on the floor of my room. I feel way better but man, I miss the trail!
All this makes me want to be on the trails even more
It really helps me to know i'm not the only one having Cabin fever these days... good suggestion to use this time to try to make a future hike better. Many thanks from Canada,
My GoTo meal is half a package of dry cheese mini tortellini with dehydrated vegetables (carrot, celery, onion, and sun dried tomatoes are what I normally use) and a bouillon cube (chicken or vegetable is what I use).
At home: Portion the pasta along with the veggies. I include the bouillon cube for convenience.
Add all ingredients (remember to unwrap the bullion cube) to about 2c/500ml of water, bring to a boil, stir to ensure the bouillon is fully dissolved, and then wrap in cozy for about 5-10 min, or until the pasta stuffing is fully moist. You can also simmer for about 5min in place of using the cozy.
Thank you Dixie I will actually use these! I’m so glad you shared.
I dehydrate spinach to add some green to my meals.works pretty good. I crush it up a bit to spread the flavor in the meal.
Sheppard's pie, going to do that on trail this weekend.
Kevin outdoors has some interesting dehydrated camping recipes.
Kevin makes the best backcountry meals!
We feel your pain Dixie. Was lookin forward to the hiker conference and some quality time on the Pinhoti also. We'll get there directly I reckon. Thanks for the video and sweet hiker dreams.
Thank you for keeping my spirits up. Please take care of yourself too while we all endure this ❤️❤️❤️
My main go to meal that requires cooking is split peas/lentils and a packet of instant turkey gravy , super cheap and filling but deep fried beans/chik peas if not cooking are good also. Nice channel btw.
So awesome Dixie. Monica has had the dehydrator going 24/7 getting ready for our next thruhike. :)
Thank you Dixie! your videos keep me going during this craziness!
I’ve done a shepherd’s pie too. Never added cheese though. Like that you can easily modify it so you can really mix it up and get some variety. I can take one meal using onion gravy and another one adding dehydrated peppers, on and on.
I experimented with some trail recipes. I liked spaghetti (or macaroni noodles) with ground beef. I boiled spaghetti noodles and cooked ground beef, dehydrated those. Marinara sauce I dehydrated right out of the can . I put the dehydrated sauce in the blender to make marinara powder. On trail, I re-hydrated noodles and ground beef by boiling together and letting rest in a cozy. I I drained, but left enough water to reanimate the marinara. Add the powdered sauce and stir to reconstitute. Came out pretty good, just need to experiment a little with water content, but I loooove spaghetti on the trail:)
Those knorr sides are pretty good, especially for the price. A couple simple ingredients added makes them that much better!
A really good packpacking cook book is “Lip Smackin Backpackin “. It is very well put together.
Thank you! I appreciate the videos! ❤😊
wow. that’s amazing. I normally carb load in the morning only with organic hulled millet. for lunch/dinner, I eat dehydrated pasture raised eggs, 100% grass-fed beef, wild caught sockeye, wild caught sardines, gelatin and a lot of cheese. I tend to add a lot ghee and a lot of Irish butter to add more calories. If I need more calories, I will have peanut butter with flaxseed oil or sometimes 100% grass-fed beef tallow. I don’t have variety at all. If I get bored what I am eating, I skip a meal or skip eating for the day.
Keep up the great work. I've been backpacking for 20+ years and really enjoy the videos - appreciate the fresh perspectives and ideas - thank you!
Oh-yea boy!!! A true woman after my own heart! I've found some great things at the Oriental stores such as dried seaweed, kelp, and squid or if you prefer, calamari. They also have things like truffles, mushrooms, and spices. You may also find a great little bamboo steaming basket that serves as a really good pot huggy and a lightweight cook kit stowaway.
I've found, country ham and instant oatmeal/ grits is a good breakfast that will keep you going right threw to lunchtime. Chipped beef and gravy mix over an English muffin is a hikers true S.O.S. friend and doesn't use a lot of fuel. Scalloped potato mix is a lite add-in for many dish enhancers.
Spot on Miss Dixie. Love you love your channel! I know I'm about to go nuts to hit the trail because I can't find anyone to take me to the A/T and at least slowdown and throw me out for a week or two.LOL!
I live near Yorktown Va. and that's about 300 miles+/- from Crabtree falls and I can't get any info when the park service is going to reopen the trailheads. Does anyone have any suggestions?
Live, Love, Repeat!
I need to try these! Thanks for sharing!
Looking at that Shepherd's pie made me feel full.
We call this Chicken-Broccoli Cous-Cous. Recipe feeds 2 normal people or 1 hog.
You need dehydrated chicken and broccoli (about 1/2 cup each), a box of Parmesan cous-cous, and 3-4 little tubs/pats of butter from a restaurant. Measure the water needed for the cous-cous, and add just a little extra splash for the chicken and broccoli to re-hydrate-(about a cup and a half total). It will expand, so allow a little extra room for that in your pot. Heat the water with the chicken, butter, broccoli and flavor packet from the cous-cous just to a boil, and set aside in the cozy to re-hydrate for 5-10 minutes. If you did not use a cozy, or you let it cool down for an hour while taking pictures and videos, bring it back to a boil, remove from heat and the add the cous-cous granules, cover/cozy and wait another 10 minutes. Fluff and mix it up, salt and pepper to taste. Bonus points for extra parmesan and butter. It is a recipe that is easy on the fuel too.
There is a Swedish breakfast chees that comes in a tube (Like a toothpaste tube). Could be worth checking out if you’re a cheese lover. Great for adding cheese to things on the trail. It’s called mjukost (soft cheese).
Hi, Dixie. Thank you for your brightside view. You're definitely an inspiring person. I'm using this time to improve my camping gear for more lightweight. Trying new recipes for stove cooking with a pot cozy (thank you for this tut, it works great).
Big love from Russia
Great ideas. For your pot cozie if you use foil A/C tape it will hold up better and withstand the heat. Thanks for the good recipes.
OH IM so hungry!. I love these please make more!
I know how you feel. I am a sailor and this virus crap has really ruined the summer plans. Thanks for the video!
2 oz dehydrated refried beans
1 oz dehydrated rice
1 oz fritos
1 oz cheese
Boil 12 oz water, add rice and beans, cook another 1-2 minutes.
Add cheese and chips.
Eat from cookpot or slap on tortillas.
Around 180 calories/ounce. I'm I big fan of this one.
Sounds great I will have to try them before my next hike. I miss the woods bad. I might have to sneak out and hit the trail for a day hike and try out one of these. Thanks Dixie.
I recommend cold soaking the dehydrated meats and vegetables for a few hours then it can be all tossed into a freezer bag and add boiling water to the bag put the whole thing into a cozzie, saves more on fuel
frozen shrimp vac seal then put in a brown paper bag throw it in your pack even in the mid summer it will stay frozen all day. also pre cook a steak or pork chop freeze it then vac seal when you get to camp boil some water then put sealed meat into pot and let sit about 10 mins.
Awesome. Please more recipes.
Been doing a lot of off trail waterfall hunting here in South Carolina...stay safe everyone!
You can substitute lentils for mince in Shepherd's Pie, I might have to try that for the Trail version.
This was helpful.
Thanks for this.
Wow, thanks for great ideas and demonstration.
Shephard Pie Mix - check in the international/British section for a SP seasoning mix - instead of using the Beef Gravy - And everything else the same as you presented it. Thanks for the recipies.
You should check out Next Mile Meals' Beef Taco meal. You can add a little bit of this mix to ramen to make the Taco Ramen and so easy to do on a trail. They have keto-friendly, low-carb dried meals so definitely a great alternative if you're sick of eating rice and beans. I also love adding French's Crispy Jalapenos to everything.
Really loved the video! Would love to see more recipe videos.
Hope you’re staying well & safe Dixie!
You're making me homesick for west Georgia!
Homemade Wanderchow
I love what you’re doing that’s so important that we learn how to survive and live off the land as well as homesteading- I’ve started this with my family and channel as well
A good meal on the go is a pizza wrap. Ingredients: Tortilla (not corn), sliced pepperoni, asiago cheese, tomato paste (available in small tubes)
Love your vids, Dixie. BTW: Do Alabamians know that the word "boil" actual has two syllablels? (smiley-faced emoji here). Helped brighten my afternoon today. Thanks.
Slap Yo Mama spice is excellent!!!
Interesting thanks Dixie. Just to be a pedantic Brit, Shepherd's pie is made with lamb or mutton, hence the name. What you have there is trail Cottage Pie 👍
I love that tee-shirt "In dog years I'm dead" lol!
LinTastic Hahaha, thanks
Thanks Dixie.
Good video.
Ramen noodles, jalapeno(sliced) , hot chili pepper (sliced), lemon juice, cilantro, and choice of vegetables. 🤤😋
That last one looked great. Idk who adds mayo to a Shepard's pie but to est their own.
The Titan Preparedness Channel i add mayo to homemade mashed taters, so why not?
@@HomemadeWanderlust must be a bama thing. Here in sc we add sour cream. I might have to try it.
That 2nd one looks delicious. And I'm glad I finally found someone who mispronounces Ramen, the same way I mispronounce it lol
Dixie is looking well rested.
Hank was looking like he enjoyed making that video!!
Looks like awesome meals Dixie. Might try them at home too
I feel bad for anyone who has symptoms and has to quarantine, hope you are well dixie. I have been doing a lot of hiking and backpacking the past month since I have had a lot of free time. I will try one of the meals for my trip next week, I have been dehydrating food :-)
Hank wanted me to tell you that he REALLY liked this video and wants you to do another.
Glad to hear venison, wild game is way better for ya. Thanks some great ideas