The blog of www.trailcooking.com
Jan 9th, 2012 by Sarah
Trader Joe’s has slowly been adding more varieties of freeze dried fruit and berries – they already have carried blueberries, bananas, strawberries, pineapple chips, mango and more – new is raspberries and seedless red grapes:
Each resealable bag is 1.2 ounces and around $4. A good deal overall for a quality product. They are both a product of the USA and Chile.
~Sarah
Dec 31st, 2011 by Sarah
In the December 2011 issue of Women’s Health Magazine
One of the best things you can do for your cholesterol levels is to eat oats – often! Kirk and I got addicted to eating various forms of oatmeal in 2011 (from one pot to baked, I made so many types!). It helped us knock our cholesterol levels in half and more so, kept us from getting as hungry. Well made oatmeal will have you desiring it, rather than eating that nutritionally less than stellar breakfast of champions, er backpackers, Pop-Tarts©. Oats are also great for your blood sugar (hence the reason you feel full longer) and are a great source of fiber (beta-glucan fiber, what binds the cholesterol).
The processing done to Old-Fashioned and 1 Minute oats isn’t anything bad – it simply breaks down the tough exterior of the oat making it easier to cook and eat. Ounce for ounce you get similar nutritional stats. The only time it isn’t is the pre-packaged instant packets that are full of sugar, salt and artificial flavorings/colorings. Considering you can make your own DIY packets and avoid all the salt/chemicals, you have no excuses! Most often I go for Old-Fashioned Oats as I enjoy the texture the most – and you can always do a quick grind to make them quicker cooking. And price-wise you just cannot beat them – go to Costco and you will be eating for next to nothing!
The key is that oats are bland, no matter what type you prefer. To taste great you need to be creative. They can be savory or sweet, but just like rice or couscous, you need to add in flavor. Cooking with milk (dairy or non-dairy) adds depth. Add in nuts, seeds, dried fruit, etc for more substance. Use spices! There isn’t much better than a bowl of oats sweetened with maple syrup and topped with just picked Huckleberries in August 
So consider tomorrow a new start to a healthier you – learn to love oats and consider having them for meals when you backpack Need some ideas? Well, here ya go!
Sarah’s Fattening Coconut Berry Oatmeal
Trail-Nola, a cold cereal for those days when you don’t want to cook!
And need some ideas to get you going at home?
Baked Oatmeal is great for hiking. Make it at night and in the morning take a big wedge with you to eat on the way to the trailhead. Avoid the pre-hike rut of greasy gut-bombs from fast food places! Or have a bowl of hearty oatmeal before you hit the road. Your stomach (and heart) will thank you!
~Sarah
Dec 30th, 2011 by Sarah
Two days from 2012 starting! That got me in the mood for a new trail breakfast. Something warm, nourishing, slightly sweet yet with a little savory. And this breakfast pudding was just what I craved!
Breakfast Pistachio Rice Pudding
Rice, milk, cranberries, a little brown sugar and cinnamon and lovely green pistachios – yum!
~Sarah
Dec 22nd, 2011 by admin
Being a Washington State native I grew up on Liberty Orchard’s Aplets and Cotlets – and their extensive candy collection. I love the mix of gummy candy and chopped nuts. Yum!
This week we had samples of a newer line, The Orchard Bar, show up for review. Imagine if I had my favorite fruit and berry candies made over into a tasty energy bar? Well, this is it. The bars come in three flavors:
Orchard Bars Pineapple, Coconut & Macadamia Bars
Orchard Bars Strwberry, Raspberry & Walnut Bars
Orchard Bars Blueberry, Pomegranate & Almond Bars
Unlike their candy counterparts, the Orchard Bars are full of nuts, seeds (even my favorite flax seeds!) and soy protein nuggets. The Pineapple bar has 200 calories, 8 grams fat, 100 mg sodium, 5 grams protein and 2 grams fiber – making the bars a great snack when out hiking or well, doing anything that works up hunger! The bars are sweet, unlike so many energy bars that taste more of flours, these you get the thrill of a candy experience with a boost of energy. And as a bonus the bars are also high in Omega 3, giving one a heart healthy choice. The bars are vegan, kosher, non-GMO, Gluten-free, made in the US and all natural.
Keep an eye out for the bars and if you like sweets, give them a try! And PS: Check out their website for 2 new flavors, available through their online store. Yum indeed!
~Sarah
FTC Disclaimer: We received product samples for review consideration.
Dec 19th, 2011 by Sarah
Prunes, er, I mean dried plums, don’t usually rank up there as exciting outdoor food but the new packages of of Sunsweet® Plum Amazins™ Diced Dried Plums caught my eyes:
Dried plums tend to be really sticky/messy so I don’t carry them often (especially in summer when they start sweating and get even more sticky) and chopping them up is even more of a mess so I was wondering how these would fare. The plums are diced up (very toddler friendly I might add) and are not sticky, yet are still plenty soft for easy chewing.
They are delicious eaten plain and in trail mix would be even better. Perfect as well for adding to oatmeal and even rice or pasta dishes (plums work well for both sweet and savory dishes!).
Find them with the dried fruit in grocery stores (I found the 9 ounce hard sided container for $2 on sale this week).
PS: The container would also recycle well into a cracker holder for later use!
~Sarah
Dec 17th, 2011 by Sarah
2011 goes down into history in a matter of days and if anything it was the slowest year of hiking for me in well over a decade. But I was OK with that. I had my reasons and what I did get in made up for what I didn’t. But I made a lot of memories and had a wonderful time doing the hikes we got. My hikes were built around the youngest this year and finding out we were having a third baby in June changed the game even more. Pregnancy has slowed me down but it also has given me plenty of time to dream of next summer’s hikes.(And did I forget to mention that pesky La Nina where it dumped snow like crazy in late winter/spring and then was so cold we had nearly no summer? The trails were buried in alpine till late August. If anything….I picked a good year to be out of commission!)
This photo is what my year was. Walker at Paradise, at Mt. Rainier, on August 1st. There was still well over 5 feet of snow on the ground behind us. He was so happy, scampering around in it after this photo was taken:
In February with Walker, on a regional trail system at Cougar Mountain:
Mama and Baby out hiking:
On a cold morning hike in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains:
Cold but why waste a sunny day?
Walker is a big boy, I realized that when he went to a back carrier and I was carrying 45 lbs of him and gear!
Even in the late winter/spring the low foothills have their own bleak beauty:
Along the Cedar River in Washington:
Snuggled up warm n’ cozy in his BOB jogger stroller in spring, out on a rail to trail hike:
An overly excited hiking partner 
What happens when two outdoor trail cooking mavens hike together and have lunch after hiking (That is Teresa of One Pan Wonders fame):
Along the Green River canyon having a post lunch hike:
On Whidbey Island at Ebey’s Landing with Kirk, going down to the Lagoons and the water:
On a trip out along the Carbon River at Mt. Rainier (when all else fails with snow levels, The Carbon is always pretty!):
Kirk and Walker contemplating a hike at Rainier:
On one of the forks of the Snoqualmie River:
Hiking near the city of Olympia, Washington at Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge:
Silver Falls at Mt. Rainier in early summer:
At Sunrise, Mt. Rainier on the 4th of July. The snow was still 7 to 10 feet deep:
Mt. Rainier hid in the clouds in mid-July:
Mt. Rainier from near Chinook Pass in mid-summer:
Along the White River at Mt. Rainier:
Mt. Rainier in August, finally starting to melt out:
Paradise River (a creek these days):
Glacier Basin, at Mt. Rainier. Of all the hiking I did this year it was the hardest. I was about 3 months pregnant and very anemic. The trail had finally been restored, after being wiped out a few years ago, opened up the day before and I didn’t want to miss my chance to hike it. Lynn talked me the whole way, pushing me to do it. And it was worth it – in 2003 I had tried to go to Glacier Basin only to be turned back by deep snow and regretted never going back. We saw a black bear feasting on the way down and while it exhausted me, it was worth the normally easy 7 or so miles!
In September hiking on the Green to Cedar Rivers Trail near where we live, enjoying the easy months
More urban “hiking” with Walker. Moochie ducks and little boys go hand in hand:
In the late fall I took Kirk out for lunch at Salish Lodge – with a certain little one with us. After lunch we walked along the viewpoints for Snoqualmie Falls where someone had way too much fun on the rocks. Oh, it wasn’t “wildernessey” but who cares. He had fun. So did we. And that is all that matters!
But as fall came and got further along I quit hiking, I even quit the gym. Spending my late fall and coming winter just being lazy. Spring will be here soon enough, the trails will melt out and the flowers will come again. And the hiking will start again (as will that pesky gym). For now I fill my time with a lot of Mommy/food blogging on my personal website.
May you all enjoy the Solstice coming up soon and think of the coming spring!
~Sarah
Dec 4th, 2011 by Sarah
I happen to be a longtime fan of Lunabars (and as always noted – guys you can eat them. You won’t be any less manly.) So I was pretty excited to see this in my post office box yesterday morning:
Yum! A Chocolate Peppermint Stick bar and ooh….a matching all natural lipbalm. Lets just say that the “seasonal flavors” of the bars are some of my favorite and the lipbalm is even better. The bummer is it doesn’t appear teh balm is sold, it is promotional only. HintHint Lunabar – this stuff needs to be sold! It is smooth, tasty and has no petroleum products in it. Now to hide it away for this winter where no else can find it……
~Sarah
FTC Disclaimer: We received these products complimentary.
Nov 29th, 2011 by Sarah
Another option is out in grocery stores for those who love broth sticks (I know we do!). If you haven’t seen broth sticks, think of it as very concentrated broth in a small pouch. Unlike bouillon powder it has a deep and rich flavor, with each stick making 8 ounces of broth. I am a huge fan of the sticks sold at Trader Joe’s:
Boxes of 12 sticks, they sell for $3.99 and are reduced sodium (less than 400 mg per stick). Of course, if you don’t have a Trader Joe’s nearby that isn’t any help!
There has been an option for the company that makes the sticks, Savory Choice
Swanson Flavor Boost sticks, sold in packs of 8 in three flavors. The upside is it will be easy to find, the downside is it has twice the sodium as the other brands (over 800 mg per stick). Still, it is a great find and will be great in trail meals!
~Sarah
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