Thanksgiving On The Trail is a section on Trailcooking that I have worked on for a couple years. It has many fun recipes to try out including this feast:

Sourdough Stuffing, Homemade Cranberry Sauce and Mashed Potatoes with Meat Gravy.

Need some Green Bean Casserole to go with that?

The Thanksgiving On The Trail section contains all the recipes and a lot more – from the above to The Trashy Thanksgiving and a Lower-sodium option as well.

Also check out:

Roast Chicken with Cranberry Sauce

For a tasty morning treat make a pan of Cranberry Pan Biscuits:

Need a fun meal that even young Scouts can do? FBC Hybrid Thanksgiving is a snap to make:

An easy meal for one? FBC Friendly and tasty – you will be eating quickly: Cranberry Chicken Rice

Fall inspired lunches?

Harvest Chicken Salad Wraps

Pecan Cranberry Ranch Sammmies

Desserts? Munchies?

Mocha Pudding with Glazed Pecans

Candied Pecans

And of course one can pick up single serving pies at many grocery stores/c-stores or you can pack in slices of homemade pie in light weight sandwich boxes (cram as much as you can in one box! If it gets mushed it is still edible….). Look for seasonal flavors of instant pudding mixes (pumpkin spice appears some years). Or save the pie for the way home as a treat for freezing That with a peppermint mocha is just heaven!

~Sarah

We have a basic Deydrator 101 on Trail Cooking to get our readers going. Be sure to scroll down and go through the pages, it covers everything from beans, meat, grains and even cake! Once you have the knowledge then start making meals!

I personally use a L’Equip Dehydrator:

I picked it up a couple years ago and replaced our previous dehydrator, a Nesco American Harvest FD-61WHC Snackmaster Dehydrator:

That one was perfectly fine but I craved the styling of the L’Equip – being rectangle and sleek in looks. It dries just the same (although I feel it is a bit better), just isn’t as clunky looking on my counter. But let us put it this way – Nesco’s work well. They are work horses and are very affordable. If you want to start drying food to save money, save on the dehydrator first! Sure looks are something but as long as it gets the job done quickly, a lot can be over looked My good friend Cat inherited ours and was just fine using it (free is best, no?).

Nesco also makes a couple other good choices, all affordable. The FD-75 is well reviewed by many:
Nesco FD-75PR 700-Watt Dehydrator

And they make a neat square model as well:
Nesco/American Harvest FD-80 Square-Shaped Dehydrator

There are other brands of course – most of which like the L’Equip are pricier. A good example is Excalibur – whose dehydrators are made in the US – which for some folks is a big issue and worth the extra cost (kind of like how I can justify buying organic food over China imported food).

The 9 tray super one they make is quite nice but also retails for nearly $270 (a good $200 over a base Nesco!) Excalibur 3900 Deluxe Series 9 Tray Dehydrator:

Whatever you do, please for the love of everything do not buy the cheapie ones such as a certain company that rhymes with “Bronco”. You will end up buying 2 dehydrators – that first one and then a real one. It isn’t that they don’t dry – the problem is that many sub-par dehydrators don’t have an adjustable temperature setting or worse? They don’t have a fan. If you live in an arid environment it isn’t as big of an issue than say if you live in a humid or damp part of the country. No fan in the PNW and you will have food going bad before it dries. The issue behind having one temperature setting is you get one setting: desert blast. While you can make it work you have to baby the food, making sure to move the trays around often to get everything equally dry. So as you pass that “AS SEEN ON TV” store in the discount mall, please, please keep walking on. That $20 dehydrator will drive you crazy! Go to Amazon and at least buy a Nesco!

And hey, for all you cheapos – you can also just use your oven. And use the saved money to go buy more organic produce

~Sarah

While you can readily buy cooked and dehydrated lentils online from Harmony House Foods and Packitgourmet not everyone has the time or desire to shop online. Especially if all they want is a small amount for a couple meals. Dehydrating lentils at home is easy, a great starter project. You can do it in a dehydrator or oven, just use parchment paper under as lentils are tiny. Check out Dehydrator 101 for how-to and tips on getting started and the section on legumes. With lentils you can follow the general directions for canned beans but check on them earlier and more often, they will dry faster due to their tiny size. Now though, back to the whole process of cooking them. Yes, you can go buy whatever color suits your fancy (I happen to love french green lentils for example) and cook them up, then dehydrate them. But again, if you are pressed for time and have few kitchen skills (or can’t stand the stinky odor of lentils/beans cooking….gag, I know I don’t!!) you can cheat and use canned lentils. Canned lentils are not well known but should be! There are two brands worth checking out:
Eden Organic Lentils

Westbrae Natural Vegetarian Organic Lentils

If you are like us and do a lot of shopping via Amazon you can get great deals on 12 can cases (hello Prime shipping for heavy boxes!). If you search in local stores you may find them hidden in the natural foods section. On average though the price on Amazon is nearly half of what it is in stores. And did I mention they are great for meals at home? Easy and cheap heart healthy protein!

So what to use your dried lentils in? Check here for recipes, both cooked and no-cook versions. One of my favorites is Mango Chicken Curry over Lentil Rice:

Lemony Lentils with Tuna Fillets is a great no-cook recipe:

~Sarah

Also new is a Green Bean Casserole:

Check out the recipes on TrailCooking!

~Sarah

As I looked over the recipe I changed a couple things to lower the weight and make it more shelf stable to carry in one’s pack. I swapped out the concentrated broth sticks for lower sodium bouillon, used a mix of vegetable oil/butter powder instead of butter (and as well cut it back by a Tablespoon), lowered the smoked salmon from 8 to 3 ounces. Why on that? Smoked salmon is very strong tasting. In small amounts it adds a fantastic flavor but add too much and that is all you taste. I subbed in dried garlic for fresh and then…..well I decided to have fun and dehydrate brine packed capers. For a more affordable version, check out Costco. We pick up the large jars of Star brand for only a bit more $ than what a tiny jar in the grocery store costs. Trader Joe’s is also a good source for them. Read about that adventure here:

By drying them I was able to reduce 1/4 cup to 1 Tablespoon and the weight from 1 1/2 ounces to 0.3 of an ounce.

They rehydrate quickly. For best results use a ratio of 2 parts water to 1 part capers.

The recipe can be found on TrailCooking for Smoked Salmon Pasta.

Ready to eat:

~Sarah

The Health Bowl was an inspired ‘re-do’. Another hiker sent me his recipe that he cooks in the traditional way (simmering raw rice and red lentils). This version takes a lot less time and fuel to whip up.We didn’t salt it heavily, so if you try this vegan friendly option out, do salt to taste. We used on of my favorite lower sodium veg friendly bouillon’s by Vogue Cuisine.

I noticed there was an older recipe on our blog that had never been put up on Trail Cooking so it was added today.

Corn Salsa Rice and Beans – A vegetarian friendly dish that uses dehydrated corn salsa.

~Sarah

Online there are single serving options as well or you can at times find tubs in the grocery store or C-stores.

An example – these are 4 ounce tubs of shelf stable salsa:

Want an easy way to make salsa? How about a DIY dry mix? See our recipe over on Trail Cooking, easily made from finds from online sources such as Harmony House Foods. The recipe can easily made while setting up camp or walking on the trail.

Another way is to dry your favorite salsa at home, using a food dehydrator. Check out our Dehydrating 101 for the how-to to get started!

Last but not least you can find ready to go mixes online and in some health food stores where all you need is water and time for it to rehydrate. Check out the all natural options that Frontier Foods offers – Tex Mex Salsa and Picante Mexicana.

Backpacker’s Pantry sells a mix as well. that can be mild or spicy.

~Sarah

Granny Hiker had asked this morning of I had tried my Lentil and Tomato salad with couscous and I hadn’t! So off to the test kitchen I went this morning and whipped a great easy no-cook salad. Check out Lentil Couscous Salad on Trail Cooking for the full recipe.

~Sarah

This is a great base mix, check it out!

~Sarah

Her recipe requires a little work at home but is great for learning how to dehydrate food.

Shepherd’s Pie

2 lbs lean ground beef, bison or venison
8-ounces (half a bag) of frozen mixed veggies (used small cut)
2/3 cup ketchup
3 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

Salt or seasoned salt, pepper, and dried onion flakes to taste

You will also need:

2 pouches of “just add water” instant potatoes (I use Betty Crocker roasted garlic) (The Idahoan brand can be used as well)
Directions for the at home prep:

Brown ground meat, then drain any remaining fat.  Mix in veggies, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, and seasonings, then put into a casserole dish.  Bake covered on 350° for about 25 minutes.

Spoon the “pie filling” into the dehydrator trays lined with parchment paper.  It usually takes about 12 – 16 hrs to fully dehydrate (dry at your meat setting, usually 145*).  You’ll have to check it about halfway through and maybe mix things around a little so they dry evenly.  It seems like the green beans take the longest.

Once the meat mixture is dried and cooled, separate into 1 cup servings and pack in quart freezer bags.  This rehydrates at about a 1:1 ratio.

In a second quart freezer bag, add 1/2 cup of instant potatoes.

In camp:
Add 1 cup of near boiling water to the meat mixture.  Seal tightly and let “cook” in a freezer bag cozy for about 15 minutes or until meat is tender.  Pour potato flakes over the meat mixture, then add an additional 1/2 cup of water (less if you have water left over that wasn’t absorbed by the meat).  Stir and enjoy! (Or you can prepare the potatoes in the second bag and then top the sauce with them.)

Note: Don’t package the meat mixture and potatoes together!  The potatoes will magically absorb most of the water and you’ll end up with soupy potatoes and crunchy meat…

Enjoy,
Diana (of the Dunes)

Thank you Diana! And of course this recipe can be prepared either FBC style, using an insulated mug or done in your pot. All up to you – this sounds delicious!

~Sarah