Breakfast Pistachio Rice Pudding

Rice, milk, cranberries, a little brown sugar and cinnamon and lovely green pistachios – yum!

~Sarah

Rich Drinks -

Trail Mochas

Pudding Cocoa

Breakfast -

Cranberry Pan Biscuits

Sarah’s Fattening Coconut Blueberry Oatmeal

Cheesy Bacon Grits

Lunches -

Pecan Cranberry Ranch Chicken Salad

Savory Tuna Salad

Veghead Couscous Pilaf

Dinner -

Lemon Tuna Spaghetti

Italianish Double Cheese Taters

Dessert -

Pina Colada Mini Pies

Huckleberry Donuts

Snacks/Bars -

Chocolate Energy Balls

Triple Chocolate Cherry Fudge

Peanut Butter Granola Cups

Easy Nut and Chocolate Truffles

~Sarah

Breakfasts:

Carrot Cake In A Bowl

Hazelnut Chocolate Spread

Super Oatmeal

Super Charged Oatmeal

Oatmeal With A Little Extra

Instant DIY Oatmeal Packets (with vegan options)

Trail-Nola

Lunches:

Cranberry Almond Tabouli

Dinners:

‘Cheesy’ Rice and Vegetables

The Health Bowl

Pesto Tomato Pasta

Vegan One Pot Mac n’ ‘Cheese’

Fuel Saver Quinoa

Veghead Couscous Pilaf

Lentil Soft Tacos (an adaptable recipe)

Desserts/Energy Bars/Snacks:

Peanut Butter Granola Cups

Raw Recipes For The Trail (a collection of vegan friendly raw recipes)

Dry Mixes/Dehydrating:

Quick Asian Peanut Sauce

Making Your Own Instant Beans

Dehydrating 101 (A collection of how-to’s to get you started on dehydrating yummies!)

Dry Onion Soup Mix

Vegan ‘Cheese’ Sauce Mix

Classic Bannock Bread

Low Sodium Bouillon Mix #1

Low Sodium Bouillon Mix #2

DIY Instant Salsa Mix

Sport Drink Mix

Dehydrated Pesto Mix

~Sarah

What does a vegan cookbook have to do with trail cooking? Well maybe something…..and it can be delicious! Vegan Unplugged: A Pantry Cuisine Cookbook and Survival Guide is an easy to use cookbook that while aimed at those on the go, emergency planning and car camping can be also adapted to backpacking. The recipes rely on canned items and such items as vegetable broth, all of which can be adapted as mentioned. A can of beans dries easily, lower sodium bouillon powder for broth and there you go. A recipe with non-dairy milk one can use soy or rice milk powder. And many of the recipes call for dehdyrated vegetables up front. And if you are car camping or doing a road trip? Well with very little effort you can eat well! And even for the meat lovers out there, if you are planning an emergency box/bin for home or car, there are very good and long term shelf stable ideas here…and don’t forget – in most cases food without meat or dairy lasts a LOT longer. And is quite delicious. And cheaper.

One recipe that is ready for use for backpacking is a potato peanut soup using easy to find items for a quick dinner. I adapted the recipe a bit to make it a one pot meal with only one pot to dirty.

Flaky Potato-Peanut Soup (page 120)

Ingredients:

• 4 tsp vegetable bouillon (regular or lower sodium)
• 1 cup instant potato flakes (instant mashed potatoes, plain type)
• ½ cup peanut butter (preferably natural style!)
• ¼ tsp celery salt
• 1/8 tsp onion powder
• ground black pepper
• ¼ cup chopped dry-roasted peanuts

Directions:

In a large pot bring 4 cups water and the bouillon powder to a boil, stir in the potato flakes until well blened, turn the stove down to a low flame. Stir in the peanut butter until smooth, add the seasonings to taste. Simmer for 5 minutes over a very low flame.

Divide between 2-3 people, sprinkled with nuts on top.  – Add some biscuits or bread to dip in and you have a meal!

PS: The author, Jon Robertson, also has a blog to check out.

~Sarah

And this method is doable on alcohol stoves – if you have a 7 minute frame time of fuel you can do it. Unlike how most cook it, the seeds stay fluffy and have that bite – and it isn’t all soggy (y-u-c-k). Head over to TrailCooking for the how-to!

On a side note we get our quinoa at Costco in nice sized bags. It is organic and prewashed and is a fraction of the cost that grocery stores charge. I got all crazy recently and bought a single pound of black quinoa that cost nearly as much as the multi pound package of white at Costco. Eek! (Want to see how I cook it at home? See my personal blog Gazing In)

~Sarah

It is frugally affordable, it is vegetarian/vegan and most brands are gluten free as well. You can even find it in bulk bins in some natural food stores. It is a great last minute score at grocery stores on the way out of town (look in the “ethnic” or “organics/natural foods” aisles for it.

But as with some foods it can be a learned taste. With a few tricks you can make it taste great. And like tofu, it takes on the flavor of whatever you add to it.

One of my favorite brands is Fantastic Foods:

Whatever you do, don’t make the whole box in one sitting. It makes a lot. A LOT! Divide it into 2 to 4 bags for easy snacks.

There are two ways to make it – cold or warm water. Both will work but I find if you have the time to warm up the water it tastes better. Mostly it rehydrate quicker that way as well. A convenient way to prepare it is pack the dry mix into a new quart freezer bag. When ready to prepare cuff the bag (that is fold down the top half, over the sides), to form a bowl. Add the olive oil required and then slowly add in the warm (it needn’t be boiling or even very hot, just take the chill off). Start mixing quickly until all lumps are gone. Then let sit for a good 5 minutes. For better taste drizzle more oil on top before serving. And don’t skimp on the oil called for – it really provides a smooth texture. And hey, all that hiking? You need the oil! So enjoy!

If you use cool water add the oil and water to the bag and either stir or better, seal the bag and gently knead it. Let it sit to rehydrate for at least 30 minutes, with cold mountain stream water give it an hour. And be sure to stir it up well before serving, to avoid any lumps o’ powder.

Drizzle on oil and maybe some parsley and dig in!

As for that blank canvas, instant hummus takes on so many options:

• Dried chopped artichokes
• Dried chopped roasted red peppers
• Dried chopped olives
• Olives from the fancy pants olive bar at the local trendy grocery store, pitted and chopped
• Sun-dried tomatoes, either air or oil packed, chopped
• Salsa Hummus (this is a great one in wraps!)
• Curried Fruit Hummus (really good with Triscuit-style crackers)
• Spread hummus on flour tortillas and top with rice and anything else that grabs you. Treat it like instant refried beans, just different!
• One winter I made a hummus soup by diluting the mix with more water. It wasn’t all start great, but neither was it bad.
• Even meat lovers can love hummus – you can add in chopped up shelf stable pepperoni slices and diced string cheese (pepper-jack is fun) for a different dip.

PS: You can always dehydrate hummus as well and make it from scratch. If you do this route I suggest leaving out the oil until you go to rehydrate for best results – and longer shelf life (since oil can go rancid).

~Sarah

Me on the left, Teresa on the right, above Big Crow Basin on the Pacific Crest Trail.

Recently we were chatting about the thing I used to do: Tater Tuesday. Every Tuesday for a long time I would put up a new recipe glorifying one of my favorite starches – taters! They were indulgent recipes, comfort food for a rainy cold night in camp. Teresa asked me recently if I minded is she brought it back. Heck no! There can never be enough recipes with potatoes So keep an eye out if you follow hiking forums and on Facebook – new recipes are popping up. And Teresa has inspired me to maybe get back and start creating more. We inspire each other!

Some of the MANY recipes that were posted during the time I did Tater Tuesday:

Potato Cheese Chowder

Greens & Reds

Chicken Ranch Tater Trash-erole

Balsamic Vinaigrette Mashers

Cheesy Bacon Mashers

Alfredo Mashers

Colcannon Mashers

Cheesy Bacon Onion Mashers

Mashed Potato Burritos

Sunrise Mashers

Creamy Potato Soup

Also good are:

Sasquatch’s Taters

Herb Beef with Mushroom Gravy

~Sarah

Chunky Chickpeas:

The chickpeas are vegetarian (I’d call them vegan as well), Kosher and gluten free for those who have dietary concerns. As you can see from the nutritional stats they are a powerhouse:

Protein, fiber and more – these Indian inspired pre-seasoned legumes will make a rice dish better when hiking. They are not light, one of the only real drawbacks, a package is 8 ounces but is 2 very large servings (and beans FILL you up quicker than meat, 4-ounces is a lot!). It isn’t much worse weight wise over carrying a 7-ounce pouch of chicken.

The other drawback is getting over the color of the beans, due to the seasonings. It is worth overlooking that, the taste/texture is very nice.

~Sarah

It is gluten free, vegetarian and vegan friendly and is a medley of brown rice, white rice, lentils, raisins and other vegetables. With 8 grams protein, 6 grams fiber and 280 calories it makes a filling lunch and is not soupy at all. Rather it would make an excellent filling for a burrito (easy way to pack in another 200-300 calories just there!) along with cheese and you would be sitting nicely with a full belly.

~Sarah

So what to do with them? Need recipes? Well here you go! Plenty to keep you occupied for many a trip – if you need more ideas just head over to Trail Cooking and search through the recipes. We happen to love using Harmony House Food’s dehydrated and freeze-dried products. They work well in Freezer Bag Cooking (FBC) and one pot meals – and as well in no-cook meals.

Pizza In A Pot – this is man food, hearty and filling.

Colcannon Mashers – mashed potatoes using up the bag of cabbage, a rare veggie to be used outside of coleslaw when hiking!

Red Bean Stew – a great way to use up the beans in the kits. Harmony’s beans are precooked for ease in use.

DIY Salsa Mix is great if you love trail burritos. You can also add it to pasta, rice and other dishes in dry form.

Lentil Couscous Salad is a no-cook meal.

Spicy Beef and Tomato Pasta – if you get the ‘beef’ TVP try it with this recipe. It is very shelf stable, carrying well while hiking.

Chicken Mushroom Rice – if you happen to pick up a jug of their mushrooms try this recipe out.

Beef and Onion Trash-erole. The title says it all!

Tuna Bruschetta – Great no cook recipe for lunch, it also works great tossed with pasta.

Now start packing and cooking!

~Sarah