October 3, 2006

Backpacking chow can be really good if you just think about it. The old standby with me is Ramen noodles. Take a package or two of Ramen (more if you're feeding more people) and prepare according to directions. Add a can of boned chicken, tuna, or whatever to the noodles to heat. Add chopped scallions, green pepper, dried and reconstituted mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, slivered carrots, or any other backpackable veggie (one that won't get crushed easily and will keep a day or two out of the fridge.

The Ramen noodles also don't require draining, as the water you use becomes the soup when you add the seasoning packet. Have Koolaid or instant iced tea with this, some dried fruit, pita bread and margarine out of a squeeze bottle, and you've got a fine high-carbo meal that will stick with you the next day and during the next 10 miles.

I've also tried the spaghetti sauce out of an envelope, not a jar. This is pretty good, too, although a bit bland. The package directions call for 2 1/4 cups water, a couple tablespoons of oil, and a small can of tomato paste. Bring this to a boil, add the packet of spices, and simmer 15 minutes. Add to it whatever else you want in the way of veggies. I add summer sausage here, since summer sausage keeps without refrigeration as long as you don't open the packet. Angel hair pasta works well, too, since it only takes 2-3 minutes to cook. And add some spices to jazz up the sauce.

Any of you tired making a backpacking DO? I saw this at a roundtable a couple of months ago. Buy a 9: pie pan, and 2 8" cake pans. Bold the pie pan back-to-back to one of the cake pans by drilling holes and using short bolts. The pie pan becomes the lid to the DO, and the cake pan on top is where you put the coals when you are baking. The second cake pan is where the food goes. Set the contraption on some rocks and put coals underneath, and coals on top, and you've got a small but serviceable backcountry DO--works great on brownies, biscuits, etc.

Breakfasts in the back country are usually of the Poptart/bagel/dried fruit/coffee/cocoa variety, although we make pancakes once in a while with the pancake flour that only requires adding water. Instant dehydrated syrup is about the only item I need to buy at a specialty camp food store these days.

Lunches are invariably of the trail variety--i.e., no cooking. Deviled ham or chicken, pita bread, cheese, dried fruit again, maybe a carrot stick, Koolaid, etc. Some of my guys even eat Vienna sausages (urrrrrp...)

Yours in Scouting!