easy to cook dinner options

I'm looking for some decent and easy to prepare dinner options. The caveat is that it can't contain meat, unless I can buy it on the way to the put in (wife's rules, not mine). I would prefer not having to use the fire pit since I'll be with a group.

Depending on her reasons, you may not have to rule out all meats. Cooked bacon will (in my experience) store at room temperature for 6 weeks & I do mine "al dente" and can fry further in the field if desired.

Break it up & throw some in a package of 7 minute wild rice of something like Knorr side dishes and you're good to go. Lightweight too.

Around here, Dollar Generals are popping up like dandelions and they carry small bags of Clover Valley real bacon bits. I'll sprinkle 1/3 - 1/2 a bag in the water that I'm boiling for Idahoan instant potatoes & mix as per directions. Everything is better with bacon.

(note: In both above scenarios, I usually add it to the boil so maybe that kills bacteria. I just Googled this and found a bunch of websites that claim you cannot leave bacon unrefrigerated for more than 2 hours. Now, I've been doing it for years so I think they're being overly cautious but you'll want to stay within your comfort zone)

Oatmeal for breakfast.

Bannock with peanut butter for lunch.

Quinoa, lentils, and dehydrated veggies with salt and olive oil for dinner.

They're all super simple and quick.

Alan

I have discovered large packages of precooked bacon in BJ's, also smaller packages in local supermarkets. it appears to be 90-95% fully cooked and equally grease free. I have kept it for a couple of months in the fridge at my cabin without any noticeable deterioration. At home, a few slices less than a minute in the microwave finishes and crisps it up nicely. It begins and remains flat, doesn’t curl up. I imagine over a grate or in a pan over a campfire would do the same. More expensive than uncooked bacon but is well worth it IMO for tripping purposes.

I do a lot with instant mashed potatoes (much improved quality over years past) with home dehydrated cooked veggies and rehydrated ground beef or some other kind of protein. Hearty dry soup mixes (Knorr, etc.) with a handful of couscous thrown in make it even heartier and tasty. Instant oatmeal with all its added sugar makes me nauseaous, but old fashioned uncooked oatmeal is easy to prepare. I dehydrate frozen bricks of hash bowns (break into pieces first), rehydrate at camp and top with packaged sausage gravy mix that you cook in a couple of minutes

Home dehydrating of complete meals and snacks is an extremely economical and easy thing to do. Over more than 30 years I have dehydrated hundreds of pounds of food for scouts, for guiding, for guide training courses, and for canoe tripping and marathon canoe racing.

What's the reasoning for no meat? Does she not want it in the house? I'm not taking shots either way, it's just kinda cryptic and might influence responses. Dehydrating your own meals (with meat) will require meat in the house.

The easiest to prepare are freeze-dried meals. I prefer Peak Refuel.

We will also pick up the shelf-stable packs of chicken. You can add those to any number of other dishes.

High-calorie shake with protein powder and Oatmeal, raisins and/or dried fruit. To be prepared with water or milk.
Can be consumed three to four times a day without getting sick.

mhmmmm - Yummi

Chansta said:

I'm looking for some decent and easy to prepare dinner options. The caveat is that it can't contain meat, unless I can buy it on the way to the put in (wife's rules, not mine). I would prefer not having to use the fire pit since I'll be with a group.

Click to expand...

These days there are lots of vegetarian options for freeze dried meal in a bag

For example


Can't get any easier....boil water, add to bag, wait 15 minutes, enjoy!

If you haven't used them before take note that the 2 serving versions are really only good for a single person, if you do split them between two people then you probably want some supplement with something like wraps of one sort or another. Some brands are now producing single serving versions which are usually a little bit more than half of the traditional 2 serving versions.

My favourite brands are Backpacker Pantry, Alpine Aire & Mountain House. Happy Yak is a Canadian brand that are very good, kind of pricey and maybe not easily available in the USA.

I would add one vendor to Recped's list - Good-to-Go. They're mostly vegetarian and I found their meals to be very good.

I second the pre cooked bacon, it’s super easy and cooks well in a pot or skillet. Maybe you can cook that while everyone else is sleeping

I also second the freeze dried food ideas, especially Good to Go for the vegan/vegetarian options, and think they taste good. I’ve never had to come up with group options, it’s usually just my wife and I. Pasta is always one I bring, even if I don’t end up making it. Olive oil packs well in little leakproof bottles, and I usually dehydrate different veggie options and pack seasonings. Another good meatless meal is chilaquiles, requires minimal and easy to packed ingredients and cooks in ~15-20min

Your camp meals might be similar to whatever you eat at home but they don't have to be. I find it easier to cook and dehydrate near complete meals this way. Thick soups, stews and sauces. Easy to cook staples such as pasta, rice, beans and pulses fill out the nutritious calories and waistlines. If complete daily nutrition is important to you then you'll soon find protein is the biggest tripping challenge as our Western dietary bias leans towards animal protein of pork, beef, chicken, and fish. The first three are easily dehydrated at home while fish (if you choose not to catch it fresh) is otherwise found in grocery stores in various shelf stable packages. And then there's the vegetable sources of protein, from beans to pulses. I try, and continue to sample, different off the shelf meals. Those an be experiments but be prepared for less taste, more salt, and in the case of complete backcountry fd meals much, much higher prices. You can use them as a starting point I suppose, like a base for expanded recipes of your own. But cooking is not that diffcult to learn (don't tell her I said that), and worth the effort. Good luck with all that.
My wife is a confirmed Vampira carnivore, although she condescends to suffer the indignities of my occasional forays in vegetarian recipes, so I know all about dealing with Mrs Hangry. (lol) We make it work. Fresh ingredients to start the trip, such as eggs for breakfast, steaks/chops for dinners ( night 1 fresh, nights 2&3 from frozen) with veggies. Dry and dehydrated ingredients commence after that. Our meals resemble what we enjoy at home.

I can't stop thinking that you should just stop by the store "on the way" to the launch site and buy some steaks. For years my backcountry first nights meal was home made German Roladen. Vacuum sealed and frozen before leaving the house it was still icy cold at dinner time even on long summer trips. She might not like that you brought it but I'm certain she will eat it.

Outside of that I got nuthin.

All one pot meals: Zararain's red beans and rice with some summer sausage tossed in. Dressing, gravy mix, and foil pack chicken. Add mashed potatoes if you like. And not hard to dehydrate ground beef at home to toss into any number of supermarket noodle mixes.