Dehydrated recipes. Anyone got some good ones?

[red langford]

Because of my paranoia with the quality of processed foods I have been trying my very best to avoid processed foods. I have always tried to keep the cooking simple on solo trips and therefore have relied on instant type foods which means processed foods. So this year I am trying to put my own meals together, along the lines of the MRE's I mentioned in an earlier post.

So I have the following items dried for use

Ground Turkey
Ground Venison
Corn
Red Cabbage
Mushrooms
Celery
Green Peppers
Tomato Sauce
Apple Slices
Shredded Carrots
Banana Slices
Apple Sauce
Shredded Potatoes
Cooked Wild Rice
Olives
Uncle Bens Instant Brown Rice (not sure if I will continue to use this for the above noted reasons)

Items I still need or plan of getting
Vinegar Packets
Olive Oil Packets
Dried Onions (I may dry these myself this week in the shed)

What are others experiences with preparing meals.

So some idea I have and please let me know if you have done this or problems you foresee that I may face.

Singapore Curried Rice
Ground Turkey
Green Peppers
Coconut
Cumin
Coriander
Ginger
Dry Mustard
Cayenne
Cornstarch (to give it a thicker texture)
Rice
Salt
Pepper
Milk Powder
Olive Oil packet
Combine with water

Spaghettini and Meat Sauce
Ground Venison
Tomato Sauce
Green Peppers
Olives
Mushrooms
Olive Oil Packets
Whole Wheat Spaghettini

Basic Meat and Potatoes
Shredded Potatoes
Dried Venison
Corn
Dried Thyme
Dried Rosemary
Salt
Pepper
Flour (for a gravy)
Olive Oil Packet

 

[oldie moldy]

Well Red, I really truly do admire how you keep working on this dehydrating/cooking subject. I wish I could say something supportive or constructive to give you some positive feedback.
The truth is that my camp meals are just slightly better than hunger but not by much. Every morning I measure out the dog's kibble and I've often wished that somebody made people kibble. Camping, I wind up eating those mountain house meals and they work but they're expensive and at least to my taste over salted.
Now my coffee is good but my interest in cooking is measured in negative numbers. But if somebody gave me a couple hundred acres of woods I'd take my axe and disappear every day until it started to get dark, and be happy as a bug in a rug. But you go for it and my hat's off to you!

But I am a heck of a dishwasher, cut bunches of firewood........

Rob

 

[oldie moldy]

Note to Robin: This last post was number four hundred, and I've looked down the schedule of awards and it's listed as "One bent tent stake" and I never did get the fish or what ever it was for the three hundred mark.

Deservingly, Rob

 

[yknpdlr]

There are many out there, but two books I have long recommended for getting started with dehydrating are:

[h=1]Mary Bell's Complete Dehydrator Cookbook [/h]http://www.amazon.com/Mary-Bells-Complete-Dehydrator-Cookbook/dp/0688130240/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1392657266&sr=8-1&keywords=mary+bell%27s+complete+dehydrator+cookbook

and

Linda Yaffe's [h=1]Backpack Gourmet: Good Hot Grub You Can Make at Home, Dehydrate, and Pack for Quick, Easy, and Healthy Eating on the Trail[/h]http://www.amazon.com/Backpack-Gourmet-Dehydrate-Healthy-Eating/dp/0811726347/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1392657443&sr=8-4&keywords=mary+bell%27s+complete+dehydrator+cookbook

Bell's book is the basic bible to get you on the right track.
Many of Yaffe's recipes may appear unusual, but they are quite good. I have even seen the Yaffee book for free on Kindle.
Casserole type meals are easy to denydrate and bring back to life on the trail. From the recipe models in each book you can branch out and easily develop your own new ideas on what to try. You would be surprised at what you can do with a little experimentation.

 

[yellowcanoe]

I am not a fan of cook the whole meal then dehydrate the whole thing. Pasta to me is mushy then. I prefer the dehydrate the wet ingredient approach and add as needed.

Two cookbooks that follow that principle are Backcountry Cooking and More Backcountry Cooking by Dorcas Miller.

A sample recipe that follows this principle
in baggie: 2.5 T powdered milk, 1 tsp butter powder, dried parsley, oregano, salt and pepper, 2 T parmesan, 1tsp garlic powder

Other baggie..
8 oz pasta
1c dehydrated or freeze dried corn
1 T dried basil
4 oz smoked salmon

 

[red langford]

Thanks yknpadlr, I'll check out those books if I can get my hands on them.

Rob, yes, I like to cook, I like to eat and eat well. Mountain House are pretty good taste wise and convenient beyond belief, I am just trying to be a little more self reliant, or cheap; I can't decide which.

This year I swear is the year I will spend more time in the camping. Schedule as it is now will afford me 5 day weekends on a regular basis and taking 4 of my 11 allotted days of vacation will result in a full 2 weeks off. So I plan on several short trips to experiment. As I look out my back window and the snow falling, heavily, onto the already thigh deep snow in the back yard, I know spring is coming soon and I am getting eager to wet the paddle again.

So here is a picture of me paddling last March in a bit of open water me and Albert from Goldseekers paddled waiting for spring.

 

[Waterdog]

I've been meaning to add some recipes to the under populated recipe forum and this thread gave me the push to start, particularly the mention of MRE's. U.S military MRE's? Don't do it! Here is a link to my first recipe, I like it because it tastes good, and I can cook it without my wife's assistance.

http://www.canoetripping.net/forums/showthread.php?926-Beef-Stew-with-beer-and-paprika

Cheers,
Barry

 

[red langford]

MRE's are cleverly efficient. My thought is to make my own using healthier and tastier ingredients. Thanks for the recipe.

 

[old tom]

I picked this up a few years ago. No one set of recipes is perfect but "Recipes for Adventure" by Glen McAllister with the aforementioned books by Linda Yaffe have stood me well. Also take a look at this: http://www.theyummylife.com/Backpacking_Food Some are a little complex to put together, but still one-pot meals, and most are delicious! I especially like the Thai Peanut Noodles!

 

[old tom]

One thing I picked up from McAllister's stuff is to mix bread crumbs into your ground beef prior to browning when planning to dehydrate it. About one cup per pound. Makes it way easier to re-hydrate properly. That tip alone was worth the price of the book.

 

[Canoedog]

Been liking his recipes and methods a lot lately, even bought his e-book
www.backpackingchef.com

 

[snapper]

For what it's worth, I'd second the recommendation of the Backpacking Chef (see link above). There are lots of good recipes on that site and they're easy to prepare. He also gives you ways to "cook" these meals in a Thermos, as a one pot meal and sometimes as a boil in bag method. You should find something that's appealing to your palette and also to your desired method of cooking.

That's all for now. Take care and until next time...be well.

snapper

PS - If you're interested in expanding your meal options but still want to essentially create "boil in bag" meals, I'd encourage you to check out a small book entitled "Travel Light - Eat Heavy" by Bill McCartney. He put this set of menus together for a hike on the Appalachian Trail but they are certainly suitable for canoe trips. You'll find a two week menu of breakfasts, lunches, dinners and snacks that don't repeat meals (although there are certainly some that are very similar). The best part is you can put these meals together with ingredients that are easily found in most grocery stores so they're easy to create.

 

[Iskweo]

I use my dehydrater to prep my own ingredients. Even buying store bought veggies and drying them gives much better taste. I do keep it simple though with the same menu items. How much variation do you really need on a one week trip, or even two.

My fave is chili. Just because it is simple, tasty and packs small. Ground beef, red peppers, celery, onion...all dried and put in a ziplock. I have not gotten around to drying tomatoes so I just take a can with me. Usually beans too but they can be substituted with dry ones. I have a container of chili powder that I take but you could add it to the ziplock as well.

Next up is stew. Dry out chunks of meat...moose, deer, cow etc....and throw them in a bag with your dried carrots, celery, onion etc. I have had good luck drying frozen peas...as crazy as it sounds they work good. toss a brown gravy mix packet into the bag as well. I take real spuds with me but I suppose you could dry them as well.

Spaghetti...I am with YC on this. I make it the same way as at home. You can buy sauce mixes but I should try drying some. Take some grd beef for the sauce, it rehydrates ok.

I also take a fair amount of rice. You can package it with some dried veg and take a sausage with yoiu to cut up and make dirty rice. Just take appropriate spices, and soya sauce.

As you can see I take a hybrid approach. Dehydrating lightens my load and preserves the food better, while some things I take fresh to make it less work. I try for fish every couple of meals too.

Christy

 

[Odyssey]

The hybrid approach, yeah that best describes our meal plan.
If you're not afraid of curry (it needn't be hot and spicy) Kitchens of India makes packages of pre-made curry sauces and meals (mostly vegetarian) that are essentially meal in a bag items; all we do is cook up some rice or quinoa to compliment it. Beware, these Indian meals are more filling than they look. Patak make jars of various kinds of curry sauces and pastes (Vindaloo, Madras, Tikka etc) that we put into zipper bags and stir fry in camp, adding ingredients as we go. Making your own curry sauces is really easy, but scooping a couple tablespoons from a jar is even easier. None of these prepackaged items can be dehydrated owing to their oil content, but they are concentrated flavour, so you needn't take a lot; far easier to s t r e t c h them out with sautéing a fresh onion and adding cooked rice. Thai curry is similar, starting with some curry paste (hot green is our fav) and adding fresh onion and carrot, maybe a small bag of snap peas, with dehydrated shredded chicken, and finally noodles. Miranda insists on a final sprinkle of peanuts or cashews on top. She's my queen of curry that gal.
I'll make a spaghetti sauce at home, and if it turns out okay I'll dehydrate a tray. Meat or meatless, whatever. We prefer ground chicken to beef these days. We don't precook the pasta. Once went on a canoe trip with some good friends; buddy Pierre wanted to test the doneness of the pasta. I expected him to pick out a strand and bite it (traditional to me). No, with an avid crowd of hungry dudes eagerly watching he picked out a forkful and flung it against the rock wall beside us. SHLAPPP! He pronounced "Gentlemen. It's ready." I recovered laughing enough to ask him why he threw the spaghetti against the wall? He replied "Because I don't have a ceiling." Ha!! Man I miss that guy.
Chilli con carne. Oh man, that's a childhood menu memory from both our families. She insists her mom's is the best, I insist my mom's is the best, but it doesn't really matter because we make it up as we go along anyway. No hardcore rules with this one. I brown some ground meat, drain, add beans, sauce, seasoning and simmer; cool before dehydrating. The ingredients vary depending on what I find and what I remember to look for.
Shepherd's Pie is simple gut busting fare. Brown ground meat, drain and add sautéed onion, seasoning and sauce (a little tomato and Worcester) corn and/or peas and cook, cool and dehydrate. Make mash potato (without butter), cool and spread onto dehydrator trays; or buy just instant mashed potato. Rehydrate and assemble into pot at camp. Remember the potato goes on top. Try to brown the top with pot tilted into the fire if you can.
None of this is fancy I know, and I'm always finding recipes and asking "Can I make this on a trip?" but it fills us and fuels us.
I figure if everyone survives my cooking, then there's nothing left to fear. Unless there's leftovers.