I came up with this recipe a few months back when I had some left over tortilla chips. It tastes surprisingly like enchiladas even though you don’t bake it. It is not a hard recipe to make and there are endless combinations. Here is the recipe I used (all measures are per person):
Tuna Casserole at Hart Lake
Meal: Tuna Casserole
After a long day of hiking nothing is better then jumping into a cool alpine lake. My wife and I swam for almost an hour before we decided that it was time to make some dinner. As we rummaged through the bear canister, we found our packet of tuna casserole. Perfect, for such a great long day. Filling and tastes amazing. Very creamy in texture thanks to the cream of mushroom soup mix that I put in. I use rice, but you could also use egg noodles. The egg noodles are more bulky and we only had so much room in our bear canister. Add some peas and some dried tuna and you are ready to go! Here is the recipe(all measures are per person):
1/2 cup dried or instant rice
1/4 cup dried tuna
1/4 cup dried peas
1/4 cup powdered cream of mushroom soup mix
1/4 cup cheddar cheese powder(optional)
You can use more soup mix to make it more creamy. By the way, the soup mix is great as a winter lunch too! It was an amazing meal, if you don’t have a dehydrator, then you can use foil pouch tuna, but it adds weight.
Tips and Tricks
The peas can take a longer time to rehydrate then other vegetables. I have been using a simmer ring on my alcohol stove lately to increase the heated time, but you could just as easy keep your meal in the cozy for longer too, if you are patient enough.
Gear Corner
We needed a bear canister for our trip into the Olympic National Park and instead of renting one, I decided to look for light weight options. The Lighter1 cam out on top for us. Not only was it the lightest bear canister I could find that was certified for use in Yosemite, but it also uses a metal lid that can double as a cooking pot. It is a great system and it worked perfectly for us. If you are in the market, check it out!
Curry chicken and rice with broccoli
Meal of the week: Curry Chicken and Rice with Broccoli
Want curry in the backcountry? No problem! I will even show you how to make your own curry powder that tastes great. It is really simple. Add all the following ingredients into a bowl and mix well. A whisk or morter and pestle is best as it really mixes the spices well, but I have used a spoon before and it works fine.
Gear Corner
One great way to reduce your fuel usage and keep food from burning on the bottom of your pot is to use a pot cozy. A pot cozy is an insulated cover for your pot or zip lock freezer bag. I make them out of Reflectix (foil covered bubble wrap). You can find it at your local hardware store. You can also use the reflective windshield screens that are usually used on hot summer days. In the video below you can see how I make my double walled version. It keeps food incredibly hot. I have had food in the cozy for 30 minutes and it is still too hot to eat! As you eat, you leave the bottom cozy part on and it keeps the food warm.
Tips and Tricks
Enjoy! Dustin
Flat Cat Stove in the snow? No problem!
Meal of the week: Cream of Mushroom Soup
A great trick for adding some flavor and/or variety into your backpacking meals is to use pre-packaged sauces and seasoning packets. Lipton has a huge selection of soups and sauces, Annie’s foods have a lot as well. It is a very quick way to make some really great meals. The problem is you are stuck with what the company comes up with, and what they put in it. MSG or a truckload of salt are pretty common in these sauces. I’m not a big fan of either. I ran across a great site called trailfood.com. It has a lot of great food ideas for the backpacker. What got me most excited about the site is that it has a section devoted to dry mixes and sauces! This is exactly what I wanted. She has come up with recipes for your own broth powder, cream of mushroom soup, Salsa, cheese sauce, pesto and a few others. So this weekend, I tried out the parmesan cheese sauce over rice with potatoes and broccoli. It tasted great! Here is the recipe I used: Cheese sauce: 1 cup dry milk (whole milk powder like “Nido” is the best” 1 1/2 tsp dried garlic powder 1/2 tsp onion powder 1/4 cup shelf stable parmesan Mix all these ingredients together well. For one person combine: 1/2 cup instant rice 1/4 cup dried potatoes 1/4 cup dried broccoli 3 Tbls cheese sauce powder 1 cup of water plus a little more depending on how saucy you want it. If you like making your own food and having complete control over what you put into your body. Check this out!
Gear Corner
About a month ago I purchased yet another stove. I know that I have a problem but I just can’t help myself. This stove is by Jon at Flat Cat Gear and is the best alcohol stove I have ever used. First off, the Flat Cat stove is not a pressurized stove, so there is no prime time. You pour the alcohol in, you light the stove and put the pot over it. Done. It is much more similar to a canister stove in that way. Second, the stove can be used with any windscreen, but Jon has a windscreen/pot support system that is heavy duty and lightweight at the same time. It folds down small and will fit in small diameter pots. My lightest system so far uses a simmer cat stove and a piece of hardware cloth as a pot support(10.2 oz). The Flat Cat stove system is 11.8 with simmer ring and 11.2 without, but with all the advantages, I like it way better. It is worth the extra oz. In addition, you save that amount of weight in fuel alone if you are going on a two night trip. The simmer cat works great, but you can not put out the stove once lit. You have to wait for it to burn out of fuel. With the Flat Cat, you can place your pot right on top of the stove and it goes out quickly. You can also pour that fuel right back into your fuel bottle easily as there are not any side ports. The stove was also much more efficient then I expected. I can almost boil 1 cup of water with 1/4 oz of fuel. I can’t explain it, but what worked better was to put in 1/2 oz fuel for 1 cup water, bring it to a boil and then snuff out the stove so I could reclaim the remaining fuel. It used just over 1/4 oz in that way. If I only put in 1/4 oz, the water only got to about 170. Still plenty hot for a cup of coffee or tea, but not boiling for meals. Lastly, he also sells a simmer ring for the stove that has allowed me to bake for 45 minutes using only 1 oz of fuel! It is really amazing. I bought the Bobcat system as I always go out with my family of three, and I need the larger volume pot (1.6 L Toaks titanium pot). Jon also sells some smaller systems for solo hikers.
Tips and Tricks
What about using an alcohol stove in the snow? Alcohol stoves don’t work well in cold temperatures right? In general that is true. You don’t have a pressurized container pushing the fuel through the system. You need the heat of the stove to do the work. In addition, alcohol stoves do not burn as hot in general, and are influenced by the outside temperature a lot. I was surprised to find out the Flat Cat stove, had very little issue with the cold. All that was required was to put some kind of insulation between the snow and the stove. I put a piece of carbon felt on the snow, then put my heat shield on top of that, then my stove. Carbon felt(you can buy this on amazon, or at any local hardware store that sells plumbing supplies) is a high temperature material that plumbers use when working with copper in a house. The flame can touch the felt, but it will not burn. Great stuff for stoves. The carbon felt did the trick and the stove stayed hot during the burn and the water boiled without any issues. It was just as hot as during the summer. This was my first test out in the snow, but the temperature had dropped to 11 degrees Ferinheight overnight, so it was plenty cold to test the low temperature abilities of this stove. No excuses now, you can use your alcohol stove in the snow, so get out there and enjoy some great meals during those winter treks. I am particularly looking forward to some hot cream of mushroom soup when I go out on my cross country skiing trips! Enjoy! Dustin