DIY lightweight camping meals

[Toddy]

I met Johan (Ahjno) in Glasgow today. He'd just flown in to take the train up to Fort William and he's going to walk the great glen way this week coming.
He didn't pack food with him so we had a look through the local outdoor shops for lightweight all in a bag meals for him.

What a price :yikes: honestly, it was ridiculous and he just said it was comparable to home.

It got me thinking; many of us have dehydrators, we have a fair understanding of good food values and nutritional needs...surely we can compile some recipes that are worth making and packing ? I was at the stage of suggesting we visited the local sainsbury's and bought mug shots for lightweight pasta for him. B&M's three for a pound just now, not the £4.95 for one wee sachet meal.

I know, the housewife in me is coming out again, but honestly the prices were ridiculous, though we did score a 24hr rat pack that was dating out at the end of the month for £7.99.

I wish I'd thought harder about this before I met up with him; I'd happily have prepped dried foods at home and taken them with me for him.

So, in that light....any good ideas ?

atb,
Mary

 

[cranmere]

I nearly always use supermarket meals, there are some quite good pasta and rice varieties and they usually taste a lot better than the horribly expensive outdoor stuff. This led to an amusing encounter when I was looking for food to take on a Lapland treck. I was comparing nutritional values and a woman watching me said "These are lower calorie." "Oh" said I "Actually I'm looking for the highest calories for weight that I can find." Then I realised just how strange that must have sounded to a muggle.

I also have a dehydrator which makes a pretty good job of drying things like bolognese sauce. Chopped vegetables dry and rehydrate well too.

 

[copper_head]

I've made a fair amount of my own dehydrated meals. It's paid for itself several times now and I agree the store bought stuff is way overpriced. I've found stew type meals work best as the loss of texture is less noticeable. Here's some of my first attempts (before I got a vacuum sealer).

So far I've made

Spag Bol
Beef Stew
Chilli Con Carne
Beef Curry and rice
Pork Sweet and sour with noodles.
Spicy tuna pasta

They all worked pretty well, if anyone's interested I could put some recipes up.

Have you seen the 'Hungry Hammock Hanger' on youtube? His videos are great for beginners to learn the techniques involved and has some tasty recipes, although some of them require American ingredients but you can adapt it easily enough.

[video=youtube;kJqMmWJA7EQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJqMmWJA7EQ&list=PL812 519E8B35CAB35[/video]

 

[PDA1]

+1 on Copper Head. HHH is an excellent series. Another good source of recipes is http://www.trailcooking.com/

Just about any ground (minced) meat recipe will work. Pulses also work well,one of my favourites being Delia Smith's vegetarian shepherd's pie, which uses lentils. In the "Complete Cookery Course" which launched Delia's public career.

IMO thin wall tubular pasta work well (penne, macaroni) . Couscous, which is really a pasta, also works well, as do rice dishes pilafs, jambolya, paella etc. Only you must use ground meat and really tiny shrimp. Flavour and aroma can nake the whole camp really jealous,but texture is a bit samey compared with chunky stews (chunks of dehydrated meat never rehydrate - a bit like jerky.

 

[neoaliphant]

B&M is very good for small packet meals, Ive got individual packets/sachets of jam, cofee all sorts, very cheap ceral biscuits in individual packets, cheap noodles, instant soups, sachets of drinking chocolate etc, worth a look round

 

[jacko1066]

Iv been trying different things in my dehydrator for a while now without much success, iv made whole meals and then dried them, my next try I am planning on buying some jar sauces and dry them like a leather, then dry the meat, pasta/rice and any veg all seperately to see if this works out better!!

Does anyone have any links to cheap silicone sheets that I can cut it size for my dehydrator?


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[Bishop]

Never underestimate the power of chorizo sausage to liven up rice,pasta,noodles etc or as something to nag on by itself for a quick snack/trail-food. Personally I like to grate some into my bannock mix.
I agree with neoaliphant B&M stores in the UK are pretty good for basic staple items and if you're lucky they sometimes have the infamous Vesta (dehydrated) beef curry in stock.

 

[Toddy]

Poundstore sell them Jacko1066, and they're every bit as good as the ones I bought from Sainsbury's and Lakeland's.
Two varieties, brown and black. The toffee coloured brown ones don't let liquid through, but they do stain with grease. They're excellent in the bottom of a pot to fry on with little or no oil when out though and they do work in the dehydrator.
The heavier weight black ones are smoother and easier to clean...well, they look cleaner since they don't stain, work very well indeed too. Slippy though, so don't put too much on the racks or it slides off as it heats up.
Both are brilliant for fruit

Thank you for the link folks it's appreciated.

Now anyone prepared to share recipes and quantities ?

atb,
Toddy

 

[jacko1066]

Thanks toddy, I will have a look next time in pound land!!


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[Quixoticgeek]

I was comparing nutritional values and a woman watching me said "These are lower calorie." "Oh" said I "Actually I'm looking for the highest calories for weight that I can find." Then I realised just how strange that must have sounded to a muggle.

I also have a dehydrator which makes a pretty good job of drying things like bolognese sauce. Chopped vegetables dry and rehydrate well too.

To quote the Book of the bivvi "Custard creams have the same calorie density as a mars bar" Which is useful to know, they have a higher melting point than said chocolate bar, and they also are easier to eat then they are cold...

Sorry, that's entirely off topic, but your comment about highest calorie for weight reminded me of it.

It got me thinking; many of us have dehydrators, we have a fair understanding of good food values and nutritional needs...surely we can compile some recipes that are worth making and packing ? I was at the stage of suggesting we visited the local sainsbury's and bought mug shots for lightweight pasta for him. B&M's three for a pound just now, not the £4.95 for one wee sachet meal.

I know, the housewife in me is coming out again, but honestly the prices were ridiculous, though we did score a 24hr rat pack that was dating out at the end of the month for £7.99.

I wish I'd thought harder about this before I met up with him; I'd happily have prepped dried foods at home and taken them with me for him.

So, in that light....any good ideas ?

Fantastic idea, especially for those of us with food allergies that mean that even if we did go with commercial offerings, there are only one, maybe 2 meals in the range that we can eat...

I'm hoping to get a dehydrator in the next year, so would love some recipes for dehydrated meals.

The person who comes up with a dehydrated full English breakfast that is recognisably edible after rehydrating will make a killing

Cheers

Julia

 

[Whittler Kev]

The 99p shops are stocking potato slices and some with onion and bacon at the moment. Good sized sealed silver foiled pouches. They do a Rosstie as well. Tried one today and tasted ok. Not bad for 99p

 

[Whittler Kev]

Have you seen the 'Hungry Hammock Hanger' on youtube? His videos are great for beginners to learn the techniques involved and has some tasty recipes, although some of them require American ingredients but you can adapt it easily enough.

[video=youtube;kJqMmWJA7EQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJqMmWJA7EQ&list=PL812 519E8B35CAB35[/video]

Looks good

 

[jacko1066]

To quote the Book of the bivvi "Custard creams have the same calorie density as a mars bar" Which is useful to know, they have a higher melting point than said chocolate bar, and they also are easier to eat then they are cold...

Sorry, that's entirely off topic, but your comment about highest calorie for weight reminded me of it.



Fantastic idea, especially for those of us with food allergies that mean that even if we did go with commercial offerings, there are only one, maybe 2 meals in the range that we can eat...

I'm hoping to get a dehydrator in the next year, so would love some recipes for dehydrated meals.

The person who comes up with a dehydrated full English breakfast that is recognisably edible after rehydrating will make a killing

Cheers

Julia

Iv thought about the whole full English thing for a while, I'm not so sure you can dehydrate eggs or anything made out of egg like omelette etc.



Again sausages may be an issue too because of the fat content.



What about getting some breakfast items, like beans and mush rooms, maybe even hash browns, but grate the potato, fry it off then break it up small again (I'm thinking more rostie than hash brown)



For the sausage what about getting some really good sausage meat, cooking it off the pulsing it in a foo processor so it's really small, rinse it off with hot water and add it to the mixture above.

Dehydrate the various bit seperately and split them up into portions, just add a portion of each to the bags then in theory add boiling water.


Eggs can be carried as they are and cooked on site.



Not tried the above but I am defo going to!!




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[MartinK9]

The 99p shops are stocking potato slices and some with onion and bacon at the moment. Good sized sealed silver foiled pouches. They do a Rosstie as well. Tried one today and tasted ok. Not bad for 99p

+1 to those.

Rosti in the bottom pan with some venison salami added. Nom, Nom, Nom.

 

[cranmere]

Thanks for that link, Copper head. I like his recipes, and unlike many Youtube videos he can actually present well. (I usually give up at about the third "Uuuuuuh").

 

[neoaliphant]

B&M is very good for small packet meals, Ive got individual packets/sachets of jam, cofee all sorts, very cheap ceral biscuits in individual packets, cheap noodles, instant soups, sachets of drinking chocolate etc, worth a look round

My wife points out that the B&M heinz concentrated soups are very good, only 15p, dont clump, very tasty, can be added to noodles etc

 

[copper_head]

Found a few bits in Asda today and thought of this thread.

The cornmeal stuff looked interesting for a breakfast. I make up porridge mix but could add a bit of variety. Found it in the world wood isle. 74p
Not tried these soya mince meals before but thought I'd give them a go, my hopes aren't high. 73p
I've found Pasta'n'Sauce type meals tend to stick on a camping stove, but they work quite well with pot cozy cooking if you put a little less water than directed.

Had a few other bits in my camping box that are ok. The smash stuff isn't as bad as it looks.

 

[Toddy]

Did they have that cornmeal stuff in any other varieties....I can't eat bananas, but I like cornmeal

Good idea Mrs neoaliphant on the heinz soups...tomato paste in an easy carry tube

The Morrison's smash stuff is pretty good, but the Asda tvp meals are, well, they're okay (we're veggie, so that kind of thing is store cupboard stuff, like realeat veggie banger mixes), but they're not brilliant. They need adjusting. Oil and milk powder and paprika helps a lot, but peanut butter makes them an awful lot tastier. Let them soak for a while and the tvp is softer. The banger and burger mixes are better, but they're a bit of a skiddle to make up. Couscous is good stuff though and custard is always a winner

While I mind, does anyone know of a source of peanut butter in a squeezy tube ?

cheers,
M

 

[Jared]

Did they have that cornmeal stuff in any other varieties....I can't eat bananas, but I like cornmeal

Good idea Mrs neoaliphant on the heinz soups...tomato paste in an easy carry tube

The Morrison's smash stuff is pretty good, but the Asda tvp meals are, well, they're okay (we're veggie, so that kind of thing is store cupboard stuff, like realeat veggie banger mixes), but they're not brilliant. They need adjusting. Oil and milk powder and paprika helps a lot, but peanut butter makes them an awful lot tastier. Let them soak for a while and the tvp is softer. The banger and burger mixes are better, but they're a bit of a skiddle to make up. Couscous is good stuff though and custard is always a winner

While I mind, does anyone know of a source of peanut butter in a squeezy tube ?

cheers,
M

Not a tube... but satchet..

http://ilovepeanutbutter.com/peanut-butter-packs.html

Unfortunately seems impossible to find in the UK.

WholeEarth have plain satchets http://wholeearthfoods.com/product/easy-squeezy-sachets/ seems pretty much available everywhere ~50p / satchet.

 

[racer66]

I will have a look at the make of the peanut butter squeezy tube I have, it was from my latest UK rat pack. Which are now a pull together of whats going cheap from the suppliers.