Trail Cooking

Thanksgiving On The Trail -

Over the years we have gotten many emails asking for meal ideas for late fall trips that fall on or near Thanksgiving weekend. A couple dfferent ways to have a great dinner on the trail in late fall are below, ranging from very simple to more elaborate. You can pick and choose of course, some might only want gravy over mashed potatoes yet the next person wants to be able to serve 3 hikers a gourment multi course dinner - just without dirtying up 4 pots and doing dishes till bed time!

Want to turn your favorite boxed Mac & Cheese into FBC friendly?

I took 4 boxes of Organic White Cheddar Shells (6 ounce boxes). Boil the pasta for a shy 9 minutes (about 1 1/2 minutes less than called for on the box). When done, I drained the pasta, then spread on parchment lined trays on my dehydrator. (Follow the directions on your boxes for exact times.)

Dry the pasta at 135* till dry - the time will depend on type of pasta and humidity. Check often and break up any clumps.

At home:
Cook a 16 ounce package pasta of choice. Cut the cooking time by 2 to 3 minutes. Drain and rinse. Spread on two dehydrator trays and dry at 135* till hard and fully dry (see here for hints).

Everything you need for a great meal with little thinking:

From Nic, who posts on the Backpacker.com forums, posted this fabulous meal for the backcountry:
"My scouts have pizza in a pot EVERY outing they plan. This is their absolute favorite menu."

(I tweaked the recipe a bit to make it a little more user friendly)

Pizza in a Pot

At home cook up:
16 ounces rigatoni pasta
1 lb ground meat (beef or turkey), cooked with onion, mushrooms and green pepper as desired before dehydrating