Healthy Camp Food
I was wondering if anyone knows any light weight camp food that is also healthy that makes a good meal. The food I currently use have a lot of preservatives, the just add water stuff. And this food is great as far as packing and cooking goes but it isn't as healthy. So I was wondering if anyone has suggestions for something better.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Sunny on -
For breakfast: quick oatmeal or dry pancake mix (or bannock mix from one of the recipes on this site) is fairly easy to transport & prepare - just add water and cook, perhaps with some dried or freeze-dried fruit and seeds thrown in, or even fresh berries if you are camping in season. You can also add some milk powder to the mix/oats for additional richness.
I have to agree that a dehydrator seems like a great investment for making your own light, healthy campfood - recently camped with a friend who had just got one, and she had the best snacks - dried kiwi, who knew?!? and slivers of pear dowsed with lime juice to prevent browning during drying, wow wow wow! I am going to get one for next season, for sure. You could make a nice veggie stew or curry and then dehydrate it for instant comfort food on the trail. Yum!
How about TVP (textured veg protien)? That would be pretty light and could be added to whatever you are cooking for extra protien and bulk.
It is tricky though - those just-add-water packs are so easy that we often fall back on them too. But with a little time and ingenuity...
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Permalink Reply by Shelley on -
I often dehydrate left overs from our meals then put them in ziplock bags and freeze for added freshness until needed. It's great when we do a last minute trip and all i need to do is pull all my meals out of the frezzer and plan my menu from what I have dried over the past few months (winter is great for getting meals dried for the upcoming hiking or canoeing seasons). I own two dehydrators both Nestco one is fancy with differnt power levels and one is simple on off. They both work well the more expensive one is faster but I ussually put the food on the dryer before bed and dry overnight so the cheaper model works as well. Can be purchased for about $50.00. leather trays are a good investment for sauces but if you don't have them parchment paper works well. It's fun to experiment with a dehydrator. I have taken berries and cooked them on my stove with sugar added to make a sauce. When you dry the berry sauce you can eat as is as a leather or rehydrate to serve as a sauce over camp biscuits mmm good. I use bisquick often for this just add powdered milk to the bisquick at home then in camp add water and pan fry with cover on , tastes like strawberry shortcake. very good.
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Permalink Reply by James Lindley on -
Thanks for the tip about using parchment instead of buying leather trays. I finally broke down and bought a dehydrator a few months ago and it was a good investment. I've been using mine for drying chilies and wild mushrooms.
A little tip here, if you're going to put foods you dehydrate into plastic bags to store at room temperature, let them air for a couple days after taking out of the dehydrator. I skipped this step with some hen of the woods mushrooms and ended up having to dry them again. There is still some moisture in foods that have just been dehydrated that comes out as they cool.
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Permalink Reply by James Lindley on
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Oops, I meant to let them air before bagging them instead of taking them out of the dehydrator.
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Permalink Reply by Eric W. Heauser on -
Don't forget, dried fruits have been processed ! (Dried) The Heat used to dry them kills the natural enzymes that you are looking for ! I would also guess that you meant RAW nuts and seeds, just the same, because roasted nuts are usually high in sodium, and sometimes bad oils are used to roast (which are also processed themselves!) Am I correct ??
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Permalink Reply by flutter on -
OK now, when I tried to dehydrate kiwi it didn't go so well, just turned into a powdery nothing.
how did your friend do this?
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Permalink Reply by flutter on
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The parchment paper does work, but I find I end up eating little bits of it on my fruit leather sometimes. My parents just bought me a couple of the trays, and I can't wait to use them.
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Permalink Reply by Sarah on -
I ALWAYS carry the following items backpacking: powdered milk, parmesan cheese, whole wheat fine ground flour, dehydrated onions, powdered vegetable boullion, powdered eggs, salt, Mrs. Dash, and baking soda, along with some small quick cooking noodles (whole wheat is great!), and you can make WORLDS of stuff from these simple ingredients (healthy, too!)-alfredo pasta, pancakes, biscuits, gravy, noodle soup, and so on. I recently found tomato powder (dehydrated powdered tomatoes) that looks interesting...can't wait to try and make some tomato based pasta and soups with it! To add protien, bring some lentils (CHEAP and healthy and light, too, not to mention quick cooking!), instant brown rice, and beef jerky or dehydrated beef. Beef jerky can be made into some pretty tasty meals (I once made biscuits and beef jerky gravy...MMMM!).
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Permalink Reply by Eric W. Heauser on
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I thought I might throw in my 2 cents. Hope it helps.
When drying certain foods that are "delicate", You need to keep the temperature very low and rotate often.
Not all machines can do this ! Another option is to use your oven. Keep the temp. onwarm, or below 200, if possible. You may also need to keep the door partially open, and Watch it !
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Permalink Reply by James Lindley on
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Depends on whether you dry the fruits and roast the nuts yourself or buy them store bought. A dehydrator like the one I use works at a low enough temperature that it doesn't do that much damage to the fruit's nutrients. If you really want to keep the temperature cooler while dehydrating then use a fan type. If you don't mind going old school, you can do as my grandma used to and have drying racks on your roof with cheesecloth to protect the fruit from bugs and birds.
Process foods yourself and you can control the outcome a lot better.
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