What food to take and how to store it can be a difficult to work out for a long hike.

With any trip, planning what to eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner on a long hike can be difficult.  You want it to be  lightweight, tasty, nutritious and store well.

Image: Elvin W via Flickr

We came across Andrew Skurka’s one week food plan for a trip he planned into The Wind River Range in the  Rocky Mountains in western Wyoming, USA.

It is a terrific menu for a 7 day hiking trip.

Andrew covers:

• breakfast
• daytime snacks
• dinners
• storage
• weights
• nutritional value

It is well worth checking out and using for new ideas on your next multi day hiking trip.

Remember, we also have Food to Go,  our ebook that is all about planning bushwalking menus for the outdoors.

There is a large section with menu plans created by outdoor people from across the world. It is a very popular part of the guide with some terrific menu plans that are simple and practical.

The menu can be used for any outdoors trip where you need food that will last a few days without refrigeration, is lightweight, easy to pack and won’t spoil.

What we love about it is that it is really simple. Basically one pot meals that don’t  take an age to prepare or cook.

The last thing you want after a hard day bushwalking is to spend an hour cooking a meal. You want food, and you want it now!

Image: Allan Chatto via Flickr

Ok, over to Meredith:

My husband and I, with one of our sons and his wife, completed the Overland Track recently. Our evening meals seemed to be the envy of all in the huts!

We don’t own a dehydrator and I was happy to adapt meals we often eat to suit hiking packs. Apart from a few fresh vegetables and fruit and two salami knobs which we shared between us, almost everything was moisture free and contributed no more weight than would normally be expected from six days’ rations.

I found powdered egg a wonderful bonus – as a result I was able to pre-mix pikelet mix for our afternoon tea each day, each stored in zip-lock bags so there was nothing to measure apart from water.

I have attached the evening meal ingredient list in case you think anyone would be interested. I haven’t included instructions for preparation but I think most will be self-explanatory for anyone who cooks!

My one tip would be regarding the sun-dried tomatoes. They are incredibly light and so useful but the ones we had seemed to be rather salty. We always made tea or coffee once we reached the hut, so boiled extra water on the nights we intended to use the dry tomatoes, and started hydrating them as soon as the water boiled. Next time I would discard the hydrating water because it was so salty and use fresh water for the meal preparation.

My only reservation was that I sprained my ankle badly just before Frog Flat and had to battle on injured for the rest of the hike. (Our fellow hikers, not just our family were amazingly helpful, but that’s another story!)

A tip your readers might be interested in, Sam and Krista bought a new saucepan, one of the ones with the heat efficient base (I don’t know what it is called but it looks a bit like the cooling surfaces of a car radiator) and the difference in cooking times using that compared with our regular saucepan was really noticeable. They are expensive but in terms of using and therefore carrying less fuel, a significant advantage.

Many thanks to Meredith for sharing her fantastic dinner ideas. They look really healthy and tasty!

Have you got any similar dinner recipes for backpacking on long or thru hikes?

Please share them by commenting below, our readers love to try different meals on the track!

Over to Julie’s email:

I’ve recently bought your ebook “Food to Go”, which I’ve found a huge help for information about dehydrating meals. My partner and I are setting off on a 3-month outback trip and want to utilize dehydrating meals to save space and refrigeration hastles. I’d like your advice, if you can, on drying time for meals.

Last week I bought a Sunbeam brand dehydrator and tried 2 meals on the weekend –  a Sweet and Sour Pork dish and a Honey Mustard Chicken with vegetables – just using the Masterfoods packet sauce. I tried dehydrating both at the same time, so all 5 levels of the dehydrator were used, and I tried copying the pictures in your book as a guide to how small to cut the meat and veges and how full to make the trays.

The Sweet & Sour dish I dried for 12 hours before taking it out, but the other dish still didn’t look even nearly ready. After 15 hours I was worried it was getting too long so took it out, but I’m worried now that it still may not be dry enough. The meat is hard and when packaged in zip-lock bags, no moisture has seemed to accumulate in the bag, but it just doesn’t look quite as dry and crispy as the pictures in your book. I don’t know if you can really tell from photos, but I have attached one of each dish.

Should these dishes be ready after 12-15 hours, or do you think I need to put it back in the machine for more drying? If I do, dry it further after leaving it for 2-3 days, will this disturb the freshness and hygiene of the food?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

We think Julie got her dehydrating spot on.

As Deb wrote in the book, if they don’t accumulate moisture in the bag they are properly dehydrated . It is a good rule to follow. You will also get a “feel” for different meats as you go along so don’t stress!

Different meats and sauces tend to behave differently. For example the chicken curry we use in the guide feels soft and oily but is actually dehydrated. Maybe it is the oil in the sauce (?butter) that that gives it that feel. Mince meat on the other hand, can feel like gravel!

As to the question, should the dishes be ready after 12-15 hours, it depends on the amount you have put in the tray , the density of the meal and the amount of moisture. Spaghetti Bolognaise sauce with meat will take longer than Spaghetti  Bolognaise  stirred through cooked spaghetti. There is more space for air and less density for the air to circulate.

You can add the meal to the dehydrator a couple of days later if you notice moisture in the bag. It will be fine.

And the finished products?
Two great looking dehydrated meals, all done at home.

Honey Mustard Chicken – dehydrated and ready to store

Sweet and Sour Pork

What a popular topic.  In this article we follow up with some additional vegetarian recipes from one of our readers,  Sonia.

Regular readers will recall the yummy Marrakech curried stew, the Massaman curry and how to dehydrate rice recipes Sonia shared in her first article: Vegetarian Hiking food.  In this article we share four more fantastic ideas. Enjoy!

Satay noodles

Serves 2

Ingredients
Packet satay sauce mix
1-2 Tbsp crunchy peanut butter
1/2 cup coconut milk powder
1 x vegetable stock cube
salt and pepper
Undon noodles (90gms per person)
Dehydrated vegetables
Optional: chili powder

To assemble
In one plastic bag add peanut butter, coconut milk powder, stock cube, salt and pepper (and chili powder). In another plastic bag add vegetables (suggestions: mushrooms, capsicum, spinach, zucchini and eggplant).

To rehydrate
Add boiling water to vegetables. Cook noodles. Place contents of satay packet in pan, add peanut butter mixture and heat till a thick sauce develops. Add vegetables and combine.

Serve over noodles.

Hummus

6 serves

Ingredients
2 cups cooked / canned chickpeas
3 cloves garlic minced
2 Tbsp raw tahini
4 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 Tbsp filtered water

Method
In food processor puree all ingredients
Add water gradually to reach preferred consistency
Dehydrate then place in blender and blend into a powder. This ensures a smooth hummus on rehydration
To rehydrate add water for desired consistency.

Teriyaki Tofu Crackers

Use extra firm tofu for this recipe.

Slice the tofu into thin (1/2 cm) strips.

Marinade in your favorite teriyaki sauce for 15-30 minutes, ensure you turn the tofu to marinate both sides.

Place on dehydrator trays or fruit dehydrating sheets and dehydrate at 55-60 degrees Celsius. Turn over every three hours.

When done the crackers will have lost their flexibility and become strong and brittle. These can be crumbled and rehydrated into stir-fries, rice dishes or eaten dry.

Mushroom risotto

Ingredients
2 cups vegetable stock
2 Tbsp olive oil
150 gms portobello mushrooms, thinly sliced
150 gms white mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 shallot, diced
3/4 cup Arborio rice
1/4 cup dry white wine
sea salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 Tbsp finely chopped chives
1 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

Method
In a saucepan, warm the stock over low heat.

In another large saucepan warm 1 Tbsp of olive oil over medium-high heat. Stir in the mushrooms, and cook until soft, about 3 minutes. Remove mushrooms and their liquid, and set aside.

Add 1 Tbsp of olive oil to saucepan and stir in the shallots. Cook 1 minute. Add rice, stirring to coat with oil, about 2 minutes. When the rice has taken on a pale, golden color, pour in wine, stirring constantly until the wine is fully absorbed. Add small amounts of the stock to the rice, and stir until the broth is absorbed. Continue this process, stirring continuously, until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is al dente, about 15 to 20 minutes.

Remove from heat, and stir in mushrooms with their liquid, butter, chives, and parmesan. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Dehydrate and freeze (until needed).

Pack extra parmesan cheese and butter to serve.

Thanks again to Sonia, there are gems of ideas!

Have you got any bushwalking recipes to share?

Shoot us a comment below or send us an email, we would love to share them with our readers.

Julia  is living in Spain and gets out and about doing day walks and longer trips all around Spain and the Pyrenees. It sounds like a great spot to be,  and the trips, magic.

She was checking out Food to Go and decided we needed another snack recipe and shot it through to share with you all.

Let us introduce the Flapjack.

Over to Julia:

I checked out the ‘snacks’ part and found that there is something missing, so I thought I’d send it to you. It is called the ‘flapjack’, which is a very rich energy bar. I got the recipe from some English hikers and now we all make it. We are even planning a ‘flapjack competition’!

We just can’t go out there without it anymore and it is super simple to make.  I cut the flapjack up in squares, the size of an energy bar,  and wrap them up individually. They are soooo good and very healthy as well.

The recipe:

275 grams oats
100 grams  light brown sugar
125 grams of nuts, dry fruit etc. (ginger)
150 grams unsalted butter
4  table spoons of honey
(sesame seeds)

——-

Mix the oats, sugar, nuts and dried fruits (cut up in small bits) in a bowl (I add grated ginger root as well)
Melt the butter and honey
Add them all together and mix well
Put in oven dish or cake tin, press together (I sprinkle sesame seeds on top and smooth them out with the back of a spoon)
Bake  for 40 mins. at 180ºC (no.5)
Cool in tin and cut into squares while still warm.

——-

I hope you will try it and like it as much as we do!

Thanks very much for sharing Julia, we will try it out, looks yum.

Do you have a favourite snack you love to take on a  hiking trip?

Have you got a recipe to share?

Drop a comment below and share your ideas with other Our Hiking Blog readers (and sweet lovers)

There is a vegetarian backpacking food section in Food to Go but it is not massive. We sent Sonja a copy to check it out i.e. if she was not happy, she did not have to pay for it.

The upshot of these communications was we did a swap, Sonja received a free copy of Food to Go and she sent us some great vegetarian bushwalking meal options!

Over to Sonja:

I have read your book, Food to Go. It is very good and informative.  The examples by a range of bushwalkers is really interesting. I purchased two american trail food books (off amazon) that I believe were a waste of my money.  Your book is very good and offers a range of good recipes and meal planning information.

I recognised some of the recipes from the dehydrated bushwalking food blog, as I used this blog to learn how to dehydrate meals and prepare portions for walking. I have adapted some of the recipes from this blog and also added my own to my walking menu list.

I didn’t add the red curry or pesto meals as you have these recipes – only difference is I make my own red curry paste, make the curry then dehydrate as a complete meal that includes fish sauce and palm sugar.

Marrakech curried stew

Serves 2

Ingredients

In one bag
1 x vegetable stock cube
1 Tbsp madras curry powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
1/4 tsp turmeric
1 Tbsp raisins
1 Tbsp dried shredded coconut
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup coconut milk powder (available from indian food shops)
1/2 tsp dried garlic

In separate bag
Add dehydrated red kidney beans (400gms can). Other options include chickpeas or cannelloni beans.
Dehydrated vegetables – suggested options include eggplant, sweet potato, red capsicum,
carrots, zucchini

To assemble
Add boiling water to red kidney beans and vegetables and soak for 20-30mins
Add sufficient water to spices to create sauce and add to vegetables when rehydrated.
Bring to boil
Serve with rice or couscous.

Massaman curry

Serves 2

Ingredients
1 1/2 Tbsp Massaman curry paste (from supermarket or indian shop)
400ml coconut cream
400ml can red kidney beans (drained and rinsed)
1 Tbsp fish sauce
1 Tbsp palm sugar
1/8 cup tamarind water
1/4 cup raw peanuts

Method (at home)
Pour thick coconut cream into wok and stir in massaman curry paste and cook for 5 minutes. Mix in red kidney beans
Add remaining coconut cream, fish sauce, tamarind water and palm sugar. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat, cool then dehydrate curry

To assemble

Place dehydrated curry in plastic bag and add peanuts. In separate plastic bag add a mix of dehydrated vegetables  (suggested vegetables: sweet potato, eggplant, spinach, zucchini, pumpkin)

To red-hydrate
Add boiling water to the vegetables and soak for 20-30mins
Add sufficient water to curry to create sauce and heat.  Add beans and vegetables when rehydrated. Bring to boil
Serve with rice (100g per person).

Variations
Lean minced meat and onion. Heat oil in wok, add onion and cook for 5 minutes.  Add small portions of minced meat to the wok and cook through (ensures the meat fries instead of boils).  Remove from wok and prepare curry adding meat to curry instead of kidney beans.

Dehydrated Rice

The main benefit of dehydrated rice is the quicker cooking time and less fuel used on the trail. The rice is cooked in 5 minutes instead of 15 minutes.

Cook rice as normal, spread out on fruit dehydrating sheets and dehydrate for approximately 6 hours. Bag and just cover with boiling water in camp.

Food to Go is not just about dehydrating meals but it does contains step by step dehydration, testing , packaging and rehydration instructions with examples of many different types of food.  The beauty of  dehydrating your own meals is that it inexpensive, let’s you eat “home cooked” food and you can create a lot of variety.  Dehydrated food will keep for weeks without  spoiling and you don’t need to carry an esky or cooler box!

Keep an eye out for more of Sonja’s recipes, they will be posted here soon. And, a huge thanks to her for sharing these great ideas!.

Do you dehydrate your own hiking food?

Have you got any recipes that work well (with or without dehydration) to share?

Shoot us a note below, we whould love to share them.

In this article we discuss using La Chang a dried, hard sausage originating in China. Usually made from pork with a high fat content, La Chang, it is normally smoked, sweetened, and seasoned.

Chris, one of our readers, contacted us and suggested La Chang might be a great addition to Food to Go and anyone’s hiking food menu.

So over to Chris and his La Chang ideas:

I don’t know if you have come across it – its a sweet chinese pork sausage that does not require refrigeration. It is found in supermarkets in their foreign foods section.  I guess it’s for people who cook meals on bushwalking trips rather than reheat them.

The way we do it is fry it with onion, garlic and ginger then add any available vegetables and soy sauce, serving it on rice as a stir fry. I guess the La Chang takes 10-15 mins or so to cook ( if you undercook it its rubbery). We find it a great meal for later in the trip when all the precooked frozen meals have gone. Lots of calories too with its fat content.

I have probably taken it on every bushwalk and ski trip since I was introduced to it on the Franklin 30 years ago.

We have the mindset that we should cut the weight in our packs ruthlessly but not the food. I can’t imagine living for a week on those foil sachets. A good meal to look forward to is important especially when things are difficult. People who are hungry get listless and depressed and then start making bad decisions. A great meal at the end of the day can really lift the spirits when everything else has gone wrong. Lightweight everything but not too lightweight on the food.

My wife reminded me we usually include some shitake mushrooms with it – they need soaking in the soy for a while but add a lot of flavour. If you soak them in water you can add the water to the pot as a kind of stock. These also good in risottos.

We  always take fresh garlic, fresh ginger, dried or fresh chilles and soy sauce. And olive oil. I’m a firm believer that bushwalkers should be trying to figure out how to increase the fat content of their meals rather than decrease it – fat has more than double the calorie density. I’m quite keen on sushi these days and there was a reference in the Bushwalk Tasmania board of someone producing Nori rolls on a five day walk – I was impressed – the pickled ginger is available in bags not needing refrigeration. The seaweed would probably take a beating though. Obviously it can be done.

I should mention that the spelling of Lup Chong varies a bit – I guess its a phonetic translation of something in Mandarin. (ed, we used the Wikipedia spelling here)

Thanks to Chris for a very interesting piece.

We will definitely try Chinese sausage on future trips!

Have you ever taken La Chang on hiking trips?

Do you have any other ideas on how to use it?

Any other food ideas? We would love your feedback, shoot us a reply below……..

Image: Modomatic via Flickr

Christian was one person who contacted us and promised to shoot us a photo when he used the food an a bushwalking trip.

So, thanks to Christian and Miki who sent us a short email and picture showing them enjoying their meal.

This was our NYE dinner!   We had the dehydrated vegetables + lentils and just put a bit of peperoni in it. It was very tasty and just the right stuff you need after a long day of walking.

Thanks Christian and Miki for the thanks and pic!

Just to make it interesting, we recently discovered a small cache of Strive food and have decided on another quick competition.

This one is to guess where Christian and Miki where photographed eating their New Year’s Eve dinner?

Leave you answer in the reply section (below):

Entries close  Friday 10th February and the winner will be announced soon after.

The prize is  four meals ( the 350 grams  meal compliment containing dehydrated vegetables and lentils) delivered anywhere in Australia (for free of course!)

If, by chance,  more than one person answers correctly we will randomly draw a winner.

Remember to check out our eBook Food to Go if you are looking for more great ideas on planning, shopping and cooking bushwalking or hiking food.

Each pack is 350 grams and is a Meal Compliment containing dehydrated Vegetables and Lentils. The estimated cost (as we can’t see them on the Strive website) is around $10 per packet.

The Strive meal - a great variety of dehydrated vegetables PLUS lentils

We home tested the meal recently and were very impressed by the simplicity. Basically add the contents to 3 cups of boiling water and simmer for 10 minutes.

Rehydrating the meal - it is a very simple process

It tasted pretty good on it’s own. The addition of some salt and pepper or even chilli powder would have enhanced the taste.

The meal, rehydrated and ready to eat!

In addition, this meal is designed as a compliment. You could easily stir through rough chopped salami. rehydrated minced meat (chicken, beef, lamp or even kangaroo) or tuna. We think any of them would work! 

If you are not sure how to dehydrate minced meat then our book Food to Go has detailed instruction on how to dehydrate anything!

The size is for four people and with the addition of some “meat” it should satisfy that number.

If anyone (based in Australia) is interested in trying some of these out for “free”, we are happy to send you some packets by mail. Remember there is only one flavour, the Meal Compliment containing dehydrated Vegetables and Lentils. (that’s all we were given)

The plan is:
– Shoot Frank an email expressing interest.
– He will reply with our postal address
– Send us a prepaid (and addressed) overnight post bag, the 3kg one cost $11.70.
– We will split up the packs , quantity depending on demand, and mail them back to you.
– Depending on demand, we will send at least four per person.

To put a time frame on it, this offer ends on Wednesday 15th December.

Have you tried Strive food?
Do you have any other ideas of what we could add to this meal to “soup up” the flavour or volume?

Leave a reply below, we would love to hear from you.

As always, with anything that is good in life, it takes a little effort. But don’t stress, the rewards far outweigh the time spent creating a great meal, ready to eat out in the bush.  The food is lighter, much tastier than “satchel” freeze dried and you can make it to your own taste or dietary requirements.

In this video, Deb and Frank explain what a dehydrator is, how it works and how they use  it to dehydrate great home cooked food  for not only multi day trips,  but camping and at home.

We hope you enjoy it!

In our book, Food to Go, we have a step by step guide on how to dehydrate a meal. It has some fantastic, close up pictures that we hope make the whole exercise easy and simple.

Do you own a dehydrator?
Have you dehydrated meals for outdoor trips?
How did it work out for you?

We would love to hear back from you, please leave a comment below and share your knowledge.

Many thanks to anyone who has purchased the book, the feedback has been very positive!

There has been some interest in producing a modified version of Food to Go to help (Mum’s and Dad’s we suspect) plan meals and menus for young people heading off on school camps or hiking trips where they have to organise their own food.

So, having just  recovered from publishing edition one, we have started editing the existing book, removing a few sections that may not be relevant to young people or school groups.

These include:

• The dehydrating tips and how to dehydrate section
• The more complex meal options including those that need a lot of preparation or dehydrated ingredients
• The bit about how to carry alcohol……

This is where you come into the picture.

What we think needs including are the following:

• How to cook with a Trangia (as most school groups in Australia, at least, seem to use these)
  • Any other ideas?
  • Do you know of school groups that use a different system?
  • If you are from outside Australia, do you know what school groups use for cooking?

• More  meal ideas that can be sourced at the local supermarket that are “children friendly” i.e.simple and quick to prepare
  • Food to Go has a large section on this, we plan to add more and simplify it.
  • We will also add a couple of more menu plans containing store bought,  “kid friendly” food
    • Your meal ideas would be much appreciated

• Cooking and camp hygiene
  • This was not included in the original Food to Go but we think it important to train the young ones early!
    • any ideas or resources you might suggest would be appreciated.

• Brain block!
  • If there are any outdoor educators, school teachers or people who have sent children off to camp  we would love your input.
    • What have we missed?
    • Do you have any other ideas?
    • Please leave us a comment below.

The current plan is to offer this version of Food to Go at a reduced price with a significant discount for anyone who wants to “upgrade” to the full version.

As a thank you, anyone who leaves a helpful  comment will get a free copy of Food to Go for school trips,  once it has been released.

Many thanks

Image: Dumbledad on Flickr