Soup Thoughts

[renodesertfox]

Howdy,

Most hikers & backpackers that I know start dinner off with instant soup. In fact, I consider soup to be one of the best part of the whole meal, especially on a cold day. It's easy to make, easy to clean up, and it helps fill the empty spot at the bottome of my stomach. Ramen noodles are another key favorite! I've eaten them plenty on days in a row while on the John Muir Trail and never have gotten sick of them. Salt replenishment is important, and packaged soups are high in sodium. Knorr & Lipton off a wide selection. Just make sure you buy the no-cook, just-add-water selections. Miso soup(available at health food store or co-op is another great idea and great choice. Thanks for looking, let's go backpacking!

[Bigdog57]

I have used the Knorr/Lipton rice and pasta meals for camping, adding meat and veggies as I like to 'beef' it up. Haven't done it with their thinner soups though. Usually I like to do a 'one pot' meal, but am always willing to try new ways!
Ramen is always a good basis for a cheap and easy meal! The Yokosuba brand is larger, has more flavor varieties, and an added 'veggie' packet. They have a cheesy noodle flavor that makes an excellent basis for a complete meal.

[Eaglebait Ranch]

Here are a few ideas to really, really have a great meal on the trail, even ultra-light packing.
1. Slice thin and dry home grown garlic (or store bought). Break up some of the slices into "crumbs". Run some of through a blender - garlic powder. Take the slices, powder and crumbs w/you on the trail.
a. Add a few of the garlic crumbs to Knorr/Lipton soup, along with other veggies. It will really add a wake up flavor to the soup.
b. Add 2-3 slices to any re-hydrated sauce being heated. The garlic will not permiate the flavor of the sauce, and add a nice bight to your pallette.
c. NOTHING, but nothing tastes as good as home made garlic powder. Slice an avacado in half for lunch/dinner, sprinkle some home made garlic powder on it........... Oh, delicious.

Insstead of ramon noodles, buy either a package of angle hair noodles or a package of angle hair noodles which has been cut into about 1" long noodles. They cook faster than ramon noodles, and taste so much better. They can be added to soups and used as the "noodles" for the sauces you brought along (Don't forget to add the carlic slices).

We spend the winter drying extra tomato based sauces and soups, making "leather" out of it. We then use the "leaather" with us, re-hydrate it, and have HOME COOKED sauce on angle hair noodles for dinner. Since we do not cook with recipes, the sauces almost always taste different - and again, we have the garlic slices and powder to add to the flavor/s.

I am sure there will be more cooking ideas coming......... I hope this sparkled a thought or to as to options for cooking on the trail.

Oh, I did notice something. We are way too uppity to use our hands to eat food we can't slurp. We use wooden chopsticks. They pack so neatly:p

[Bigdog57]

Hehe. I reckon my plastic spork isn't that much heavier than your sticks.
The food leather sounds good - and would pack very neatly too! I finally got a Food Saver seal-a-meal gadget, and will soon delve into canning. Need to get a dehydrator too. I've long been on the edge of the 'prepper' lifestyle, and much of that dovetails with camping nicely.
VDF is on one end of the camp cooking thing, amazing how much he takes and makes some great meals! But I tend towards the 'quick&easy' side, not quite the hiker-type 'minimalist' approach but close.
Just different ways to enjoy the Great Outdoors! :cool:

[Eaglebait Ranch]

I finally got a Food Saver seal-a-meal gadget, and will soon delve into canning. Need to get a dehydrator too. I've long been on the edge of the 'prepper' lifestyle, and much of that dovetails with camping nicely.

Keep posted about your seal-a-meal experiment. I would be very interested in how that works out for you. I carry an insulated lunch box which I store a few frozen meals in as "ice" for keeping cheese and stuff cool for a few extra days on the trail. As things thaw, I eat them.

I understand the spork. I/we both have them. I just get tired of looking for the darn thing in my pack (grovel, grovel).

See ya on the trail...

[Eaglebait Ranch]

Howdy,

Most hikers & backpackers that I know start dinner off with instant soup. In fact, I consider soup to be one of the best part of the whole meal, especially on a cold day. It's easy to make, easy to clean up, and it helps fill the empty spot at the bottom of my stomach. Ramen noodles are another key favorite! I've eaten them plenty on days in a row while on the John Muir Trail and never have gotten sick of them. Salt replenishment is important, and packaged soups are high in sodium. Knorr & Lipton off a wide selection. Just make sure you buy the no-cook, just-add-water selections. Miso soup(available at health food store or co-op is another great idea and great choice. Thanks for looking, let's go backpacking!

Somehow, I missed acknowledging this post. Soup, the first thing is right on! When it is time for an evening meal, and it is coolish outside, I/we heat up enough water to first, have a mug of coffee then, while enjoying that, a bowl of instant soup is sitting in another bowl ........... waitin' to really make the tummy warm. A mug of coffee, chased with a bowl of soup with a couple of Rye Crisp crackers and a couple of slices of sharp cheddar (or other favorite) cheese! Oh, my!

[nearlywild]

1. Slice thin and dry home grown garlic (or store bought). Break up some of the slices into "crumbs". Run some of through a blender - garlic powder. Take the slices, powder and crumbs w/you on the trail.

Do you freeze it once you dry it and then make the power before you leave on your trip? How long does it last once you make the garlic powder? I like this idea.

[Eaglebait Ranch]

I am not sure if you are asking specifically for garlic, or for all of our veggies. But, I honestly don't think we treat any veggie any different in the drying process.

Veggies we powder: yellow squash, tomato, carrot, onion, garlic

That doesn't mean we powder all of the fruit mentioned above:
1. Tomato we also make into salsa, and dry the salsa
2. Onion we chop up, dry - and some of it we powder
3. Garlic we chop up, dry - some we then let rehydrate in a green olive brine we like, then dry that again. It is awesome when rehydrated in camp and added to a marinara sauce. Some of the garlic we powder, saving some for home cooking and saving some for backpacking.

When the food we are drying is "dry", we leave it open to the fresh air for a few hours (we live in high desert area so the air is dry) until the food is cool. We then put each item in either thick zip-loc bags or some other air tight container, and store in our pantry. We have not kept any of this more than 9-10 months because when spring/summer camping season starts, we are using it.

OMG - There is NO better flavor than home grown onion or garlic powder!

If you want any more information, don't hesitate to ask. I am always willing to help out.

I am going trail pounding for the next 4 days, so I will be off line until Friday.

[richardvg03]

I'm going to try this... headed to Colorado next week!

[nearlywild]

I'm going to try the garlic. What temp do you dry yours at?

[Eaglebait Ranch]

I'm going to try the garlic. What temp do you dry yours at?

In the dryer, about 135 degrees for most veggies we dry. Susan dries jerky at 145 degrees I think.

Again, ask anything about drying stuff. I will be happy to help out.

[Eaglebait Ranch]

Hehe. I reckon my plastic spork isn't that much heavier than your sticks.

Hey, BD, have to laugh. This last time out I took 2 Sporks with me. I am trying some new recipes this year, and they call for some "measuring": A heaping scoop of this and/or a rounded scoop of that............ Hard to measure using chop sticks.

And, ABSOLUTELY........... Planting all these different ideas and "seeds" is just another way of enjoying the great outdoors, as you so aptly put it.

[nearlywild]

In the dryer, about 135 degrees for most veggies we dry. Susan dries jerky at 145 degrees I think.

Again, ask anything about drying stuff. I will be happy to help out.

The garlic turned out good. I end up drying it at 105 for 12 hours. I was sleeping and didn't check on it over night, so it might have been ready before 12 hours. Have you ever dried hamburger? You cook it first right? It's not like making jerky? When you cook with either dehydrated meat or vegetables how long does it take to rehydrate them? Will just cooking them in whatever cooking liquids you're making be enough or do you actually need to rehydrate them first. For instance, can I just throw dried hamburger into spaghetti sauce and let it rehydrate in the sauce as it warms up?

[Eaglebait Ranch]

The garlic turned out good. I end up drying it at 105 for 12 hours. I was sleeping and didn't check on it over night, so it might have been ready before 12 hours. Have you ever dried hamburger? You cook it first right? It's not like making jerky? When you cook with either dehydrated meat or vegetables how long does it take to rehydrate them? Will just cooking them in whatever cooking liquids you're making be enough or do you actually need to rehydrate them first. For instance, can I just throw dried hamburger into spaghetti sauce and let it rehydrate in the sauce as it warms up?

I'm glad the garlic turned out for you. Now, let your imagination go when it comes to what to add it to.

My wife is the only meat eater, and she only makes her own jerky. I don't know what to do with the process of cooking meat then drying it.

As to veggies, the time it takes to re-hydrate depends on the veggie. Basically, the thinner the veggie is when you dry it, the quicker it re-hydrates. As a rule, if you put dried veggies in cold water, it will take 6-10 hours to re-hydrate. If you pour boiling water over the veggies, and cover it to keep in the heat, it takes about 2 hours to rehydrate.

On the other hand, if you turn your dried veggies into powder, like tomatoes for example, pour boiling water over the veggie powder, stir, count to 17, and you have broth.

If you like hummus, we make our own, try drying some. When camping, add a bit of water to the dried hummus, stir it, and bingo, you have a dip that you brought in a powdered form, in a lightweight bag, and made as much as you wanted - not wasting any.

Re-constitute some dried hummus;
1. add dried garlic powder to it. Bingo! Garlic hummus!
2. add dried tomato powder to it. Bingo! Tomato hummus!
3. add dried red/ green pepper, whatever!

This way, you have the basic hummus, and get to vary the flavor each time, adding variety to the camping food you take - truly giving you lots more choices for feeding folks.