Simple camping meals that you can prepare at home

The weather changes, the clouds clear, the sun returns, and a wanderer’s mind set for camping, backpacking, and generally hiking in the great outdoors. Man was forced to conquer the wilderness and enjoy its majesty, beauty, and danger. The real frontier is almost gone, but we can emulate the most basic and ancient human experience by going camping.

I explained why Camping is important to your health and well-being:

It restores your circadian rhythm.

It encourages healthy outdoor movement.

It puts the flame at the center of the general night scene rather than the TV or smartphone.

It’s fun.

But you have to eat out there.

What to eat in the great outdoors: A simple camping meal

The idea of ​​a camping meal doesn’t have to be complicated. You can easily earn in a few days or even longer with a combination of:

• Seedless Granola
• Jerky, biltong, pemmican
• Olives or dried olives
• Nuts and nut butters (available in single-serve packages)
• Trail mix, spiced roasted nuts
• Italian sausage, summer sausage
• Hard cheese, freeze-dried cheese
• Packages of canned tuna or other fish, canned oysters / mussels
• Whole avocado
• Whole fruit
• Low-carb protein bars
• Low-carb tortillas (or regular tortillas if you prefer)
• Cooked potatoes/sweet potatoes (keeps a few days at room temperature)
• Hard-boiled eggs (can keep for a day or two depending on temperature)
• Dried fruits, dates, berries, figs

In fact, you can eat pretty well this way. You can definitely survive.

But sometimes you want a little more luxury. You want something hot and comfortable. Instead of squatting by the fire, munching on dried meat and crunching nuts, you want to sit with everyone with a warm bowl in front of you and have a meal in the wild.

Yesterday, you learned how to dehydrate food. Check if you are new to dehydration. It’s easy and frugal, but there are a few things you need to know to get started. Today, I’m going to give you a few recipes for dehydration meals. This is trail food — not car camping food. This is something lightweight, stable in a backpack, and doesn’t lose water. This is a food you can carry with you for days.

Make your own easy dehydrating camping meals

Unlike most commercial foods, these are nutrient-dense and delicious meals without any unwanted fats or ingredients. No industrial seed oil, lots of animal protein.

There are several ways to make camping meals that are not dehydrated:

1. You can make finished meals at home, dehydrate them, and cook them on the trail.
2. You can create individual water separator ingredients, then mix and boil them together on the trail.

I will describe below how to rehydrate food on the road.

Scrambled eggs

This is almost as good as the real thing. Almost.

• Add 1 part egg powder to 1.5 parts water, dry milk powder, and dry buttermilk. (Ingredients are available online or through a camping gear retailer.)
• Hit it furiously. You want it to be completely blended, perfectly smooth, with lots of aeration.
• Heat oil or butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the egg mixture and any other rehydrating veggies you may have and stir constantly. Salt and season as you do.
• Finish with cheese if you have one.

Pressure cooker chili

This is a bare-bones chili. It doesn’t have any beans, but you can add them if you like.

• Put the leanest beef you can find (top round, London chicken roll, 96% lean ground, etc.) in the pressure cooker along with the ketchup, onion, garlic, chili, chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika and chipotle pepper (if you like it spicy). Add just enough bone broth to cover everything, then pressure cook until the meat comes apart.
• Reduce the chili until the liquid is almost gone and it is a thick stew rather than a soup.
• Spread the peppers in a thin layer and drain.

The trick here is to use liquid and pressure to cook it, not fat. As you rehydrate it on the trail, add plenty of fat.

Dehydrated mashed or sweet potatoes

These make a great base for any meal, especially if you’ve expended a lot of energy on the trail.

• Peel and boil the potatoes just like you would a mashed potato.
• When they are soft, drain the water almost completely. Reserve a few cups of cooking water.
• Blend them with as much water as needed to create a thick, “soup-like” texture, which is wetter than usual.
• Add salt and seasoning if desired, or wait for the trail.
• Do not add any fat, milk, butter or cream. You can add it to the trail after reverting.
• Spread in thin layers and dehydrate until dry and crispy. Break or pulverize and store.

To reheat, mix half a cup of dehydrated potatoes with 2/3 cup of boiling water. Cover for 5-10 minutes and add milk, butter, cheese or seasoning. Adjust the texture by adding more water if you want.

This also works with cauliflower. Just make sure not to add any fat until you’re rehydrating.

These are just some of the comments. You can do a lot of great things if you stick to the basics and follow some ground rules.

Some advices

Use as little fat as possible.

The problem with cooking and dehydrating your own meals for the trail is that you have to do it a little differently. You can’t use a lot of fat when cooking because fat simply doesn’t dehydrate very well. The whole point of dehydration is to remove moisture and end up with a final product that can stay stable at room temperature for a long time. Too much fat will retain moisture and go rancid.

So when you look at these recipes, they might seem a little funny. When I make my usual camp chili, I’ll soak the meat and vegetables in butter and olive oil and really create a rich, thick stew – but that doesn’t fly when you dehydrate the chili. You can always add fat later, after a dehydrated meal has been reheated, and I’ve included a list of essential supplements to take with you when you head out into the wilderness to enrich your meal. your eat.

Use lower-fat meat.

When you use beef, choose as lean as possible. When you cook chicken, use breast or canned chicken.

Use liquid.

Since you can’t really use a lot of fat when cooking meals because of dehydration, you’ll need to add a good amount of liquid to prevent sticking. Of course, dehydration takes care of moisture.

Important addition to add to your pack

These are the ingredients that I consider essential for anyone eating well on the trail.

Gelatin powder / bone broth powder

Heat some water on the stovetop and add this mixture, then pour the gelatin-rich liquid into your soups, stews, chilis, and sauces for extra texture, body, and gelatin.

Buttermilk (yes, it’s actually grass-fed butter)

Add buttermilk powder to any low-fat dish to enrich and add a luxurious touch. You can also just bring real butter if there’s room, it’s not too hot and won’t affect the weight of your backpack.

Olive oil or avocado oil in a small bottle

This is a great bottle (BPA free, made in the USA) for cooking oil to drip onto your food. This is a good olive oil and this is a good avocado oil.

Powdered eggs and yolks

Powdered eggs and powdered egg yolks are great dishes to have for a quick breakfast or complement other dishes.

Milk powder

Powdered milk is a good supplement to have on hand.

Cheese powder or cheese

Cheese powder is a great way to add nutrition and body to almost any dish. You can also pack straight hard cheeses, which keep quite well at room temperature. Stabilized grated cheese is also an option.

Salt, pepper, spices

At the very least, bring salt, black pepper, and something like garlic powder, paprika, porcini powder, or cayenne pepper. Very easy seasoning, very simple, very effective.

Sun-dried tomatoes

Sun-dried tomatoes provide umami, acidity, sweetness, and a burst of rich tomato flavor that enriches almost any dish it touches. You can also snack on them directly.

Mayo

Well, yes, that’s not necessary, but if you have enough room, bringing some mayo will really enhance your meal.

How to Rehydrate Your Dehydrated Meals

This is quite simple.

1. Heat in a water bath until simmering on the stovetop and add to your meal. Typically, a dehydrating meal is about 1 part water to 1.5 parts water.
2. Cover and cook until desired consistency is reached.
3. Spice up your meals with any seasonings, seasonings, oils, fats and cheeses.

Different dishes will have different rehydration requirements, but that’s the basic recipe. If you’re just guessing, use less water than you think. You can always add more.

I’d love to hear what you guys are saying about dehydration and rehydration on the trail. Let me know below what your favorite dehydrated backpack treats are to make and eat!

About the author

Mark Sisson is the founder of Mark’s Daily Apple, godfather of the Primitive food and lifestyle movement, and New York Times best-selling author of Keto Reset Diet. His latest book is Keto for life, where he discusses how he combines the keto diet with the Primal lifestyle for optimal health and longevity. Mark is also the author of many other books, including Preliminary designis credited with driving the growth of the primal/palo movement back in 2009. After spending three decades researching and educating people on why food is the key ingredient to achieving it and maintaining optimal health, Mark founded Primal Kitchen, a food company that creates Primal/pale, keto, and Whole30-friendly kitchen staples.

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