It's Easy Being Cheesy

Recently Nathan and I have been preparing for our Lake Superior Coastal Trail trip. I took a few pictures of the dehydrating food process. 

I have blogged about dehydrating food before, in Dry Food for Thought, where I list some resources, favorite dried items, and what dehydrator we have.

We've started to hone in on some of our favorite meals and snacks which I'll share with you here. We sort of accidentally made this meal and loved it!

Taco Beef Mac (2 hearty servings)

• 1 cup macaroni noodles (cook and dehydrate)
• 1/2 cup taco beef (brown lean beef, add taco seasoning, bread crumbs, and dehydrate)
• 1/4 cup mixed bell peppers (chop and dehydrate)
• 1/4 tsp M-Salt (salt, pepper, garlic powder)
• 1/4 cup black beans (rinse and dehydrate)
• Sprinkle tomatoes (de-seed, chop, and dehydrate)
• Pinch of Jalapeños (de-seed, chop, and dehydrate)
• Keep in separate snack size ziplock bag
• 3 TBSP dry cheese from a mac & cheese box
• 1 TBSP taco seasoning
• 2 TBSP powdered milk

On the trail boil a little over 2 cups of water. Dump dehydrated mix in. Cover and wrap with a towel for insulation and wait 45 minutes. Just before serving, add cheese mix, stir, and enjoy.

Mexican Beans & Rice  (2 hearty servings)

• 1/2 cup taco beef (brown lean beef, add taco seasoning, bread crumbs, and dehydrate)
• 1 cup Zatarain's Black Beans & Rice Mix
• 1/4 tsp M-Salt (salt, pepper, garlic powder)
• 1/4 cup black beans (rinse and dehydrate)
• Sprinkle green onions (slice and dehydrate)
• Sprinkle dried tomatoes (de-seed, chop, and dehydrate)
• Pinch of Jalapeños (de-seed, chop, and dehydrate)
• 1/4 cup mixed bell peppers
• Keep in separate snack size ziplock bag
• 3 TBSP dry cheese from a mac & cheese box
• 1 TBSP taco seasoning
• 2 TBSP powdered milk

On the trail boil a little over 2 cups of water. Dump dehydrated mix in. Cover and wrap with a towel for insulation and wait 45 minutes. Just before serving, add cheese mix, stir, and enjoy.

Tortellini

• 2 cup cheese tortellini (cooked and dehydrated)
• 1/2 jar of spaghetti sauce (dehydrated like fruit leather)
• 1/2 cup beef (brown lean beef, add bread crumbs or Italian croutons, and dehydrate)
• Sprinkle dried tomatoes (de-seed, chop, and dehydrate)

On the trail boil a little over 2 cups of water. Dump tortellini and sauce leather in. Cover and wrap with a towel for insulation and wait 45 minutes.  Stir, and enjoy.

Chili Mac

• 1 cup macaroni noodles (cook and dehydrate)
• 1 cup chili (make your favorite chili recipe and dehydrate, use lean beef)
• 1/4 cup mixed bell peppers (chop and dehydrate)
• Pinch jalapenos (de-seed, chop, and dehydrate)
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1/4 tsp salt/pepper or M-Salt (salt, pepper, garlic powder)

On the trail boil a little over 2 cups of water. Dump dehydrated chili mix in. Cover and wrap with a towel for insulation and wait 45 minutes. We think this meal might be awesome with a cheese packet too... we will try it next time.

Dry Food For Thought

In preparation for our hike across Isle Royale, Nathan and I have been dehydrating a lot of food.  I am amazed how easy this is and how well it tastes dry or re-hydrated!  We are dehydrating meals for many reasons including:
-Reduced weight
-Space savings
-Food Preservation
-Healthier meals

Some of our favorite dehydrated items are:

-Apple chips and apple sauce fruit roll ups!

-Zucchini chips

-Pineapples, strawberries, watermelon... Yes,  I said watermelon!

-Beef jerky

-Peppers

-Hamburger

-Pizza sauce

-Cooked and dehydrated noodles (dehydrated noodles is not the same as uncooked noodles. Cooking before hand saves a lot of fuel, since you are not boiling in the field for 10 minutes)

Resources:
There are a lot of resources for meal recipes, meal plans, dehydration techniques for different foods.
One link we really like is: http://www.backpackingchef.com/

There are also a lot of different books on the subject.  I rented all of these from the library and used different ideas/recipes from each.  I purchased the dehydrator bible because it shows how to dehydrate almost everything you can think of, plus provides recipes for backpacking as well as car camping and home cooking.
The Dehydrator Bible
Backpack Gourmet
Simple Foods for the Pack
Trail Food
A Fork in the Trail

Dehydrator:
The dehydrator we are using is the Nesco Snackmaster Encore.  I purchased 4 extra trays and some extra fruit roll sheets to maximize use of the dehydrator. You can buy this online from Nesco or at Bed Bath and Beyond or Meijer for about $65. If you want something bigger and more industrial you should check out Excalibur.