Organic Backpacking

I am prepping the food for our Remote Spot trip to the mid-Atlantic.  We have a couple, multi-day backpacking treks as part of this expedition to document the most remote location of 6 states.  I will be carrying Skyla in our Deuter - a daunting task of 40lbs as Skyla weighs 30lbs now and the pack weighs in at 7lbs.  I don’t think I’ve carried that much weight since we  trekked through the Arctic back before lightweight camping gear was available.  Ryan will be carrying almost all of our gear so will probably be lugging around 60lbs.

This is the first time I have made our backpacking food and I am very excited!  Out comes the dehydrator, old issues of Backpacker, and my cookbooks as I absorb all the tips and ideas about dehydrated meals.  I make menus, go to the grocery store, and carefully plan out my dehydrating schedule.  But alas, my master plan is tossed over my shoulder when my dehydrator breaks.  Yep, just as I am dehydrating 3 trays of spaghetti sauce the thing falls apart.

I scramble trying to figure out what to do on such short notice.   G-ma (my step-ma-in-law) to the rescue!!   She has a dehydrator that is actually a smaller version of the one I have on my wish list.  Great chance to test it out!

The spaghetti sauce dehydrates beautifully into tomato leather.  I tear it into pieces and test a few out in boiling water to make sure they reconstitute into sauce well.  It works perfectly!  Now I am even more excited!  Right now the trays are loaded with an anasazi bean dip, stir-fry vegetable mix, and sautéed onions.  Next round will be a yogurt/fruit concoction for trail snacking (mostly for Skyla), peanut sauce, and some sautéed ground beef…maybe some mushrooms too.

I’ll provide the recipes for you backpackers out there after we test them out on the trail.  The menu includes penne pasta, sausage, and zucchini in tomato sauce, quinoa with mixed veggies in a peanut sauce, bulgur wheat with toasted nuts and dried fruit, homemade granola bars, and yogurt fruit roll-ups.

But just in case, I’m bringing along a box of Annie’s wheat pasta and cheddar…

I wonder what would happen if I dehydrated wine…