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The Backpacker's Secret: Healthy, Yummy, Easy to Make Recipes

Envy the lucky backpacker. Alone or with a few close friends, the backpacker leaves the worst of modern society. Cell phones, television, SUVs, deadlines and concrete all left behind. With a few essential possessions, wilderness travel is not just possible, but pleasant. Those who have never tried backpacking always seem to ask the same set of questions: What do you do when it rains? Where do you go to the bathroom? What do you eat? Allow me to answer these questions: When it rains we put on rain gear, sleep in tents or under tarps, and eventually get wet anyhow. When nature calls, we find our proximity to nature quite convenient. A small trowel for burying waste and an opaque bag for used toilet paper are all that is required. And when meal time arrives… we eat very well indeed. Of course, you have to know a few little tricks.

A backpacker needs food which is lightweight, is not fragile and does not need refrigeration. Meals should be quick and easy to cook – using one or perhaps two pots – and they should still be healthy and tasty. Food meeting this criteria is excellent backpacking food. But isn’t it also a fantastic meal to eat around the house? Who couldn’t use a few meals where the ingredients can sit in the pantry for a month then suddenly (with little effort) become a healthy, tasty meal.

This cookbook is a collection of backpacking and non-backpacking recipes. The backpacking recipes can be prepared on the trail or at home. All of the recipes in this cookbook are healthy, yummy and easy to prepare. So eat like a backpacker at home. All the time you save not cooking can be used to plan your next (or your first!) backpacking trip.

Resources for hard to find ingredients

First, try your local natural food store. Then try...

Adventure Foods www.adventurefoods.com LDP Camping Foods www.ldpcampingfoods.com

AlpineAire Foods www.alpineairefoods.com Oregon Freeze Dry www.ofd.com

Backpacker's Pantry www.outdoorhq.com Richmor www.richmor.com

The Baker's Catalogue www.kingarthurflour.com Walnut Acres www.walnutacres.com

Cooking at Altitude

Eat more carbohydrates. Drink plenty of water. Wear sunscreen and sunglasses. Get a UV filter for your camera.

Altitude (in feet): 0 6000 7000 8000 9000 10000 11000 12000 13000 14000

Boiling Point (F): 212.0 201.6 199.4 197.6 195.8 194.0 192.2 109.4 188.6 186.8

Abbreviations

C cup = 8 ounces = about 1/2 pound of liquid L liter = about 34 ounces or a little more than 1 quart (4 cups)

T tablespoon = 1/2 ounce t teaspoon = 1/6 ounce

oz ounce = 28 grams or milliliters of liquid lb pound

In one of those stupid mistakes of the English language, an ounce is either a fluid ounce (1/16th of a pint) which measures volume, or it is a weight ounce (1/16th of a pound) which measures weight. For water and most liquids these values are nearly the same. But for less dense things like rice the two values are different. Generally my measurements of oz, T and t refer to volume. Every now and then I use ounce to mean weight, even for dry goods. It is up to you to figure out which is which. Hey, cooking is supposed to be an adventure. Don't worry, you can double or halve most any ingredient in any recipe and still have a tasty meal. Perhaps even tastier.