My home-dehydrated foods are an essential part of my Jeep-camping pantry!
I love car camping and exploring! I love my Jeep...and, I love to eat! However, fitting a couple of weeks worth of food into a car - along with all types of additional camping equipment, including a bed, can be problematic.
Along with food, water, camp stove and spare propane, two utility bins, suitcase, and more, means that I have to use space efficiently and neatly. Presently, I don't have a rooftop cargo bin (but do have a "soft" cargo bag which I don't use) so everything must fit neatly into the Jeep.
All of the dried foods shown in the previous photo, when organized into this small bin, provide two to three weeks of food along with a few canned and "pouched" items.
This bin consists solely of dried and dehydrated foods and mixes. In the bin I carry angel hair pasta (cooks in two minutes) and tortellini (10 minutes), homemade instant mashed potato mixture (instant potatoes, Butter Buds, powdered soy milk - all I need is to add water and a shake of salt), white and brown minute-style rice, cashew gravy mix, a commercial turkey gravy mix, pinto and white beans, corn and mixed vegetables, sliced bananas, apples, mixed fruit, tomato slices, corn chowder mix, tabbouli salad mix, tomato soup mix, tomato powder, dried red or white onion, diced mushrooms, green beans, Soy Curls (dried soy product used like chicken), kale, and pesto sauce mix.
Everything is in 1/2-cup to 1-cup storage portions in Ziploc-style bags with the air pressed out by hand. As small as these portions seem, each will make several meals because dehydrated food is so condensed by the removal of moisture that only two or three tablespoons reconstituted in water makes for a nice size serving portion.
I've concocted my own single-serving soup mixes so that two to three tablespoons of mix, plus 1-1/2 cups of water makes up the perfect (for me) serving of soup.
Of course, proportions are likely to vary with different folk's appetites and considerations of what constitutes acceptable portion sizes. For me, a 73-year old woman, I feel well fed, and there's no leftovers to store which can be problematic without an ice chest...except when cold-weather camping.
The size of my food bin with the lid on is 14-inches long, by 10.5-inches wide, and 3.25-inches high.
The food bin sits on the floor pushed against the base of the front passenger seat. Forward of the bin I store several gallons of water and a spray bottle of one-to-one vinegar/water solution for cleaning dishes.
On top of the bin I can carry two six-sectioned wine totes (although for this photo I removed one of the bags) for illustration purposes.
In one of totes I carry bug sprays, bear spray, sunblock, a backpackers candle lantern and spare candles, a sewing kit, cords for Jackary - its solar panels and chargers, my Kindle reader, solar string lights, and two rechargeable head lanterns. Whichever bag is closest to driver's (my) reach will have an orange or an apple on top for a snack while driving.
The other wine tote carries a small tin of teas, sweetener, my coffee-like beverage mix and soy milk powder to mix and froth, small bottles of soy sauce, sesame oil, olive oil, Tabasco, a wee jar of chicken broth powder, a tin of hot cocoa mix, some Ramen noodles, a couple Cup O'Soup, a couple toasted seaweed snacks, some Dove chocolates, a can of chili, tuna pouches, a couple 6-oz cans of juice, and a couple of tinned tuna/bean salads.
The Wild Planet tinned tuna salads aren't cheap! But they make a quick and very tasty roadside lunch. I try to buy them on sale when they're a dollar or two less. Wild Planet makes three flavors...two featuring white or kidney beans, and one with pasta. Pouched plain and flavored tuna is purchased on sale and is easy to stow in its flat packs, constituting a single serving that when mixed with one or two single-serving pouches of mayo may be spread onto bread or crackers for a quick, satisfying snack.
Single-serving pouches of mustard, mayo, and catsup may be purchased on Amazon as can the Tomato Powder which I decant from its jar into a small Ziploc bag for stowing in my food bin. Canned items fit nicely into a wine tote.
While I make some pre-mixed dehydrated dishes to cook in camp, most of my dehydrated veggies are used as ingredients. I make dehydrated versions of the foods I cook at home and use a few recipes snagged from backpacking Internet sites.
By adding a sprinkle of dried cheese, such as cheddar or Parmesan, a drizzle of olive oil or soy sauce, some toasted nuts, simple dehydrated dishes may be elevated a in flavor.
The addition of oils - olive oil, ghee (clarified butter - no chilling needed) seems to add a bit of fulsomeness that dehydrated foods often lack, although the only thing removed during the drying process is water - fats remain and most fat-soluble vitamins. It's likely that some vitamin C is lost during dehydration.
There are many recipes online - and books - for making dehydrated meals you can make ahead of time. Of course, one can purchase pre-made backpacking meals but these are rather expensive.
Another option I sometimes take along for a change of pace and palate are the aseptically pouched "Tasty Bite" Indian-style meals such as curries and vindaloos, etc. They don't need refrigeration. I'll cook up some minute-type rice to go with them for a very filling meal. They're tasty and vegetarian, so if I can't finish the whole meal in one sitting, I'll store the rest for the next meal without the worry of any meat going bad.
Another consideration, if the weather is cold, but not freezing, is that toting along fresh foods becomes an option.
In each wine tote a keep a written list of the contents so I can see at a glance what's in each tote so I don't have to remove things to look for the thing that's stored beneath something else or go through both totes to find something.
I home-dehydrate many of the foods and mixes I take. It's more economical. Living in a condo I no longer maintain a vegetable garden, so what I dehydrate is purchased in season and on sale to save money.
Here I'm chopping up a bag of fresh, on-sale onions for dehydration. Once dehydrated they can be added to recipes in chopped form, or I can make them into onion powder with a grinder. Either option adds flavor and convenience, making them easy to take along on trips.
Because there are some veggies that require blanching and a citric acid dip to retain color, one of my dehydrating "hacks" is to purchase bags of frozen veggies that I defrost, then dehydrate. Frozen vegetables are still a good deal and cost less than fresh. And the trimming, blanching, and citric acid treatment has already been done saving me lots of extra work.
Favorite frozen vegetables for dehydrating are mixed vegetables, corn, peas, carrots, green beans, and bell peppers. I prefer to dehydrate my own kale as frozen, store-bought kale usually retains the tough center rib and isn't as tasty fresh or dehydrated :(
Re-hydrated kale doesn't need a pre-soak if I'm dropping it into a soup I'm heating up. Kale is only pre-soaked - which takes only a couple of minutes - if I'm including it into a pasta dish. I can even pre-soak kale by dropping it in with boiling pasta during its last couple of minutes of cooking. The kale gets drained with the pasta. In rice dishes, I drop it in when I add the water at start of cooking.
I don't usually purchase frozen fruit for dehydration for two reasons. First, because as fruits defrost, they emit lots of juice. Second, I'm not a big fruit eater, so I only need it for light snacking or to make my "overnight" muesli. I sometimes will buy fresh fruit to dehydrate as well as purchase some already dried for snacks.
For Overnight Muesli I'll soak rolled oats and some fruit in water or juice - just covering the ingredients - in a lidded container overnight. Then in the morning I add some reconstituted soy milk, some nuts, and a bit of sweetening for a tasty, easy breakfast. In cold weather I can heat the mixture in a pan on the camp stove.
For re-hydrated beans, such as pinto, white, and kidney beans, I purchase bags of dry beans, cook them up, then rinse and drain them and set them on the trays of my dehydrator. They dehydrate beautifully and re-hydrate nicely for soups and stews.
Fresh onions into dehydrated onions, and dried, then cooked beans into dried beans. Once dried white beans become a little darker.
I try to carry only foods that take no more than 10 minutes to cook as a way of being frugal with my propane supply. The longest cooking item I have is tortellini pasta at 10 minutes. Although tortellini may be purchased fresh, I buy "Barilla Collezione Tortellini" stuffed with dried spinach and cheeses that doesn't require refrigeration.
Veggies and beans should be pre-soaked ahead of adding to recipes to cut down on cooking time. I usually pre-soak in a bowl with hot water to cover. I use the soaking water to make soup, pasta, or rice in order to preserve my water supply. Sometimes I drink the soaking water as a mineral-rich broth/tea. Pre-soaking of veggies and mushrooms usually takes about 15 to 20 minutes before the start cooking.
Here's my mushroom hack:
I remove and chop the mushroom stems and dehydrate them. The fresh mushroom caps will be used in home cooking. Dehydrated stems to the right of the knife go camping with me for use in making sauces and gravies, or adding to recipes.
While not a vegan, I mostly eat vegan-style when on the road, saving meat and cheese dishes for eating at occasional restaurants along the way. I don't carry an ice chest on trips longer than a few days, so items that need to be kept cool aren't part of my long-trip menus. I do take TVP granules (textured vegetable/soy protein) that when soaked and flavored has the texture of hamburger. The TVP may be rehydrated in water with a dash of soy sauce and some beef or chicken buillion granules to better approximate meat.
Potatoes are rather a pain to dehydrate. They must be peeled, sliced, blanched, citric acid-treated to prevent browning, and COMPLETELY dehydrated. A hint of moisture will cause the entire batch to blacken and mold.
I used to dehydrate my own potatoes in my Nesco American Harvest dehydrator, but now I have another hack so I can tote them along on trips and save myself lots of prep work!
Although I can take a few fresh potatoes as they don't require chilling, I have another hack so I can enjoy spuds besides the instant mashed potatoes I take along.
I purchase boxed au gratin mixes that come with a pouch of dehydrated potatoes and one of powdered cheese. I use the cheddar cheese mix in other recipes - to sprinkle on or in foods - and the dried, sliced potatoes for soups or for frying. These pouched potatoes have had all the processing, soaking, acid treatment already done. They are completely dehydrated and the pouch contains about four servings, so I have enough for several meals.
The potatoes need about 20 minutes of re-hydration in hot water, then patting dry with a paper towel or clean cloth. Then they can then be fried in a little oil with some re-hydrated onion or dropped into a soup or stew mix. Boxed meals are still relatively inexpensive so I "dissect" them to fit my needs.
I'll also purchase boxed Kraft cheese and noodles...not to cook together (ick). I use the pasta in my own recipes and the cheese powder to sprinkle into dishes needing a cheesy flavor. I can mix the powdered cheese with a little water or milk to make a sauce or dip, or roadside nachos. Added to instant potatoes, cheese powder elevates ho-hum instant potatoes into savory cheesy mashed potatoes. Powdered cheese is tasty on popcorn, too.
While I do pre-make some dehydrated meal mixes, most of my dehydrated veggies are used as ingredients for making familiar home-style camp meals.
While not everyone wants to go vegan in order to camp, one can buy canned meats...chicken, beef, bacon, Spam, small tinned hams, etc. I don't usually buy many tinned meats because I take a minimum of canned goods (as a weight consideration), and dehydrated soy products as tasty meat analogs.
It's good to taste test recipes for dehydrated foods prior to camping to be sure you'll enjoy eating them.
In addition to dried veggies, one can take along flour for making flat breads, ready made tortillas - corn or flour - or mixes for making pancakes, cornbread, etc.
There's so many easy, frugal, and efficient ways to eat well on the road!
From the road...bon appetit!
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