Making my own Backpacking Meals for the Appalachian Trail NOBO 2023
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- Опубліковано 22 сер 2024
- Todays video is sponsored by Supportive Grandmas Anonymous.
In this video I dehydrate and construct my own vacuum sealed backpacking meals.
As always, thank you for your support!
Instagram: @appalachianadventurista
Venmo: Appalachian Adventurista
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Snacks prepared: dried Fuji apples, dried avocado, fruit leather.
Meals:
Cheesy Bacon Grits | 1c water | 10 min
2pk instant grits, 2 Tbs dry milk, 2 Tbs bacon bits, 1/2 tsp onion powder, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, shelf stable cheese
Alfredo Veggie Rice | 1c water | 15 min
1 cup instant rice, 2 Tbs Alfredo sauce mix, 2 Tbs shelf stable cheese, 2 Tbs dry milk, 1/4 cup dried veggies
Couscous Primavera | 1c water | 10-15 min
1 cup couscous, 1/4 cup dried veggies, 1/2 bouillon cube, 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning, chicken packet
Moroccan Chicken Couscous | 1c water | 10-15 min
1 cup couscous, 1 cup dried apricot, 1/4 cup sliced almond, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp coriander, 1/2 tsp ginger, 1/4 tsp cloves, olive oil, chicken packet
Cheesy Bacon Pasta | 1c water | 10 min
1 ramen noodles, 1/4 cup bacon bits, 1/4 cup shelf stable cheese, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes, 1/4 tsp black pepper, oil
Garden Couscous | 1c water | 10-15 min
1/3 cup couscous, 1/4 cup dried peas, 1/4 cup dried corn, 1 Tbs dried carrot, 2 Tbs shelf stable cheese, 1 Tbs dry milk, 1 bouillon cube, 1/4 tsp garlic powder, 1/4 tsp parsley, 1/4 tsp black pepper, 1/4 tsp onion powder, 1/4 tsp turmeric, 1/4 tsp salt, oil
Pizza Pasta | 3c water | 10 min
1 ramen noodles, 1 pk Italian dressing, shelf stable cheese, 1/2 cup dried tomato, pepperoni, oil
Trail Chili | 1c water | 15 min
2 Tbs dried onion, 2 Tbs dried bell pepper, 2 Tbs dried tomato, 1/4 cup dried red beans, 1/4 cup dried hot chili beans, 1 tsp brown sugar, 1 Tbs tomato powder, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp dry jalapeño, 1/2 tsp chili powder, 1/8 tsp oregano, 1/8 tsp cumin, 1/8 tsp cinnamon, chicken packet
Fiesta Chicken | 1c water | 10-15 min
1/3 cup couscous, 2 Tbs dried veggies, 1 tsp adobo powder, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp onion powder, chicken packet
I love making my own meals. My favorite is pasta salad. Precook orzo then dehydrate. Add in whatever dehydrated veggie, fruit, nuts,etc. On trail I cold soak then use a leftover salad dressing packet even done
Orzo is a great idea. Thanks!
@Appalachian Adventurista your welcome! And I'm excited to try some of these out!
I wish you the best of luck and hope this works for you on trail! Something I learned dehydrating meals for my trips is most bags will be too thin and will pop the seal so you may need thicker bags, there are ones you can pour boiling water in. For meat the easiest to work with is the 99% ground turkey. Whatever seasoning you plan to add double it. And for any recipe that has tomato sauce or diced tomatoes add 1/3 more. There is a UA-camr Kevin outdoors he has a book called backcountry eats that may be helpful to you as well. His lasagna is amazing!
For dehydrating liquid-heavy stuff (tomatoes, salsa, pasta sauce, etc.) the silicone sheets you can buy for some dehydrators (often called "fruit leather trays") work best, but parchment paper (NOT waxed paper) is also good. Also, regarding the one vacuum-sealing fail, a lot of dried/dehydrated foods are pointy enough to puncture those bags. I've switched to just sealing without extracting the air, at least for trail foods. But, I'm just doing overnights or weekend trips, not through-hiking, so space in the food bag/canister isn't as crucial.
Love the ideas. I'm gluten intolerant so that is my biggest fear is no gluten free options on the trail when I resupply. This way I can control my food choices.
Absolutely!
Thanks for adding the recipes! That was very nice of you and I appreciate it
This looks like a brilliant technique for somebody like me. I am a diabetic and it's extremely hard to find your typical backpacking meals that don't have carbohydrates or much carbohydrates in them. So a lot of food is challenging. But being able to prepare ahead, your food that you can bring is amazing
Great point! Dietary restrictions I imagine lead many to these types of preparations.
I was diagnosed as diabetic but want to control/defeat it by a ketogenic diet. So. I am going through my cookbooks and deciding how to convert to keto and then to dehydrated/freeze-dried meals. My AT hike is a couple of years away yet.
another great video! :-) I'm using a vacuum sealer too, but cold soaking and using mostly freeze dried veggies and fruits instead of dehydrated. Vacuum sealer great for saving space too!
Agreed! Thanks, Wendy!
Inspiring for food for. 36 mile pct section hike this summer with my teenagers... Thank you for all your content. It always brightens my day
I really enjoyed this video. This is how I plan to meal prep for a distance hike.
Great prepping! Parchment paper works GREAT!
This is an absolutely amazing level preparation! I'm so impressed and I hope you love the wonderful food. It looks to be so much better than what so many people eat.
I'm so excited about this video! My husband and I plan on an AT thru hike in 2026 after our youngest graduates high school. I would really like to make our own meals for nutritional reasons. I'm excited to follow your journey!
Thank you! And best of luck to y’all!
Glad to see your video, and surprised more hikers don't do this. You did an awesome job putting all those meals together! A few things I've learned from dehydrating trial and error: craft stores sell plastic screen that helps with tomatoes, 1/4 inch sliced Roma's make great chips, and GFS has giant cans of pineapple/mange/papaya that are cheap and work perfect. Looking forward to more of you videos. Thank you.
Roma chips!! Great idea. Thank you!
One of my favorite oven dried foods was dried cooked chop meat for tacos and burritos. I just cooked and chopped it up small, drained the grease, and put it in oven on low, about 200 degrees. Just put it in Freezer Ziploc Bags, No vacuum packed, and would be good for a weekend trip. I found this an easy, light weight way to add meat to a hot meal and it cooks fast like all other dried meals cook. I am sure there are many other meals that could be made with dried chop meat, depending on how much cooking one wants to do outdoors.
Great tip! I haven’t tried dehydrating meats yet but it’s a natural next step. Thank for the idea!
Quite enlightening. I'll need to follow you and see how it goes. I can see that you are quite the organizer. A skill lost on many backpackers.
I just cook Knorr-Lipton dinners in my titanium pot, adding tuna or chicken packets afterwards, or add some jerkey while the water boils and then add the dinners and cook for 8 minutes. After dinner I put some filtered water in the pot and scrape it down. The rest comes off with the water boiled for the morning coffee and oatmeal. I don't mind the extra flavor in my coffee, instant breakfast, and oatmeal. I carry dried fruit bought in town, and occasionally pre-cook meats at hostels to add to noodles and dried potato powder. I like variety. I hit the Trail for my thruhike (after finishing the whole thing in sections) in late March.
Have a great hike!
Sounds like a great mix. Thanks so much!
Looks delicious. Thank you for posting this.
I use a mandolin to slice my apples and bananas. Me and my husband like them sliced really thin.
Mee too. I use the peeler corer for other stuff - pies & sauce.
Well done! So good to know your own ingredients!
So just to answer the final question....my most successful on trail men has pb and honey wraps. I did do a lot, I mean a lot, of mtn house, etc, so I can see where you can save a ton of money!
Happy trails!
Thank you! Yes, peanut butter wraps are definitely a go-to on trail.
These meals sound so good, I might try to make some myself!
I am really liking your channel. I have been watching a lot of channels that make the AT seem like a money hike. Your budget approach is more real world to me. I'm not knocking anyone and how they do their own adventures, just giving you props for your approach. Can't wait to watch your journey.
You've got the best sponsors on UA-cam.
Sooo awesome! I have the apple slicer and will be doing this too. I like the use of canned stuff to dehydrate. Inspired! Thanks for sharing! You got this!
Those are awesome!
Very helpful! Thank you for sharing! 😊
Awesome video!!! I love how you let us join as you are earning, Fantastic!!! Thank you!
Thank you!
My grandkids call me Gma and I had never heard that for anyone else until you said it. Way to go on the meals. Smart way to trail eat!
Thank you! I call me grandparents Gma and Gpop (Gpopsicle sometimes). No clue where that came from.
My grandson started calling me Gma so he could shorten what he had to write!
Your meals all look amazing!! Looking forward to following you on your journey!
Thank you!!
I am totally trying this. You make it look easy and delicious 😋
Great way to get good food that provide calories needed for your thru hike.
That apple peeler/correr/slicer is awesome! Fuji apples are my favorite too. I'm wishing you a healthy and peaceful journey.
Thank you!
... Wow ,, you have a good grasp on the healthy meal prepping with a dehydrator ... Nice job .. I tend to just use left overs from bulk dinners ,,i.e. spaghetti ,, chili ,, stews all made with extra volume planning to dehydrate and vac seal ..... Definitely going to try some of your meal recipes ,, look like a nice change from what I usually do .. Good video , will help many others interested in their food prep ...
ThriveLife has great freeze dried foods in cans. You’re not buying meals but food items. It’s all fresh flash frozen then freeze dried. So you get a can of green beans. Or grilled chicken. Or apples. Or whatever. I had a friend that hiked the AT a few years ago. I created a bunch of ziplock bag meals from these TL components and resupplied him a couple times on the PA leg of the trail. He said they were the best meals he had the whole hike.
This is beyond amazing. There's gonna be thru hikers offering trades. 😆 Yours will definitely taste better. I prefer to bring my own food. ✌️
I’m not opposed to fair trades. Haha
Great video
Instead of wax paper try parchment paper. Parchment paper is a food-safe coated paper used in baking and cooking, heat-resistant, nonstick surface.
I agree on the parchment paper. Also you can lightly wipe the tray with vegetable oil.
Great note! Thank you!
Parchment paper is my best friend when I am dehydrating.
I have an apple peeler corer also! You can save the peels & cores to make apple scrap vinager! I never can make enough dehydrated apples. Chomp chomp.
A lot of my food preservation works for home as well as camping/backpacking.
Great video. I love preserving my garden, fish I caught, I make jerky, summer sausage. It’s fun. Glad to see you’re enjoying this skill. For backpacking, I found dehydrated refried beans, fyi.
I meant to say I found the refried beans on Amazon. However I think you could make your own and dehydrate them.😊
I love that apple peeler. We have apple trees and that thing most definitely saves time and sanity, over have peeling!
It was such a time saver! Definitely using it here on out.
As a older hiker, food is my number one issue, im planning a mix between dehydrated food and organic foods. I know the later is a concern on trail, however could be a go
I figured it out Craig and am enjoying your videos. 😁
To help give the bag an extra layer of protection when I vacuum seal things potentially sharp, I line the inside of the bag with parchment paper. It works for me.
Have you tried Mylar bags? You can buy a lot and they don’t cost much. Then you close them with an iron. I think it is supposed to give a longer shelf life.
❤❤ LOVE
I don't own a dehydrator, but I learned a ton from The Hungry Hiker for prepping my own meals.
This is such a fantastic Idea!!! I want to make a shepherds pie with dehydrated potatoes, cheese and veggies. My son enjoys spaghetti so Im trying to figure that one out still I want to see if he'll eat the cous cous or rice. Hmm a tiki masala would be bomb as well. One I have to make is my new obsession which is BBQ Sweet potatoes lol, I also sometimes visit sites that sell gourmet trail options and just replicate the recipes.
I had a problem with the vacuum sealed bags developing leaks while they were jostled around on trail. I hope that you don't have the same problem. I opted to switch to just using freezer bags to be safe.
Makes sense. Hopefully that doesn’t happen. Maybe the bear canister will keep them protected.
Thanks for the video. Next time try using parchment papier instead of wax papier...your tomatoes Wont stick !
Great idea, thanks!
Impressive, but you have clearly demonstrated that this something I will never do. 😅 ... well, at least not until I have waaaay more free time.
Definitely understandable 😂
Dont forget to bring spices. Also powdered cheese is easy to add flavor and calories.
I wish I would have discovered this weeks ago! I am leaving May 7th... But I am going to see how many I can tackle? I'm going to try to use a straightener to seal them...
I’ve heard of that! Let me know if it works.
Inspiration? How about headache! LOL! I'm joking of course. You made my head spin again! When you're all done with your hike you should set up a series of Master Classes. You make it look so easy. And I know there is a lot going on that we probably don't see, but still, this is amazing! Your "sponsored by" made me laugh. Good one! Stay safe! .... Ciao
Thank you!! I have so much to share, UA-cam has been a major outlet for me.
Thanks much for the awesome and inspiring home cooked hiking meals. I’m confused about one point though, I saw tunafish, chicken and other such things on your table for ingredients but did not notice if or how you dehydrated the meat and fish? Were they added to your prepared meals? I’m assuming so as the name of the meals seem to implythat they had meat and/or fish in them
I'd do all this stuff...if I had the patience for all the organization...
I do have my homemade freezer bag cozy, butnits about twice that size and doubles as a seat cushion 😏🤷♂️
This video also sponsored by Laura Lynn! 😁 A simple favorite meal of mine is just Mac and Cheese with a Tuna packet added.
Mm yes, a trail favorite for sure.
Now that the hike is successfully over, how did your meal prep do? Did you create enough variety and quantity to last the entire hike? What would you do differently?
Great question! I will share more about this in the coming months.
Where can I get your coffee mug?? That thing is awesome!
This is a subject I'm really interested in but have zero experience with so thanks for making this video. It appears to me that the commercial companies that produce the best meals make the dish and then dehydrate or freeze dry it rather than drying all of the individual ingredients and then putting them together. What are your thoughts about this? How feasible is this to do with enough plastic or silicone trays? What do you think is a reasonable amount of time to expect a dehydrated meal that has an oxygen absorber and has been vacuum sealed to last?
I just came across your video and list of meals you prepared. Wonderful ideas but what is chicken packet? Did you dehydrate chicken? or buy sliced chicken and dehydrate that?
Now to check out more of your videos. Thanks
Nice
Love your videos and looking forward to follow your adventure! Ps. Its funny to hear americans prounance Knorr with a silent K…
Can't wait to see your adventures on the trail. Do you know if it is practical to mix chicken chunks with the greatest of all trail meals, ramen noodles?
Unsure. I did not vacuum se chicken in these meals. I intend to use chiclet packets and add those when I’m cooking. Meat will be separate.
Tip 4 apple chips, jello powder toss for extra zing
Tip for avocado spray with lemmon juice so dont oxidize
Use parchment paper
How did you determine:
• the temperature & time setting for drying?
• the amount of water to rehydrate?
Prior to using a dehydrator, have you ever tried dehydration in an oven? If so, how did that turn out?
I have not attempted to dehydrate in an oven before. If you do, please let me know how that turns out! I determined dehydrator temp/time by the book it came with - it has a chart based on food types and some recipes such as fruit leather. Google is also a great source for this! I determined the amount of water each meal requires based on how much needs to be dehydrated. For example, a noodle packet with spices would require less water than chili where nearly every ingredients requires water to come back to life. I plan on boiling extra every time in case I need more, and if not, I have warm drinking water.
I live in Albania. We just find water and food along the way.
I make most of my meals, to include dehydrating hamburger, ground turkey, shredded chicken, tuna - all cooked prior to dehydrating. Once you make your own beef jerkey, you'll never buy it again. I also dehydrate both sour cream and scrambled eggs, both of which I stick in a bullet blender to turn into a powder. Shredded cheddar cheese works well too, but I store it in the freezer for long term storage. You can't beat having scrambled eggs with cheese and a biscuit for breakfast on trail. And to have sour cream for a burrito on trail is heaven. Please do a bit more research and you can find some really good info on what you can, or can't dehydrate, and the best methods. For instance, avocados are not good for dehydrating because they are way too high in fat and will go rancid. But if you choose to (but don't store for long), soak the slices in lime juice and that will stop them from browning. Looking forward to seeing your hike!
Oh, I also use clear front mylar pouches - available in a wide variety of sizes on Amazon - for my meals and individual servings of stuff. They are way lighter than the Food Saver bags, and less waste as you can get them in sizes that are perfect - from tiny ones for putting a few pills in, to bigger ones for whole meals. And the clear fronts make it easy to know what is in them and if anything is going 'off'. Fine point sharpie marker works just fine on the mylar side for labeling. I even make my own peanut butter, marshmallow fluff, olive oil, ghee, and honey packets using these. You can use them with the Food Saver sealer, but I prefer sealing them with a dry, low heat iron, leaving a little bit at the end, then sucking the air out, holding it with my fingers, then sealing that last little corner.
Great ideas, thanks for the input!
Very cool contraptions in this video! Also is your hiking partner doing meals the same way?
Not that I’ve heard.
Try parchment paper instead of waxed paper?
My only question/concern is how or if you plan to reseal the bags while it's rehydrating in the coozie? I wouldn't think you'd need to vacuum seal the meals and I would have opted to use resealable freezer bags and the oxygen absorber. Great looking meals and I will have to give some a try!
Thanks for the question! The size of the bags is large enough that when I cut the top, there is enough plastic left to fold over on itself to seal the top. It doesn’t need to be perfect in conjunction with the insulator I homemade as well.
@@appalachianadventurista Did you also try boiling water and placing it into the vacuum seal bags? ZipLock Freezer Bags are the only ones I know that won't melt when boiling water is added.
@@appalachianadventurista I've used a binder clip for such things in the past, and it works well, and weighs little.
Freezer bags are thicker than freezer bags and will withstand hot water better. Less micro plastics released.
@@appalachianadventurista Yet one of the vacuum sealed bags had a hole on it. If you’ve tested it - cutting the sealed bag open, adding the boiling water, maybe using a binder clip as James suggested to keep it closed - then you shouldn’t expect any surprises on Trail. Good Luck!
Wow, does it really cost more to buy pre-made meals on the trail than shipping them to yourself? They must be pretty expensive! Yours look delicious
It depends on the type of meals you make and the meals you buy on trail. Each option has a range.
How did you prep your meat? Sorry if you already addressed this, and I missed the explanation.
I actually didn’t do any meat. The meat I used was bacon bits. All other meats I intend to add as I eat them - I’ll use chicken packets from the store.
@@appalachianadventuristaTry using TVP (textured vegetable protein) in your meals...it’s cheap, super light, shelf stable and is easily rehydrated...plus it’s cruelty free. 🌱💚✌🏽
What is the " chicken packet" that is referred to in the recipes. Did I miss this info in the video?
meant to say learning not earning...omg...
Those look great! How much per bag did they end up costing you?
Less than $5
I dehydrated spaghetti for my backpacking food it a guy thing .
Ha ha - I do too! I cook a whole package of spaghetti, dump in a whole jar of sauce and mix it up well, then spread it all out on my sheets and dehydrate. Then I simply break off sections and bag them up. I do fold the dehydrated spaghetti chunks into sort of parchment paper 'envelope' so the hard, dried spaghetti ends don't poke through the bag. But Orecchiette works better - no sharp edges, and IF you can find Orzo (also known as Risoni), that's even better. It makes a much, much smaller packet. I have an Excalibur though, so have 9 trays and I have the liquid sheets for all trays. She'd have to get something for all her trays to do anything like sour cream, scrambled eggs, anything with sauces....
Great ideas. You asked for ideas so I’ll share this link:
Backpacking Food
ua-cam.com/play/PLZagpVwkLMBTVVjA7O1U-m5KCAWSia3y8.html
Jon’s Dad
All of your brands are Monsanto owned industry products. Chemicals. 🙂just sharing.
Avocado is too high in fat, I doubt it will still be good.
Plastic tray? That would be toxic to food. ❤️
The fake mania in the thumbnail is bizarre
Not very useful or informative. Never lists out meals or provided recipes. Much more helpful videos out there.