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01/09/2020 11:43AM   (Thread Older Than 3 Years)
How many people make complicated meals in the boundary waters? Do most people just do something simple like pouch chicken or tuna and rice? Maybe dehydrated meals where you just add water?

In the past, my most complicated meals have been stuffing a trout with a side dish of rice and grilling a steak on the first night with instant potatoes. Usually the meals are some sort of simple boiled pasta or rice dish, like alfredo from the grocery store and mac n' cheese, or something instant like potatoes. Hopefully we have a protein like fish to go with it but sometimes not.

Am I going overboard with my meals? I know it doesn't seem like much when I write it down, but I see how much these ingredients add up in the food barrel, especially if I want to have any fresh ingredients like an onion. Plus it takes 30 min or more to cook everything over the open fire while everyone is starving, so I wonder if I should be pushing us more towards dehydrated meals where all we need to do is boil water. How do most people do it?
 
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01/09/2020 12:22PM  

My oddball point of view and method allows simple to complicated. I tend toward separate ingredients and cook as at home.

Pantry style. Separate meats, vegies, fruits, starches, dairy.
I can mix simple mac and cheese to chicken Alfredo with broccoli.


butthead
 
inspector13
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01/09/2020 01:28PM  

I’ve been going simple for decades. I’ve gone even simpler with “just add hot water to the pouch” dehydrated meals in the past five years. I no longer have the need for dishes; just a spoon, a pot to boil water in, a cup, and a cozy. Meats with higher fat content are packaged separate from the rest of the meals and added just before re-hydration. I do that just in case of rancidity, so the whole meal isn’t ruined. One way to avoid that is by making vegetarian meals and using TVP instead of meats, but I do like my meats.

 
01/09/2020 02:31PM  
I take steaks and a fresh veggie for the first night and a regular pack of bacon for wrapping LT. Other than that it's about weight and simplicity. I plan on fish every night with a side.
 
01/09/2020 03:41PM  
It's one of those personal preference things. I just do very simple dehydrated meals. They're light and compact. It only takes a minute or two to boil the water for one. I don't cook over fire, I just use a canister stove.Then there's nothing to do but let it sit and rehydrate. There's nothing to clean up. Uses very little fuel and requires only a few items. Doing a lot of solos where I'm the only one doing chores nudged me that direction. Switching to bear canisters/Ursacks was another nudge. I do a lot of cooking and dishwashing at home, but it's not what I go to the BW to do.
 
billconner
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01/09/2020 07:34PM  
butthead: "My oddball point of view and method allows simple to complicated. I tend toward separate ingredients and cook as at home. Pantry style. Seperate meats, vegies, fruits, starches, dairy.
I can mix simple mac and cheese to chicken Alfredo with broccoli.


butthead"


I'm in this group. Will bake bread, make fresh pizza, cakes, omlets, pasta with sauces made with separate ingredients albeit some dehydrated. It's usually just for two.
 
straighthairedcurly
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01/09/2020 08:53PM  
For me it really varies. When I did month long trips, we carried food in the same way as butthead...just bags of individual ingredients (mostly dried). We would create everything from simple one pot meals to extremely elaborate ones. The most complicated meal I ever made on trail was eggrolls from scratch including making the eggroll skins, the filling, and 3 different dipping sauces.

These days I pre-measure the dry ingredients for each meal and then bag it by meal and by day. We don't do super complicated meals, but they are definitely not just boil-in-the bag. I enjoy the process of cooking on trail and it is my main camp activity since I do not like fishing. This summer for my solo, I will be trying some simple, instant meals so I can travel with less kitchen gear and a small stove for just boiling water.
 
01/09/2020 10:14PM  
I usually do brats with Mac and cheese the first night, and steaks or ribs with baked potatoes the second. After that it is some type of fish with a side, or a homemade meal that I dehydrated. Spaghetti, chili, and sloppy joes are my go-tos. I used to get a lot more complicated, then moved to boil in a bag, and ended up compromising to where I am now.
 
RunningFox
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01/09/2020 11:46PM  
Coleman two burner propane stove
Kondos insulated food pack with BWJ poly box liner
CCS Insulated food pack
Real eggs, real milk, “fresh orange juice”, bacon & fresh meats
Uncle Ben’s rice, baked beans, cheesy patatos
Fruits and veggies
Purcell trench grill for brats over the fire
4 people, five nights
Modest supply of Distilled spirits
Tums


 
ZaraSp00k
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01/10/2020 07:41AM  
A1t2o: "How many people make complicated meals in the boundary waters? Do most people just do something simple like pouch chicken or tuna and rice? Maybe dehydrated meals where you just add water?

In the past, my most complicated meals have been stuffing a trout with a side dish of rice and grilling a steak on the first night with instant potatoes. Usually the meals are some sort of simple boiled pasta or rice dish, like alfredo from the grocery store and mac n' cheese, or something instant like potatoes. Hopefully we have a protein like fish to go with it but sometimes not.

Am I going overboard with my meals? I know it doesn't seem like much when I write it down, but I see how much these ingredients add up in the food barrel, especially if I want to have any fresh ingredients like an onion. Plus it takes 30 min or more to cook everything over the open fire while everyone is starving, so I wonder if I should be pushing us more towards dehydrated meals where all we need to do is boil water. How do most people do it?"


if you are ever in need of another person on your trip .....

me? if it requires more than boiling water, I don't do it anymore
I scored 30% off on dehydrated food this past Black Friday, bout $140 worth, making a single meal about $3-4 and you can't beat the weight or compactness
 
Minnesotian
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01/10/2020 08:17AM  
boonie: "It's one of those personal preference things. I just do very simple dehydrated meals. They're light and compact. It only takes a minute or two to boil the water for one. I don't cook over fire, I just use a canister stove.Then there's nothing to do but let it sit and rehydrate. There's nothing to clean up. Uses very little fuel and requires only a few items. Doing a lot of solos where I'm the only one doing chores nudged me that direction. Switching to bear canisters/Ursacks was another nudge. I do a lot of cooking and dishwashing at home, but it's not what I go to the BW to do. "


This is pretty much exactly what I do as well. Make my own dehydrated meals. I do have two exceptions though for dehydrated meals: I usually pack steak, potatoes and wild rice for the first night for cooking over a fire, and second if I have a layover day I'll pack pancakes for breakfast on that morning.
 
01/10/2020 10:23AM  
I think of cooking as a critical outdoor skill, and I'm always trying to find some new or better way to test myself on BWCA trips, though not for every meal. I usually plan about 1/3 boil in bag type meals , 1/3 which are a bit better, and 1/3 or so that require real cooking and are memorable. Examples of my favorites would be:
- pizza, with freshly made real dough (usually rests 4 hours), multiple cheeses, kalamata olives, roasted peppers, porcini mushrooms.
- paella, with imported bomba rice (cooks 30-40 minutes), dried shrimp, lake trout, grouse, etc
- sushi*, with freshly made sushi rice, avocado, cucumber, fresh wasabi and ginger, and fish. I even spent time searching for rocks that reminded me of the size and shape of serving dishes in japanese restaurants. I'm already planning to try to up my sushi game this year with some new ideas as my last effort was good but my rolling technique sub-par. *Note: all fish in my sushi was fully cooked like unagi - fresh water fish have worms and can be dangerous to eat raw.


Yeah, these types of meals do tend to fill up my barrel and take some time, but figuring out how to cut weight and keep in good shape is part of the fun. It also takes time, but its often on layover days and is time well spent. Sometimes simply "fueling" up is just not good enough for me.
 
RetiredDave
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01/10/2020 06:20PM  
boonie: "It's one of those personal preference things. I just do very simple dehydrated meals. They're light and compact. It only takes a minute or two to boil the water for one. "


This is my style as well, and I agree that it is a personal preference thing. I solo and I don't like to spend time cooking and cleaning, so I heat water and eat dehydrated. Yet I don't mind spending time searching for firewood and cutting and splitting, because I love campfires. I don't like the extra weight of fresh food, yet I don't mind the weight of the boxed wine that I so enjoy (in front of my campfire). It's all about what you prefer.

Now, if someone would just carry the steaks for me, and cook them, well.....

Dave
 
Northwoodsman
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01/10/2020 06:51PM  
I go simple as possible. Freeze dried or dehydrated all the way. I work in the food business and spent many years as a research & development chef. Still today every phone call I'm on, or email I send or receive, or conversation that I have at work is about food. I just want to boil some water and pour it in a pouch when I'm in the woods or on the water. I eat well every other meal during the year.
 
01/10/2020 11:20PM  
We used to do a big, complicated meal on the first night. I’ve stopped doing that because our tripping style has changed. We now pull into the EP around midnight, sleep in the truck, and leave at first light or catch the 6:30 tow. We push as hard as possible the first day, often stopping an hour or two before sundown. At that point nobody wants to cook a complicated meal and do a bunch of dishes. I usually cook a huge meal of brats and Mac and Cheese, but that is a quick and easy meal that refills the tank nicely.
 
01/16/2020 08:41AM  
Jaywalker: "I think of cooking as a critical outdoor skill, and I'm always trying to find some new or better way to test myself on BWCA trips, though not for every meal.

Yeah, these types of meals do tend to fill up my barrel and take some time, but figuring out how to cut weight and keep in good shape is part of the fun. It also takes time, but its often on layover days and is time well spent. Sometimes simply "fueling" up is just not good enough for me. "


You're a man after my own heart! Although on longer trips I mostly bring freezedried, I really enjoy cooking real meals over the fire, and the challenge of finding interesting things at the grocery store to combine in delicious ways without needing refrigeration. Plus I really like cornbread!
 
luft
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02/08/2020 08:43PM  
boonie: "It's one of those personal preference things. I just do very simple dehydrated meals. They're light and compact. It only takes a minute or two to boil the water for one. I don't cook over fire, I just use a canister stove.Then there's nothing to do but let it sit and rehydrate. There's nothing to clean up. Uses very little fuel and requires only a few items. Doing a lot of solos where I'm the only one doing chores nudged me that direction. Switching to bear canisters/Ursacks was another nudge. I do a lot of cooking and dishwashing at home, but it's not what I go to the BW to do. "


This is my philosophy as well. I cook and wash enough dishes at home so when I am solo I just keep it as simple as possible with "freezer bag" cooking. Any meal prep/combining of ingredients is done at home before hand. Leaves me more free time to read my book and sip my beverage by the lake.
 
aquaphile
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02/11/2020 10:20AM  
Not sure why, but complexity has always stressed me out more than the average person. This applies to every part of life for me, but cooking is what really used to get to me. I guess the stress originated from family car camping as a child where it took 500 different pots, pans, and other tools to cook a meal for our whole group and afterwards, bending over a well pump for a half hour washing all the dishes while watching the suds soak into the soil and who knows where after that. In my opinion, you shouldn't expect to eat in the middle of the woods like you do at home, although I highly respect anyone who can pull it off stress-free!

If I'm on a several day to week-long trip, my food bin contains: alcohol stove (2 piece), bottle of alcohol, flint/steel, 1 small pot, 1 spork, a container of homemade dehydrated venison spaghetti (~$0.75 - $1.00/meal), oatmeal packs, squirt bottle with oil (for fish), salt. The fanciest ingredient I'm willing to pack is fresh garlic. I never get sick of fish breakfast/dinners so I plan on eating fish but I have enough spaghetti to eat for lunch/dinner every day if I happen to not catch a thing. I've been satisfied with this set up and never really have to clean. Since my fuel is so cheap (denatured alcohol) I just boil some water in my pot with the spoon after cooking and it's perfectly clean. Soap-, trash-, and stress-free cooking! My parents generously handed down their jet boil backpacking stove to me but I don't even like dealing with propane canisters so that stays in the car as a backup in case my alcohol stove somehow finds itself at the bottom of a lake. My alcohol stove has zero chance to fail. I can see all of the working parts for myself, and my fuel will catch with a single strike of steel and stays burning even in high winds. I will never rely on a lighter in the woods but always bring some waterproof matches which I have yet to crack open. I suppose the minor inconveniences that go along with avoiding the use of some modern tools is a meditative practice for me and one of the bigger reasons I go camping in the first place.

My cooking setup takes up minimal space in my loadout as most of the above items nest together quite well and I just keep my dehydrated spaghetti in a large silicone bag which easily packs around anything and has a heavy-duty notch in the corner for quickly stringing up in a tree.
 
02/11/2020 11:46AM  
Like my Father likes to say, “ On a canoe trip, eat to live, don’t live to eat.” I couldn’t agree more. We used to make it complex but over time have whittled it down immensely. Now, granola and oatmeal for breakfast. Lunch on the fly but most of the time just snacks. And dinner is dehydrated meals with no clean up. Hate wasting time doing chores when I have other things to do on vacation. I wouldn’t go on a cruise and offer to clean up the dishes, better things to do...... but to each their own.

I do dehydrate a couple of chili meals at home and also beef jerky so I feel like I did SOMETHING complicated . Eat to live, not live to eat.
 
Frenchy
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02/11/2020 06:38PM  
I have tended to find simple ways to make more complicated meals over the years. After talking to a few people that had terrible trips due to the food, I like to spend a little extra prep time and do it right.
We never have the same meal twice, unless you count lake trout, during our 8 day trips.
Looking at the shared recipes on this site and Backpacking Glenn, it is easy to find a variety of great and easy meals for your trip.
 
jewp
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03/16/2020 08:10PM  
We group travel with kids, we do big'ish meals. Big breakfast -- bacon, eggs, pancakes, hashbrowns. We usually do big dinners but still simple, ie. steak and instant potatoes. We do a lot of pie iron sandwhiches / pizza. We pre-cook grounded beef, taco meat, bring pepperoni, etc. Kids will eat those every meal and cook themselves.

If it was just me and one other...I would do more meals in a bag. I like cooking and I enjoy the challenge of cooking well over a fire. It really is a skill that I work at. That said, I also can enjoy the other aspects of the bw, and as my kids get older I see us doing more of those and less "camp" activities. It isn't so much the cooking or dishes, but to cook over a fire adds a lot of time to process the fire wood and get good cooking coals. If I didn't need to do that, it would free up several hours a day.
 
03/28/2020 10:48AM  
I wouldn't say complicated but I have done chicken cheese quesadillas, wild rice soup with Polska sausage in it, steak.... A tad more than some I am sure but nothing extravagant.
 
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