We pack light...no coleman stove ect.

What are your top 3-4 meals when restricted to a camp stove/ single burner. We are trying to think creatively beyond Ramen Noodles, Knorr Pasta, and Idahoan Potatoes.

I've been dehydrated my meals for years. If you don't have a dehydrator, I'd get one. Spaghetti with ground beef, chicken chipotle with refried beans and rice, and beef stew are some of the dinners I make. I do a pre-hydration before the actual cook to save on fuel.

We generally take two stoves (currently MSR Windpro). Many meals include pasta or rice or quinoa. So one stove is used for that and the other for the sauce or curry or chili. We’re vegetarian and so our specific meals may not matter but I do think 2 stoves makes it easier. Plus, if one breaks you still have a stove.

Two of our family favorites for one-pot meals are chicken noodle soup with dumplings and wild rice soup. Since my son is not going on this next trip, we will also be making "tuna wiggle" (tuna noodle dish with peas).

It is also really easy to cook anything with couscous.

Having a dehydrator is super useful for making your own ingredients or dehydrating whole meals.

There is a great forum on here with lots of ideas and instructions for food.

Take dehydrated or freeze dried meals where you can at hot or cold water and let it sit to rehydrate. Don't bring things where you have to let it simmer or cook for 10 - 20 minutes. I make meal pouch "warmers" out of Reflectix for each trip. I add hot water to a freeze fried meal, seal it up and put it in the Reflectix envelope and after 10 - 15 minutes the food is not only cooked perfectly, it's way too hot to eat for a while. The only reason I make new pouches for each trip is that my trip mates always ask if they can keep them.

There's plenty of options, I hardly cook over a fire as it's a pain and takes forever compared to a stove. Fish, rhubarb crisp, spaghetti as mentioned, lots and lots of options. I take 2 stoves as well that use same fuel so if I need to cook 2 things at once I can or just have a backup. They also cook differently so I pick the one that's better at boiling or simmering depending on what I'm doing.

We usually take a stove for boiling water and saucepan dishes (mac and cheese, rice, noodles...) and fry over the fire. We'll likely take a 2nd stove.

We're considering traveling lighter and packing more handhelds (Salami-cheese-mustard-tortillas, pop tarts, gorp, hardboiled eggs, etc.). Less dishes to offset the disappointment of no fire.

My favorite dinner is backpacker beans and rice.

I also take two stoves that use the same iso-butane canisters so that I have a back up.

I also tried this fiesta chicken at a local forest preserve. I am planning to take it along to the bwca.

I have also tried adding freeze dried beef to this bear creek stroganoff. I am planning to take it along.

I buy ingredients and meals from packit gourmet.

I don't have a dehydrator, perhaps I could make better meals than the premade ones. But we have found the freeze dried/dehydrated meals from Mountain House and Backpackers Pantry to be tasty and very satisfying overall - some are better than others. WE usually bring a few of the $1.00 dehydrated mashed potato pouches which add bulk and calories to the right meal and taste pretty darn good. MH Beef Stroganoff over mashed potatoes, for example, is a pretty satisfying meal and very quick and easy.

For us a fire ban wouldn't affect our cooking at all, just the ambiance of the evening, which is significant. Guess I will wait this one out.

Make a koozie for each of your cooking pots. When one dish/pot is hot, take it off and wrap it to keep warm and cooking while using the burner for pot number two.

As a hiker, I've learned to pack ultralight.

I use the MSR Pocket Rocket + fuel, so I just add water to my meals.

Some of my FAVORITE brands - if you want to go that way are:
Packit Gourmet
--- Austintatious Tortilla Soup
--- Ramen Rescue
--- All American Burger

Camp Chow
--- Cranberry Turkey + Rice

I've also made some really delicious meals from this website/blog including the Thai Peanut Noodles. I add Lotus Ramen since I don't always tolerate gluten the best. You can use regular Ramen too, but it's so good. As well as the Curry rice, or couscous!

MN_Lindsey: "As a hiker, I've learned to pack ultralight.


I use the MSR Pocket Rocket + fuel, so I just add water to my meals


I've also made some really delicious meals from this website/blog including the Thai Peanut Noodles. I add Lotus Ramen since I don't always tolerate gluten the best. You can use regular Ramen too, but it's so good. As well as the Curry rice, or couscous!


"

+1 on The Yummy Life recipes...the oatmeal packets are delicious also (can be hot soaked or cold soaked.

Here is what I generally do. When heating is needed, I use a MSR pocket rocket II and isobutane fuel.

Breakfasts: oatmeal and dried fruit. Occasionally a freeze dried breakfast. Hot chocolate, Tang or milk.

Lunches: dried fruit, jerky, nuts/trail mix, protein bar

Suppers: freeze dried meals, usually Mountain House. Can supplement with salmon or tuna from foil packets or freeze dried miso soup.

The freeze dried meals are so easy to make and cleaning up is so easy. I think they taste good but everyone has their own taste preferences. Freeze dried meals are expensive, so I buy in bulk. The Mountain House ones have a thirty year shelf life, so even when a pandemic cramps your style they won’t go bad.

All of this can be done with either no cooking or with a stove that only has to boil water. For a person who doesn’t like cooking and eats to live rather than lives to eat, this works well.

I find the pre-packaged instant camping food nearly inedible- salty slop. I'd rather carry the extra fuel and simmer dehydrated beans, rice and vegetables for 10-15 minutes. Many decent sources for bulk dehydrated beans, fruit and veggies. Current fav is Harmony House.

+1 on the chicken soup and dumplings!

We usually do a one pot Red beans and rice with smoked sausage added in.

Smoked Sausage

Red Beans and Rice

does macaroni and real cheese dehydrate well? Of course we would dehydrate a bit of ground sausage in there as well.

I only cook over a fire so in these situations all my options would be cold.

Salami, cheese, and butter sandwiches are great. Any sandwich would be good though.

Tortillas, cold beans, cheese tacos

Precooked pasta with pesto

Granola and powdered milk

Cold hotdogs with bread, mustard, and ketchup and also cold baked beans

Richwon4: "does macaroni and real cheese dehydrate well? Of course we would dehydrate a bit of ground sausage in there as well. "

Macaroni is already dry. Aged dry cheeses will keep without refrigeration (Romano, parmesan, aged cheddar etc). There is a wide variety of shelf-stable sausages.

An appropriate menu is a rabbit hole of options as is what kind of heat source.
In my evolution I have moved from raw meat and real potatoes and vegetables cooked in foil or over the fire to scratch prepared carb/protein focused meals. I solo so one dish meals I can cook and eat out of the same container saves hauling gear and cleanup. I do not do food only as nutrition (the pre packaged freeze dry item) as I enjoy the taste and texture of food. I eat quite well when camping.

egknuti: "I've been dehydrated my meals for years. If you don't have a dehydrator, I'd get one. Spaghetti with ground beef, chicken chipotle with refried beans and rice, and beef stew are some of the dinners I make. I do a pre-hydration before the actual cook to save on fuel."

I don't suppose you have a link for your ckicken chipotle. That sounds really good.

Pita bread pizza is one of our favorites and we cook on frypan over stove. Pita bread for crust, sauce, mozzarella cheese, and pepperoni (usually is shelf stable). Can add onions or other veggies (fry first) if you want. Chunk cheese keeps better than shredded. I dehydrate the sauce but you could bring a squeeze bottle. Helps to sprinkle a little water in the pan then cover with foil or lid as steam helps melt cheese on top.

I have two books that hold most of my favorite recipes:

Backpack Gourmet - Linda French Yaffe

Cooking the One Burner Way - Melissa Gray and Buck Tillman

I suggest the Upside Down Sloppy Joe and the Ground Beef Paprikash.

Spaghetti dehydrates well. I have a recipe with beans as the protein instead of meat.

Mac and Cheese is always good. I add a packet of tuna.

I have a recipe for Breakfast Cookies. This allows us to get away quickly in the morning. Heat water for drinks only and there is no clean up.

Richwon4: "does macaroni and real cheese dehydrate well? Of course, we would dehydrate a bit of ground sausage in there as well. "

Powdered cheddar cheese is awesome and you only need to bring that macaroni to a boil then put it into a cozy. Pasta noodles only need to stay 180 degrees to finish cooking. You'll save a lot of fuel using this method.

Well, we always cook on our little whisperlite, so teh fire ban only really impacts...having a fire. But as for food...YOu can do all kinds of stuff :-) You just have to be creative in your timing if you want more than one pan of food.

We do a lot of dehydrated meals, yes (on a 10 day trip, we probably have the premade BP/Mountain HOuse/REI meals 5-6 nights; two packets each. Yes, lots of sodium). But aside from that...

We also have a meal of fish with potatoes (mashed; add bacon pieces) and fried onions.

We make pizzas--the pan sized boboli crust, sauce packets, cheese (we use individually wrapped cheese sticks and then cut into chunks; no we don't refrigerate), onions, pizza seasoning, package of olives, occasionally peppers if we have leftovers from tacos, pepperoni is optional. Fry the crust a bit, add toppings, cover and fry a bit more. One pan meal.

We also do tacos with packaged chicken (or canned), taco seasoning, beans, tortillas, cheese (see above), taco sauce packets stolen from the gas station, garden peppers, and pringles (jalapeno for crunch).

Cheese tortellini with spag sauce (all you need is the packet, add water and a bit of oil and some parmesan and italian seasoning).

Lots of dried soups are just add water. We'll also often add cheese or bacon pieces or onions, etc.

Pastaroni or other noodle dishes with a couple of packets of flavored tuna.

Quesadillas...tuna, cheese, etc.

The older we get, the more food we bring :D The onions, tortillas, etc. do add weight... but we also single portage, so not so much weight that we can't carry it in one trip. And definitely worth it.

We have yet to be disappointed in a Mountain House meal. I look forward to their Breakfast Skillet every trip. We're trying to branch out to try other brands, but got burned on our first try: the instructions for Camp Chow's Shrimp Alfredo for 2 said to add 2-1/2 cups boiling water and it turned out more like a soup. Maybe 1-1/2 cups next time.

And, now that I added a JetBoil pot support to my MSR WindBurner setup, anything that goes into a regular frying pan is also in play.

During a fire ban, the fire grate becomes a level, sturdy work table:

Level schweady!?!!? Lucky I swear every one I use is not level.

x2jmorris: "Level schweady!?!!? Lucky I swear every one I use is not level."

:-) I jest, of course. My measuring cup for boil-and-eat meals will usually show a difference of up to 1/4 cup on opposite sides.

Perhaps one could start portaging in a 12 lb sledge... :-)

a quick goto, is spanish rice packs from knors. then add in a few turkey sausage beef sticks. you can extend it by adding in a diced bell pepper or onions. any stove

we have done some calzones, in a fry pan. a liquid fuel stove would be better here.

cabbage and noodles and some sort of meat. bagged chicken or tuna or turkey sausage. you just need a large enough pot. 2 liter probably . liquid fuel stove.

We recently switched to using rice cakes as the base for sausage and cheese.Very filling!

schweady: "

x2jmorris: "Level schweady!?!!? Lucky I swear every one I use is not level."

:-) I jest, of course. My measuring cup for boil-and-eat meals will usually show a difference of up to 1/4 cup on opposite sides.


Perhaps one could start portaging in a 12 lb sledge... :-)
"

You might think about a mini bubble level and some shims . . . ;)

I always cook on the grate, usually the most level spot at camp :)

On my annual solo I am quite content to eat dehydrated food. I don’t bother with a fire. I think there are plenty of no fire options for food for my upcoming group trips. No major problems there.
I am struggling with the concept of the group sitting and talking around the blue flames of my pocket rocket as dusk settles in.

GraniteCliffs: "On my annual solo I am quite content to eat dehydrated food. I don’t bother with a fire. I think there are plenty of no fire options for food for my upcoming group trips. No major problems there.
I am struggling with the concept of the group sitting and talking around the blue flames of my pocket rocket as dusk settles in. "

Instead of sitting around a pocket rocket, you could try lying on a rock and watching the sun set and then watching the stars.

We almost never have fires, maybe once a trip. We bring our stove and food bag down near the water and sit on the rocks and enjoy the views and breezes. It's so much cleaner and easier than dealing with the fire pit areas!

This last week my daughter and I brought two kinds of cold granola and whey/milk powder, as well as pop tarts and bars for breakfast. We had crackers, cheese, sausage, and miso soup or Patagonia brand chili or Black bean soup for lunches. We also sometimes bring instant hummus or instant refried beans and have them with corn chips or rice crackers.

The backpacking meals are SO MUCH better now then they used to be! My daughter is a vegetarian, and we love most of the various rice and bean meals. Our favorite home made meal is:

Powdered coconut milk (can buy online or at a Natural food store) a vegetarian stock cube, dehydrated stir fry mushrooms, rice noodles, and a packet of curry paste (can buy online or at an Asian grocery) and if it's for my husband and I we add freeze dried chicken. Double bag everything - the noddles can poke your bag. On trail dump everything in 2-3 cups of water, bring to a boil, boil one minute, and then let sit for 10 minutes. Creamy, rich, delicious curry noodles! If you don't like mushrooms it's also good with the freeze dried Just Veggies peas, or other dehydrated veggies like zucchini.

Another favorite of ours is corn cakes: 2 eggs worth of powdered eggs, 2 cups worth of powdered buttermilk , 2 cups of Masa Harina, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tbsp sugar, 1 tsp salt. Bring with a goo-tube of ghee or your favorite oil or butter. On trail mix as much of the powder mix as you want into water until pancake or slightly thicker consistency, fry in dollops in the ghee, serve with syrup or honey. You can also make half of it into a single larger corn bread like cake if you have a stove that adjusts to a super low heat, and flip it half way through. Goes great with the Patagonia chili.

Instant mashed potatoes with ghee, and then cheese grated on top, and maybe a packet of instant gravy is a weirdly satisfying breakfast - I am not a huge fan of oatmeal, but we eat a lot of refried beans and cheese or potatoes and cheese on trail for breakfast. My daughter's favorite first night meal is fajita veggies with instant refried beans and cheese in a tortilla. We make the beans in a bowl and top with the cheese to rehydrate and melt the cheese. We cook the onions peppers etc. in the pot and put in another bowl, and then I sauté a smoked bratwurst cut up (or andouille, or etc.) for my portion. I eat the veggies and meat over the beans, and my daughter makes a roll up with a wheat tortilla.

If you bring the smaller and the medium pot from a cook kit you can fry the corn bread while the soup rehydrates in the other pot. We also make the medium pot full of coffee in the mornings, and then rehydrate the potatoes or beans in the second pot. But last week my daughter and I wanted to go super light, so we only brought one pot, and one bowl, and it worked out fine. I just had beef jerky or these interesting Biltong sticks with my vegetarian one-pot meals and I survived. I did have a burger for dinner as soon as we came out though!

Four of us just came out of #14 last Saturday, We were there for seven days and 6 nights. I cooked everything over a GSI Stainless Steel cook set. Small and compact with enough dishes etc. for 4 people.

Day 1 was pastry from the gas station next to VNO, Venison summer sausage and Ritz with cheese for lunch and new York Strips for dinner.

Day 2 was bagels and peanut butter for breakfast, jerky, snack sticks, trail mix and cashews for lunch and Eckrich smoked sausage with Zatarains black beans and rice.

Day 3 was pancakes and spray butter and syrup for breakfast. Knorr cheddar broccoli pasta for lunch and Fish tacos for dinner. (Cajun fried fish with Spanish rice on a tortilla)

Day 4 Bagels and PB (not sure how we stretched it for so long but none of us are big morning eaters. Lunch was more snacks and dinner was dehydrated burger (from home) along with egg noodles and mushroom gravy. (beef on noodles)

Day 5 was scrambled eggs with real bacon pieces (Oscar Meyer) and I tossed in a couple Mountain House breakfast scrambles which we ate on tortillas as burritos with taco sauce or Siracha. Skipped lunch as we had a late breakfast after fishing. Dinner was fried fish and pasta marinara (Knorr)

Day 6 was the last of the bagels with PB&J for breakfast, Lunch was skipped if I remember correctly (fishing again so probably snacks) and dinner was pizza quesadillas. (tortillas with pizza sauce, pepperoni and mozzarella string cheese and then covered with another tortilla.

Day 7 was oatmeal for breakfast, skipped lunch and was at the Ely steakhouse by 5pm.

All of this was cooked in the one small fry pan and/or two of the boiling pots that come with the set and I couldn't have been more happier.

I for one may not ever have to collect firewood again in the BWCA.

This is my primary meal option for backpacking and BWCA. More variety, more flavor, and way less sodium than pre-packaged. You can just re-hydrate in a pot, too, instead of the bag, but the bag makes cleanup a breeze.

Other than cooking fresh fish, I never do more than boil water.

Freezer Bag Cooking

We usually mix freezer bag cooking with Mountain House. I really like the MH biscuits and gravy for a breakfast.