My son (18 yrs old) is going alone with his friends for the first time next week. They have stated that "doing dishes" is the worst thing about the BWCA.


At first I thought you guys are just lazy! But after thinking about for a few days I thought that would be a new challenge for my trip planning skills. So in helping them plan their last minute trip I have accepted the challenge of creating a "dishless menu" for them. I need some ideas!

Obviously they will be bringing the cooking gear and dishes but they would prefer not to use them. My son has been to the BWCA 4-6 times and has always proven himself a worthy canoe partner, so I am not concerned about him not "paying the price" for enjoying the BWCA.

All ideas no matter how crazy would be appreciated. They are not huge fans of breakfast food and would prefer lunch type food in the mornings

Thanks for your help and everyone have a great trip this summer!

Mike

They will be going in for three nights and basecamping.

I will be sending a grill grate for the to use over the fire grate.

Any other equipment ideas that would help?

Mike

I never do dishes on a BW trip. I eat everything out of the bag. My kitchen besides stove and fuel is a mug for coffee, a spoon (or spork), and a cozy for keeping food warm while it rehydrates.

There are plenty of good dehydrated foods that can be rehydrated (hot or cold) in a bag and eaten directly from it. When done eating the bag goes in the garbage and the spoon is licked clean (and, yes, sanitized with a drop of sanitizer.

Very good meals can be bought from specialty suppliers like Hawk Vittles, Outdoor Herbivore, and many others, as well as the more traditional freeze dried meals from Mountain House, Backpackers Pantry, etc.

Many suitable products are readily available at the grocery - cereals, rice, quinoa, pasta, dried fruit, granola/snack bars, cheese, summer sausage, peanut (&nut) butter, nuts, seeds, tortillas, flat breads, and foil packed fish and meat. Many good ethnic foods are available in shelf stable packaging.

If you have access to a food dehydrator you can make and dehydrate your own meals.

You could even make Hudson Bay Bread.

This will be a piece of cake for a 3-day trip ;).

Freezer Bag Cooking is your best bet.

I, too, dislike cleaning dishes on the trail. With freezer bag cooking, your only dirty dish is a spoon (if you choose not to use your fingers).

A search for "Freezer Bag" cooking on BWCA.com will also yield plenty of suggestions.

Good luck!

quote boonie: "I never do dishes on a BW trip. I eat everything out of the bag. My kitchen besides stove and fuel is a mug for coffee, a spoon (or spork), and a cozy for keeping food warm while it rehydrates.


There are plenty of good dehydrated foods that can be rehydrated (hot or cold) in a bag and eaten directly from it. When done eating the bag goes in the garbage and the spoon is licked clean (and, yes, sanitized with a drop of sanitizer.


Very good meals can be bought from specialty suppliers like Hawk Vittles, Outdoor Herbivore, and many others, as well as the more traditional freeze dried meals from Mountain House, Backpackers Pantry, etc.


Many suitable products are readily available at the grocery - cereals, rice, quinoa, pasta, dried fruit, granola/snack bars, cheese, summer sausage, peanut (&nut) butter, nuts, seeds, tortillas, flat breads, and foil packed fish and meat. Many good ethnic foods are available in shelf stable packaging.


If you have access to a food dehydrator you can make and dehydrate your own meals.


You could even make Hudson Bay Bread.


This will be a piece of cake for a 3-day trip ;).


"

Boonie,

Thanks for the info.


I have dehydrated meals and then rehydrated/cooked in a pot over the fire or stove. Are you saying I can put the food in individual servings in a bag and then rehydrate in the bag and eat out of the bag? I have been wondering if this is possible.

What type of bag do you use?
How long do you rehydrate?
Are you using boiling water or warm/hot water?

quote OBX2Kayak: " Freezer Bag Cooking is your best bet.


I, too, dislike cleaning dishes on the trail. With freezer bag cooking, your only dirty dish is a spoon (if you choose not to use your fingers).

A search for "Freezer Bag" cooking on BWCA.com will also yield plenty of suggestions.

Good luck!"

OBX2kayak,

I will be checking out this book at the library today. Thank you!

wannabeoutthere-

Some of the ones I buy come in bags that you can add boiling water to, some don't. Some of the ones you can add boiling water to aren't re-closable and you'll need to use a spring clip to hold it shut in the cozy, or you'll need to transfer to one of these bags . I usually pack them in the original packaging and transfer in camp because the original packaging is more packable in my BearVault, which allows me to pack more days of food in it. You will find out at the freezer bag cooking site that many people just use zip-lock freezer bags, but I have had problems a couple of times so I prefer to use ones designed for that.

I rehydrate them according to the directions on the package - most are 10-20 minutes, which is why you need a cozy to keep the heat in. You can buy them or make one simply enough from reflective bubble wrap and tape. Instant rice, couscous, quinoa generally only require that you bring it to a boil and allow to sit for the same time (~5 minutes) as you would at home. Stuff that doesn't need to cook just has to rehydrate long enough to not be too chewy. This varies depending on the food and size of the "chunks".

Directions usually call for boiling water and that is what I do since it will lose some heat while rehydrating in the cozy. Of course for cold foods like cereal, you just add water.

Here is a link to Outdoor Herbivore which may give you some ideas.

Everything tastes good on a tortilla. But, besides a cast iron/aluminum skillet (or oven) which doesn't need to be washed. The best way to go, as described above, is homemade or purchased rehydrate in a bag meal.

Sausage, cheese, and crackers. packaged tuna, smoked salmon, other meats. If its cool eat soup.

I know they don't want breakfast, but:
I have cooked an ova-easy omelet in a bag. rehydrate with cool water (veggies, eggs, milk), mix inside bag re-close and set aside for a few minutes to re-hydrate veggies. Place the boil safe bag in morning coffee water and boil for a few minutes to cook. remove from water, sprinkle dried bacon, and cheese on top. use water for coffee. Will need to lick the fork or rinse with any remaining water to clean it.

Freezer bag cooking, foil packs of tuna/chicken and wraps
I found one of these last year and fell in love with it for "playing" over the campfire. Foil package chicken, a package of seasoning mix(I like the white chicken chili) some hard sliced cheese, a large wrap and you're got dinner. Heck last year we found foil packs of "hotdog chili" and refried beans" at WalMart and used them in wrap meals

Boboli pizzas and hot dogs/brats are two meals we cook over the fire and essentially have no dishes to clean...

Pie irons and bread - good for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert. No pots, pans, or dishes needed and darn few utensils. A fire, some bread, and whatever you want for filling. ;)

At that age we just brought peanut butter and bagels - and that's it. Worked fine.

No way I'm doing dishes on vacation. I think the key overall is to keep the portion sizes of cooked food small, so everything gets scraped clean. Then if someone is still hungry they can have a powerbar or whatever. Freezer bags can help with that. I tried freezer bags, but I didn't like the packing density or having to tote around extra bags. So, I always try to cook in a pot, scrape it clean, then boil water for coffee or tea in the same pot, which serves as the cleaning cycle for your pot, mugs, spoons, etc. I like the freezer bags or mountain house bags still for overnights, because it is convenient to just cook and eat out of the bag.

For the trip I just returned from I made a bunch of one-pot meals and then dehydrated and vacuum sealed them. My favorites were penne pasta w/ meat sauce and ground turkey w/ whole wheat elbow noodles, diced tomatoes, zucchini, corn and bell peppers. You could make chili, beef stew or whatever you like.

You can pour water directly into the vacuum bags although I chose to instead empty the contents into my pot (40oz Solo Pot), cover with water and bring to a boil and then let sit. I felt it re-hydrated better that way. It made almost no mess at all since I ate all the food and it usually was a little watery anyway . .nothing more than a vigorous rinse required.

I also made meals where I had dehydrated the ingredients separately and then combined at camp . .didn't like that as much. The one-pot meals had better flavor and seemed to re-hydrate more uniformly. When I used the separate ingredients there seemed to always be something not quite fully re-hydrated.

If you boil in the bag it's totally dishless but even if you re-hydrate it in a pot or mug it's pretty effortless cleanup. Since I was always boiling my dinners I didn't concern myself with using soap . .just rinse the pot totally clean, wipe it out and good to go.

soft taco option is a good one...
strangled eggs or omelet for breakfast
beans/rice/a meat in soft taco for dinner.
different flavored bagels, sausage, cheese spread etc for lunch.

string cheese/ cheese curds if you are from Wisconsin.

dr bob

quote cgchase: "
It made almost no mess at all since I ate all the food and it usually was a little watery anyway . .nothing more than a vigorous rinse required. "

Gut sumping, at least at Philmont.