Page 1: Commercial Meals and Making Your Own
Page 2: Resources
Page 3: Recipes- Deydrated, Ziplock Bag Meals
Page 4: Recipes- Single Pot Meals

Sample Recipes

Following are some of my recipes for an idea of what you might be able to create on your own. I will post more of them as I get the time- I will try to have most of my recipes online by the end of February. The recipes are rather simple, but a good place to start. I have included explanations on some items to help with shopping for or creating ingredients. You will see a pattern forming once you start to read through the recipes. I try to include rice or noodles for plentiful carbs, lots of dried fruits or vegetables, and a variety of flavors so that I am really looking forward to eating the meals.

Note that I design my meals for rehydration in a Ziplock bag, so there are no dishes to wash. I suggest rehydration times for each meal- these typically are minimum times. If you have the time to wait, most of the dinner meals with their dehydrated vegetables are better if you can give them 1/2 hour to rehydrate. With this time requirement you will often be eating warm, or even cold meals. All of the meals can be added to a pot of water and cooked in a normal manner. This makes some of the dishes more palatable for some people. Also, be sure you have added enough hot water to your dish. The breakfast meals rehydrate much quicker than the dinner meals. All of these recipes create one serving unless otherwise noted. Have fun with these recipes, experiment and enjoy.

TVP Tomato Curry

This is a spicy, very filling dish. The basic ingredients for the dish are listed. Again, I package it in a Ziplock bag and just add water at meal time. This dish needs to stand at least 15 minutes to rehydrate properly. I start with about 1 1/2 cups of water. After about 5 minutes I add a second helping of boiling water, another 1/2 cup or so. The second addition of water helps with the rehydration of the green beans and TVP.

When using TVP, be sure to add enough water- it uses more than you might think to rehydrate. Dry, crunchy TVP is no fun. If you find that you have problem with the TVP, it can be packaged separately in a snack size Ziplock bag. These bags are also strong enough to accept boiling water. If I use this method I add 1/2 to 3/4 cup boiling water to a bag of 1/2 cup TVP. If you have the time, give the TVP at least ten minutes to rehydrate before you add water to the quart size bag of the main ingredients, using about 1 1/2 cups of water for the main bag. After another 10 or 15 minutes, pour the TVP into the main bag. Alternatively, all of the ingredients can be poured into a pot and cooked if you desire.

• 1/2 cup instant rice (Uncle Ben's for example)
• 1/2 cup TVP (texturised vegetable protein- soy protein- a natural food store item. get the chunk type, not granulated for this recipe)
• 1 tablespoon onion flakes
• 1 teaspoon or so curry powder (to your taste)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic
• 3 tablespoons dried green beans (an item I dehydrate myself, I use canned green beans as they tend to be more tender, but they can still be a bit crunchy in the end)
• 1/2 of and 8 ounce can dehydrated tomato sauce leather (I dehydrate this as I would if I were making fruit leather- see Marrone's book for more details)
• 2 tablespoons sunflower seeds

Ramen Vegetable Soups

While not the healthiest food for you, there is just something about ramen that is hard to get away from. Ramen noodles rehydrate well without cooking, they are filling and lightweight. Ramen dishes can be great tasting and nourishing if you add the right ingredients to them. The following recipe and its variations are some of my favorites at the end of long day of walking. You can add as much water as you like to these dishes, adding extra water if you want a soup-like consistency. Ramen dishes need to stand for 10 to 20 minutes, depending on the vegetables you choose to add.

Vegetable Ramen

• one package ramen, broken up to take up less space (throw away the flavor packet)
• 1 tablespoon each- dried green pepper, dried red pepper, dried green beans, dried carrots, dried celery
• 1/2 cup dried potatoes (you can buy boxes of sliced potatoes with au gratin or sour cream and onion flavorings at any grocery store. Save the flavor packets for other recipes.)
• 1 teaspoon onion flakes
• 1/8 teaspoon granulated garlic
• dash of salt
• 3/4 teaspoon spike (an herb and spice mixture)
• optional- 1/4 teaspoon of chili powder or curry powder if you like it spicy
• optional- a tablespoon of dried mushrooms, dried peas, dried corn, or other dried vegetables of your choice

I have made a number of variations of this recipe, including the following:

Tomato Vegetable Ramen - Vegetable Ramen with the following changes:

• 1/2 can tomato sauce leather
• add oregano, rosemary, thyme, black pepper
• leave out spike, chili powder and curry powder

Sour Cream Ramen - Vegetable Ramen with the following changes:

• 1/8 cup sour cream and chive mix from boxed potato dish
• black pepper to taste
• leave out spike, chili powder and curry powder

Vegetable Rice Soup

Another rice based meal, this dish tastes great with the addition of nearly any kind of dried vegetables. The potatoes and green beans tend to be the toughest vegetables to rehydrate in this dish. But with plenty of water and an occasional mixing of the ingredients in the bag, they will rehydrate well. Give at least 15 minutes for this dish to rehydrate, adding about 2 to 2 1/2 cups of boiling water.

• 1/2 cup instant rice
• 2-3 teaspoons vegetable broth powder
• 1 tablespoon each of the following dried vegetables: green pepper, red pepper, carrot, green beans, onion, celery, corn, green peas
• 1/4 cup dried potato slices (from boxed potato dish)
• dash salt
• dash garlic powder
• black pepper to taste
• optional- dried mushrooms

Side Dishes

Couscous - This simple dish is a nice accompaniment to lentil soup or split pea soup. This recipe makes one serving. It easily rehydrates in a Ziplock bag in about 10 minutes. I have found that it is best to add the currants to the bag with the rest of the ingredients at the last minute. The moisture in the currants causes the rest of the ingredients to clump together. You could also put the currants in a pint Ziplock, placing that inside of the main bag.

• 1/2 cup couscous
• 1 tablespoon vegetable broth powder
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon basil
• pinch of garlic powder
• pinch of salt
• pinch of chili powder
• pinch of granulated onion
• 1 tablespoon currants

Rice and Peas - This is another simple side dish that is good with soups or beans. It also rehydrates well in a Ziplock bag. Makes one serving.

• 1/2 cup instant rice
• 1/3 cup dried peas
• 1 tablespoon chopped or slivered almonds
• 1/8 teaspoon butter buds
• dash of cumin
• dash of turmeric
• pinch of garlic powder

Hot Granola or Oatmeal Breakfast

These are rather simple meals, but pleasing and nourishing before a long day of walking. As with all meals, they can be modified to be larger or smaller, ingredients can be added or left out. The recipes for both meals are very similar. The difference in flavor is achieved by the addition of ingredients. You can use different flavors of granola for variety as well. Both of these meals have worked well for me being rehydrated in a Ziplock bag. The oatmeal dish can be a bit sticky for some people's taste. It can be poured into a pot and cooked traditionally if you so desire.

Granola Breakfast - needs about 3/4 cup of water to rehydrate, more if you like.

• 1/2 cup granola- any flavor
• 1/8 to 1/4 cup instant oatmeal (optional- if you like bigger breakfasts, or if the granola alone gets a little too sweet)
• 1 to 2 tablespoons any or all of the following: raisins, currants, cranberries, flaked coconut, diced almonds, dried apples
• 2 tablespoons milk powder (I like to use "non-instant, nonfat dry milk powder" from Whole Foods. It seems to be thicker and have more flavor than Carnation Nonfat Dry Milk powder.)
• 1 to 2 tablespoons protein powder (helps add a little flavor, and the obvious protein)

Oatmeal Breakfast - needs about 1 cup water to rehydrate.

• 1/2 cup quick oats
• 1/8 to 1/4 cup granola (optional- if you like bigger breakfasts)
• 1 to 2 tablespoons any or all of the following: raisins, currants, cranberries, flaked coconut, diced almonds, dried apples
• 2 tablespoons milk powder (see my preference above)
• 1 to 2 tablespoons protein powder (helps add a little flavor, and the obvious protein)
• spices to taste- I add a dash of cinnamon or cardamom for variety
• dash of salt
• brown sugar to taste (2 teaspoons is enough for me; I leave it out if I add granola)
• 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon butter buds (this is a dry butter substitute)

Sweet Rice Dessert (Kheer)

This dessert is a favorite after a long day of hiking and a good dinner. It is a good sized dessert for one person. Package it in a one quart Ziplock; it will fit in a pint Ziplock but may be a tight fit if you add more of any ingredient. Add 1/2 to 3/4 cup boiling water to rehydrate, depending on desired consistency. Let stand 10 to 15 minutes.

• 1/3 to 1/2 cup instant rice
• 2 tablespoon raisins
• 1 tablespoon sliced or shredded almonds
• 1 tablespoon each flake and shredded coconut (the shredded gives more flavor while the flakes adds texture to the dish)
• 2 tablespoons milk powder (see my preference under Granola Breakfast, above)
• 1 teaspoon sugar, or to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom
• dash of salt

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Page 1: Commercial Meals and Making Your Own
Page 2: Resources
Page 3: Recipes- Deydrated, Ziplock Bag Meals
Page 4: Recipes- Single Pot Meals