On the Trail Cooking

[LostInSocal]

Usually it is Mountain House or cup-o-noodles for a quick meal. I don't have an onboard frige so I tend to not want to carry anything which needs refrigeration. I just started trying out dehydrated, powered products such as milk, eggs, butter, and cheese. I've tested these at home, and I gotta say they're pretty tasty. Hoping to be able to make better meals out of the vehicle.

 

[Excursioner]

If I am heading out into the deep backcountry and do not plan on stopping except for fuel, I will do up a half dozen burritos, individually wrap them in two sheets of aluminum foil and then wrap all six in another two sheets of foil, then onto the manifold they go. Pull one or two out as needed. I have even done tamales this way and they come out pretty darned good. The key here though, is to not forget them! I have done that once and had four of six of them become essentially clay targets after two days in the ol' engine compartment. PULL!!

 

[Phil Preston]

When I'm not camping out, or I know I just want a quick hot meal on the trail, I too do a lot of cooking with the engine. It's nice to have an instant hot meal for lunch or dinner with no real prep work other then foil. I've been doing this for years, and is very simple to do. I've done burrito's, fajita's, enchilada's, hot pockets, cans of soup (make sure the cans are not plastic lined), pizza rolls, hot dogs, and more. If you have an infrared thermometer, you can scout out what locations in your engine compartment are good for certain temps to cook or warm certain foods so everything can be ready at the same time. (such as fajita mix on manifold, tortillas near fender well etc.)

 

[soonersfan]

A pretty tasty snack your kids will enjoy is to make a few extra flapjacks at breakfast and use them for pb&j sandwiches later. Ok, the grown ups like them too. I learned this from some kayakers who don’t want to pack bread.

 

[WaypointOverland]

It all depends who I’m on the trail with. If everyone has snacks and sandwiches. There isn’t much time for a real meal. So I’ll make a chucuterie board with different meats, and condiments.

If I’m sure there is time then the stove comes out and I have no limits to what I may cook


Sent from my iPad using OB Talk

 

[Foch]

This is my 1st post. I am kinda embarrassed at 53, I still love peanut butter and jelly/ peanut Butter and honey as much as when my Mom made them for me eons ago. I kinda think it's the perfect meal. Other than that, I kinda echo the general consensus, big breakfast and early dinner. Though when possible I prefer to eat 6-7 times a day, small smart meals. Clif Mojo bar and yogurt or Avocado work nicely. IMHO

 

[Morris Yarnell]

Usually a sandwich and yogurt with juice or water, maybe some nuts or chips while driving. Left over coffee with lots of cream and sugar is still good cold. For desert driving, lots of water. Only drink a beer after driving is done for the day, maybe a glass of wine with a seriously cooked dinner. If I am with a group there is often little time to cook so the snack in the middle of the day is the norm.

 

[DividedSky]

One of my go to meals is the shelf stable Indian food in a foil pack. There are at least 15-20 varieties and they also have rice packs. They last over a year, require no refrigeration, can be heated in a pan of water or on the engine, and they are fairly hearty. They also take up almost no room.

They are all vegetarian but you can easily add some meat if needed. Grilled, sautéed or even just boiled. My personal fav is vac packed tuna steaks grilled and then covered with veggie korma curry.

If you have any Indian grocery stores by you, go check them out for sure. If not, just the madras lentils from Costco work as well.

 

[DBs]

Very basic breakfast (coffee and another coffee..), and off for the trail/rode.
The kids get their cornflakes etc

We stop for a true lunch, cooking one of these options usually because it’s fast and it’s real food:
pasta/tortilla with chicken or beef, noodles with vegetable and meat/chicken, shakshuka(mid-eastern dish based on tomato and eggs) or in between.
Takes about 10-15 minutes, and is light on the body so it doesn’t make you sleepy in the coming drive.

If we’re short in time to get into camp, we even take a short siesta..

Evening is a whole different story, this is where we go into the real cooking.