Dinner in a Bag
Food tastes fantastic after you've walked eight miles carrying a backpack through the wilderness.
By Pam LeBlanc
Photo Courtesy of Pam LeBlanc
You could probably hand me a hunk of leather and I'd pop it in my mouth and happily start chewing. And honestly, that's what a lot of freeze-dried meals tasted like 30 years ago. These days, though, backpackers, campers and paddlers can buy meals that actually taste like real food — instead of heavily salted chunks of cardboard.
The beauty of these meals is their simplicity. You just add water and wait 10 minutes or so for the food to rehydrate, and you've got a meal. Sometimes waiting is the hard part. Backpacking makes me so hungry that those 10 minutes can feel like an eternity. But if I rush it, I end up with a scalded mouth and a meal that's oddly crunchy. It's definitely worth it to wait.
Dehydrated meals to try
PackIt Gourmet, a Dripping Springs-based company, is my go-to when I hit the trail. They make 38 different meals, including Texas State Fair Chili (which comes with Fritos and cheese), the Big'un Burrito and Mom's Banana Pudding.
Colorado-based Farm to Summit uses what co-founders Louise Barton and Jane Barden call “cosmetically challenged vegetables” from local farmers to make their dehydrated meals. The oft-discarded seconds might not look as pretty as what you see at your local grocery store, but lumpy, oddball looking veggies taste just as good as the perfectly shaped ones.
Mountain House makes a line of adventure meals including beef stroganoff and chicken teriyaki. I like their lasagna, although my husband complains that it sticks to the spoon.
Backpacker's Pantry, based in Boulder, Colo., recently added some new options to its lineup, including Drunken Noodles with Chicken, and White Bean, Chicken and Green Chile Stew (thumbs up from me). They also make gluten-free, dairy-free and vegetarian meals.
Other companies cater to campers with dietary restrictions, too. At Wild Zora, you can shop according to diet — they offer dairy-free, nut-free, gluten-free and paleo options.
Vegan or vegetarian hikers can try Outdoor Herbivore, whose Happy Fella PestoBella pasta and mouth-watering “Cheddar” Mac are a warming treat after a long day's trek.
For heartier meals, Peak Refuel makes meals including MeatEater American Buffalo BBQ Mac & Cheese and Backcountry Bison Bowl.
Backpacking meals typically don't come cheap. One budget option is ReadyWise, which sells a package of lasagna containing 2.5 servings for about $8.
Bon appetit!
Made in Texas: PackIt Gourmet
Sarah Welton, founder of PackIt Gourmet, grew up canoe camping with her parents, self-described hippies and wilderness paddlers Jeff and Debbie Mullins. They never bought prepackaged meals on their long-distance canoe trips because Debbie meticulously sliced fruits and vegetables, dried them on racks, then used them to cook along the way.
“I grew up eating mom's amazing meals while out in the wilderness,” Welton says.
It's easy to understand Welton's disappointment when she headed to Colorado to pursue an MBA and couldn't find anything nearly so good for her own camping trips. The frustration turned to inspiration, though, and as part of her studies she developed a plan to start her own company, using recipes her mom developed.
PackIt Gourmet officially launched in 2008, and found success early on, when a blogger tested a few of the offerings. A year later, Backpacker magazine gave the company's Austintacious Tortilla Soup an editor's choice award. My favorite is Dottie's Chicken and Dumplings, named for Welton's grandmother, who I'm told made the best on the planet.
“We did start out very basic and very simple. I don't think we've traveled very far from that original concept,” Debbie says.
