Jambalaya on the FL Trail

Planning food for a backpacking trip can be almost as fun as the trip itself for a wannabe foodie like me.  I challenge myself not to use premade meals, but rather prepare my own lightweight feast.  Using some cookbook recipes and creating a few of my own, not only saves money it also allows me to work around food sensitivities.

My upcoming trip is a four-day section hike on the Appalachian Trail in North Carolina. Using The Appalachian Trail Food Planner by Lou Adsmond, and Lipsmackin’ Backpackin’ by Tim & Christine Conners, I am prepping recipes such as Tree Frog Soup with Rattlesnake and Sunrise Spuds.   Before you freak out, the soup is a split pea base with spam – it just has a cool name!

My addition to the menu is a jambalaya with dehydrated sausage and pork sung.  I even carry a 1/8 oz bottle of Tabasco to kick it up a notch. I am also adding Korean instant coffee- complete with cream and sugar – to my pack.  It is less expensive than the name brands and tastes great.

To find ingredients for trail food, I haunt health food stores and Asian markets.  Both have great selections of unique dehydrated and lightweight foods.  Your local supermarket will also have fast prep dried foods you could use.  Beware of some name brands, which have an abundance of MSG.  Read labels of prepared foods if you are sensitive. This is why I look for alternatives in the health food stores.  Amazingly, the Asian markets offer many MSG free choices – just read the label.

I would love to hear what your favorite trailside meals are.  I still have a few days to add to my menu, so please post them in the Comments.  Happy trails!

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This is a good article on backpack cooking. I enjoy creating new meals for the trail from what I find and my local supermarket or health food store. The possibilities are endless now that so many instant products are available.

Backpacking Gourmet Cooking, by Jessica Linnell

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