Mike Asimos : Preparing Dehydrated Foods for Camping

When you're focused on planning a backpacking trip, a few things usually take priority - namely your tent and sleeping bag requirements, trail maps, first aid and food. Unlike car camping, food weight, ease of cooking and taste all play a factor, as does cost. Some meals can be so expensive and others are cheap and taste awful. I have used a dehydrator in the past with good results and wanted to pass on some tips to you.

The benefits of dehydrating your own food are control over ingredients and freshness factor. Overall, if you buy your items in bulk or use items you already have in bulk in your pantry it can also be more cost effective. It requires no refrigeration once it has been dehydrated and the weight is minimal.

The best fruits to dehydrate are bananas, apples, strawberries, peaches, cherries, pineapple, mangoes and blueberries.

The best vegetables to dehydrate are corn, peas, green beans, onions, mushrooms, carrots and broccoli.

There are plenty of other resources for meats, as I have very little experience with it mostly cause I'm afraid of getting sick, but I know that beef and turkey are supposedly easy.

Every item has its own levels of water and therefore need different amounts of time in the dehydrator but I have never seen a dehydrator that didn't have instructions for different foods.

Things to remember:
Cut the food items into small bite sized pieces.
Lay the items next to one another in a layer, but not touching while dehydrating
Place dried items into bags/containers that will allow you to remove all air from them.

I personally use Ziploc bags and press the air out. I also dehydrate shortly before my trip is happening. Then I bring one Tupperware to mix/rehydrate everything in and am able to reuse the Ziploc bags next time.

Mike's Drinkify Suggestion!

Drinkify

I am astounded on the daily by technology.
I found drinkify.org and put in the Grateful Dead just to see and their soundtrack and suggestion were equally impressive.
Two kinds of gin and lemon juice plus they played "big boss man".
Perfection!

Don’t listen to Grateful Dead alone. We suggest…

“THE GRATEFUL DEAD”

• 12 oz. Sipsmith Gin
• 12 oz. Lemon juice
• 6 oz. Blackwoods Gin

Combine in shaker and strain into cocktail glass. Serve. Stir vigorously.

Vegetarian Camp Cooking

Grateful Dead Black Bean Burgers

I found this article about Grateful Dead Black Bean Burgers at the Tupelo Honey cafe, and it inspired me to both share and comment on vegetarian camping foods.
Most people associate camping with a lot of meat (what about the hot dogs, Mike!!) but in fact I have had great success with vegetarian cooking in terms of flavor and not having to worry about food storage bacteria problems. Many freeze dried foods these days are vegetarian and fruits and veggies will often stay fine in your pack without needing ice.

REI has some pasta and beans kits that just need a flash of rehydration and they don't weigh as much as something already cooked in sauce and a tin can will.

The recipe above could be modified just a bit, pre-formed in a wax paper or aluminum casing and heated up once you get your camp fire going for a nutritious and filling meal.

Head over to the article above for the full scoop, or shortcut here. If you repost, please give credit via the site linked above!

Grateful Dead Black Bean Burger 

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ½ cup peeled, shredded carrots
• ½ corn, frozen, or cut from 1 large ear
• ½ cup diced roasted red bell pepper
• ½ diced poblano chili
• ½ cup diced Vidalia onion
• ½ cup diced celery
• 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
• 1 cup firm tofu
• 2 (15-ounce) cans black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro
• Juice of ½ a lime
• 1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
• 2 cups panko bread crumbs
• 2 cups canola oil
• 8 artisanal hamburger buns
• lettuce and avocado for serving (optional-not in original recipe)
• Cilantro Lime Mayonnaise (recipe follows)

1. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add the carrots, corn, bell pepper, poblano, onion, celery, and garlic. Saute for about 5 minutes, stirring often to make sure the garlic does not burn. If it starts to, turn the heat down some. Remove pan from heat and let veggies cool for 10 minutes.
2. Place tofu in a food processor and puree until smooth. Place in a large bowl.
3. In a medium bowl, combine beans, cilantro, lime juice, cumin, chili powder, salt, pepper, and hot sauce. Place 2 cups of bean mixture at a time in the food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped. Once coarsely chopped, place in the large bowl with tofu.
4. Add panko crumbs to the large bowl and mix the tofu, bean mixture, and panko crumbs together. Form into 8 patties.
5. Heat Canola oil in a heavy bottomed skillet on high heat until oil begins to bubble. Put patties in oil and cook about 5 minutes per side, until outside is crispy.
6. Serve on rolls with mayonnaise.

Cilantro Lime Mayonnaise

• 6 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
• 1/8 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1. Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl.

Summer is Here

Really trying to get a grasp on what bands are coming up. Someone suggested Meetup.com -- does anyone use this? I think that Google Plus has a lot to offer but it doesn't seem like anyone is using it the way I need right now. Either that or I am not using it right?

Ever since high school I associated June with graduation. Unfortunately, I have a few more Junes before my college is over.

My friends Kenneth, Michael (the other Mike) and Porter who all work at night clubs that are musically themed. They seem to meet a lot of cool people that way. I'm not sure how that would jive with my class schedule but it is something I have been thinking about. This town is so small.

Drilling Your Own Well

I saw a youtube video on how to drill your own water well using PVC pipe and hoses. With the hard red clay we've got around here, it would most likely take longer than this guy took, but it's nice to see that if you can score some basic supplies, you can make it work in an emergency situation or if you wanted to stay off grid for awhile especially in the heat we get around here.

I have a pretty sweet portable water filter that I take on backpacking treks just in case. I know there's all sorts of ways to guess whether water is drinkable or not, but I worry that wildlife may have a tolerance for bacteria in the water that I don't have and I'll end up sick. It would be nice to figure out a charcoal filtering solution for something like this for the Asimos family land.

-Michael

Spring and Summer 2013 means Music!

While procrastinating doing my biology homework, I wanted to find out if anyone had input around some of the major music festivals that happen annually in the US. Between school and work I will probably only get to travel out of the state for one concert this year, but next year, if reviews are good, I want to try to plan ahead more. Weigh in on which concert you would attend and help me decide which one is worth swimming through a sea of sweaty people slamming monster energy drinks.

SXSW : "Michael, Texas is too far away" says the ever protective Mrs. Asimos. Thanks, mom, but SXSW is probably the most mentioned music festival of my generation (with Bonnaroo running a close second).  Not as much of my style of music as Bonnaroo, but it seems to be sticking around and that means something, right? I'm certainly too late for this concert this year, but maybe next year.

Coachella : Seems to be heavily focused on electronica - a nice shift from my usual folk-based selections. It's all the way in California, but with as many acts as they have I'm certain to find either good people or good dance sessions. And let's face it, there are some really wicked camping spots along the way to the west coast to take advantage of!

Bonnaroo : Bonnaroo is my favorite concert event yet, though as you can probably tell by this post I haven't been able to make many more. Weird Al Yankovic is there this year which is just, well, weird, but the lineup makes my soul happy and I know I'll see a lot of my brothers and sisters there from past shows. What is better than good music and great company?

So thoughts? Thoughts for me to pass along to Mrs. Asimos? Great campin spots nearby any of them that may sway me hard to new lands and adventures?


Mike
Peace out!

Wilderness Survival

I am going to keep my political views on the Dorner case to myself. I did, however spend time thinking about wilderness survival when I realized he had probably retreated into the Big Bear wilderness.

I have a copy of an old military field manual (21-76) which focuses on wilderness survival and escape. Even though it adds to the weight of my hiking pack, I can't imagine another instance of a time where I may need it more than when I'm alone on a wilderness trek.

The pages which focus on how to get fresh water using condensation and how to build simple lean-to's, and how to tell which way storms typically blow based on the condition of the branches have long ago lost their crispness because I'm not sure that I'll be in the mood for reading on the basics if faced with an emergency.

 I have read "into the wild" and other books of that nature, but I struggle to think of a book that has so much vital information crammed into it.

Does anyone else know of any survival manuals that they don't like leaving home without?

-- Mike