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Re: [at-l] Trail Diet

Hi,

You and your wife need a dehydrator.  I have an American Harvest model that
has a fan and a heater.  It works very well.  They make several models of
differing capacities... if you can't "bulk up" with instant rice, potatos,
pasta, etc. you'll want a big one.  Also, get it with extra trays and mesh
liners for all the trays (you may have to order the accessories from
American Harvest).  I find the liners very handy to keep small food (and
you want your food cut small to dry and rehydrate easily) from dropping
through the grid.  Another useful accessory is the "fruit rollup tray",
which allows you to dry liquids like fruit purees and sauces.

I find that almost anything cut small or thin drys well and rehydrates
quickly.  Greens (collards, spinach, swiss chard, etc.) are wonderful.
Canned chopped tomatos do well.  Potatos (they are a vegetable, but maybe
too starchy for your wife) dry well if cut small or thin.  Frozen veggies
and fruits dry well and don't require parboiling.  Apples, pears, and most
fruit drys well and can be rehydrated or eaten dry.  Zuchinni drys well
also, so I suspect most summer squash would be fine.  I haven't tried
winter squash, but I suspect you could cook it, run it through a food
processor, dry the gloop (on a fruit rollup tray), then run it through the
food processor again to make "instant squash".  

Anyway, the possibilities are nearly endless, and MUCH less expensive than
buying freeze dried stuff.  Oh... I don't worry about drying times...
anything cut small will dry overnight.

Oh... and if you don't know about TVP (Textured Vegetable Protein) you
might want to head down to your local natural foods shop.  I believe it is
a soy product, and makes a great backpacking food.

As for menu planning, I find that I can usually come up with a trail
"version" of almost anything I eat (which is mostly vegetarian).  The basic
idea is to take the ingredients you like, cut them small & thin, dry them
seperately, then combine in one pot!  Different items require different
treatment, so cooking everything first and drying the finished meal doesn't
usually work too well.  The end result often doesn't look too much like the
original, but it usually tastes good.  It helps to be free with dried
spices as well.  With this system cooking on the trail consists of dumping
the dried stuff into a pot, adding water, bringing it to a boil, adding
"instant" ingrediants (like TVP), then removing from heat and letting the
stuff sit for 5 or 10 minutes in a "cozy".  You could also cover and
simmer, but I don't find it necessary and I almost never burn anything
using the cozy method.  My current cozy is made out of something called
"reflectix", which is basically aluminum foil covered bubble wrap... I get
it at one of the local hardware stores, where it is sold for pipe insulation.

Good luck.

-- Jim

At 12:49 PM 3/24/98 PST, william.f.richardson@ArthurAndersen.com wrote:
>Hello!
>
>Both my wife and I are outdoor enthusiasts, and we spend much of our time
>day hiking on weekends and car camping on vacations.  We would like to do
>much more backpacking, but her dietary restrictions really limit our
>ability to plan overnights.
>
>My wife eats mostly fruits and vegetables, lots of soy products, and some
>meat (fish, chicken, shellfish).  She doesn't eat carbos (I am serious!),
>beans, oils or fats.  She actually can eat items from the previous list but
>in small, small quantities.  I was wondering if anyone else has addressed
>this type of situation with any degree of success.
>
>I noticed a previous post about a dried vegetable mail order company - I
>called and asked for their catalog.  I am hoping this company's products
>can lead us in the right direction.
>
>Any additional advice?
>

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