Granola Bars

Dry goods:
2 1/2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup pepitas
1/4 cup flax seeds, ground
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1 cup whole cashews
Wet works:
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup natural peanut butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
Add later:
1 cup dried pineapple, chopped
Preheat the oven to 325.
Combine the dry ingredients; spread out evenly on the rimmed baking sheet and toast for 15 minutes. Take the pan out once or twice to give the mixture a good toss, to make sure things are browning evenly.
Meanwhile, stir together the wet works in a saucepan over medium heat until the sugar melts. Once the oats are nicely toasted, stir together everything, adding the pineapple. Spread the mixture
out on a sheet of parchment paper. Fold the edges over to meet on the top and roll this out to about 3/8″. Fold the end in to square up and refold and roll. Bake the giant granola bar for 30 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and let it cool completely on a wire rack. Once the bar is cool enough to handle, but still warm enough to avoid cracking, lift the granola sheet out of the pan and onto a cutting board. Using a pizza cutting wheel, cut the sheet into one-inch wide bars. Next, cut the series of bars in half, lengthwise. Store in an airtight container.

two one-bag backpacking dinners

Here's two easy recipes you can pre-bag at home. When you're ready to eat in camp, just pour in the boiling water and let sit for a spell. Clean-up couldn't be easier-just put the ziploc in your garbage bag and pack out.

Salmon Couscous

1/8 c sundried tomatoes
1/4 c dried salmon
1/4 c dried mixed Vegetables
1/4 c couscous
1/2 t coriander seeds, crushed
1/8 t onion powder
1/8 t garlic powder

Cover w/ boiling water in ziptop bag. Rest in insulator for 10-15 minutes.

Tomato Beef with Rice

1/2 cup instant white rice
1/4 cup dried hamburger
1/8 cup sun-dried tomatoes, pulsed in the food processor
1/2 oz dried scallions or chives
1 T onion flakes
1/2 tsp chicken boullion
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp oregano
l/8 tsp garlic powder
½ tsp tumeric
Combine all ingredients in ziptop bag.

In camp: Add water to cover by about 1/2” in ziptop. Let rest for 10 minutes. Stir in some olive oil or butter.

Homemade Sports Drink – Gatorade substitute

You can make an inexpensive rehydration drink at home. Mix the following:

* ½ teaspoon baking soda
* ½ teaspoon table salt
* ¼ teaspoon salt substitute (potassium-based), such as Lite Salt or Morton Salt Substitute
* 2 tablespoons sugar
You may want to substitute Tang for the sugar for a little flavor. Measure all ingredients precisely. Small variations can make the drink less effective or even harmful. Don’t overload on this stuff. This recipe makes enough powder for 1 quart of water, make sure you dilute it properly, too much and you will feel ill.

Cheap / lightweight First Aid Kit

You can buy a ready-made first aid kit and spend between $3-120 dollars. I prefer to steal a couple of bandaids out of each of the boxes in the medicine cabinet. Any oddball stuff, like blister pads, you might need to go buy. Depending on how much I care about the well being of my hiking friends will determine how many options I add to the basic kit. I used to hike with children. Now that I hike with adults, I figure they should know better, but it’s nice to offer someone a little comfort once in a while.

Basic Kit:
Burn gel
Alcohol swabs
Butterfly closures
Dr. Scholl’s Blister Treatment
various sized bandaids
3 SM::2 LG::2 Square::fingertip::knuckle
2″ guaze pads
Eye pad
Diphenhydramine 25mg
Acetaminophen 500mg
Hydrocortisone cream
Antibiotic Ointment
J&J First-aid Cloth Tape – 1 Inch
Liquid Skin or octylcyanoacrylate glue
Freezer-type ZipTop bag

== at this point, I’m at 6 oz!
elsewhere in pack:
Ace Wrapper
lip balm
insect repellent
Space blanket (mylar sheet)
more heavier stuff:
Instant Cold Pack
triangle sling
vinyl gloves
topical benedryl
Mosquito relief

Backpacking Condiment Bar!

Save left-over condiments from your epicurian excursions to the various fast-food establishments. Heinz Corp. Products, the company that produces the bulk of these packets, claims a shelf-life of between 4 to 9 months for most of their products. Ranging for their Hot taco sauce at 4 months to Mayonnaise at 8 months. If your stash is fairly fresh, you should have no trouble on the trail for a couple of weeks. A small collection of each flavor makes a great arsenal against day-in-day-out just-add-hot-water faire. All those neat little packets don’t spoil in your pack. Just pack a couple of each of your favorite flavors in a zipper bag ( to protect, in case of accidental over-compression). Unfortunately, the little laminated-foil packets last longer than the contents, even in the hottest campfire, so please pack them out along with the corner that you chewed off prior to dispensing your new-found food reincarnators.

Pizza place: envelopes of red pepper and parmesan cheese
Taco place: salsas of various burn
Hamburger place: mustard, ketchup, relish, jelly squares, S&P
Asian place: soy sauce, duck sauce, hot mustard
Chicken place: honey, jelly, sweet and sour, bbq
Donut place: non-dairy creamer, sugar

All-Natural Energy Bars

These energy bars were devised to get away from the High Fructose Corn Syrup/Gluten/oil leaden granola bars. These are more about whole foods and natural sweeters and oils (from peanuts).

1 cup quick cooking rolled oats
1/2 cup raw unsalted sunflower seeds
1/2 cup ground flaxseed
1/4 cup buckwheat flour
1/2 cup dried pineapple
1/2 cup raw almonds
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup dried papaya
1/2 cup powdered nonfat dry milk
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1/4 cup barley malt syrup
1/4 cup natural peanut butter
1 tsp salt dissolved in 1/4 cup water

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Place the first 10 ingredients in a food processor and pulse until the mixture is finely chopped. Use your own judgement how fine you want the largest bit of fruit and nuts.
Add the remaining ingredients to a saucepan and place over medium low heat. Stir until melted. Use a wisk to mix. Use a large spoon to combine all ingredients in a large bowl.
Roll the “dough” out between sheets of parchment paper to a thickness of about 3/8″.
Bake until just done, about 20 minutes. Cut into 20 squares.