Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.

I love that sentence.

I also love buffalo hash, which we usually make with beef (and, one time, elk), because it is more readily available and affordable than its larger, more hirsute cousin.

canola oil
kosher salt
fresh ground black pepper to taste
3/4 lb cooked buffalo meat, in small cubes
3 small potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 large carrot cut in 1/4 inch rounds
1/2 C green bell pepper, diced
1/2 C red bell pepper, diced
1 small onion, large dice
1 C corn kernels
1/2 C salted and roasted sunflower seeds
1/4 C ketchup
1/4 C coarse ground prepared mustard

The cookbook says to dump everything in a large skillet and cook, but I start with raw meat, so I cook that first, then add everything else.  Cook over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until potatoes are done (give yourself half an hour of cooking time to be safe).  Remove from heat and allow flavors to blend (and food to cool) for 5 minutes before serving.  The book suggests
serving with fresh bread and pickles, and I have no reason to argue that point.

Review: Campbell's Go Soup

I was already on the way to the check out lanes when I realized I already knew about this product, thanks to  the Chief Taster's infatuation with Stephen Colbert.  I bought it anyway.  The plan was to eat it on a mountainside somewhere, thus preventing anyone discovering my secret shame over getting marketed.  Hopefully, the fact that I selected it for convenience as a backpacking food will override the flashy graphics and the silly face on the bag:

This image was stolen from the Campbell's web site.  I'm giving it a decent review, so I don't think they'll mind.

I had my doubts.  I even had intentions to add some orzo or couscous to make it a more filling stew.  I'm glad I didn't.

I also wanted to test some gear, so I used the pot from my two-person cookset to heat the soup on our kitchen's gas stove (I don't have a good place to test the backpacking stove), because I figured that was a decent simulation of trail conditions.  I even ate it from that same cookset's bowl, but I used a normal spoon, because I have no intention of relying on the included folding "foon."

If this were a photography blog, I probably would have had the sense to use the blue bowl.

Results: surprisingly filling, and a tasty but not overbearing amount of spice.  Three hours after eating it, I still feel pretty full.  To be fair, I also had a couple slices of fresh mango, and didn't do any hiking at all in that time, but I could use this as dinner on the trail, after the day's hiking was finished.  Plus, you can prop up the empty bag while you eat and pretend you have a comically zany dining companion.  ...Making an O face?  The downside: lots of water weight.  Better for a weekend jaunt than an extended trip.

Review: powdered milk

Powdered milk is a new thing to me.  Why would anyone buy powdered milk when they can get the real thing?

Backpacking.

Milk isn't really a crucial thing to have while backpacking, but it's an excellent source of vitamin D, a decent source of vitamin A, and a famous source of calcium.  Those are all good things to have in your diet if you're going to be hiking for a really long time, and if you don't want to cook breakfast on the trail, it goes well with granola.  I bought some recently, but I screwed up.  Without even noticing it in the store, I got the nonfat version.

Backpackers need the fat.  (see previous post)

The box I bought has five packets inside; each packet can be mixed with "about 3 3/4 cups of cold water" to make a quart of milk.  I don't want to make a quart at a time; I need to be able to make about a cup at a time.  I threw some math at it, and learned that for trail purposes, about 1.5 T of powder in a cup of water should be the right mix.

I poured about half of the result on 1/2 C of bulk granola from the grocery (recommended serving size) and drank the rest.  I wanted to see how that would get me through the morning, even though my typical morning in the apartment requires nowhere near the energy level of a morning hiking mountains with a thirty to forty pound pack.

I haven't bought any variety except whole milk since... well, it's been a very long time, anyway.  I don't know if it's because I'm accustomed to that flavor, or because I botched the proportions in the mix, but the milk I got from the mix was a little thin and low on flavor.  I'd like to try again with a "whole" powdered milk, if I can find it, but at least now I know the stuff works.  Not great, but it works.  For the purposes of backpacking or summer camping without a cooler, this will do, but I'm not switching to the box stuff on a regular basis.

Budget backpacking 2

Since the possibility first arose, I've gotten very excited about backpacking this year.  I've reached a point where I can't go into a grocery without looking for dried veggies, meats which require no refrigeration, and meal options that can cook on a stove in under ten minutes.

Some of this runs counter to how I usually buy groceries.  I like to get ingredients, and make everything myself.  I like to take my time, toy with seasonings, and fill the apartment with food smells I can't actually appreciate myself.  I don't like "just add water" microwave meals.

When you go backpacking, you usually cook with a single, small stove burner.  You have to carry all the fuel it needs, so you want that stove to run as little as possible.

You have to carry all your food with you (or at least enough to reach your next resupply point), so you aren't going to take a full spice cabinet, though you might get a small container to carry some of your favorites.

Finally, your energy needs are vastly different.  These days, groceries and food companies are so engaged in trying to help people be healthy that everything you find--especially most of the "instant" or nearly-instant foods--are low fat, low calorie, though still high in sodium.  I was poking around the grocery this morning (the morning of the writing, though not necessarily of the posting) doing something I've never done before: reading nutritional labels.

Inclusion of these items in this post does not connote endorsement, nor any statement on their nutritional value; it's just the stuff I wanted to screen-test before planning a long-term backpacking menu.

Backpackers want foods with a high calorie to weight ratio (but not just straight butter--we need high nutritional value, too).  I looked at six different bulk granolas before selecting one that had decent amounts of carbs, proteins, calcium, and calories, with a much lower price than another option which was slightly higher in some of those nutritional areas.  There was another with dried strawberries and good nutritional scores, but it was labeled as "low-fat," and I paid it no more attention.  That sort of thing might be ok at home, but I was shopping for trail food.

I was thrilled to find bags of freeze-dried veggies from Just Tomatoes in the store.  These add high doses of vitamins A and C, and also provide iron.  After a quick soak, they can be added to soups, rice dishes, or noodles to help round out what would otherwise be a rather bland side dish.  The downside: they probably won't be available at every little grocery along the trail.

The rice dish shown offers B vitamins, iron, protein, and carbohydrates.  It makes about 2 cups, and could serve as the basis of a dinner on the trail for $3.50.

The beef stick and buffalo jerky are partly for packable protein, but mainly for morale.  They're tasty, dammit, and backpackers can not live on rice alone.  One of my clearest memories form the first backpacking trip I took as a kid was the foods we missed.  Mom wanted fresh vegetables.  My aunt wanted a beer.  I wanted bread, and a glass of milk.  All of us wanted real meat.  My brother and I opined about large cheeseburgers.  Mom and my aunt wanted steaks.  I don't know why we didn't have any jerky on that trip.  Yes, it runs a little high price-wise, but as a treat every few days, it's a good option.  You'll probably get more thirsty, but as long as you can easily replenish your water, that's not bad.

Morale food is important.  Even at home, when I can make anything I want, I sometimes just need a cookie, full of chocolate chips.  When I get it, I feel better.  Cookies don't always travel well, and you can't make more on the trail whenever you need them, but if you can plan ahead with a few treats to get you through long days, it makes a long trek much easier.

Budget backpacking

I'd like to do a little backpacking this summer (the trips will be documented elsewhere), and as it's been a while since my last serious backpacking trip, I need to give lots of thought to food options.  I found this excellent article on how to breeze through the grocery and grab everything you need for a healthy, hearty weekend.

I'm not sure I've ever been able to breeze through a grocery unless I knew exactly what I needed to buy.  I like to do a lot of cooking from scratch, so hunting down instant food options was significantly outside the realm of my experience.

There were a couple items I needed as ingredients for recipes I wanted to try, and lots of sources suggest powdered milk for use on the trail (I've never used it, so I'm going to give it a shot).  After that, I just wandered aisles looking for anything remotely appetizing that satisfied two conditions:

1. cooked quickly and easily, requiring no perishable ingredients
2. was on sale

As luck would have it, a lot of stuff was on sale, but the last day of the sale was the day of my shopping excursion, so I grabbed a few items that I thought might work, and decided if they passed the test, I'd keep my eyes open for future sales, when I would stock up ludicrous volumes.  I figure it will keep for ages, and most of it will pack pretty well.

Now it's time for Test Mode.  I get to try this stuff, decide whether it's any good, and figure out any way I might be able to improve it while on the trail.  Hopefully, by adding some sort of meat and vegetable.  Check back for the test results, especially if you're a backpacker or just a really lazy cook.  No judgement on either of those.