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TrailGroove Blog

A Blog by the TrailGroove Team

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Entries in this blog

Food

Backpacking & Hiking Recipe: Electrolyte Trail Mix

In the world of sports nutrition, the word “electrolyte” refers to minerals dissolved in the body’s fluids that are lost in perspiration. Those little packets of sweetened electrolyte powder or brand name drinks allegedly offer all you need to replenish lost electrolytes during endurance exercise. But real food is often the best nourishment and includes both what you know you need and what you don’t know you need. For electrolyte replenishment on the trail, it is so easy to create a trail m
Cinny Green

Cinny Green in Food

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Food

Crispy Nut Crackers w/ Pepper & Salt Backpacking Recipe

Crispy food has enormous sensory appeal, and this gluten-free cracker also offers great nutrition. We all know nuts are full of omega-3s and minerals as well as protein. Himalayan salt has 84 minerals and trace elements making it important for electrolyte replacement. The high levels of piperine in freshly cracked pepper are an anti-inflammatory. This nut cracker delivers great taste as well as all these benefits. After a spicy bit of cracked pepper, a touch of coconut offers a lightl
Cinny Green

Cinny Green in Food

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Food

Cool Ginger Blueberry Cherry Tea Backpacking Recipe

While I’ve shown how to make dehydrated juices in earlier cuisine recipes, here’s the easiest of all…and you only need dried fruit and a pinch of salt (to add those essential electrolytes). I chose blueberries, cherries and ginger because they are especially high in micronutrients critical for the vitality of backcountry exercise. Cool Ginger Blueberry Cherry Tea First the technique: just add a ¼ cup dried fruit and a pinch of salt to your water bottle. Using a wide mouth bottle is bes
Cinny Green

Cinny Green in Food

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Food

Savory Breakfast Potatoes Backpacking Recipe

Unplanned happenstances often create some happy discoveries. I made a quick and easy breakfast on one trip. Wanting a quick meal at the end of a five-day excursion, I just had some odds and ends in the camp box. I took some leftover mashed potato flakes, some cheese, milk, butter and mixed them together with a can of green chile. As I ate my quick dish, I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed it. The dish was a heartier and a more savory version of grits or polenta. And it seemed
PaulMags

PaulMags in Food

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Food

One Pot Thanksgiving Style Backpacking Dinner Recipe

Thanksgiving is the traditional time to give thanks and praise for the blessings in our life. And we often celebrate those blessings with a large dinner shared with family and friends. The centerpiece of this dinner is typically a turkey. Since moving to Colorado, I’ve had all but a handful of Thanksgivings somewhere in the backcountry. Thanksgivings are typically spent among the red rocks and canyons of Utah. And out in the backcountry, I am thankful for the beauty around me, sharing it wi
PaulMags

PaulMags in Food

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Food

No Bake Banana Pudding Backpacking Dessert Recipe

Still hungry after that freeze-dried dinner? Dessert is a great way to boost spirits at the end of a long day, but sometimes it’s just too much hassle. Don’t settle for that spare granola bar before climbing in your sleeping bag, check out this seasonally-inspired solution that doesn’t require too much backcountry culinary prowess but still tastes great. As you might expect, this backpacking dessert hits the spot at all times of the year, but it seems particularly appropriate for fall
Aaron Zagrodnick

Aaron Zagrodnick in Food

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Food

Backcountry Cuisine: Pumpkin Curry Backpacking Recipe

The pumpkin might be the hardest part about this recipe. Prepare it freshly at home and make this meal your first night out. If you have time beforehand, use a dehydrator to save the most weight. If you really want to go old school, take the canned version and a P-38 can opener. You can try this with butternut squash too...which can be purchased freeze-dried. Serves 2. This pumpkin curry recipe is a great option for when you have a little more time to prepare before a trip and cook on
Aaron Zagrodnick

Aaron Zagrodnick in Food

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Food

Backpacking and Hiking Jargon: Freeze-Dried Meals

A staple technique used in pre-packaged backpacking meals, freeze-drying is a process by which food (typically already cooked or a product that could be eaten raw) is frozen and the pressure in a chamber lowered. As a result moisture in the product is almost completely removed and foods that are freeze-dried can last years or even decades without refrigeration. A commercially available freeze-dried meal prior to rehydration. Freeze-Dried Meals Pros & Cons Compared to at-
Aaron Zagrodnick

Aaron Zagrodnick in Food

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Food

Trail Tip: Backpacking Freeze Dried Meal Fill Lines

Why every freeze dried meal out there doesn’t already have a fill line on the packaging is a bit of mystery, but luckily we can memorize our own. For example, most Mountain House meals call for either 1 ⅓, 1 ½, or 1 ¾ cups of boiling water. Instead of having to precisely (or imprecisely) measure out that exact amount of water to boil, or worse yet attempt the dreaded cups to milliliters conversion without the help of the internet in the backcountry, we can remember and make our own specific fill
Aaron Zagrodnick

Aaron Zagrodnick in Food

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Food

Apple Crisp Backpacking Dessert Recipe

Fall is in the air. The nights are getting crisp and the moist leaves on the ground have a pleasant and earthy odor. It is a wonderful time loved by many backpackers. Here’s a quick and simple yet yummy dessert that conjures up visions of autumn. Apples, cranberries, and cinnamon spice….all flavors of the fall. This backcountry apple crisp is a tasty treat for two or a decadent dessert for one. This backpacking dessert is a perfect complement for chilly fall weather. Apple Crisp
PaulMags

PaulMags in Food

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Food

Oatmeal Cookie Warmer Backpacking Dessert Recipe

Fall is upon us. The days are sometimes cold and wet. The wind whips over the mountain pass. Your rain gear and thermal layers are a bit wetted out. But you hike on. The snow comes in wet and large flakes. Your shoes and socks are wet. An hour before dusk, you gratefully reach camp. The shelter is erected. Your dry sleeping bag is fluffed up. And the stove is broken out. A filling meal is eaten. A hot drink is gratefully consumed. But the edge of hunger is still there on this chill ni
PaulMags

PaulMags in Food

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Food

Mountain House Chicken Fajita Bowl Review

Towards the end of any backpacking trip and after a few days of freeze-dried and shelf-stable meals with quite limited fresh food if any at all thrown in, the post-trip meal is something we all start to look forward to. For me, a burger, pizza, and Mexican food typically make up my top 3 choices. While I still haven’t found that suitable freeze-dried substitute when it comes to the pizza or burgers, Mountain House has a couple choices in the other category that allow you to get your fix not at a
Aaron Zagrodnick

Aaron Zagrodnick in Food

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Food

How to Make Backpacking Quesadillas

This delicious recipe involves packing in some fresh vegetables, cheese, and other heavier-than-usual ingredients and cookware, so it’s probably best as the first night’s meal where the hike in isn’t too long or arduous. When paired with a Mexican rice side dish (with jerky tossed in, if desired) this is a very filling dinner and the quesadillas are great appetizers. Depending on your appetite and how many you make, they can also serve easily as the main course. You can dress them up
Mark Wetherington

Mark Wetherington in Food

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Food

Mountain House Buffalo-Style Chicken Mac & Cheese Review

While this new meal from Mountain House wasn’t quite released in time to make our full backpacking mac & cheese roundup in Issue 51, it seemed almost a necessity to test out this new meal given the recent release of our previous article. This take on the dish from Mountain House definitely shakes things up however, as a mac & cheese with freeze-dried chicken and Buffalo wing sauce now added. While most everyone likes mac & cheese and I’ll personally go for some Buffalo chicken most d
Aaron Zagrodnick

Aaron Zagrodnick in Food

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Food

Mountain House Kung Pao Chicken Review

When it comes to pre-made backpacking meals, manufacturers understandably often seem to be trying to come up with meals that are compatible with as many palates as possible. Right away, this typically leaves meals that should be spicy toned down and even perhaps, bland. Luckily, by packing a small bottle of hot sauce or hot sauce packets and / or bringing some spices, this can typically be easily remedied. That said, as someone who has never called a meal too spicy, having a meal check off this
Aaron Zagrodnick

Aaron Zagrodnick in Food

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Food

Backpacking Mac and Cheese: Options for the Trail

A staple for many off the trail, mac & cheese at first seems so simple but can come with a few challenges when adapting this dish for backpacking. Since it’s relatively easy to get at the store and packs well, I’ve always held off on the pre-made, just add hot water commercial backpacking options that are out there. But in reality, this usually means that the mac & cheese is just left off my backcountry meal menu entirely. And for several reasons – cooking traditional mac & cheese in
Aaron Zagrodnick

Aaron Zagrodnick in Food

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Food

Mountain House Veggie Chorizo Breakfast Scramble Review

A newer meal from Mountain House, the Veggie Chorizo Breakfast Scramble Meal is a meal based on eggs, a plant-based chorizo-flavored crumble, hash-style potatoes, and bell peppers. Each pouch has 580 calories and is ready in 9 minutes after adding 1 1/3 cups of boiling water. This vegetarian and gluten-free meal has a well-rounded nutritional profile, and has a shelf life of 30 years. The Veggie Chorizo Breakfast Scramble meal from Mountain House offers 580 calories in a vegetarian an
Aaron Zagrodnick

Aaron Zagrodnick in Food

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Food

10 Best Freeze Dried and Dehydrated Backpacking Meals

Let’s be honest; not every backpacking trip provides the time for us to prepare a nightly gourmet meal, and not all of us are ready to embrace, or perhaps we have yet to have a discussion with, our inner hidden chef. While I like to create backpacking meals from scratch at times and when I can, if you’re like me, after a long day on the trail I simply often find myself wanting a sufficient amount of calories that taste great, and I want that meal as quickly and as easily as possible with minimal
Aaron Zagrodnick

Aaron Zagrodnick in Food

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Food

Mountain House Chicken Tikka Masala Review

No matter how many freeze-dried meals you have queued up in your gear stash, it’s eventually nice to add some variety even to an otherwise favorite selection of backcountry meals. Mountain House recently released a couple new meals to include the Chicken Tikka Masala meal reviewed here, as well as a Kung Pao Chicken meal. When I noticed the meals were out, I had to give these meals a try to see if they’d either serve to add that needed variety for the season ahead, or maybe they’d even become a
Aaron Zagrodnick

Aaron Zagrodnick in Food

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Food

Wild Zora Paleo Meals to Go Mountain Beef Stew Review

The Mountain Beef Stew meal from Wild Zora is a just add water freeze dried meal suitable for backpacking that keeps the ingredient list simple while also meeting a slew of dietary requirements and preferences. The meal has no gluten, milk, grain, nuts, or added sugar and was designed to meet a higher meat Paleo dietary requirement. This meal is just one in a line of meals including breakfasts and dinners and with options ranging from the Caldera Chicken Curry to the Bedrock Beef Chili .
Aaron Zagrodnick

Aaron Zagrodnick in Food

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Food

Backpacker's Pantry Rocky Mountain Scramble Review

While most breakfasts on the trail in my case are whatever gets me hiking the fastest – typically an energy bar or two and coffee – from time to time a more elaborate breakfast is called for. And of course, there’s always breakfast for dinner, which for me is the most likely time I’ll make such a breakfast meal. For this purpose I already have a couple go-to freeze dried backpacking breakfast meals including the Breakfast Skillet from Mountain House and their Spicy Southwest Style Skillet. Varie
Aaron Zagrodnick

Aaron Zagrodnick in Food

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Food

Good To-Go Chicken Pho Review

Many years ago, I was stuck at a cubicle all day under fluorescent lights in the corporate world. In such an environment one has to find small ways to make their days positive – getting your favorite morning coffee, a lunchtime stroll, or looking forward to that dedicated Friday lunch spot. One such eatery was a local restaurant that specialized in one thing: Vietnamese pho. Perfect on bitter winter days, the dish for me is a satisfying blend of a flavorful soup broth and noodles but with a heav
Aaron Zagrodnick

Aaron Zagrodnick in Food

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Food

Firepot Chili con Carne with Rice Review

While many of us have settled on a routine of meals and old standby dinners in the backcountry – whether that’s commercial freeze dried meals or our own recipes on the trail, every once in a while it’s nice to mix it up. Recently when re-stocking the freeze dried meal inventory for some upcoming trips I noticed a brand I hadn’t tried before – and I decided to test out the new Chili con Carne with Rice meal made by Firepot in the United Kingdom. Manufactured in the United Kingdom, the
Aaron Zagrodnick

Aaron Zagrodnick in Food

0
Food

Mountain House Chicken Teriyaki Meal Review

While some meals may come and go from the backpacking freeze-dried meal repertoire, other meals stand the test of time and seem to find their way into your food bag many times over the years. Mountain House Chicken Teriyaki is one such meal that I’ve taken along on recent trips to trips pretty far back in the memory bank, and in Mountain House packaging from the latest all the way back to the old yellow and blue package. While perhaps not quite as exciting as newer meals to hit the market, somet
Aaron Zagrodnick

Aaron Zagrodnick in Food

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Food

Mountain House Yellow Curry with Chicken & Rice Review

One thing I’ve been focusing on recently for my backcountry meals is adding variety. When it comes to prepackaged backpacking meals this variety is often found in what is essentially the same meal but just in different flavors – for example flavor and cultural variations on rice or pasta based meals. Finding something that is truly different however can be difficult to find unless you’re making your own dinners from scratch. For an off the shelf pre-made meal however, the Mountain House Yellow C
Aaron Zagrodnick

Aaron Zagrodnick in Food

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