Gluten-free backpacking meals

As I discovered this summer, gluten-free dehydrated meals are extremely hard to find and very expensive (unless you want to live on jerky and spongy freeze-dried scrambled eggs).  But good food doesn’t need to be expensive or unhealthy – here are some of my favorite recipes that I tried out this summer.  I bought most of the dehydrated ingredients on Amazon.com, where you can get good deals if you’re prepared to buy in bulk.  Harmony House Foods now has a backpacking kit filled with dehydrated veggies (though we just bought the ingredients separately). Since the food lasts nearly indefinitely I didn’t mind the fact that I ended up with way more food than I needed.

All of these meals are non-gluten-free husband endorsed (he swore we ate better on our trip than we did at home).   Many are dairy-free, soy-free and vegan as well.

Breakfasts:

Carrot Cake Oatmeal

– 1/2 c Gluten free oats (Bob’s Red Mill has certified GF oats), whirled in blender until 1/3 of original size.
– 2 tbs dried carrot, also whirled in a blender until it approximates shredded carrot.  (I used Harmony House Foods for my dried vegetables.) 
– 2 tbs raisins or other dried fruit
– 1 tbs Coconut Milk Powder (a wonderful find on Amazon!)
– 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
– salt to taste (1/8 tsp)

In campground: add boiling water to cover, stir well, let sit tightly for 5 minutes.  Reheat if necessary. Serves 1-2.

Blueberry Almond Quinoa

– 1/3 cup instant Quinoa Flakes (found at PCC)
– 2 tbs dried blueberries
– 2 tbs slivered almonds
– 1 tbs Coconut Milk Powder
– 1 tsp sugar, or to taste (1 tsp is mildly sweet)

In campground: add boiling water to cover, stir well, let sit tightly for 2-5 minutes.  Reheat if necessary. Serves 1-2.

Blueberry Mango Oatmeal

– 1/3 c GF oats, whirled in blender until 1/3 size.
– 1 tbs dried blueberries
– 1 tbs dried mangoes, chopped
– 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
– 1 tsp brown sugar
– 1/8 tsp salt

In campground: add boiling water to cover, stir well, let sit tightly for 5 minutes.  Reheat if necessary. For a calorie-dense breakfast in the backcountry add 1-2 teaspoons of oil (light olive oil or other cooking oil). Serves 1-2.

Lunch & Dinner

Cashew Chicken

– 1 cup instant rice
– 1 7-oz pouch of canned chicken (a little hard to find, but I got mine at QFC)
– 1/3 cup Dried bell peppers (also Harmony House)
– 1/2 cup Dried mushrooms
– 1 cup unsalted cashews
– 2 tsp garlic powder
– 2 tsp ginger powder
– 1 tsp crushed red pepper
-1/2 tsp cumin
-3 tbs cooking oil.

At home:
In one plastic baggie mix cashews and spices, mix rice and veggies in another bag.  Keep oil chicken in the pouch until at the campground.

In campground: “saute” cashews and spices in 1-2 tbs oil (careful! it burns quickly!).  Add chicken pouch and 2 cups of water – bring to a boil and add rice/veggie mix.  Cook until water is absorbed.  Delicious!  Serves 2-3.

Mashed potatoes & jerky (husband’s favorite recipe)

– 1 2 oz package instant mashed potatoes (I used Edward & Sons Organic Mashed Potatoes)
– 2 tbs shelf-stable parmesan cheese
– 1 tsp parsley flakes
– 1 tsp dried sage
– 3-5 strips gluten-free beef or elk jerky, torn into small pieces

In campground: combine with ~ 2 cups boiling water (until covered), stir well and enjoy.  Also extremely tasty.  Add black pepper to season if desired.

Sun dried tomato pasta

– 1/2 cup GF spaghetti (I like the corn spaghetti the best), packaged separately from sauce ingredients.
– 4 tbs dried tomato powder (Harmony House again)
– 1 tsp garlic powder
– 1/2 tsp salt
– 1/3 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes
– 2 tsp basil (preferably freshly dried and fragrant)
– 1/2 tsp oregano
– 1/2 tsp thyme
– 1/4 tsp black pepper
– Parmesan cheese to taste

In campground: cook GF spaghetti according to manufacturer’s directions.  For sauce: add boiling water to tomato mixture to rehydrate, add to spaghetti and mix well.  I noticed this turns out to be more of a pesto-like texture rather than a sauce, but still quite delicious.  Serves 1-2.

Chicken chow mein

– 1 cup rice noodles, broken in 1/3’s (use thin noodles for fast cooking)
– 1 7-oz pouch canned chicken
– 3 tbs dried shiitake mushrooms
– 2 tbs dried mixed vegetables
– 1 tsp GF chicken of vegetable bouillon (this can be tricky to find, I ended up using a vegan bouillon).
– 1 tsp garlic powder
– 1 tsp ginger powder
– crushed red pepper to taste, OR sliced dried hot pepper (like you find in Mexican markets).

In camp: bring 1 1/2 cups water to boil, add noodles and vegetables, simmer until noodles are cooked.  Add chicken and heat through before serving.  Serves 2.

Well folks – tell me what you think!