10 Feb Tuna mac n’ cheese for backpacking!

It’s time for another incredibly easy “freezer bag” backpacking recipe.  This recipe (if you can even call it that), is so easy that you will wonder why you ever spent $15 on a pre-freeze dried backpacking meal.  The important part of this meal is purchasing the noodles that are designed to be prepared in the microwave – if you buy the noodles that are meant to be boiled, they will not rehydrate properly in your cozy.  You are more than welcome to carry along a small pot and boil your noodles, but I prefer these meals for the sake of simplicity.

Eating dinner out of a food cozy during a thunder storm.

Yes, it does mean that you have to carry a few extra ounces of Ziploc bags (note: you MUST USE Ziploc Quart FREEZER bags for these meals – a normal, non-freezer bag will not work) – but chances are, you would be transporting your food in some sort of a bag anyway.  The key is DRINKING all of the liquid out of the bag when you are done consuming the food, so that you aren’t inadvertently carrying extra ounces of weight.

My other backpacking food advice is this – EXPERIMENT and find what works for you.  Some people LOVE to bring a small cookpot so that they can make their meals that way.  I prefer to carry a jetboil and limit my “cooking” to boiling water and pouring it into a bag.  Usually, I am so exhausted at the end of the day that pouring water into a bag is about the extent of my willingness to do anything that requires physical exertion.  That is my personal preference – but everybody has something that works for them.  This is definitely not the “be all/end all” option, but it works for me – and maybe it will be a great fit for you too!

Alternate options for this “recipe” – sub freeze dried chicken or beef (check PackitGourmet.com) for the tuna, or look in the “emergency preparedness” section of your local grocery store.  Salmon would be another good option – you can easily find packets of salmon at REI or on Amazon.  Get creative with it!

See you on the trails!