Wild Bound

I thought I would try something different today, so I made a video on how to dehydrate spaghetti sauce in your oven.

[wp_youtube]NRB5Qe_Xp-A[/wp_youtube]

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In my last article, I mentioned buying a food dehydrator to make my own camping foods. Unfortunately, right now I have neither the money nor the space for a food dehydrator, and when I am totally honest with myself, I have enough kitchen appliances that have long been forgotten.

If you are like me and don’t have a food dehydrator but you still want to make your own camping food, You are in luck! Your oven (yes, an ordinary kitchen oven) can be turned into a makeshift food dehydrator.

I remember my brother making jerky in the oven when I was a kid. For a day (maybe more) we had the oven turned on low and the door propped open. The oven was off limits for cooking, but the deer jerky that came out at the end was worth the wait

Turning your oven into a food dehydrator is really very simple.

• Heat the oven to a temperature between 140-160° F
• place the food you are drying on a cookie sheet or straight on the oven rack, leave room for air circulation
• prop the oven door open with a rolled up magazine or a wooden spoon
• stir food every couple of hours and wait.
• Dehydrated food will end up leathery to touch. Make sure you take a piece out and let it cool before determining doneness because the food will be softer when it is warm.

That’s all there is to turning your oven into a food dehydrator. Next week, I hope to have some oven dehydrating recipes to publish for you. Nothing is quite as fun and preparing for a summer camping trip on a snowy winter day.

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Last week, I was preparing for our camping trip, and one of the major expenses was finding food suitable for camping. Eventually I would like to get a food dehydrator, but that’s just not in the budget right now.

Camping food has to meet the following criteria:

• light weight
• non-perishable (doesn’t need refrigeration)
• quick cooking
• balance of protein, carbs, and fats

Ramen Noodles are a recommended staple for backpackers, but there’s really no “stick to your ribs” value to Ramen. Ramen noodles are all carbs, and I will be hungry again in…oh…about 3.2 minutes.

My shopping guideline for meals is $1 per meal per person, or $3 per day per person. This is my standard when I am at home, and my goal for while I am out camping too.

Breakfasts

Breakfast sets you up for the rest of the day. In my experience, this is the cheapest meal of the day. When I’m camping, I like a warm breakfast to get me started.

Basic ingredient list:

• instant oatmeal– Buy the plain variety and pack individual servings in ziplock bags, mix with dried fruit, nuts, chocolate, GORP (good old Rasins and Peanuts), etc.
• Hot Granola
• bagels–with peanut butter, butter, or jelly (you can get all of these in individual servings or put them in a squeeze tube)
• dehydrated potatoes–find a kind that you can make with just water (Idahoans), add bacon bits, beef jerky, cheese powder (as in mac-and-cheese sauce)
• rice with honey and dried fruit

Lunch/Dinner

I prefer the idea of grazing throughout the day, instead of a sit down lunch meal, but for winter camping a warm lunch sounds really nice.

Grazing foods would include GORP, trail mix, granola, jerky, etc.

For a hot meal, I would base it around a carb and add protein and fats.

Carbs:

• Ramen
• Pasta
• instant potatoes
• instant rice
• tortillas
• pitas

Protein

• meat in a pouch (you can buy tuna, salmon, chicken, etc in a plastic vacuum sealed pouch. These are kind of expensive. I wouldn’t use them every day, but maybe good for a treat
• Jerky
• dehydrated beans
• TVP (this is usually available at a natural foods store such as Trader Joes or Whole Foods. It is often used as a hamburger substitute)
• lentils (cook in about 30 minutes)
• hard cheeses (parmesan, romano, etc)
• summer sausage, pepperoni

Fat

In the summer you will probably get plenty of fat from nuts and trail mix. In the winter, you will need more fat in your diet, so plan on bringing butter or oil to add to your recipes. You burn a lot of calories with winter hiking and camping, so feel free to enjoy chocolate and brownies too.

Seasoning

If you want to add some seasonings, most spices are backpacker friendly. Dried soup packets are a good option for flavoring too.

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