Tomato Couscous, Freezer Bag Cooking style

Tomato Couscous turned out to be my favorite new freezer bag cooking recipe of the trip. (My BF's favorite new recipe was the Ramen Salad I featured yesterday.) We didn't eat it on the trail that day because the trails we chose to do--the East and West River trails along the Presque Isle River--were within walking distance of our campground and the hike itself was pretty short, so it didn't really require much refueling on the trail. A quick trail mix snack did that trick. So, we waited until we returned to camp and then boiled water for a hot afternoon lunch (although this dish could be made with cool water, too). The sun-dried tomatoes and nuts were a perfect compliment to the Fantastic Foods whole wheat couscous I used for the recipe, which is from the Freezer Bag Cooking book.

Tomato Couscous Salad - serves 1

1/4 c. couscous
3 tbsp. finely chopped toasted almonds
1/4 tsp. dried basil
1/8 tsp. granulated garlic
2 tbsp. finely diced sun-dried tomatoes

Combine all the dry ingredients in a sturdy plastic freezer bag. On the trail, add 1/2 c. water, stir, seal and let sit for 15 to 20 minutes before eating!

If you're ever in the Porcupine Mountains area of Michigan, and can only do one or two hikes, I highly recommend the East and West river trails, especially if you're not an avid hiker yet want to get into the woods for a bit to experience some nature. The trails are fairly easy and include a long boardwalk section that runs along the river near a series of waterfalls. Even if you didn't want to do the entire hike, the boardwalk is accessible via wooden staircase from the parking area. But if you do chose to hike the entire length of the trails, do know that there are about 2 or 3 places where the trail is pretty steep, and you either have to ascend or descend these areas carefully. A walking stick or set of trekking poles is highly recommended to make maneuvering easier. If those steep areas don't scare you away, then the remainder of the hike is just pure pleasure. A very pleasant walk through the woods. We took a little break on the beach at the tip of Presque Isle. Not only is this a beautiful spot to sit for awhile, it's also great for wildlife viewing. This is where we witnessed a bald eagle fly by. What a sight to see it soaring along Lake Superior! We also heard from the rangers, and then a couple we met along the trail, that a black bear cub was hanging around the area, too. We didn't see it the entire time we spent in the area, but the couple we met along the trail said they said it in a ravine near the parking area when they first arrived for their hike. Even though we missed out on the cub, we still managed to see a wild black bear before leaving for home--the dude (or maybe it was a dudette?) ran across the road in front of our car in the early morning hours as we were leaving the Porkies area. What a sight! I've been in sooooooooooo many situations where a crowd of people spot a bear and then close in on it, young children in their arms, as if it's their family pet. Helllllllo people, wild animal! I just don't understand people sometimes!

I'm back!

I'm back from nine days of hiking! Woo! I had so much fun; it's always difficult coming back to the reality of urban life after spending so much time in the mostly peaceful wilderness. But, this time I come back with some awesome news ... I'm engaged!!!!! :) My BF of two years proposed to me on Thursday atop the Summit Peak Tower in Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park in Michigan's upper peninsula. He even had a small bottle of champagne hidden in his backpack! The proposal was the climax of that morning's five-mile loop hike: a combination of the Beaver Creek, Little Carp River, Mirror Lake and Summit Peak trails. Four trails, one great hike and one perfect proposal!

We have no date set. And we still need to shop for my ring. But, I'm really excited about spending the rest of my life with him ... and the fact that I'll no longer be cooking for one! LOL I've been longing to cook better, more detailed meals but I really hate cooking elaborate dishes just for myself. I know, I know... now it's cool to think about cooking for others, but I'm sure it'll get old once I'm doing it day in and day out, eh?

Getting back to the trip, we had a wonderful time and experienced some great things. Plenty of wildlife to go around, including bald eagle and black bear. Those sightings are always exciting! Our weather was mostly good except for an overnight thunderstorm that rattled our bodies to the bone on the fourth night of our outing.

As I mentioned previously, most of our food was prepared as freezer bag meals, including a few recipes that were new to us this year. Over the next few days, I'll share some of the better dishes along with a few tales from the trail!

Gone hiking!

Hello! Thanks for visiting my blog. I'm currently hiking in Michigan's beautiful upper peninsula. When I return, I'll try to offer some tips about surviving nine days of tent camping/hiking as a vegetarian.

Have a great week! :)

Prepping for the Porkies

Four days from now, my BF and I will be heading up to Michigan's upper peninsula for a week of camping in Porcupine Wilderness State Park. It's absolutely beautiful up there... and peaceful. A welcome change of pace from urban life.

I've been busy prepping for the trip, which includes getting all our food in order. Thankfully, my BF allows me to take care of the food, which means all vegetarian meals! My BF, an omnivore, happily goes veg the week we camp! (We're tent campers, btw... no RVs for us!)

Last year, we spent a week inside Great Smoky Mountains National Park, camping and hiking. My food survival guide for that trip was Lipsmackin' Vegetarian Backpackin' which introduced me to freezer bag meals. Essentially, freezer bag meals are a mixture of dry ingredients, stored in a zip-close freezer bag, to which hot water is added to cook/rehydrate the dry ingredients. I grew up camping, but doing what you'd call "car camping" which means you can eat pretty good because you don't stray too far away from the cooler and cookware in your car! My BF is very outdoorsy though and wanted to give the freezer bag meals a try. I was game, especially since I scored the LVB book. Our first time using the book, I wasn't sure how tasty the meals would be. The ones we tried on our trip last year turned out to be pretty good. I mean, my BF ate veg the entire week without complaining... I think that says something!

This year, to mix things up, I purchased the Freezer Bag Cooking book. While not entirely veggie, there are vegetarian recipes in the book and a lot of the dishes could be modified to be vegetarian. Most of our recipes this time out will be from this book. There are quite a few couscous recipes: spinach couscous, tomato couscous, cinnamon and sugar couscous (for breakfast!). Fingers crossed they are good!

But, as a veggie, I've learned to plan ahead... which means I've taken 'extras' along as spare meals, including several prepackaged freeze-dried trail food pouches (Mountain House and Mary Jane's Outpost) , angel hair pasta for spaghetti with Corelli pasta sauce in a neat paper container that travels well, trail mix, other nuts, crackers, Fantastic Foods hummus, Hormel's vegetarian chili, etc. We'll be 17 miles from the nearest town so I want to be sure we have plenty of food! LOL

I am soooooooooo looking forward to this vacation. I love, love, love being out in nature. And, I really love what my home state has to offer in terms of vacation destinations. Before we reach the Porkies, we plan to camp two nights in St. Ignace in an effort to break up the drive (the Porkies are a 12-hour drive from my area). While in St. Ignace, we hope to skip over to Mackinac Island for a day hike there. I'm really excited about that because, while I've been to Mackinac Island many times, I've never hiked the trails there. Plus, it will be nice to visit the charming island again. I've been to Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard... and I'll take Mackinac Island any day over those two famous isles!

This will likely be my last decent post before the trip. But, I do plan to post a summary of our trip when I return... that won't be till Sept. 9 at the earliest, though. Please don't forget about me! I know I'll be ready to resume making and posting yummy home-cooked meals after 9 days of freezer bag cooking, LOL.

Till then, take care everyone!

Jenny

Tasty Bite meals save the day when camping

I survived! This past weekend, I attended the annual family campout hosted by my BF's omnivore family. Thought not a camping virgin, I felt like an oddball around meal times because of my choice to eat vegetarian. There were about 2 dozen people at the campout and each family took turns making a meal... but none were even close to being vegetarian. :(

Two words for surviving a weekend with omnivores: plan ahead. I worked with my BF's mom prior to the trip, in hopes of finding out what people were planning to cook, so I could try to "blend in" as best as I could. For instance, Saturday's meal was scheduled as "burgers and brats" so I took along a veggie patty for myself. But, to be on the safe side, I also made sure to bring along a few extra, easy-to-cook back-up meals... just in case. I took two Tasty Bite meals as well as some Luna bars, apples, bananas, peanuts and gingersnaps.

I've blogged about the Tasty Bite meals before, and they surely saved the day this weekend. The omnis cooked sloppy joes for Friday's dinner. The kidney bean mixture I had prepared as a veggie version turned out too watery to be slopped onto hamburger buns. I thought the Bombay Potatoes might prove a worthy substitute, at least from the picture on the box, but its sauce turned out to be too runny as well. But, I ate it out of the pouch and was happy to have a hot veggie meal in my belly. :)

Saturday's scheduled burgers and brats actually turned out to be beef stew. :( So much for my veggie patty. :( I was even more glad that I brought along the Tasty Bite meals now, and happily heated up the Bengal Lentils, which worked out extremely well for that particular meal because the bread provided for the meat-eaters stew proved to be most excellent for dipping in the lentil mixture as well. :) And, I can happily report that this dish looked WAY more appetizing than the stew the omni campers were stuck with. Before digging in, my BF looked at my bowl of yummy lentils then back at his bowl of gross-looking stew and said, "Wanna switch?" LOL Two thumbs up for Bengal Lentils!!!

I'm definitely a big fan of these meals now. They taste good. They are super easy to cook. And they can make camping easier for veg*ns.... or any meal. I now keep a few pf these in my desk drawer at work in case I forget to prepare a lunch at home or don't feel like going out to lunch (see pic in this post... today's lunch! LOL). Since they don't need refrigeration, they're perfect for this purpose!

I have another camping trip coming up in two and a half weeks; my BF and I will be roughing it in Porcupine Mountain Wilderness State Park in Michigan's beautiful upper peninsula. Last year, we went to Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which feels like a second home to me because I've done so much hiking there in the past five or six years. For our weeklong trip last fall, we relied solely on Lipsmackin' Vegetarian Backpackin' as our bible for easy veggie meal prep in camp. (My BF, who is omni, goes veg for the week we camp... isn't that cool?) This year, I'm also using a cool new book I ordered from FreezerBagCooking.com. I plan to blog a bit more about veggie hiking/camping as the trip nears... so watch for those posts soon!

Gone camping...

Just a quick note to say I won't be around to cook or post this weekend because I'll be camping in Merrill, MI. My BF's family is having its annual family group campout; I'll be the sole veg*n among some 2 dozen or so omnis. Wish me luck! I'm not expecting any big snarfus, because I've worked with my BF's mom to determine what the meals will be for the weekend. Therefore, I've been able to plan ahead and have attempted to coordinate the veggie meals I'm bringing to match as close as possible to what everyone else is eating. For instance, Saturday's dinner is supposed to be burgers and brats, so that's basically a no-brainer: I'm taking my favorite veggie patty with me. :)

I hope to post more about the getaway when I get back. Till then, have a great weekend everyone!!!!

I spy... a new veggie convenience food for hiking!

This past weekend, while cruising the aisles of my local Meijer store, I did some lollygagging in the "world cuisine" aisle. You see, they just built a Meijer near me, so I'm in love. I haven't had the time to properly browse all the nook-and-crannies yet. But, I spent a few extra moments looking at the ethnic foods.

The Indian Tasty Bite meals caught my eye. Mainly, because the packaging claimed that no refrigeration was needed, it cooked in just five minutes AND they were vegetarian/vegan. Awesome! I was tickled with this because I love to camp and hike. Last year, Lipsmackin' Vegetarian Backpacking by Christine and Tom Conners, was the bible that my boyfriend and I worshipped to get us through the week in the woods. We have a trip coming up at the end of August, and I've been meaning to flip through the bible again to start getting our meal plans in order. BUT, these Tasty Bite meals intrigued me because if they were good, they also could be used on our trip and could save me a little bit of preparation! So, I bought two meals--"Kashmir Spinach" and "Peas Paneer & Basmati Rice"--to try.

Over the past couple of days, I have tried both meals. And while not extremely stellar, restaurant-quality food, I could definitely see us eating these meals in the woods. They were uber quick to prep. Basically, boil water and then drop the meal pouch into the boiling water for five minutes. Then, carefully slice open the pouch, pour into a bowl (or, if in the woods, you could eat right out of the pouch) and enjoy!

Personally, I found the Kashmir Spinach to be a bit on the light side (I had it for dinner). Nothing wrong with that, necessarily, but if I was eating this out in the woods after a day of hiking, it might leave me hungry. What would've made this dish much better would've been a big hunk of bread for dipping into the spinach, since it had a soupy texture to it.

The Peas Paneer was more filling. I don't think I cooked the rice correctly though. The peas and rice were in two separate pouches, and when I dropped both of them into the pot, the rice pouch was sticking out of the water more than the peas. I think this is why the rice was a little hard... half the package seemed to feel softer. But, with the peas and sauce over it, it really wasn't a big deal.

The packaging claims that technically, you can eat the contents of these meals without heating them up. This would make the Tasty Bite meals ideal for vegetarians to have on hand in case of a power outage or an emergency situation/emergency stash of food.

Overall, a really cool find! I will definitely be buying these meals for camping, etc. Can't wait to try the vegan versions. Meijer had a decent selection, so if you have a store near you, check them out!