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Slugman It’s a Slugfest!
Joined: 27 Mar 2003 Posts: 16874 | TRs | Pics
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Slugman
It’s a Slugfest!
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Thu Mar 10, 2011 2:52 pm
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MHM is my term for the over-full, over-salty, over-sauced feeling I get after eating a Mtn House dinner. I mean I like them, but they are too soupy, too much sauce, per the amount of other ingredients. Adding less water doesn't help, it just turns the whole thing into thick stew instead of thick soup. Plus they aren't cheap. Yet making my own food from scratch is just too darned much effort for a slacker like me.
So, here's what I do now: I take the basic ingredient of the dinner, be it noodles or rice (that covers most of their dinners), and I add a large amount of that to the dinner, then split it in half, and now I am covered for my typical three day/two night trip.
I open the meal, dump it into a large mixing bowl, add enough pasta or minute rice to almost double the size of the meal, and sometimes other dehydrated ingredients from my Harmony House Backpacker's Kit (a whole selection of basic dehydrated ingredients like dried peas, or beans, or other vegetables), mix it all up good, then split it in half, and put it into my seal-a-meal machine, with extra room in the S-a-M bag, so that I can still make the meal right in the bag by adding boiling water.
Man, it is so much better this way. When I eat a pasta dish, the sauce should be far less than the noodles, not be a bunch of noodles drowning in sauce. The amount of fat, sodium, etc is also reduced in half, since one dinner lasts two nights instead of one. And since rice and noodles are relatively cheap, the cost is about half as well. Another bonus is the dinners pack smaller in the S-a-M bags.
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Allison Feckless Swooner
Joined: 17 Dec 2001 Posts: 12287 | TRs | Pics Location: putting on my Nikes before the comet comes |
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Allison
Feckless Swooner
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Thu Mar 10, 2011 3:38 pm
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That's a great idea if you like the idea of grocery store food but don't want to go that far in terms of hassle.
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justaddfuel nom nom
Joined: 06 Mar 2011 Posts: 81 | TRs | Pics Location: cushman - hoodsport, wa |
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Slugman It’s a Slugfest!
Joined: 27 Mar 2003 Posts: 16874 | TRs | Pics
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Slugman
It’s a Slugfest!
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Thu Mar 10, 2011 4:04 pm
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Yes, this is not the method for do-it-yourselfers or gourmets. This is for lazy slackers who are also cheap. But compared to regular Mtn House dinners, mine are easier to pack, cheaper, taste better and are better for you.
I've tried some of the Mary Jane's Farm stuff, and it was indeed good. But as I recall it was kind of pricey.
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Burke M over-caffeinated
Joined: 09 Sep 2010 Posts: 699 | TRs | Pics Location: Seattle |
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Burke M
over-caffeinated
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Thu Mar 10, 2011 4:45 pm
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Slugman wrote: | Yes, this is not the method for do-it-yourselfers or gourmets. This is for lazy slackers who are also cheap. But compared to regular Mtn House dinners, mine are easier to pack, cheaper, taste better and are better for you.
I've tried some of the Mary Jane's Farm stuff, and it was indeed good. But as I recall it was kind of pricey. |
$25/3lbs of black bean flakes is insanity
edit: ok maybe its not but it seems crazy!
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justaddfuel nom nom
Joined: 06 Mar 2011 Posts: 81 | TRs | Pics Location: cushman - hoodsport, wa |
Hi Slugman,
If i am understanding you correctly, you still have to purchase the mountain house packages, and then add in additional rice/noodles, right?
Price wise in bulk -
1lb bulk mountain house chili mac is $25
3lb bulk mary janes chili mac is $44
I like your idea, wasn't trying to discount it, was just looking at the economics as well.
Bon appetite!
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Slugman It’s a Slugfest!
Joined: 27 Mar 2003 Posts: 16874 | TRs | Pics
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Slugman
It’s a Slugfest!
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Thu Mar 10, 2011 6:31 pm
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I didn't realize they sold in bulk so reasonably. My GF once bought me a couple of MJ'sF dinners, and I liked them, but they were a dollar or two more per dinner than Mtn House. Mixing 50% plain "mac" with prepared chili mac would in essence halve the price of anyone's chili mac, Mtn House or MJ'sF. The "mac" is the cheapest part of the chili mac.
I think I will buy some bulk foods from MJ's Farm. I like organic foods, when I can get them semi-reasonably. And then mixing in my own extra macaroni will make them very reasonably priced.
Freeze dried foods always seem expensive by the pound. But if you made up their whole 3 lbs of chili mac all at once, then weighed it, it would weigh 11-13 pounds (assuming 16 ounces of water to each 5-6 ounces of freeze dried food.) That's only $3.60 per pound, and that's before I "dilute" it with extra macaroni. With a dinner for me being about 1.3 lbs (a pound of water plus the 5 ounces or so of food), that works out to $4.70 for a meal. If you assume the extra macaroni, at standard grocery store prices, I come up with just under $3 for my dinner using MJ'sF chili mac as a base. Bingo! I'm on that, dude.
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Dayhike Mike Bad MFKer
Joined: 02 Mar 2003 Posts: 10958 | TRs | Pics Location: Going to Tukwila |
Does normal macaroni get soft enough when simply hydrating from boiling water?
I was under the impression that most off the shell mac and cheese involved boiling the noodles for a certain amount of time to soften them up before actually eating them.
"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke
"Ignorance is natural. Stupidity takes commitment." -Solomon Short
"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke
"Ignorance is natural. Stupidity takes commitment." -Solomon Short
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Slugman It’s a Slugfest!
Joined: 27 Mar 2003 Posts: 16874 | TRs | Pics
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Slugman
It’s a Slugfest!
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Thu Mar 10, 2011 6:41 pm
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Hmm, good question. So far I've only actually done this with minute rice added to rice-based meals. One work-around could be to toss the macaroni in the water pot and simmer it a few minutes, then dump everything into the chili mac, then wait the ten minutes. Should work. I guess this is why you should always try something at home before taking it out into the wilderness.
I also have some egg noodles that only call for five minute's boiling. They'd probably work without the extra simmering. You could also use the noodles that come with Top Ramen, they rehydrate quickly.
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grannyhiker Member
Joined: 29 Jul 2006 Posts: 3519 | TRs | Pics Location: Gateway to the Columbia Gorge |
Instead of the macaroni, use cous-cous. It's pasta, too, but it is a very small form and rehydrates instantly without having to pre-cook and dehydrate. Far less bulky, too.
May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view.--E.Abbey
May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view.--E.Abbey
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Dayhike Mike Bad MFKer
Joined: 02 Mar 2003 Posts: 10958 | TRs | Pics Location: Going to Tukwila |
Probably something to check out before you either head out, or mix up 20 pounds of the combination.
"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke
"Ignorance is natural. Stupidity takes commitment." -Solomon Short
"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke
"Ignorance is natural. Stupidity takes commitment." -Solomon Short
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sarbar Living The Dream
Joined: 28 Jan 2002 Posts: 8055 | TRs | Pics Location: Freeland, Wa |
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sarbar
Living The Dream
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Thu Mar 10, 2011 9:12 pm
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If you want to try out the instant beans just go buy them in the grocery store by Fantastic Foods
As for pasta...unless it is couscous or a few other choices it needs boiling water to be at its best. But - if you bring the pasta (say the 5 minute type) to a boil with the cold water, then take off the stove and cover tightly for a couple minutes that will work. Just don't do this with 13 minute cook time pastas!
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Slugman It’s a Slugfest!
Joined: 27 Mar 2003 Posts: 16874 | TRs | Pics
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Slugman
It’s a Slugfest!
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Thu Mar 10, 2011 9:26 pm
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Couscous would definitely work well for this, assuming it was the right kind of dish to have couscous in it. The stuff I buy at Trader Joe's says "add boiling water and wait five minutes".
In any event the whole theory is to dilute the flavor and the cost of pre-packaged meals with bulk items. Maybe it's just me, but every pre-packaged meal I've ever had was over-seasoned, over-salted, over-sauced, and over-priced. Yet I still crave the convenience of them.
Mike, you make an excellent point: I need to buy a couple of regular packets of MJ'sF chili mac, etc, doctor them up, and see exactly what results, before having a barrel of the stuff delivered.
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sarbar Living The Dream
Joined: 28 Jan 2002 Posts: 8055 | TRs | Pics Location: Freeland, Wa |
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sarbar
Living The Dream
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Thu Mar 10, 2011 9:28 pm
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The regular couscous (not Israeli couscous which is big pearls) works great, and TJ's is great to use!
And yeah, couscous is perfect for sopping up those sauces.....the MH stuff has way too much sauce!
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ChrisM Member
Joined: 17 Nov 2008 Posts: 42 | TRs | Pics Location: Portland |
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ChrisM
Member
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Thu Mar 10, 2011 10:39 pm
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The tub-o-couscous available at most grocery stores is pretty good too.
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