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Gray
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Joined: 25 Aug 2006
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Gray
Lazy Hiker
PostMon Sep 13, 2010 10:04 pm 
So, on our hike to Seven Lakes Basin, we decided to try something new. Ever since someone here posted a link to the "Dottie's Chicken and Dumplings" from Packit Gourmet, I've been wanting to try their meals. While looking there, I also read the FBC blog, and decided to try some "real cooking" as well. I mentioned it to one of the people going on this trip, and since he hates the Mountain House/etc stuff with a passion, he decided to try as well. So, between Ethel and I (we split most of our meals) and W., we managed to try a huge variety of the Packit Gourmet meals during our trip. Short review: Great food. Nice, large portions. Easy. For the first time in memory, on the last day, the talk didn't solely revolve around what we wanted to eat when we got back to town. We still said "I could go for a burger", but that was about it, no hours long fantasys of all the things we'd been missing. It felt like we ate Real Food the 5 days we were out. More in-depth review: The only FBC thing I did was make a variant on the Smoked Salmon Pasta mentioned before in this forum. I made 2 2-person ingredient sets (hey, I'll cook it for ya, but y'all have to carry it smile.gif), and prepped them for the group. While it was a little more work than I am used to while backpacking, it wasn't bad at all. My liquid-fuel stove that I'd not used in a while was apparently somewhat clogged, and it took FOREVER to boil the water for the pasta. They sauce was tasty, and it definitely filled us up. This on goes on the "must do again" list. I'm already thinking of simple variations (I swear I've seen foil packs of clams, and the idea of clam linguine while out in the woods sounds soooo good). For dinners, between the 3 of us, we tried the chicken and dumplings, both forms of gumbo (Ya-Ya and one that replaced the sausage with more chicken), red beans and rice, and Tuscan Beef Stew. All of them were damned good. I thought most were fine as-is, Ethel needed a bit of salt with hers. The "toastees" were surprisingly awesome, adding a nice crunch and taste of cornbread to the meals. The dumplings were good, and I would get them again, but they were likely my least favorite of the trip. The Tuscan Beef Stew was a hit, especially with the polenta, though in the future, I will make the polenta outside the bag as it was too hard to get all of it out and into our serving bowls. The red beans and rice served an army and was very authentic. The gumbo... mmm. I supplemented our chicken and sausage gumbo with a tin of smoked oysters, and it was *nearly* as good as the gumbo I make at home (although... I have no idea why there is corn in it. Gumbo shouldn't have corn. Only complaint.) This one was a huge hit, and the idea of actually making a roux while backpacking was a unique and interesting experience. For lunches, we had a couple of the bean and cheese burritos. While by itself, the beans were a bit bland, the included salsa packet made them great. I even brought in small shelf-stable cheese (also ordered from Packit) to bulk them out, and ended up not using them because they were fine by themselves as a lunch/breakfast. Another one that I think I would cook in a separate container[1], and not in the bag, as getting all the tasty food out was a bit of an issue. The other munchy/lunch stuff from Packit were nice as well, the shelf stable cheese (we tried all 3), the salsa (red and green), the hummus (tasty, though I think the packaging weighed as much as the hummus itself) and a store-bought pack of melba-toast-cracker-things all worked out as planned. The only real disappointment was the salami. While I liked the portion size, and it didn't taste bad, it was overly greasy, and after consideration, we decided we'd just bring in the real stuff next time. Next year, we're looking to expand our horizons even more, do more of the FBC stuff, and eliminate the store-brand dehydrated/freeze-dried stuff completely (well, almost[2]). All in all, really tasty, easy to prepare, easy clean up, good portion size (if you are hungry... the "Big Un burrito" was insanely large), and on par price-wise with the store-brand stuff. Big thumbs up. --Gray [1] I saw a lexan-ish coffee mug/measuring cup/bowl with a screw top at REI, and I think it would be perfect for this kind of thing. [2] I don't think I can live with out the Mountain House vacu-paks of chili mac. Pretty much my perfect trail "need energy" lunch. I'm sure I'll still bring some of these. Oh, and the "burrito skillet" thingy, I like those for breakfast.

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sarbar
Living The Dream



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sarbar
Living The Dream
PostTue Sep 14, 2010 7:48 am 
I developed a no-cook (just add boiling water) chili mac for our someday-to-be-her second book. If you want...I'll send the recipe your way smile.gif

https://trailcooking.com/ Eat well on the trail.
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Gray
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Gray
Lazy Hiker
PostTue Sep 14, 2010 2:58 pm 
MMMm, yes please smile.gif --Gray

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sarbar
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sarbar
Living The Dream
PostTue Sep 14, 2010 4:40 pm 
I started a new thread and posted one of the chili mac recipes - I think it might have been the same one I gave you Jeff!

https://trailcooking.com/ Eat well on the trail.
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packgoat
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packgoat
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PostMon Jul 25, 2011 7:39 pm 
packitgourmet sounds great, unlike the old freeze drieds. I am a plastic bag cooker. How are the meals prepared, do you measure the correct amount of water into a pouch then immerse in bake packer type container for the allotted time?

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sarbar
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sarbar
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PostMon Jul 25, 2011 7:45 pm 
Yes, measured water, add, stir and then let sit for "x" amount of time (as specified) - although for best use insulate the bag in a cozy or similar. Some of the meals are cook ones though, in a pot but many are bag meals.

https://trailcooking.com/ Eat well on the trail.
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Man-inna-hillz
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PostTue Jul 26, 2011 5:38 am 
How critical is the cozy? The other Packit Gourmet thread steered me to their site, and I'm ordering for my upcoming trip. I'd prefer to avoid extra weight, but if the results are really that much better, I'll add one to my checkout cart. Also, it looks like most of their entrees serve 2, and all of the accounts say that two means two, unlike the Mountain House "new math." Do they also carry single serving portions? I can eat a lot of food in the backcountry.

The God of language forgives all crimes. -W.H. Auden
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sarbar
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sarbar
Living The Dream
PostTue Jul 26, 2011 8:23 am 
You don't have to buy a cozy (I was the first to produce and sell a fabric cozy btw) - you just need something that will insulate the meal. Since we are in non-grizzly territory (for now!) we have more flexibility. Extra gloves? Wrap it with that. That kind of thing. PIG meals are truly 1 serving fills 1. They do carry single servings but not for everything though.

https://trailcooking.com/ Eat well on the trail.
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Slugman
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PostTue Jul 26, 2011 10:28 am 
Yes, for some items that only come in one size and are around $10 you will need to divide it in half. Others come in one person size for $6 and two people for $10, so you could divide those too and save some cash. If you plan on doing a lot of dividing, order some extra boiling bags or rehydrating bags, which they sell.

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packgoat
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PostFri Aug 19, 2011 12:20 pm 
Last week I took in the pacgourmet meals, Pro, Huge serving, tasty, Con, Expensive, 10 minutes to keep warm, (beans), I'm going back to my basics, super market meals cooked in my bake packer. Pro, Ample serving, tasty, Cheap, ($1each), fist size volume. Con, 10 Minutes after brought to boiling. After 20 years, old habits die hard. In addition I am a cheap bastard, (my friend disagrees, he calls me a frugal bastard). I am also getting back into baking cakes, biscuits, etc. I guess it all boils down to "To each his own".

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sarbar
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sarbar
Living The Dream
PostFri Aug 19, 2011 12:50 pm 
packgoat....with any bagged meals if you use a "cozy" to insulate them for 10 meals this keeps them toasty hot. Btw, no reason to not be frugal and still eat well. If you like to prep at home the making of meals yourself is unlimited and healthier in many cases. FBC meals was my baby and over the years I written well over a thousand recipes (really more like 2K) for this style of cooking. So if you ever want ideas let me know...and I might add I love baking on the trail, although I do steam baking or as we call it "Faux-Baking" because we didn't use pots big enough to accommodate the big gear, so we made our own tiny UL versions.

https://trailcooking.com/ Eat well on the trail.
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Slugman
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Slugman
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PostFri Aug 19, 2011 1:06 pm 
The other day at Park Butte lookout I had Packitgourmet's New Orleans gumbo. Very, very good, filling but not bloating, easy to make, and real spices and flavors. They suggest adding extra sausage, but I found the amount of shredded chicken to be fine as far as meat content. The okra was a real treat, I don't think I'd ever had okra before.

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Gray
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Gray
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PostFri Aug 19, 2011 2:25 pm 
Slug, if you want a real treat, add a tin of smoked oysters to the gumbo. YUMMY. --Gray

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Slugman
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Slugman
It’s a Slugfest!
PostFri Aug 19, 2011 4:37 pm 
I just bought two tins of smoked oysters yesterday. What are the odds that the next day someone would say to me that I should use smoked oysters? hmmm.gif That's quite freaky. agree.gif (My GF likes them.)

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Allison
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Allison
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PostSat Aug 20, 2011 7:50 pm 
O/t but we most definitely DO live in grizzly country now.

www.allisonoutside.com follow me on Twitter! @AllisonLWoods
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