[jackchinook]

At home, grind up some pesto sauce: basil leaves pine nuts olive oil parmesan and/or romano cheese garlic Put it into one of those small (4oz?) Nalgene jarlike containers, then into the freezer. You won't need a ton, it goes quite a way per person. Cook up your choice of noodles, drain, add pesto and some grated parmasan/romano cheese on top. Enjoy. It even tastes good at home.

[Marmotneer]

Instant mashed potatoes and cous cous and tuna in a packet are all good. I've tried to take olive oil in the past and not much luck as it seems to leak every time. Anyone have a better way to take olive oil? Anyone find packets like they do for ketchup any where? I think that would be good to have small packets somehow.

[Allison]

http://www.minimus.biz/

[gyngve]

[sarbar]

As ML notes, minimus is a great source for olive oil packets. Not only are they affordable, the packet is 1 meals worth-and is a good variety of olive oil.

[Seracer]

Don't forget one of my favorites: instant stuffing. Throw in some turkey (foil packet or dried) and craisins and you gotcher thanksgiving in a baggie. All you need is some pumpkin pie... I have also been a fan of throwing together some ingredients in a Gerry tube (now they are Coglins or something tubes) and sqeezing that out on a tortilla or a bagel or the like. My past experiments have included hummus, feta and olives on pita bread; refried beans, nacho mix cheese and salsa on tortillas; pizza sauce with parmesian cheese on bagels with sliced peperoni; Aloutte soft cheese with garden vegies on english muffins with salami. All not too shabby and wrapped in a fleece jacket and one or two water bottles with cold water in them and it keeps for days. I kept the Aloutte mixture cold for 6 days this last trip this way.

[scm007]

Seracer, I just bought a food dehydrator... any tips on dehydrating turkey?

[sarbar]

[Seracer]

What Sarbar said. I use my oven and find that canned turkey or chicken takes about 3 hours at 170F. Ham, longer, about 4-5 hours (really greasy stuff that). Salmon, crab and clams, only a couple hours.

[GlacierGlider]

Just go to GI Joes when they have their big sales...you can get 3 packs of Mtn. house for $12.99 which will save you money in the long run...at $5.95 plus at REI or Fred Meyer...expensive...nothing can compare to Beef Stogonoff...that stuff is to die for...Better yet if you go to gamma hot springs you can cook your meal and then let it sit ant stay hot as long as you want if you stay at hte springs for a couple of days...just put hte food in a sealed bag and let sit on the shore of the springs...at 140 degrees they will keep any food hot...just a suggestion...I guess you have to find the springs to be able to do this though....

[sarbar]

Glacier, nothing personal..but the thought of eating a freeze dried meal makes me queasy (that and the sodium content on them is horrible!). Now freeze dried veggies and fruits? Yum! I love those, and live off of them at home even (Trader Joe's FD strawberries, and www.justtomatoes.com veggies) Btw, many times you can get great deals on freeze dried meals at www.beprepared.com and get a great slection also.

[Damian]

Watermelon. The whole thing.

[Moleman]

Turkey drying tip: 1) start with ground turkey. 2) cook it, crumble it, keep cooking and breaking pieces up with your turner. Reduce the size to crumbs. 3) then spread out in the dryer. Search for "rubble" and you may find a few more tips.

[Moleman]

This is adapted from a classic recipe from Panivino (long since gone) in Everett. I've taken the makings along as a first-night meal several times, and never cease to amaze other hikers in our group. Not the lightest weight, and requires more than just boiling water, but . . . Take along: Pot big enough for pasta "frypan" lid to fit the pot mini cheese grater if you really want to see their jaws drop Ingredients: 1/4 cup, or more, walnuts per serving olive oil a garlic clove dried tarragon -- about 1/2 teaspoon per serving one roma tomato per serving one to two tablespoons capers per serving, in a ziplock snack bag chunk of parmesan or similar to grate, or a baggie of grated cheese Capellini or other skinny noodles; break in half lengthwise to make it easier to fit into pot. Directions: Break walnuts up into small pieces -- size of your little finger nail Peel and mince garlic; put into ziplock with capers. Cut up tomato (dice), put in with capers Turn stove on low, "brown" walnuts in frypan over low heat, stir/shake to keep from burning. Use a little of the oil if you like. In a couple of minutes the walnuts will be crisp. Add tomatoes, capers, garlic, tarragon and oil and start to heat. Put water into pot, put pot onto stove, turn the heat up to boil the water; place frypan on top to keep it warming, and to make water boil faster. Then cook the pasta; drain pasta when cooked (save the cooking water to drink, if you're so inclined) Mix the walnuts, tomatoes, etc into / onto the pasta, sprinkle with some salt (if capers weren't salty enough for you) and grate cheese over it all. Serve with the baguette which you've carried, strapped under the bungie strings on your pack. Just be sure the squirrels don't find the baguette first. In larger quantities, this is a great company meal down in the lowlands.

[Kat]

Well this is kind of a belated reply, to the posts in September about how to carry olive oil. I sorta lucked out in discovering that those old-fashioned plastic containers meant to hold your camera film are competely leakproof. I've carried home-made olive oil/balsamic vinegar dressing in one several times the last 2 years, and pure olive oil the last trip in anticipation of a trout that was never caught . So anyone old enough to have something besides a digital camera, might have one of these small containers hangin' around. Wash well before use of course!