Interesting... Prarie Pâté for breakfast, anyone?

[unm1136]

I was reading Bon Appetite magazine last month. I know in Muley Madness David recommends poptarts for breakfast, and while I have them in the house, I almost never eat them. This prarie pate recipe seems to be a valid substitute. I will be making it next week to try out. It also seems like a very easy recipe to adapt for Becca's quinoa. Easily meets the 100 kcal/oz most backpackers want. I just got done plugging a couple variations of this recipe intthe recipe analizer at about.caloriecount.com.

Prarie Pate

Nonstick spray
1/4 c unsalted butter
1 10oz bag of marshmallows
1/4 c honey
1/2 c plain whey protien powder
2 c Old fashioned oats
1 c raw sunflower seeds
1/2 c macadamia nuts, chopped
1/2 c sliced almonds
1/2 c sweetened dried cranberries
2 c (2oz) pork cracklins, broken into small pieces.

Coat 13x9x2 pan and rubber spatula with non-stick spray. Melt butter in large pot over medium heat. Add marshmallows and honey, and cook, stirring constantly until marshmallows are melted. Add protien powder and stir until smooth. Take off heat, and fold in oats,seeds,nuts,cranberries and cracklins. Working quickly, stir to combine, press into prepared pan into an even layer, smoothing with the spatula. Cool 30 minutes and cut into 12 pieces. Store in air tight container at room temp for up to 3 days.

1 serving: 86g (3.03 oz)
Kcal: 383
Kcal from fat: 177
Total fat: 19.7g (30% dv)
sat fat: 6.8g (34% dv)
Cholesterol: 35mg (12% dv)
sodium: 159mg (7% dv)
Total carb: 40g (13%dv)
Fiber: 2.9 g (12% dv)
sugars: 24.6g
Protien: 14g

Since I enjoy MH dinners, the low sodium is nice. I could see eating this cold in the dark, or mashing a bar up with water and powdered milk and eating it like cerial. Looks like a very easy recipe to play with, very calorie dense, and stable at room temp. It also has the required breakfast pork. I will be making it at home next week and report back. New Mexicans know chicharrones!

pat

 

[Becca]

Boy, I never thought I could say this about anything involving pork cracklings, but this recipe sounds like it might be pretty tasty i have made no-bake cookie bars for trips before (with a butter/choc/PB base instead of the marshmallows), and they were a hit...i am interested to hear your thoughts once you have tried a batch, I am always on the lookout for new backpacking food ideas.

 

[HellsCanyon]

Sounds pretty good! Breakfast is one meal I always struggle to find somethin that doesn't require cooking but is still healthy AND tasty... let us know how it goes!

Mike

 

[unm1136]

Wife refused to try it, but that was sort of expected. Kids love it and find it very filling. Since it is a no-cook bar, the oats don't firm up and develop any texture. The chicharones add a flat earthiness that helps cut the sweetness of the marshmallow base, and a crunch that helps out. In the interest of fairness, I only had vanilla flavored protein, and since I was buying cracklins at a local ethnic market, I could not find raw sunflower seeds, so I used pepitas (pumpkin seeds) which have fewer carbs (by about 1/3) and more 1/3 protein, and about 20% less fat. Also, I had agave syrup and no honey in the house.

Also, Brat the Second noted an oily taste. She was the only one, and I assume it was from the cooking spray used to prep the pan. Next time I will still spray the pan, but will line it with parchment paper, creating a kind of sling to transfer the goodies to a cutting board. It is a little sticky, drying a day or two at room temp seems to fix most of the stickiness. They are not gooey, I just mention the stickiness for packing these. A piece of parchment wrapped around them will keep fingers clean and dry.

I am going to play with this a little more next week. I really like it so far, but I want to increase the protein and fiber, to make it stick with you a bit longer. Also, after a week of Mountain House, gravel, and dehydrated rice a bit of fiber is probably necessary. To do that I will need to increase the liquid ingredients like the syrup, marshmallows, and butter. Since butter is 70% water, I may just add a 1/2 cup water I may easily hit 150+ kcal per oz if I use the butter. While this is not a huge issue, I am currently at just over 50% calories from fat. I want to get that closer to 35-40%, and I want to get the protein up to almost double grams per serving, if I can, and double the fiber. I have a cunning plan....

As I prepared:

serving: 97.6 g (3.44 oz)
Kcal: 450
Kcal from fat: 237
Total fat: 26.3g (40% dv)
sat fat: 4.5g (23% dv)
Cholesterol: 16mg (12% dv)
sodium: 183mg (7% dv)
Total carb: 41.3g (13%dv)
Fiber: 5.1 g (12% dv)
sugars: 22g
Protien: 16.9g

131 kcal/oz


pat

 

[unm1136]

Sat down on Calorie Count, and if my new ideas work out a 4.6 oz serving will be about 40% kcal from fat, almost 14g fiber and almost 30g of protein. It does reduce the calorie density to 106kcal/oz, so back to the drawing board. Dialing back the fat and replacing it with fiber and protein, predictably, reduces total calories. I need to decide if my fiber and protein are worth the reduction of calories, or, conversely, the increase in weight to carry the same number of calories.

There is no such thing as a free brunch.

pat

 

[hunthard]

I buy bulk granola based cereals from grocery along with seeds, trail mix and whatever else you want. put it in sandwich bag add powdered milk. Just add water in the morning. I'm not a cereal kinda guy but I do like this and its easy and quick.