Looking for a list of "just add hot water" dinner choices

PhillyB

WKR
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I was hoping that with some of the food pros, we might be able to gather a list of items a guy or gal could pick up at the store that the only prep is hot water.

We have the obvious choice of mountain house, but I was recently turned onto instant mashed potatoes with a spam single. An idea that I had never thought of.

What are some others that I can add some hot water and it will be ready to go?
 
I know it's the obvious answer, but Ramen Noodles are too easy, and light. I know the calories aren't the greatest, but I add a packet of tuna or salmon to the mix, and its pretty stinkin' good, and I always drink the ramen water.
 
I like the boxed pastas; Farmhouse Angel Hair herb & butter pasta, Pasta-Roni, Marie Callender "Easy Pasta" Meals, etc. I'll add foil pack chicken to them for a calorie & protien boost.

I too like Ramen noodles, and eat a lot of them. You can add dehydrated veggies if you like, and I like to add diced salted hotdogs to them as well. I'll roll them in table salt & put 4 in a ziplock bag and eat them for the first two dinners. I sweat a lot and crave the extra sodium at night. Or you can elect to add foil pack Spam if you like.

Also, 5min instant rice, 2-3 sweet & sour pkgs, with some foil pack chicken is good. Or again you can use foil pack Spam.
The Lipton chicken noodle soup pkgs are also cheap & easy, but I really prefer Ramen.

Course if you have access to a food dehydrator you can dry just about any dinner left overs.
Lots of options.
Hunt'nFish

http://www.rokslide.com/forums/showthread.php?8846-Backpacking-food&p=129733&viewfull=1#post129733
 
The ones I use:

Instant mashed potatoes
Instant precooked rice
Stovetop stuffing
Ramen

Dehydrated gravy that is sold at stores in packets is a good way to add flavor. You can pre-mix it into your potatoes or rice.
 
For the mashed potatoes and spam try adding a little stove top stuffing and some powdered instant gravy mix. The gravy mix has crazy calories per ounce, and tastes pretty good too. Just stroll down the isles of your local grocery store some night when you can't sleep anyway. I started looking into things that require only hot water or milk, it's actually alot. For milk just buy dehydrated and add into the freezer bag the proper amount, then just add hot water from the jetboil and boom the finest dining possible. Also for a treat try instant jello, no bake cookies, or instant cheesecake. Good eating
 
http://www.backpackingchef.com/
http://www.hungryhammockhanger.com/
http://www.trailcooking.com/

These links will get you started. Also, this subforum, and the similar one over at the Kifaru boards are great resources. Lots of great ideas This year I am experimenting with stuffing corned beef hash and chile into sausage skins for the pack in. Not deydrated, but sausage skins are bio friendly, lightweight containers.

Also there is something cool about starting this year's hunt with a meal made from last year's animal...

Beware, though, these recipes will take some time to tinker with and adjust to your specific tastes and environment. It was a pretty big undertaking to make a big ol' batch of BBQ spaghetti, dehydrate it, and then find out it tasted like crap. It tasted great before drying, and I ended up tossing the batch out.

pat
 
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i just dehydrated some goulash anyone have an idea of a ration between dried ounces and how much water it will take to rehydrate? I am thinking i can get an idea with Chili Mac from Mountain House should put me in the ballpark.But if there are other tricks to figuring it out for other meals i am all ears.
 
i just dehydrated some goulash anyone have an idea of a ration between dried ounces and how much water it will take to rehydrate? I am thinking i can get an idea with Chili Mac from Mountain House should put me in the ballpark.But if there are other tricks to figuring it out for other meals i am all ears.
Short of weighing before & after drying, I think you'll just have to test one out and see.
But if I were to venture a guess I'd say it'd be something on the order or 4-5:1 by weight.
Hunt'nFish
 
Stove Top Stuffing comes in a variety of flavors and all you need to do is add boiling water. Idahoan instant mashed potoatoes are the same way. I also like the instant couscous that just needs boiling water and a 5 minute sit.
 
ramen with half a package of mountain house scrambled eggs with bacon. cut up some beef jerky in there also, and you have a winner!
 
I'm gonna have to start packing pre-cooked bacon, I keep seeing bacon, bacon, bacon listed and I can see where this is a great calorie dense source of protein than stores & packs well. I've always relied on hard salami for this, but I might just have to mix a little bacon bits in my Ramen next time. At 100cal/oz they aren't the most cal dense food, but the protein is nice and they really add a flavor pop.
But...I was suprised to see the Kroger brand "Real Bacon Bits" lists only 100cal/oz & 12g Protein/oz. I expected the cal count to be higher.
Cashews sit at about 170cal/oz, so maybe sprinkling some chopped cashews on my Ramen noodles might be a wiser choice. But they only have 5g Protein/oz.
Hum... maybe BOTH!

I've have also relied on pepperoni "snack" sticks to boost the cal/protien count of meals, but I usually just eat them on the side. The Reser pepper stix's I'm using this year say 130cal per 1oz serv (two 5.5" stixs) w/ 8g protien.

Idahon Instant Potatoes sit right at 110cal/oz.

Pat, I'm beginning to see how hard it is to get 200/300/400cal per ounce.
Hunt'nFish

PS: Here is a list of Top 10 Calorie Dense Foods
 
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i just dehydrated some goulash anyone have an idea of a ration between dried ounces and how much water it will take to rehydrate? I am thinking i can get an idea with Chili Mac from Mountain House should put me in the ballpark.But if there are other tricks to figuring it out for other meals i am all ears.

Goulash is essentially a stew, so figuring it out shouldn't be too hard. The best way would be before and after weighing, but for stews and soups do equal weights food to water. If you want it thinner, add more water, you like it thicker, add less. 8oz water to 8oz food=a pound of rehydrated food. If you don't like math, like me, just play with it.

pat
 
I'm gonna have to start packing pre-cooked bacon, I keep seeing bacon, bacon, bacon listed and I can see where this is a great calorie dense source of protein than stores & packs well. I've always relied on hard salami for this, but I might just have to mix a little bacon bits in my Ramen next time. At 100cal/oz they aren't the most cal dense food, but the protein is nice and they really add a flavor pop.
But...I was suprised to see the Kroger brand "Real Bacon Bits" lists only 100cal/oz & 12g Protein/oz. I expected the cal count to be higher.
Cashews sit at about 170cal/oz, so maybe sprinkling some chopped cashews on my Ramen noodles might be a wiser choice. But they only have 5g Protein/oz.
Hum... maybe BOTH!

I've have also relied on pepperoni "snack" sticks to boost the cal/protien count of meals, but I usually just eat them on the side. The Reser pepper stix's I'm using this year say 130cal per 1oz serv (two 5.5" stixs) w/ 8g protien.

Idahon Instant Potatoes sit right at 110cal/oz.

Pat, I'm beginning to see how hard it is to get 200/300/400cal per ounce.
Hunt'nFish

PS: Here is a list of Top 10 Calorie Dense Foods

For the meantime, I think 255kcal/oz is the limit of any food. I looked at the link, and Tbs x 2 is roughly an oz by volume, and I stand by 255.

Thank you for the notice.

And, pre-cooked bacon, specifically the Hormel Bacon Lovers Thick Sliced, available at your local chinamart, for about $8.00/pound rocks!!!!, and is my choice for all bacon applications, unless I want to cook it ( 400°F oven, checking every 5-10 minutes until bacon is done to your liking). +Maple syrup+some sort of bread+/some sort of nut butter = YUM!!!

pat
 
These are the foundation components of my mashed taters. I also add my dehydrated bell peppers and spicy turkey meat. Could use two cheese packs. Cheese packs come from a health food store. Taters from Costco.

Follow the directions on the taters and mix a whole batch. Then divide into four equal amounts. You'll need 1.5 cups of boiling water to cook it up. These taters when prepped are 150cals/serving. Two servings for a meal and adding in meat and veggies bumps that up to over 300 cals.

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1378141855.976285.jpg
 
I also make spaghetti using thin rice noodles.

Dehydrate your favorite sauce. I like the organic stuff from Safeway. Lots of flavor. Once dried 2oz is about one serving.

Each box of noodles is 4 servings. They are stiff and will destroy a ziplock bag with pin holes. I crushed mine with a rolling pin as best I could. Crushed also makes them easier to eat with a spoon/spork.

Add a couple ounces of dried spicy meat along with dried sauce, then right before you cook it add an ounce if olive oil to the bag. This was my best meal while sheep hunting.

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1378142443.798795.jpg
 
www.trailcooking.com is awesome. After looking through the recipes, I picked out about 20 recipes that looked good to me! I then went back and thinned them down to about 15 based on how easy they were to make. I plan on trying them out before I take them up a mountain, but I figure that if I end up with a dozen good ones I won't ever have to eat the same thing twice on a trip unless I want to. I'm not even planning on buying mountain house meals this year...

I thought the instant potatoes were a great idea, but after trying a few flavors mixed with different combo's of spam, pepporoni and added cheese...I don't really like them. I can eat them to survive, but I don't enjoy it and a couple of the flavors I can barely finish choking down the package...
 
I really like IndoMi. Its an instant noodle product that comes in a number of flavors. Mi Goreng is the best of the flavors. Inside the package you get 2 packets of flavoring 1 packet has a dry seasoning and dried onions and the 2nd is a packet that has oil, chili sauce, and a soy type sauce. After hydrating the noodles you drain water and add the seasonings. I assume the oils and sauces give it a higher cal value that just ramen. You can buy this stuff online or in oriental food shops. Good stuff.
 
i just dehydrated some goulash anyone have an idea of a ration between dried ounces and how much water it will take to rehydrate? I am thinking i can get an idea with Chili Mac from Mountain House should put me in the ballpark.But if there are other tricks to figuring it out for other meals i am all ears.
If unsure I usually start by adding just enough water to cover the dried food. I can always add more if I need too, but it's hardtop remove without removing the flavor.
 
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