Recipe Booklet for Overnight Hiking

Written by Nicole Carter and Ruth Bridges

This is a recipe book in the making to inspire culinary mastery for hikers and remote adventures alike. More importantly, it is for scrubs who cannot afford expensive dehydrators or pre-packaged dehydrated meals. So this recipe book is comprised of only affordable and available food. It is a steep learning curve feeding yourself on your first multi-day hike.

In 2018, I (Nicole) had the goal of hiking the Overland Track - a 7-day hike in Tasmania. I mentioned this to my friend Charlie in February, and then in October she came back to me and said "how about we do it!". Immediately, we looked at dates. We found a date in February with a few spots left, so we opened the offer to a bunch of friends and gave them less than 24hr to decide. In the wash up, we ended up with a party of three!

So, in February of 2019 Charlie, Kobe and I headed off on the Overland Track, full of enthusiasm and with a complete lack of multi-day hiking experience. Our only experience in terms of “overnight hiking” was a high school camp.

Mistakes were made. Quite a lot were related to the catering. On our first night, we realised Kobe had brought “serves 2” continental paster packets for dinner and was scrounging of Charlie and me for leftovers. On our second night, we were hopelessly jealous of the fresh food hikers were cooking up in their stir-fries while we were eating peanut butter with two-minute noodles.

By the end of the hike, Kobe was running a huge calorie deficit, and Charlie and I were thinking about all the things we had learnt for on our next hike. Fast forward to 2020, I decided to implement my newfound meal ideas on the Thorsborne Trail, and Ruth agreed to be my meal buddy!

Pantry basics check list:

• Textured vegetable protein (TVP)

• Essentials: peas dehydrated

• Shiitake mushrooms

• Essentials: parmesan cheese

• Milk or coconut milk powder

• Peanut butter (or a nut butter without peanuts if you are allergic)

• Couscous

• Angle hair pasta

• Instant mash potato

• Oats

• Apples

• Wraps

• Nut/Muesli/Cliff bars

• Dried apricots; banana chips; dehydrated mango

• Aqua tabs for water purification

• Hydrolyte

• Tea

• Coffee

• Hot chocolate

• Knopper’s

• A deck of playing cards

Equipment

Do not pack all that stuff above, unless you want to be packing Allen's backpack which can fit Ruth! (See evidence above)

What you really need is:

• A spoon (or spork)

• A source of heat (i.e. stove + gas)

• A pot

• A mug

That is it!

You can use leaves as dishwashing cloths and your pot as a bowl. A spoon should be sufficient for all your utensil needs!

Breakfast

Apple, Nut butter, porridge

At home: Before you set off, make your porridge dry mix and store it in a zip lock bag. I recommend combining rolled oats, LSA mix, chia seeds, powdered milk (either coconut or normal milk), cinnamon, nut meg, and sugar (brown, raw, white - whatever! You need the energy if you are going hiking).

On the trail: Once on the trail, heat up your dry mix with water

Optionally, add half an apple (eat the other half fresh) and a lump of nut butter for extra creaminess.

Lunch

Lunch is the lazy meal of the day. Here are some of our suggestions:

• Wraps are the perfect staple. Just add PB, packet tuna or whatever you can find in your pack

• Cheese, salami and crackers. Contrary to popular belief, hard cheese and salami are both pretty shelf stable and can be a nice energy dense lunch

• Snacks. It is completely acceptable when hiking to eat chocolate, trail mix, nuts and muesli bards for lunch. Minimal effort and delicious

• Drinks. An electrolyte tablet added to your water might not be a bad idea?

Dinner

Spag bol

Ingredients

• Tomato cup of soup

• TVP

• Angel hair pasta

• Shiitake mushroom

• Parmesan cheese

At Home:

1. In a ziplock bag mix together dried shiitake mushrooms, TVP, and tomato soup powder

2. Add a sprinkle of Italian herbs, if you are feeling fancy

3. Measure out some angel hair pasta into another bag

On the trail:

1. Add prepared mixture to boiling water and cook until TVP is tender

2. Add angel hair pasta and boil until pasta is cooked

3. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese

Cottage pie

Ingredients

• Cottage pie flavouring

• Dehydrate peas

• Shiitake mushrooms

• TVP

• Powdered mash potato

At Home:

1. Add cottage pie flavouring, dehydrated peas, shiitake mushrooms and TVP to a zip lock bag

2. Add powdered mashed potato to another bag

On the trail

1. Add cottage pie mix to boiling water and cook until TVP is tender

2. Add powdered mash potato and stir in until cooked

3. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese

Curry night

Ingredients:

• Powdered coconut milk

• Curry powder/mix or your choice

• Shiitake mushrooms

• Dehydrated peas

• TVP

• 1tsp vegetable stock powder

• Chilli powder

• Rice noodles or couscous

At home:

1. Mix together powdered coconut milk, curry powder, shiitake mushrooms, dehydrated peas, stock powder and TVP

2. Add a little chilli powder if you like it spicy

3. Add desired carb to a separate bag

On the trail:

1. Add curry mix to boiling water and cook until TVP is tender add rice noodles or couscous and stir through until cooked

Drinks menu

2L Boxed Tawny This is a sweet port and not a bad choice, if you are doing a leisurely hike few days with a bunch of friends.

Dolce Rosso Cast 5L extra value Going on a multiday hike/road trip? Well, this is a great companion for scrubs who do not have an eski for cold bevies.

Start the trip with a full 5 L and by the time you ready to hike, it will be much light. If not, it is so cheap you can always pour some out until your pack is a bearable weight. Also, there are 2L versions of cast wine, if you are going on a shorter trip.

WHY RED? It can be drunk at room temperature, so will not be bad after sitting in you pack on a muggy day.

Looking for a lighter version or cocktail hour?? Vodka and tang! A traditional backcountry cocktail for all you ultra-light hikers out there. All you need is:

• A packet of orange juice powder

• A light weight (plastic or aluminium) bottle with your rations of vodka

Add OJ powder and vodka to each mug, stir and then top up with water.

Small disclaimer:

• Carrying “drinks” is a luxury and not recommended if the hike is long distances or hikes with large elevation change! Probs go for a light option if talking Mt Barney!

• Do not plan to get plastered in the middle of no-where.

• If you decide your pack is to heavy just pour it out, it is super cheap anyway.

That is all! We would love to see a few recipe blogs go onto the website. For questions or other ideas, please send us a message!

Nicole and Ruth