Two Person, Seven
Day Backpacking Menu!

Avoid the Junk food rut with a two person, seven day Backpacking Menu!

Backpacking!

Chicken Curry over Brown Rice,
First Day Backpacking Menu Dinner

Chicken Curry Over Brown Rice

Ingredients: one cup tropical fruit trail mix, 1/4 package Golden Curry Sauce, 1/2 tablespoon clarified butter or margarine or 2 tablespoons olive oil, one cup instant brown rice, crushed 1/2 tablespoon chopped crystallized ginger, one cube chicken boullion, 1/4 cup freeze dried peas, one tablespoon onion flakes, 1/3 cup sliced dried mushrooms, and one seven ounce foil pouch of chicken in water.

Tropical Fruit Trail Mix

Prep:

• Put peas, onion flakes, and mushrooms together.
• In separate zip top bag, pack ginger and chicken boullion.
• Pack trail mix, curry sauce, olive oil or butter, and brown rice individually.

Cook:

• To rehydrate for 10 minutes, place mushroom mix with hot water in a bowl and cover.
• Add ginger, boullion, and chicken and stir well.
• Boil two cups of water and add rice. Let stand for five minutes.
• In a separate pot, combine olive oil or margarine and curry sauce.
• Add three cups of water and heat until it thickens.
• Combine chicken and sauce mixture, adding water to thin and serve over rice.

Every Other Day for Three Days, Breakfast

Breakfast

Two cups of hot cocoa or coffee; two cups dried pears, apples, and apricots; Two cups oatmeal; one tablespoon brown sugar.

Hot Cocoa

Every Other Day for Three Days, Breakfast Again

One breakfast bar; one cup cold cereal (mix of granola, grapenuts, and raisin bran); 1/2 cup dried cherries and blueberries; 1/2 cup powdered milk.

Every Other Day for Two Days, Lunch

Four ounces celery and carrot spears, 1/4 cup bacon bits, cheddar cheese slices, four ounces hummus, four flour tortilla wraps.

Every Other Day, Lunch Next Two Days

Four ounces cheddar cheese, four ounces peanut butter, and two bagels.

Bagels

Lunch, Last Two Days

Four ounces cheddar cheese, four ounces peanut butter, two bagels, and leftover dinner food.

Peanut Butter

Backpacker's Mac and Cheese,
Backpacking Menu Dinner Second Day

Mac And Cheese

Ingredients: five ounces Swiss cheese, two cups small shell pasta, 1/3 cup sun dried tomatoes, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, one tablespoon parsley, 1/2 cup powdered milk, 1/2 teaspoon salt, two teaspoons mustard powder, and three tablespoons flour.

Sun Dried Tomatoes

Prep:

• In zip top bag, combine pepper, parsley, powdered milk, salt, mustard powder and flour.
• In a separate zip top bag, combine shell pasta and dried tomatoes.
• Note: Swiss cheese does not preserve well, so eat this meal early in the week. Pack cheese individually.

Cook:

• Cut cheese into small pieces.

Swiss Cheese

• Bring to boil three 1/2 cups of water.
• Add dried tomato and pasta.
• Stirring occasionally, boil until pasta is slightly tender.
• Stir in dry ingredients, and then stir in cheese.
• Turn off heat and stir until cheese melts completely.

Chili, Backpacking Menu Dinner Third Day

Chili

Ingredients: three ounces cheddar cheese; 1/2 cup salsa; forty corn chips; two fifteen ounce cans dehydrated kidney beans; cut into small pieces, two ounces sun dried tomatoes; and one 6.4 ounce box dry chili mix.

Prep:

• In zip top bag, combine kidney beans, sliced tomatoes, and chili mix.
• Pack cheese, salsa, and chips individually.

Cook:

• To a pot, add seven 1/2 cups of water.
• Add the dry mix and bring to a boil.
• Stirring occasionally, simmer fifteen minutes or until done.
• Add one ounce of corn chips and cheese to serving bowls.

Shell Pasta with Dried Tomato and Pesto,
Backpacking Menu Dinner Fourth Day

Ingredients: 1/3 cup dried pesto mix, 1/3 cup toasted pine nuts, 1/2 cup small shells, and 1/2 cup thinly sliced dried tomatoes.

Pesto Mix

Prep:

• In zip top bag, combine mushrooms and dried tomatoes.
• Pack pesto, pine nuts, and shells individually.

Cook:

• Place tomatoes in a bowl, and hydrate for ten minutes with hot water.
• According to package directions, cook shells.
• Drain veggies and pasta, then combine the two.
• Garnish with pine nuts, and mix pesto on top.

Pine Nuts

Pasta Alfredo with Basil, Corn, and Salmon, Backpacking Menu Dinner Fifth Day

Ingredients: crumbled - four ounces smoked salmon, 1/2 bunch fresh basil or one tablespoon dried basil, one cup freeze dried corn, eight ounces Ziti pasta, one pinch black pepper, two tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese, one teaspoon butter powder, two 1/2 tablespoons powdered milk, and one ounce (1/2 packet) Alfredo sauce mix.

Smoked Salmon

Prep:

• In zip top bag, combine black pepper, cheese, butter powder, powdered milk, and Alfredo sauce mix.
• Package individually all other ingredients.

Cook:

• Mince fresh basil.
• One minute less then recommended time, cook pasta.
• Add corn to pasta, cover and undrained, set aside.
• In separate pot, add dried sauce mix and 3/4 cup water.
• Stirring frequently, simmer for five minutes.
• Drain corn and pasta.
• Add sauce to pot, and mix well.
• Add salmon and basil, mix gently.

Beef Stroganoff, Dinner Sixth Day

Beef Stroganoff

Ingredients: 1/2 teaspoon parsley, 1/4 cup plus two tablespoons of sour cream powder, 1/4 cup instant mashed potatoes, one cup package of instant cream of mushroom soup, 3/4 teaspoon tomato powder, two tablespoons (one ounce) dried mushrooms, 1/2 tablespoon paprika, two teaspoons onion flakes, 1/4 pound beef jerky - chopped into tiny pieces, and eight ounces egg noodles.

Prep:

• Into zip top bag, combine instant potatoes, mushroom soup, tomato powder, mushrooms, paprika, onion flakes, and jerky.
• Into separate zip top bag, combine parsley and sour cream powder.

Cook:

• Into medium pot, pour contents of jerky bag and add 3/4 cup water.
• Stirring occasionally, heat to a boil, then simmer for fifteen minutes.
• Add water if needed.
• In separate pot, cook egg noodles following package directions.

Egg Noodles

• Drain, and put the stroganoff pot on, add sour cream mix but do not boil.
• Serve over cooked noodles.

Raisin and Nut Curried Couscous, Dinner Seventh Day

Raisin and Nut Couscous

Ingredients: 1/4 teaspoon olive oil, 1/4 cup mixed raisins and peanuts or other dried fruits and nuts, 1/2 teaspoon cumin, one teaspoon curry powder, 3/4 cup couscous, and one cup water.

Prep:

• In a small zip top bag, mix cumin and curry powder.

Cook:

• Heat water to boil.
• Stir in fruit, nuts, and couscous.
• Remove from heat, cover and let stand about five minutes (until all the liquid is absorbed and grains are tender).
• Add spices and olive, mix with a fork.

Suggestion: Skip the chocolate chips, use a handful of fruit and nuts from your trail mix.

Breakfast Last Day

Leftovers and trail bars.

Recipes from More Backcountry Cooking, by Dorcas S. Miller.

Enjoy your backpacking menu!