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TrailGroove Blog

A Blog by the TrailGroove Team

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  • Aaron Zagrodnick 238
  • Mark Wetherington 76
  • PaulMags 27
  • Susan Dragoo 25
  • Steve Ancik 16
  • tmountainnut 12
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  • Karen Garmire 6
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Entries in this blog

Food

Wild Zora Paleo Meals to Go Mountain Beef Stew Review

The Mountain Beef Stew meal from Wild Zora is a just add water freeze dried meal suitable for backpacking that keeps the ingredient list simple while also meeting a slew of dietary requirements and preferences. The meal has no gluten, milk, grain, nuts, or added sugar and was designed to meet a higher meat Paleo dietary requirement. This meal is just one in a line of meals including breakfasts and dinners and with options ranging from the Caldera Chicken Curry to the Bedrock Beef Chili .
Aaron Zagrodnick

Aaron Zagrodnick in Food

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Food

Trail Tip: Backpacking Freeze Dried Meal Fill Lines

Why every freeze dried meal out there doesn’t already have a fill line on the packaging is a bit of mystery, but luckily we can memorize our own. For example, most Mountain House meals call for either 1 ⅓, 1 ½, or 1 ¾ cups of boiling water. Instead of having to precisely (or imprecisely) measure out that exact amount of water to boil, or worse yet attempt the dreaded cups to milliliters conversion without the help of the internet in the backcountry, we can remember and make our own specific fill
Aaron Zagrodnick

Aaron Zagrodnick in Food

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Food

The Backpacking Spice Rack: Packing Spices for the Trail

Whether you’re a freeze-dried meal aficionado or if you prefer to custom make each of your meals for the trail, most backpacking meals will rely on dried and pre-packaged ingredients, with little in the way of fresh ingredients to bring life to meals. The result? Many times meals are good, but need…a little something. Spices are a backpacker’s best friend in this regard as they’re already in dried form and weigh next to nothing while packing a punch in the flavor department. Packing your whole s
Aaron Zagrodnick

Aaron Zagrodnick in Food

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Food

The Backpacking Food Cache: Versatile Recipe Ingredients

Grandma Magnanti was an amazing cook. The stereotype of Italian American Sunday dinners that lasted for hours was a reality during my childhood. A multi-course meal that started at noon and ended at about four was common. And the food itself? Often a modern “foodies” delight with now-gourmet dishes such as stuffed artichokes, dark and savory greens sautéed with olive oil and garlic, fried zucchini flowers, and a simple but packed-with-flavor macaroni course such as ziti (to name just a few dishe
PaulMags

PaulMags in Food

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Food

The Backpacking Food Bag: Core Food & Meal Ingredients

Stay fueled. Here are some versatile items that we like to always have in our food bag to add extra calories, flavors, and variety to backcountry meals. The possibilities are endless, but by carrying these ingredients you can take any off-the-shelf backpacking meal to the next level or add calories and taste to your own creations. Dehydrated or Freeze-Dried Vegetables A great way to add flavor and variety to your meals, as well as have a few servings of veggies during the day or with d
Aaron Zagrodnick

Aaron Zagrodnick in Food

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Food

Tex-Mex Style Backpacking Couscous and Cheese Recipe

After many hours of bushwhacking through pick-up-sticks and talus in the Ferris Mountain Wilderness Study Area, I was hungry. The mile an hour pace through this rough terrain certainly made me want a hearty meal. But also one that would cook quick. And would go down easy. I had just the meal in my food bag. Something would be just what I needed after a rewarding, but tiring, day. I’d have a TexMex-style dish in the backcountry. Some cheesy bean goodness with a bit of a spice kick. A long da
PaulMags

PaulMags in Food

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Food

Sweet & Savory Noodles with Broccoli Backpacking Recipe

In my book, a good trail meal needs to taste great and pack in needed calories and nutrition, without being overly complex or time consuming to make on the trail. With dinner frequently being fit in just as the light begins to fade and with tired legs, I often want to jump in the sleeping bag sooner rather than later, but still want a great meal. This one takes a little prep at home and just a little specialty shopping before the hike, but is still ready in minutes on your trip and tastes great.
Aaron Zagrodnick

Aaron Zagrodnick in Food

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Food

Strawberry Cran-apple Juice Backpacking Drink Recipe

Have you ever been on a long hard trail, sweating like a prize fighter, wishing you could have a cool drink of real juice? Well, you can! It’s simple and (almost) fresh. Last month’s seasonal soup recipe introduced the notion of dehydrated “bark”. Bark is created by spreading any blended ingredients, such as soup, on a solid dehydrator tray (or on baking parchment paper on a mesh tray) and drying it until crisp. Apply this technique to blended fresh fruit and your backcountry refreshment dr
Cinny Green

Cinny Green in Food

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Food

Spicy Thai Noodles with Peanut Sauce Backpacking Recipe

This high energy quick prep meal loaded with protein makes spicy Thai noodles with peanut sauce a good choice for dinner at the end of a long day of hiking. There’s very little advance prep for this recipe that uses a simple sauce of just three ingredients, but still has the feel of a home cooked meal. Spicy Thai noodles can be made at a fraction of the cost of similar commercially freeze dried meals and is a much tastier option. This meal can either be made backpacker style, or for s
Karen Garmire

Karen Garmire in Food

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Food

Spicy Squash Soup with Crispy Lamb Backpacking Recipe

For those of you who live in areas where you can camp year-round – or those of you intrepid enough to dig snow caves and hunker down, this squash soup makes a rich seasonal meal that’s spicy enough to heat you from the inside. The topping of crispy lamb with cumin and sunflower seeds adds a taste sensation bold as a winter camper. Soup “bark” is dehydrated pureed soup. The liquid is poured on solid trays then dehydrated until crisp (see dehydrating your own backpacking meals). It often tast
Cinny Green

Cinny Green in Food

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Food

Southwest-style Omelet in a Bag Backpacking Recipe

After a hiatus due to grad school, I am now enjoying the outdoors again on a regular basis. Having enjoyed the summer wildflowers, walked among the aspen leaves of autumn and plan to explore the canyon country of Utah over Thanksgiving. My usual solo backpacking fare of cold food for breakfast doesn't always work . And while a hot dish of cream of wheat, dried cherries and almonds can hit the spot on a cool Colorado morning in the backcountry, sometimes I want to make a breakfast perhaps a
PaulMags

PaulMags in Food

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Food

Southwest Style Backpacking Pudding Recipe

New Mexico is called the “Land of Enchantment” for several reasons. The natural beauty is as striking as anything found in Rockies or the Southwest. The history is deep. And an intoxicating blend of different cultures greets any traveler through this land. Another enchanting aspect of New Mexico? The food. And what delicious food there is to be had for any hungry outdoors person post-trip. Hatch chiles are delectable. Mole sauces delight the palate. And fresh sopapillas warm from the oven with f
PaulMags

PaulMags in Food

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Food

Savory Cranberry Nut Couscous Backpacking Recipe

Dishes that are a bit lighter tasting can be desirable at many times of the year and especially in warmer weather. The palette does not crave cream, cheese, and the other heavy foods associated with winter. Instead, a touch of citrus might be wanted. A bit of mint on the tongue. And perhaps something a bit tart and a little sweet to balance the flavors out? This recipe is a unique (and fresh!) take on couscous, and the brightness of the meal goes well with spring and summer seasons. T
PaulMags

PaulMags in Food

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Food

Savory Breakfast Potatoes Backpacking Recipe

Unplanned happenstances often create some happy discoveries. I made a quick and easy breakfast on one trip. Wanting a quick meal at the end of a five-day excursion, I just had some odds and ends in the camp box. I took some leftover mashed potato flakes, some cheese, milk, butter and mixed them together with a can of green chile. As I ate my quick dish, I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed it. The dish was a heartier and a more savory version of grits or polenta. And it seemed
PaulMags

PaulMags in Food

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Food

Ramen Curry Chicken Stew Backpacking Recipe

Ramen noodles. The fifty-cent a pack wonder found in the grocery store aisle in every college town, seemingly in every office vending machine for those corporate workers who work late into the late hours while in a beige box, and found in gargantuan packages the local megamart. Ramen noodles are cheap, filling, and quick to cook. And ramen noodles are many backpackers’ “got to” meal for something that fills the stomach, if not overly tasty, when out far into the backcountry. But here’
PaulMags

PaulMags in Food

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Food

Quick & Easy 3 Day Backpacking Meal Plan (with Recipes)

It’s Wednesday, the weekend weather forecast looks good, and the boss just said you can have Friday off. Now all you need to do is pick your trail, grab your gear, and you’re in for the perfect long backcountry weekend. The only thing that’s standing between you and the trail is food. You know that good food can make or break a trip, and you’re determined to make this a good one. Ah, the food dilemma. You could drive to the nearest outfitter and stock up on three days of freeze-dried meals,
Karen Garmire

Karen Garmire in Food

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Food

Peak Refuel Biscuits & Sausage Gravy Meal Review

As a kid, biscuits were a staple on camping trips – and yes, the kind that comes in a can. Along with things like fresh eggs and bacon and all sorts of heavy, difficult to pack, but tasty food – we never thought twice about packing such items and ate well. While we ate like kings, sleeping pads were thin foam roll-up pads – either under a space blanket (very loud) if the weather was warm, or giant “0 degree” synthetic sleeping bags that had you shivering at 40 degrees. Today, most of it doe
Aaron Zagrodnick

Aaron Zagrodnick in Food

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Food

Pad Thai Noodles with Jerky & Avocado Backpacking Recipe

This is a great meal in the shoulder-seasons as it warms you up and the citrus from the lime offers fresh flavors and really enhances what might otherwise be a fairly mundane dish. Clean up is easy, too, as you only need one pot for this dish. This has become one of my preferred dishes for dry camps since the water required is minimal compared to most pasta or rice meals or freeze-dried dinners. It also offers options for tailoring it to your tastes, since the type of jerky you use can change th
Mark Wetherington

Mark Wetherington in Food

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Food

One Pot Thanksgiving Style Backpacking Dinner Recipe

Thanksgiving is the traditional time to give thanks and praise for the blessings in our life. And we often celebrate those blessings with a large dinner shared with family and friends. The centerpiece of this dinner is typically a turkey. Since moving to Colorado, I’ve had all but a handful of Thanksgivings somewhere in the backcountry. Thanksgivings are typically spent among the red rocks and canyons of Utah. And out in the backcountry, I am thankful for the beauty around me, sharing it wi
PaulMags

PaulMags in Food

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Food

Oatmeal Cookie Warmer Backpacking Dessert Recipe

Fall is upon us. The days are sometimes cold and wet. The wind whips over the mountain pass. Your rain gear and thermal layers are a bit wetted out. But you hike on. The snow comes in wet and large flakes. Your shoes and socks are wet. An hour before dusk, you gratefully reach camp. The shelter is erected. Your dry sleeping bag is fluffed up. And the stove is broken out. A filling meal is eaten. A hot drink is gratefully consumed. But the edge of hunger is still there on this chill ni
PaulMags

PaulMags in Food

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Food

No Bake Banana Pudding Backpacking Dessert Recipe

Still hungry after that freeze-dried dinner? Dessert is a great way to boost spirits at the end of a long day, but sometimes it’s just too much hassle. Don’t settle for that spare granola bar before climbing in your sleeping bag, check out this seasonally-inspired solution that doesn’t require too much backcountry culinary prowess but still tastes great. As you might expect, this backpacking dessert hits the spot at all times of the year, but it seems particularly appropriate for fall
Aaron Zagrodnick

Aaron Zagrodnick in Food

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Food

Mountain House Yellow Curry with Chicken & Rice Review

One thing I’ve been focusing on recently for my backcountry meals is adding variety. When it comes to prepackaged backpacking meals this variety is often found in what is essentially the same meal but just in different flavors – for example flavor and cultural variations on rice or pasta based meals. Finding something that is truly different however can be difficult to find unless you’re making your own dinners from scratch. For an off the shelf pre-made meal however, the Mountain House Yellow C
Aaron Zagrodnick

Aaron Zagrodnick in Food

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Food

Mountain House Veggie Chorizo Breakfast Scramble Review

A newer meal from Mountain House, the Veggie Chorizo Breakfast Scramble Meal is a meal based on eggs, a plant-based chorizo-flavored crumble, hash-style potatoes, and bell peppers. Each pouch has 580 calories and is ready in 9 minutes after adding 1 1/3 cups of boiling water. This vegetarian and gluten-free meal has a well-rounded nutritional profile, and has a shelf life of 30 years. The Veggie Chorizo Breakfast Scramble meal from Mountain House offers 580 calories in a vegetarian an
Aaron Zagrodnick

Aaron Zagrodnick in Food

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Food

Mountain House Pad Thai with Chicken Meal Review

In 2020 Mountain House released this meal based off the classic Pad Thai dish providing 490 calories in a (at least self-described) 2 serving pouch that has a wide range of (all gluten-free) savory ingredients. While many just add water backcountry backpacking meals are based on rice, and this meal is no exception with its rice based noodles, at least the form factor of the aforementioned rice is different enough to make this a meal a worthy consideration for those who are looking for something
Aaron Zagrodnick

Aaron Zagrodnick in Food

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Food

Mountain House Mexican Style Adobo Rice & Chicken Review

A few years ago Mountain House introduced their Mexican Style Adobo Rice and Chicken Meal – bringing backpackers, hikers, or just about anyone looking for a quick meal a decent Mexican themed option that's also compatible with gluten free diets. And while normally we don't dive too much into packaging here at TrailGroove, in this case it deserves mention with a redesign that not only includes an artwork update but important updates to functionality as well introduced in 2020. A classi
Aaron Zagrodnick

Aaron Zagrodnick in Food

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