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TrailGroove Blog

A Blog by the TrailGroove Team

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Entries in this blog

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

Backpacking Fruit Crisp Crunch Breakfast / Dessert Recipe

This crunchy fruit crisp makes a sweet ending to a strenuous day of hiking. However I prefer it as a sweet beginning and this is one of my all-time favorite trail breakfasts. For a quick-start morning you can add boiling water to the fruit the night before and allow it to rehydrate overnight. Save on clean-up by using the zip top bag as a bowl liner, adding water directly to the bag and zipping it closed to rehydrate. Add the topping in the morning and then you’ll be energized and ready to hit t
Karen Garmire

Karen Garmire 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

Curried Chicken Ramen Noodles Backpacking Recipe

For cold weather backpacking, nothing hits the spot quite like a soup. The broth heats up a person from the inside and is welcoming. And if the dish is on the spicy side? Even a little more heat to warm those winter or even early spring nights. Here is a meal that is quick to make, fills the belly and has a bit of heat to keep a person warm during cool weather backpacking trips. This recipe takes ramen noodles to the next level, and especially hits the spot on cold weather backpacking
PaulMags

PaulMags in Food

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Food

Garam Masala Beef Jerky with Lentils Backpacking Recipe

Strips of jerky make delicious snacks as well as fabulous stews. Jerky is remarkably simple to create: slice, marinade, and dehydrate strips of meat. The key to texture is in the cut of meat and thickness, and the key to flavor is the marinade. In Backpackers’ Ultra Food I have several marinade recipes that are designed to compliment certain ethnic dishes, such as curry and Mexican spice. Each jerky can be adapted to more specific tastes. More or less spicy; different dishes; crispy or chewy. Ho
Cinny Green

Cinny Green in Food

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Food

Mountain House Buffalo-Style Chicken Mac & Cheese Review

While this new meal from Mountain House wasn’t quite released in time to make our full backpacking mac & cheese roundup in Issue 51, it seemed almost a necessity to test out this new meal given the recent release of our previous article. This take on the dish from Mountain House definitely shakes things up however, as a mac & cheese with freeze-dried chicken and Buffalo wing sauce now added. While most everyone likes mac & cheese and I’ll personally go for some Buffalo chicken most d
Aaron Zagrodnick

Aaron Zagrodnick in Food

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Food

Backpacking Recipe: Tuna Pasta, Spinach, & Mushrooms

This quickly became one of my favorite backpacking meals and has been my traditional first night meal for almost a decade. The fresh vegetables are a treat and the ingredients are fairly lightweight. It uses about the same amount of water as a freeze dried meal and the clean-up is easy, especially since you can use the paper towel you packed the mushrooms in to wipe out the pot. This pasta also pairs well with a pinot grigio if you’re up for packing in the extra weight! Makes one hearty serving.
Mark Wetherington

Mark Wetherington in Food

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Food

Banana Nut Rice Pudding Backpacking Dessert Recipe

Another winter backpacking trip. The pack is heavy with gear and clothing, the climbs are steep and the breaking of trail through the fresh snow takes longer than expected. But a wonderful day is had skiing deep into the backcountry. The skies are a bright blue. And the winter sun reflected on the snow covered peaks. Beauty surrounds everything. Soon, a suitable campsite for the evening is spotted. A sheltered area among the trees with a view across the frozen lake. Camp is quickly made. The sto
PaulMags

PaulMags 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

Backpacking & Hiking Recipe: Electrolyte Trail Mix

In the world of sports nutrition, the word “electrolyte” refers to minerals dissolved in the body’s fluids that are lost in perspiration. Those little packets of sweetened electrolyte powder or brand name drinks allegedly offer all you need to replenish lost electrolytes during endurance exercise. But real food is often the best nourishment and includes both what you know you need and what you don’t know you need. For electrolyte replenishment on the trail, it is so easy to create a trail m
Cinny Green

Cinny Green 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

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

Creamy Beef and Mushroom Soup Backpacking Recipe

This is one of my favorite recipes. I love everything about this soup from the easy five minute home prep to the uniquely satisfying earthy aroma of mushrooms simmering in a rich broth at the end of a perfect day in the woods. Ingredients are easy to find in any supermarket. Dried mushrooms are sold in one ounce packages, typically in the produce section or readily available online. Beef broth powder (or beef soup mix), found in the bulk food section, combines with whole milk powder (Nido m
Karen Garmire

Karen Garmire 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

Mediterranean Couscous and Chicken Backpacking Recipe

In the American West, forest fires have sadly become a common occurrence. Often, the lightweight backpacker’s favorite of an alcohol stove is not allowed for various reasons. When these open flame bans occur, a person has to use a canister or a white gas stove instead. There is another choice. A choice that works well with not only open flame bans but also with the hot weather often found in conjunction with these stove bans: Going stoveless. Going stoveless is another tool to have in the backpa
PaulMags

PaulMags 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

Hungry Hiker Backcountry Pasta Salad Backpacking Recipe

Although this recipe is heavy on the weight, it is absolutely huge on the flavor and was one of my favorite meals from my backpacking trips this summer. It serves two hungry hikers – the amount of pasta used is double what is typically suggested, so you might reduce this if you typically have a small appetite. However, since there is no thick and meaty sauce involved, the pasta makes up for this. This pasta meal offers plenty of freshness that is typically lacking in backpacking cuisi
Mark Wetherington

Mark Wetherington 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

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

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

Backpacking and Hiking Jargon: Freeze-Dried Meals

A staple technique used in pre-packaged backpacking meals, freeze-drying is a process by which food (typically already cooked or a product that could be eaten raw) is frozen and the pressure in a chamber lowered. As a result moisture in the product is almost completely removed and foods that are freeze-dried can last years or even decades without refrigeration. A commercially available freeze-dried meal prior to rehydration. Freeze-Dried Pros and Cons Compared to at-home or
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

Backcountry Cuisine: Pumpkin Curry Backpacking Recipe

The pumpkin might be the hardest part about this recipe. Prepare it freshly at home and make this meal your first night out. If you have time beforehand, use a dehydrator to save the most weight. If you really want to go old school, take the canned version and a P-38 can opener. You can try this with butternut squash too...which can be purchased freeze-dried. Serves 2. This pumpkin curry recipe is a great option for when you have a little more time to prepare before a trip and cook on
Aaron Zagrodnick

Aaron Zagrodnick in Food

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Food

Apple Crisp Backpacking Dessert Recipe

Fall is in the air. The nights are getting crisp and the moist leaves on the ground have a pleasant and earthy odor. It is a wonderful time loved by many backpackers. Here’s a quick and simple yet yummy dessert that conjures up visions of autumn. Apples, cranberries, and cinnamon spice….all flavors of the fall. This backcountry apple crisp is a tasty treat for two or a decadent dessert for one. This backpacking dessert is a perfect complement for chilly fall weather. Ingredients
PaulMags

PaulMags in Food

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Food

Build Your Own Trail Chili: Backpacking Dinner Recipe

Double down to beat the winter chill with a steaming bowl of hot chili. The beauty of this recipe is the ability to tailor it to suit a variety of diets and taste preferences. It’s naturally gluten free. Choose a non-meat protein option for a vegan or vegetarian variation. Tone down the spice by choosing poblano peppers or mild canned green chiles and omitting the jalapenos. Pour on the heat by using Anaheim peppers, extra jalapenos and a full two tablespoons of chili powder. Makes tw
Karen Garmire

Karen Garmire in Food

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