Dehydrated meals are a quick, easy, and tasty solution while on any outdoors adventure as well as at home
As any outdoor enthusiast will tell you, it’s important to always be prepared while out on the trail. Food preparation and proper nutrition are essential and can be made easy, thanks to the convenience of dehydrated and freeze-dried meals.
The process of dehydrating food dates to early Egyptians. Evidence suggests they dried out meats using the desert heat. Throughout the Middle Ages, stillhouses were used to dehydrate and preserve food. Dehydrated foods also got a boost in popularity during World War II when the need for lightweight and easily distributed rations were used for troops. Over the decades, many people have associated dehydrated foods with being bland and tasteless. However, thanks to companies such as Mountain House and Good To-Go Foods (there are a number of other excellent options available as well that I’ve not mentioned in this article), dull and bland dehydrated meals are a thing of the past. These companies are passionate and dedicated to enhancing the adventure experience by making gourmet meals easy to prepare.
There are many advantages in considering the dehydrated meals found on the market today. Due to the removal of water in the food with the dehydration process, these meals can easily be stored in a backpack while exploring outdoors and take up less space without the additional weight. Dehydrated meals can also be enjoyed while out camping with family or friends. Instead of spending a lot of time with food preparation, storage and cooking, minimal effort is involved in serving a nice and tasty meal.
More time and thought are put into creating these incredible foods than it takes to prepare them. Just recently while camping and after returning from a hike with my family, all I literally had to do to cook a warm, delicious meal was to boil water and pour it into the meal’s pouch, seal it back up and wait several minutes before serving. Note that some meals may suggest additional ingredients or longer time to rehydrate the recipe; however, for the most part the only thing that’s required is boiling water.
I repeated the process for a yummy breakfast the following morning. Mountain House’s Spicy Southwest Breakfast Hash was a huge hit with my kiddos, which included simple and savory ingredients such as green chilies combined with potatoes, shredded beef, black beans and corn. I particularly loved Good To-Go’s Oatmeal, made with “peace, love and oats with quinoa, chia and hemp hearts.” It’s also vegan and gluten-free. Theses meals are scrumptious, quick, easy and sure to satisfy all taste buds, and I absolutely love how you can read all the ingredients and pronounce what’s inside the food being eaten. And to top it off, clean-up is a breeze and as simple as properly disposing of the pouches, when finished, and cleaning off your utensils.
When planning your next outdoor excursion adventure, you can’t go wrong with trying some of the wonderful recipes from any of these companies. With a wide variety to choose from, I’m positive any adventurist will find something to suit their palate. You’ll definitely be happy about spending less time preparing a delicious meal and more time out on the trails!
Resources:
Mountain House: www.mountainhouse.com
Good to Go: www.goodto-go.com/
OutdoorX4 Magazine – Promoting responsible vehicle-based adventure travel and outdoors adventure
