Making Lunch at Breakfast

Are you trying to figure out what the heck that title means? It's supposed to hook your interest!

While reading Chef Glenn's website recently, he had an idea that I decided to try out. When we have a travel day we often don't want to stop to make a hot lunch. Getting out the stove, having clean water to boil, dirtying pots and dishes and utensils - none of that really works when we just want to keep going.

Today I purchased a wide-mouthed Thermos bottle at Canadian Tire. When my son was young he refused to eat sandwiches for lunch at school. School lunches were often burritos or Jamaican patties that were heated up in the microwave and popped into a plastic wide-mouthed thermos that had been pre-heated with boiling water.

I did choose 3 different bottles at Canadian Tire and took them over to the kitchen scales section, but I didn't have enough nerve to set up any of the packaged scales to see which bottle was the lightest. I had to trust my own ability to see which one was lightest. I selected the following bottle:

It weighs 8.3 ounces (when empty) and holds 12 fluid ounces

Tonight I tested it out. I put in a single serving of rice, corn, peas, red peppers and canned ham - all dehydrated. I boiled water, added a cup, gave it a quick stir, closed the lid and let it sit for several hours. Okay, I'm not very patient, 2 1/2 hours. I opened it up and ta-dah! I had a meal ready to eat and it was warm. Steam came off of it when I put it in a bowl.

So at camp, when I'm boiling water for my tea at breakfast, I'm going to add a single serving meal to this baby, add the boiling water, carry it and have a hot lunch at the ready on the route! I just need to figure out how to keep a fork handy, I have a tendency to lose utensils on the trip.

It was yummy!