Using a Thermos for Food Preparation

One of the greatest things I discovered in 2015 was using a Thermos as part of my kit for food preparation. I got the idea from Chef Glenn. 

Here's my original post when I bought the Thermos.

When I'm rehydrating a variety of things for a meal, the Thermos is even better than a pot with a pot cozy. I've started using it for rehydrating the fruit that goes into our desserts after dinner. Because the Thermos holds heat for so long, I can put the fruit and boiling water into it while I'm prepping the rest of the meal. The results are delicious and the clean-up is even better.

My original purchase from Canadian Tire (2015)

L.T. picked this up at Loblaws (2016)

 The 2017 version:

My new companion, love the spoon option (2017)

The manly, larger version - same spoon

The best feature is that while making tea at breakfast, I can toss in a single serving of dehydrated lunch, say chicken, veggies and rice, pour in some boiling water, and keep it in my big pack's side pocket. When I want to have some hot food on the trail, I just pop it out and chow down. Hot lunch, ready to go. The amount of time the food spends in the Thermos just makes it more rehydrated. No prep, no clean-up required on the trail. No need to even open up the big backpack!

Here are some Thermos lunchtime ideas:

• chicken, rice and veggies with salsa
• tortilla soup with chicken and veggies
• Kraft dinner with pepperoni
• ham and eggs
• beef, noodles and veggies with soy sauce

What would you like to eat on the trail for lunch?

What made it back?

Aaaaaaand, we're back!

It was a challenging 7-day trip. We went in at Kiosk Lake at the top of Algonquin Park and did an 80 km loop with 15+ km of portaging.  We didn't have to do the same portage again in the trip, which was nice, all new terrain for both of us. The bugs were minimal, the weather was pretty good. It started off quite warm and cooled down a bit. The last night was chilly, I'm guessing it went down to 6 or 7 in the coldest part of the night. 

In the meantime, before I have a chance to document the whole trip, here's what we brought back in the food department:

The bag that couldn't hold it all at the beginning

The contents

Above is shown:

• a bannock mix (that has been on probably 5 trips)
• some dried cherries
• a few pistachios
• the rest of the butter
• 2 lunches for both of us
• 1 lunch for just one person (what I was putting in my Thermos)

A note on the Thermos. I LOVED it!  It came in handy every day and more than once a day even. What did I do with it? I would put in a single dehydrated lunch, pour in the water, carry it on the sidepocket of my bag, stop and eat lunch midway through the day! What else? I could use it to rehydrate the fruit for our nightly dessert. One morning when I wasn't going to make a lunch in it, I made a third cup of tea and it was steaming later that day. It works great and it will come on the rest of my trips. It's a keeper!

Stay tuned for all 7 days of the trip log!

7 Day Menu Plan - Solo Trip

LT is headed out on Sunday for his first solo foray into the park.  I wish I could join him, but I think he's looking forward to spending some time on his own. He'll be there for Canada Day.  Here's his planned route:

• Brent Access Point
• Cedar to Catfish - Sunday night camp at Catfish
• Catfish to Burntroot - Monday and Tuesday nights at Burnroot
• Burntroot to La Muir - Wednesday night at La Muir
• La Muir to Hogan's - Thursday night at Hogan's
• Hogan's to Catfish - Friday night at Catfish
• Catfish to Brent Access - Saturday night safe at home

LT's route (source: Jeff's Maps)

He's had to rethink what he's bringing with him.  He has to add the pots/dishes, water filtration system, and dried food to his pack.  I've weighed the food bag and it is 8 pounds without the fresh food.

All meals below marked with an asterisk (*) are from my favourite backcountry cookbook by: Chef Glenn AKA as The Backpacking Chef (http://www.backpackingchef.com/)

Here's what I've packed for him to enjoy:

Yep, it all goes in one bag!

Breakfasts:

• 2 breakfasts of fresh eggs with reheated bacon
• 2 breakfasts of blueberry pancakes with syrup and butter
• 2 breakfasts of dehydrated eggs* with dried canned ham flakes

Lunches:

• 1 fresh lunch (probably cold meat with cut fruit)
• 2 Kraft dinners with vacuum sealed chicken pepperettes
• dried canned baked beans with dried canned ham chunks
• salsa, chicken, vegetables, and rice (all dehydrated)
• pork jerky (from Costco) vacuumed sealed with crackers and cheese

Dinners:

• 1 fresh dinner (the chili that we forgot to bring on our last trip)
• 2 dinners of tricolor rotini, pasta sauce, veggies, ground beef (all dried)
• 2 dinners of salsa, chicken, vegetables, and rice (all dehydrated)
• 1 dinner of soft tacos with salsa, chicken and veggies (all dehydrated)

Desserts:

• 2 Banana nut bread puddings* (all dehydrated ingredients)
• 2 Trail raspberry crisps* (all dehydrated ingredients)

Snacks:

• homemade fruit roll ups (banana/mango)
• walnuts
• tamari almonds
• mixed nuts (cashews, almonds, peanuts)
• dehydrated banana chips
• dehydrated pineapple
• bannock mix

Condiments:

• salt
• pepper
• butter
• maple syrup
• sugar

Beverages:

• Twinings Earl Grey tea bags
• Powerade drops (to add to filtered lake water)
• Nightcaps (I'm not sure what he's bringing this trip)

All dehydrated meals are made in camp with boiled water

Canada Day at Cedar Lake last year - cinnamon buns (they were AWESOME!)

Another one from last year's trip

Packed and ready to go!

Do you think he'll miss me this trip?