Welcome to the Tenderfoot's Planning Guide

Fried Corn Meal Mush
For two. Pack one third cup of cornmeal with a sprinkle of salt per meal. The night before you have this for breakfast, mix the cornmeal with one-third cup of cold water and pour it into one cup of boiling water. Cook stirring constantly until it is a thick mush (don't let it burn). Let the mush sit in the pan overnight (protect against animals). In the morning, slice it about 3/8" thick, salt and pepper it, and fry it in butter until golden brown. Serve with syrup. This may sound strange but it is really GOOD! A little bit like French toast sticks.

Brown Sugar Syrup
Generally I just take syrup in a leak-proof bottle. Here's an alternative to reduce bulk and weight (and less disastrous consequences in the event of a spill/leak):
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon Butter Buds
At Home: Blend all ingredients in a food processor.
In Camp: Bring 1 2/3 cups of water to a boil in a small pot. Add mix. Stirring constantly, return to boil. Cook for an additional one minute. Cool slightly before using. Makes about 2 1/2 cups, enough for 4 - 5 servings. While acceptable, it is not as good as store-bought bottle syrup. It's a toss up -- you choose: better taste but more weight, bulk and chance of making a mess of your food pack, or; less taste with less weight, bulk and chance of leaking.

Scrambled Egg Omelet
Pack two dehydrated egg whites ("Featherweight Egg Magic") packets (equivalent of four eggs) or 1/2 cup powdered egg in a zip-lock bag. In another zip-lock bag put a couple of tablespoons each of dried green peppers, chives, parsley, and mushrooms and a couple of teaspoons of dehydrated onions (dried beef is an option, too). Mix the egg whites with water as directed on the packets. Add about six tablespoons of water to the vegetables in the zip-lock and let it set for 20 minutes. Pour off access water. Mix eggs and vegetables together and cook like scrambled eggs. Melt on cheese if you wish. Fry up bacon and/or rehydrate hash browns to complete meal. Serves two. It's OK -- better than powdered eggs alone.

Alternate Methods
Use fresh eggs. Purchase medium size eggs (they have thicker shells). Transport eggs in its cardboard carton (cut down to the size appropriate for the number of eggs taken). Wrap additional cardboard around carton and secure with duct tape. Place in a plastic bag. Bulky but worth it. No need for refrigeration for at least a week.

Omelet in a bag. In one ziplock bag put the 1/4 cup of powderd eggs (equivilent of 2 eggs), a little powdered milk, omelet fillings (dehydrated onion, green pepper, etc.), and a little cheese. In camp: add water to the bag and some hard sausage if you have it. Seal bag and smoosh it until everything is mixed together. Let sit for 5 minutes. Place in pan of boiling water for 2-3 minutes. Remove from pan. This omelet can be eaten right from the bag or put on a plate and eaten. Clean up is much easier!!

Breakfast Burrito
1/2 cup powdered eggs
Spices (1 teaspoon chili powder blend, 1/4 teaspoon oregano, etc.)
1/4 cup dried beef (or substitute hard salami)
4 teaspoons dried bell peppers
1 Tablespoon dried minced onions
2 teaspoons dried celery
Some hard cheese
2 or 3 Tortillas
Put powdered egg & spices in a separate bag. Mix together peppers, onions, and celery in another bag. Combine the vegetable mixture with 3/4 cups of water and set aside for 15 minutes. Add powdered egg and meat. let stand for another 5 minutes. Fry adding cheese near the end so that it melts. Roll equal portions in each of the tortillas and topped with salsa (discussed earlier). Great Stuff!! The only way powdered eggs are actually good.
In Camp: Place in a cookpot and add 3 cups of water. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat. Simmer 5 - 10 minutes. Serve hot. Serves four as a desert, 2 as breakfast. OK breakfast item - basically doctored up oatmeal.

Venison Jerky #1
1 lbs Venison (or beef)
2 Tbls Liquid Smoke
3/4 cup Soy Sauce
2 Tbls Brown Sugar
Optional: Worcestershire Sauce; Tomato Sauce; Barbecue Sauce; Onion Powder; Curry Powder; Salt; *Pepper; *Garlic Powder.
Select lean meat. Trim off all visible fat. Cut into strips 1" wide by 1/4" thick (I use roasts or steaks). Mix remaining ingredients into a marinade in a Ziplock bag. Let stand for 15 minutes. Marinade meat in the bag for 15 - 30 minutes shaking occasionally. Arrange meat on trays and place in dehydrator. After 12 hours or so, turn meat and rearrange trays. Remove when done (24 hours?). Store in a Ziplock bag in the freezer until trip time. It will keep for many days (over a week) without refrigeration for trail use. * I like to use 1/4 teaspoon of each of these.

GORP
M&Ms
Cashews
Almonds
Salted, Shelled Sunflower Seeds
Pumpkin Seeds
Granola
Mix together all ingredients in amounts that seem right. Add/Delete ingredients and/or amounts freely (other good ingredients include: Blanched Salted Peanuts (not dry roasted), Cheerios, Raisins, dried cocconut, etc.). Bag in a ZipLock Bag. Making your own is the only way to go!! Mine is different every time and always great!! I buy bulk stuff at the CoOp.

Camp Spaghetti with Meat Sauce
Two generous servings. Into a quart size Ziplock bag put: 6 oz. dry spaghetti broken in half; a little salt; a smaller bag containing tomato powder made from a 6 oz. can of Italian-style tomato paste, dried mushrooms, dried green pepper, dried minced onion, and extra seasonings; a separate bag of dried ground meat (or pepperoni, or summer sausage). This is truly two generous servings! Don't increase or you'll have left-overs.
For six servings (like a canoe trip). 1# (16 oz) spaghetti (no more!). I like to package the spaghetti in the cardboard core left from paper towels -- duct tape the ends shut. This really protects the spaghetti. Tomato powder made from three 6 oz cans of Italian-style tomato paste (no more! In fact cut it back a little if you can), dried mushrooms, dried green pepper, dried minced onion, and a spaghetti sauce seasoning packet; 3 separate bags of dried ground meat (equivalent of 1&1/2 lbs. or use pepperoni which is my preference).
In camp: Rehydrate the sauce mix -- guestimate the amount of water needed. Hot water works best. Heat sauce adding water to reach the correct consistency (make the sauce thinner than what you would at home to prevent scorching). Cook spaghetti according to directions -OR- To save fuel. Boil spaghetti for two minutes, cover, set aside for 10 - 14 minutes with the pot wrapped in insulation (like a sweater, jacket, etc.). Bring along a little Parmesan Cheese for addition "Class" points. AND you have to have some kind of bread with this!

Camp Chili
Two generous portions. Dehydrate one can of chili beans (beans and sauce - don't drain!) on a fruit leather sheet. Put dried beans in a quart size Ziplock bag and add tomato powder from a 6 oz can of tomato paste, dried onion, dried green peppers, chili powder, garlic powder, and a separate bag of dried ground meat. This is truly two generous servings! Don't increase or you'll have left-overs.
For six servings (canoe trip). Dry two cans of chili beans (beans and sauce - don't drain) on a fruit leather sheet. Put dried beans in a quart size Ziplock bag and add tomato powder from two 6 oz cans of tomato paste, dried onion, dried green peppers (& optional hot peppers), chili powder, garlic powder, a packet of chili seasoning mix (in the gravy packet section of the supermarket), and a couple of separate bags of dried ground meat (or TVP). If you feel you want to stretch it, bring along macaroni, noodles or minute rice to add, but you probably won't need to. Great served with a little corn bread & crackers. I personally don't really like the TVP (Textured Vegetable Protein - found at the CoOp) but some people do. For that matter, the CoOp carries a Brand Name, Fantastic Foods, that makes a dehydrated vegetable chili featuring TVP that works great as camp chili. If you like TVP, I'd simply purchase that rather than the hassle of all the prepping.

Other Suggestions
Use dried ground meats with Hamburger Helper or Suzi Wan meals. Also commercial made rice, noodles, stuffing mix, instant mash potatoes, potato side dishes, and gravies can be used. Use pepperoni, summer sausage, dried beef, or dehydrated tuna to create casseroles. Be Creative! Experiment!!

Jerky Stew
For four servings. Purchase 1 1/2 pounds of pre-cut stew meat, marinate, dry into jerky, and package in a separate zip-lock bag. Empty all contents from one container of STEW STARTER into a zip-lock bag. In camp, rehydrate jerky in warm water for 1½ - 2 hours. Pour off water. Mix together the dry ingredients, 6 cups water (or whatever the box directions call for plus a little more) and the rehydrated meat. Bring to a boil. Simmer for 1½ hours. Serve with bannock or biscuits. For additional servings increase the amount of stew meat and "doctor it up" with some of your own dehydrated vegetables, a mushroom gravy packet, and some extra dehydrated potatoes. This is really very good. A teenager on a trip told me this was his favorite thing. The two down sides to this are: 1) it is a little salty, and; 2) between rehydrating the jerky and the simmer, it takes a LONG time to prepare -- which is OK if you are hanging around camp reading or something. On a travel day you could but the meat in a plastic jar with some water to rehydrate while you travel. Make sure it doesn't spill or leak in the pack!!!

Baked Fish
Place aluminum foil shinny side up. Smear foil with margarine. Put fish filet on foil. Add more margarine and sprinkle with herbs. Close foil using the "drug store wrap". Place on hot coals for 12 - 15 minutes. Turn. Bake another 8 - 12 minutes. Great! Really keep this in mind if you're short of oil and have fish to cook. Heck, leave the oil home intentionally!! Foil is lightweight and takes up no room. Be sure to pack out used foil. It does NOT burn.

Easy Fish Chowder
Good for those times when you have to "stretch your catch". One package of Knorr's Vegetable Soup Mix. One cup of minute rice. Add 2 cups more water that called for on the soup instructions. Bring to a boil. Add fish chunks. Cook for an additional five minutes. I like this because of its flexibility. If you catch a lot of fish, use the soup as a vegetable course and the rice as a side dish -OR- boil 1 & 1/2 cups of water, add the soup mix and rice, for a vegetable rice side dish. Bake or fry the fish. If no fish are caught, use lunch sausage instead of fish; or make dumplings out of Bisquick, fish breading, flour, or pancake mix; and/or add cheese; or use as one of several items for a smorgasbord night -- serving whatever bits and pieces of what you have. Experiment! Have Fun with this!!

Mashed Potatoes with Chip Beef Gravy
Box Mashed Potatoes*
1 Country gravy mix Packet
1 vacuumed Sealed Dried Beef packet
Make potatoes according to directions. Make gravy according to directions. Cut up and add the meat to the gravy. Serves 4. Simple -- duh!

Fruit Cobbler
2 cups dried fruit bits
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch nutmeg
pinch cloves
1 teaspoon lemon flavoring
1/2 cup Bisquick
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
At Home: Bag 2 Tablespoons brown sugar and Bisquick together. bag the remaining ingredients togetner. At Camp: Mix the fruit mix and 3 cups of water together. Bring to a boil. Simmer 5 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons of water to the bisquick mix. Mix and spread over fruit. Cover. Cook 5 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes.

Camp Toddies
1 Shot of Something*
1 teaspoon of Sugar**
Dash of Cinnamon (optional)
Pat of Margarine (optional)
Boiling Water
Mix everything together in a cup and ENJOY!! * Bourbon, Brandy, or Whiskey all work ** Substitute Apple Cider Mix, Apple Kool Aid, or Cinnamon Tea Delete, add, or substitute freely. Experiment!

Bannock
Before the trip in a plastic bag mix together 1 cup white flour, 1 cup whole wheat flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. To prepare: add enough water to make a stiff dough (an egg and a little oil is optional). Knead quickly and form a one inch thick cake. Grease the fry pan. Brown the bottom of the cake. Then move the pan up 12" from the fire and let bake. To make coffee cake, cinnamon and sugar can be added to the flour mix. Wild raspberries or blueberries can be added if available. A good substitute is Bisquick doctored up with a little powdered milk and perhaps a little powdered egg.

BWCA Double Bottomed Biscuits
1/2 cup Bisquick (actually, I like Jolly Mix Brand better)
1 Tablespoon Powder Milk
1/3 cup water
Oil
This is the amount for one biscuit. Multiply according to the number of biscuits wanted.
At Home: Mix Bisquick and Milk together and store in plastic bag. Mark the amount of water to be added on the bag. In Camp: Mix Bisquick and water together. Make one large biscuit. Plop it into a well oiled frying pan. Cook with a cover in place over medium heat. Flip when it is done on one side. Cook until the other side is done (covered). This works great! It is like a double bottomed biscuit!
Variations: Bacon Biscuits - Add cup bacon bits to the mix; Cheese And Garlic Biscuits - Add grated cheese and garlic powder to the mix; Herb Biscuits - Add whatever herbs you fancy to the mix.
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Good all around Camp Spice Kit - spices in 35 mm film canisters. All canisters in a quart size zip-lock. Spices:
Camp All Spice (use this stuff freely!)
made of
Season Salt
Pepper
Oregano
Thyme
Celery Flakes
Dash of Onion Powder
Garlic Powder
Salt
Pepper
Lemon Pepper (good for fish)
Commercial Fish Seasoning
Cinnamon /sugar mix

Condiment Kit - packets from fast-food restaurants.
Store in a quart size zip-lock:
ketchup, mustard, sugar, honey, mayo, steak sauce, salsa, tartar sauce, soy sauce, others

Extra Bag of Minute Rice (1/2 cup per person)
Bag of Bisquick (with powdered milk added; 1/2 cup per person)
Bag of dehydrated Hash Brown Potatoes (One box per 4 people)
Brandy or Other Snake Bite Medicine
Extra Breading for fish
Oil
Margarine
Paper Towels
Aluminum Foil
Popcorn
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Use this for planning purposes but stay flexible with meal preparation. Take advantages of fish catches and berry picking. Also, weather, fuel availability, the condition of the group (or cook), what's left in the food pack, what sounds good, and other variables should all play into meal selection/preparation.

Before planning be sure to consult everyone in your group. Ask specific questions about food: "Does anyone have any food allergies or special needs?" "Are there any particular foods that you absolutely don't like?" "Are there any foods, or meals, that you ate on previous outings that were particularly good and easy to prepare?" "Are there any special requests?" The answers to these questions play an important role in your menu planning. Don't, however, ask, "what do you want?" -- with a large group it is too hard to plan and you are setting yourself up to fail!
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