Boundary Waters 2014 Menu & Food Prep List

Dehydrated green beans.

As a single backpacker, I followed the same bland menu every trip. For breakfast, I ate oatmeal with milk powder, nuts, and dehydrated fruit. I drank coffee on the side. Granola bars and trail mix served double duty as snacks and lunches. Ramen noodles capped off the day for dinner. Cocoa fit the bill during cold snaps. Country Time lemonade powder acted as treat de jour during hot spells.

Once, amidst the classic debate, food bag vs. bear canister, a friend pointed out, "She uses a food bag and has never been raided." The other friend replied, “If I was a bear I wouldn’t touch her food bag either. Nothing smells good in there!” Although I sincerely believe dumb luck is the reason I have never been raided, he had a point. The bag held an offering that made eating a chore after several days on the trail.

Older and responsible for others, my biggest trip preparations now revolve around camp eats. Demands include compact, lightweight, temperature resistant foods. For the Boundary Waters and many other wilderness areas, cans and glass containers are not permitted.


Compounding the situation, camp eats must satisfy conflicting palates. My husband prefers granola bars and spicy foods. He also needs protein. My child loves sweet and bland foods. These days I prefer to avoid eating sweet foods such as granola bars altogether. That said, I am occasionally caught breaking my own rule to nibble some chocolate.

Given our palates and constraints, for our August 2014 Boundary Waters Canoe Area trip, we planned our Boundary Waters menu and started preparing as follows:

 BOUNDARY WATERS MENU

Meal Plan by Day							Snacks	Drinks
	Day 1	Day 2	Day 3	Day 4	Day 5	Day 6
Breakfast	Ham & Cheese Sandwiches	Precooked Bacon, Oatmeal, Dehydrated Fruit, & Nuts	Bannock with Parkay & Dehydrated Fruit	Precooked Bacon, Oatmeal  Dehydrated Fruit, & Nuts	Hash Brown w/ Spam & Ketchup, & Dehydrated Fruit	Clif Bars & Granola Bars	Granola Bars, Trail Mix, Skittles, M&Ms, Cashews, Dehydrated Tropical Fruit Mix,   Beef Jerky, Marshmallows	Water, Lemonade Packets, Soup Packets, Cocoa, Gatorade Powder
Lunch	Peanut Butter or Honey on Bagels (2)  & Apple	Tortilla Pepperoni Calzones & Peas	Cheese,  Sausage, & Apples	Steak Fajitas, Black Beans, Rice	Spaghetti, Green Beans, & Apple			Spare
Dinner	Chicken Quesadilla w/Salsa & Corn	Garlic Parmesan Bannock & Parkay	Chili & Knorr Pasta Side	Beef Stroganoff	Tacos & Black Beans			Mountain House Meal

Food Preparation List in Support of Our Boundary Waters Menu

 

Cook & Dehydrate	Purchase & Pack
Steak Fajita Meat	Oatmeal Packets (12)	Take Out Honey Packets, Ketchup Packets, Taco Sauce Packets Saved Rather Than Tossing
Sautéed Multicolored  Bell Peppers & Onions	Dehydrated Tropical Fruit Mix	Peanut Butter & Salsa Purchased  in Small  Plastic Cups (2 each)
Meat Sauce	Cooking Oil Poured into 3 oz. Travel Bottle	Pouch Foil Chicken
Stroganoff	Precooked Bacon (2)	Squeeze Bottle Parkay
Taco Meat	Dehydrated Hungry Jack Hash Browns	Salt, Pepper, Small Baggie Parmesan Cheese, Small Baggie Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
Chili	Spam in a Pouch	Flour Tortillas (20 pack)
Black Beans	Block Mozzarella Cheese	Packet of Pizza Sauce
Green Beans	Block Cheddar Cheese	Apples (5)
Peas	Small Stick Sausage	Skittles (small baggie)
Corn	M&Ms (small baggie)	Cashews (quart bag)
Prepare	3/4 lb. Beef Jerky	Marshmallows (10)
Bannock Mix (2)	Peanut Crunch Granola Bars (2 Boxes), Chocolate Chip Granola Bars (1 /2 Box), Clif Bars (3).	Angel Hair Pasta (1/3 sandwich bag) & Egg  Noodles (3/4 full quart bag)
	Packets Lemonade (6), Gatorade Mix in baggie, Lipton Cup-a-Soup Mix (3), & Cocoa Packets (10)	Mountain House Meal

Dehydrated meat sauce.

My shopping and food preparation list included foods cooked and dehydrated at home, foods purchased and packed, and bannock mix thrown together at home. To facilitate the food packing process, baggies of all sizes starred as Mama’s best helpers.

One and two gallon baggies facilitated organization. A special baggie for snacks, another for breakfast foods, and so on, provided convenience and organization. A perishable foods baggie (cheese, apples, and bagels) placed at the top of the heap reminded me to serve these items early in the trip. In camp, small baggies preserved unfinished granola bars for the next snack. A two gallon baggie reinforced by a second two gallon baggie served as a handy pack-it-out trash bag for the week.

For more information on foods for the pack, check out Mama's 11 Tips for Low Cost, Inexpensive Grocery Store Foods for the Pack. Want more information about the meals on this menu? Coming soon I’ll post the recipes and kitchen camp gear I used for this trip.

Do you have tips or meal plans you’d like to share?

I’d love to hear from you. Please comment below…

disclaimer

 

I do not receive compensation for products mentioned or reviewed in this post. All products mentioned or reviewed were purchased by me. All comments made are based on personal use and experience with products.