Yes, it has been a long time since the last post, but I have an excuse: I've been doing stuff. Still am, still will be, but I need the outlet of writing so I'm back. For now.
We are planning on spending seven days (six nights) on the river, and we'll focus mainly on dinners for now, though breakfasts and lunches will come soon.
We have three requirements for these meals: 1) Relatively healthy, 2) Easy to make, and 3) Easy to clean up afterwards. Some of them we've done before, some will be new for on the river (hence the testing).
Day 1:
Mexican theme, Fajitas. Most likely chicken, though I may push for the estrogen enhancing tofu option.
Ingredients: Onion, Bell Peppers (red and green), Mushrooms, Garlic, Mild Chili-Peppers (canned), and either chicken or tofu. Garnished with shredded cheese, sour cream, guacamole and served on tortillas, this is a classic.
Day 2:
Trailer park theme, Sloppy Joes. Turkey sloppy joes specifically, this is another meal that, when served properly, requires no plates or bowls, thusly cutting down on dishes to be washed.
Ingredients: Turkey, bell peppers, onion, corn (canned), black olives (canned), garlic, Manwich sauce, Lipton Spanish rice (to thicken the mixture), served on a bun.
Day 3:
Asian theme, Mongolian Beef. A relatively spicy dish, we'll add vegetables to the main course to make it at least somewhat more healthy.
Ingredients: Thin cut lean beef strips, rolled in sugar, flash fried with broccoli and snow peas and served over rice. This is a difficult dish to prepare on a home stove because most stoves don't get hot enough. We'll test it on our Coleman propane stove and see if it will work in the wild.
Day 4:
Middle Eastern theme, Falafel. A vegetarian dish, this is another one pan meal prepared on the stovetop, keeping us from having to tote along a bunch of charcoal.
Ingredients: Falafel, onion, bell peppers, garlic, sauteed and served with tzatziki sauce on a Greek pita.
Day 5:
Italian theme, Lasagna. Very easy to build on the river, we'll probably do it with turkey bacon for flavor.
Ingredients: Lasagna noodles, Spaghetti sauce (because we're lazy), non-fat cottage cheese, mozzarella cheese, garlic, mushrooms, bell peppers, black olives, and turkey bacon. Served with garlic bread.
Day 6:
Uno mas Mexican theme, Enchiladas. Canned chicken enchiladas that is. This is another easy to make on the river dish, usually saved for the last day because almost all the ingredients don't need refrigeration.
Ingredients: Canned chicken, enchilada sauce, garlic, onion, bell peppers, corn (canned), black olives (canned), mild chilis (canned), black beans (canned), rice, tortillas, cheddar cheese (the only thing that needs refrigeration). Served with sour cream and guacamole (ok they need refrigeration too).
You may have noticed that there are a lot of the same ingredients these dishes, specifically, bell peppers, onions, corn, garlic, black olives, etc. This is primarily because these vegetables travel well with little to no refrigeration (especially the canned stuff). What changes are the spices, meats and condiments. I don't think anyone will find these meals anything but superficially repetitive, but they will certainly be healthy.
This is of course a first draft, things may change if some of the experimental food doesn't come out good, and of course we'll be adding desserts before all is said and done. Feel free to comment/give ideas for meals if you care to.
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