Warning: Picture-heavy Post

We took a long weekend last and went with a couple friends to Assateague Island National Seashore. Matt and I had been there last year on our vacation and wanted to go back, so we recruited another couple and headed down to camp a couple nights on the beach. Since it was the end of March, we had the beach pretty much to ourselves, save for a few fishermen.

The cooler weather meant the bugs weren’t out yet, but also, the ocean was too cold for swimming – unless, apparently, you’re a man.

In spite of the weather (we also had terrible wind Saturday evening) I think we all had a pretty good time. After checking in at the ranger station (which moved, by the way) and getting our backcountry permit, we had a quick lunch and set off on the hike, down the beach, to our campsite.

The National Seashore has six backcountry camping areas on the Maryland side, two on the ocean side and four on the bay side of the island. Each area has picnic tables and a chemical toilet and bayside sites also have a fire ring. It’s pretty nice for “backcountry.” We camped on the ocean side, but took a day trip to the bay side to do a little exploring.

We headed out Saturday morning to hike back up the beach a little way to the trail to the bay. Earlier, Matt had claimed to see dolphins, but nobody else saw them. Now, we all saw them. And guess what? The photographer on the trip had grabbed all the accessories for her camera and packed them in the backpack, but left the actual camera sitting in the tent. Thankfully, we were just yards away from the campsite and not all the way down the trail. So, Matt ran back and grabbed the camera, and I managed to get ONE shot of the dolphins before they moved further away from shore.

We did get to see the horses a little closer than last time. Much closer, actually.

The horses were the main reason that I wanted to go the first time, and after only being able to see them from across the island, I left a little disappointed. Not this time, though.

I still haven’t seen them on the beach and near the ocean, though there was a small group in the dunes when we got back to the beach.

There’s always next time!

Filed under: camping, outdoors, travel, wildlife by Rachel
Comments Off

Make sure to add your recipes and food posts to the link-up at the bottom!

I’m still thinking in backpack mode as we’re planning our trip. So, this week I have another DIY recipe that would be great for backpacking, camping, hiking or even just a snack to take to work!

Making your own granola/trail-mix can not only save you money, but it also allows you to control exactly what goes into it. And it’s easy!

Download the pdf recipe card (5×3 recipe card)

Ingredients:
2 T honey
2 T coconut oil (optional)
1 cup oats
1 T chia seeds
1/3 cup sliced almonds
1/8 cup cranberries
1/8 cup goji berries (or cranberries)
1/3 cup raw sunflower seeds

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a small saucepan, melt coconut oil and honey on low, just long enough to make it a smooth liquid. Remove from heat and stir in oats, chia seeds and any other small add-in.

Spread granola mixture in a jelly-roll pan, and bake for 5 minutes. Allow to cool.

Break up granola into bite size pieces and put in a quart-size ziplock bag. Add the almonds, berries, sunflower seeds and any additional add-in. Shake well to incorporate.

Also participating in:

Filed under: camping, DIY, food, Food Friday, organic by Rachel
1 Comment »

Make sure to add your recipes and food posts to the link-up at the bottom!

We’re planning a short weekend trip for our birthdays this year. As long as the weather cooperates, we’ll be heading to Assateague Island sometime in late March for a backcountry camping trip with a couple friends. We stayed on the Island one night for our vacation last year, and it was such a great camping spot, that I really wanted to go back. This time, we’ll be staying two nights, which means we have to carry double the food, and since we’ll be hiking in, we need it to be as light as possible.

The problem, however, lies in the cost of backpacking food. A little pouch of dried camp food runs about $5-$10 for just 1 or 2 servings. That adds up with 4 people over a few days. So, after a little research on the world wide web, I decided to try drying my own food. Of course, dried fruits and even veggies are easily found at the grocery, but as it turns out, once it’s cooked, pretty much anything is safe to dehydrate. You can make complete dishes and put them right in the dehydrator, or you can dehydrate the ingredients separately and just mix up small amounts at a time.

I started out with some very lean ground beef. It’s the fat in foods, that makes it go bad. Start with lean, and drain off as much grease as possible. You can also “rinse” it by pouring a little water over it while it’s cooking to help drain off the excess grease. I also read that ground beef sometimes becomes chewy when rehydrated, but if you mix some bread crumbs into the raw meat before you cook it, it rehydrates better. (Backpacking Chef – Dehydrating Meat)

I dehydrated 1/2 lb. ground beef by itself. It dried very quickly. With the other half-pound, I made a sauce and cooked some pasta and dried the finished food. The mistake I made with it was trying to use wax paper to cover the dehydrator trays because I only had one fruit leather tray. Take my advice, and don’t try it. The wax paper didn’t want to let go of the dried food. I also tried aluminum foil, which worked OK, but took longer to dehydrate and plastic wrap which worked very well, but heating plastic wrap up in the dehydrator doesn’t sound like a healthy idea to me. So, I think the best thing is to get the fine mesh or fruit leather trays that were made for dehydrating.

I also made a second batch of pasta that should be plenty to feed 4.

Download the pdf recipe card (cut and fold to make 5×3 recipe card)

Ingredients:
1 lb. elbow macaroni
1 lb. extra-lean ground beef
1/2 cup Italian-style bread crumbs
1/4 cup flour
1 pkt. taco seasoning
2 cups milk
2 cups frozen spinach
3 mushrooms, chopped (I used the regular, white, buttons)
2 cups shredded quesadilla cheese
1-1/2 T DRIED onion (OR 1/2 FRESH onion, diced)

Cook noodles per package instruction. Drain and set aside.

Thoroughly mix together bread crumbs and beef. Don’t be afraid to use your hands, and make sure you get the bread crumbs mixed throughout the meat. In a large skillet, brown the meat mixture until cooked through.

Reduce heat and stir in flour and taco seasoning just until the meat is coated. Add the milk and bring to a light boil, stirring constantly. Add the spinach, mushrooms, cheese and FRESH onion, and continue to cook until the sauce thickens.

Once the mixture becomes a gravy consistency, remove from heat and fold in pasta.* Allow to cool slightly before filling dehydrator trays with thin layers. Dehydrate on high 6 hours or overnight, breaking up or turning occasionally, if possible. (Not necessary, but it will help it to dry faster.) Once it is mostly dry, break into pieces and reduce heat to low for 2 hours to finish drying and cool down. Once it is completely dry, break up the rest of the way and add DRIED onion. Store in a tightly sealed container in the freezer for optimum shelf life. (Or use vacuum sealer, if you have one.)

*I opted to dehydrate my pasta separately, mainly because until I get another fruit leather tray, I have limited dehydrator space, and the pasta, by itself, will sit on the regular trays. I also placed it on higher trays in the dehydrator because it will dry much quicker.

Some other foods to try:
Sausage Gravy for biscuits
Fresh Fruits for trail mixes, granola or oatmeal
Tomato Sauce for pasta or rice dishes
Veggies for soup

Safety Disclaimer: Please practice safe food handling and common sense. I do not claim to be an authority on dehydrating food, this is merely what worked for me.

Also participating in:

Filed under: camping, DIY, food, Food Friday, Recipes, travel by Rachel
Comments Off