Patagonia Backpacking Dinners (Vegan)

I am getting SOOOO excited for my upcoming backpacking trip to Patagonia (southern tip of South America, in Chile)!!  We will be on the trail for 10 days, 9 nights and will be carrying all our food with us.  For past trips, I've brought the store-bought dinners like Mountain House and Backpacker's Pantry.  While they do taste pretty good, they are loaded with sodium and other ingredients I cannot pronounce.  So I decided that for this trip, I would try making my own freezer bag dinners.

The concept of a freezer bag meal is that you put all the ingredients in a freezer bag (must be shelf-stable ingredients), then when you are on the trail, you boil 1-2 cups of water, pour the hot water in to the freezer bag, give it a few stirs, seal the bag, and let it sit for about 15 minutes.  The hot water will cook the food enough to make it edible :)  Believe me, after hiking all day, it is the best thing you've ever eaten in your life!

I found a website, called Harmony House Foods, that sells freeze dried vegetables, beans, grains and fruits.  After doing a little research, I decided to order the vegetable sampler, bean and legume sampler, and a few of the freeze dried fruits that sounded good to me.

So once I had the ingredients, I spent one Sunday afternoon writing freezer bag recipes, and then assembling!  I based the recipes on other "normal" recipes that I have made in the past, or what just seemed like it would taste good together.  I tried to make each recipe about 2 to 2 1/2 cups of food.  I'll have to give a review of each dinner once I'm back from the trip!!

Sweet Potato & Black Bean Chili

• 3/4 cup freeze-dried sweet potatoes
• 3/4 cup freeze-dried black beans
• 1/4 cup freeze-dried onions
• 1/4 cup freeze-dried tomatoes
• 1 tsp smoked ground chipotle pepper
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1/2  tsp ground sea salt

Split Pea Soup

• 1 cup freeze-dried split peas
• 1/4 cup freeze-dried onions
• 1/4 cup freeze-dried leeks
• 1/4 cup freeze-dried carrots
• 1/4 cup freeze-dried celery
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tbsp vegan bacon bits
• 1/2 tsp dried rosemary
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp ground sea salt

Cheezy Bacon Potatoes

• 1 1/4 cups freeze-dried white potatoes
• 1/4 cup freeze-dried onions
• 1/4 cup freeze-dried peas
• 1/4 cup freeze-dried carrots
• 4 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp ground sea salt
• 2 tbsp vegan bacon bits

Northern Bean Stew

• 1 cup freeze-dried northern white beans
• 1/4 cup freeze-dried onions
• 1/4 cup freeze-dried carrots
• 1/4 cup freeze-dried white potatoes
• 1/4 cup freeze-dried green beans
• 1/2 tsp ground sea salt
• few dashes red pepper flakes
• 2 tsp Italian seasoning
• 2 tbsp nutritional yeast

Mexican Ramen

• 3/4 cup ramen noodles (crumbled)
• 1/3 cup freeze-dried black beans
• 1/4 cup freeze-dried corn
• 1/4 cup freeze-dried bell peppers
• 1/4 cup freeze-dried tomatoes
• 1 tbsp freeze-dried jalapenos
• 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 2 tsp smoked ground chipotle pepper
• 1/2 tsp ground sea salt

Hawaiian Rice

• 1 cup instant brown rice
• 1/4 cup freeze-dried bell peppers
• 1/4 cup freeze-dried sweet peas
• 1/4 cup freeze-dried pineapples (I used freeze-dried apricots instead)
• 1/2 tsp ground sea salt
• few dashes red pepper flakes
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp dried basil
• 3 tsp coconut flakes

Tomato Basil Pasta

• 1 cup ramen noodles (crumbled)
• 1/3 cup freeze-dried tomatoes
• 1/3 cup freeze-dried broccoli
• 1/3 cup freeze-dried spinach
• 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• few dashes paprika
• 1/2 tsp Cajun seasoning
• 1/2 tsp ground sea salt
• few dashes ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp dried basil

Spaghetti with Vegetables

• 1 cup ramen noodles (crumbled)
• 1/4 cup freeze-dried carrots
• 1/4 cup freeze-dried celery
• 1/4 cup freeze-dried onions
• 5 tbsp freeze-dried tomato powder
• 1/2 tsp ground sea salt
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp dried basil
• 2 bay leaves

Texas Chili

• 1/2 cup freeze-dried red beans
• 1/2 cup freeze-dried kidney beans
• just under 1/4 cup freeze-dried onions
• just under 1/4 cup freeze-dried celery
• just under 1/4 cup freeze-dried carrots
• just under 1/4 cup freeze-dried tomatoes
• 5 tbsp freeze-dried tomato powder
• 1/2 tbsp freeze-dried jalapeno
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp ground sea salt
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• 2 tbsp nutritional yeast

Sweet Potato Lentils

• 1 cup freeze-dried sweet potatoes
• 1 cup freeze-dried lentils
• 2 tbsp freeze-dried onions
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp ground sea salt
• 1/2 tsp coriander
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 2 tbsp coconut flakes