Quantities of Staple Tramping Food

Here are some quantities you can use when meal planning for tramping.  These principally concern the tramping staple foods such as rice, pasta etc.  The quantities listed here are average quantities for tramping groups consisting of both girls and guys, they can adjusted depending the make up of the group.

Rice

* allow 1/2 cup uncooked rice per person per meal
* big eaters may prefer 3/4 cup but this averages out to 1/2 cup each in mixed group
* 1kg bag of rice (Jasmine) contains 6 cups uncooked rice (feeds ~12 people or ~6 people for two nights).

Pasta

* 500g packet of pasta feeds ~5 people

Couscous

* Comes in individual packets, just boil
* Quick to cook, filling.

Dried mixed veges

* add to all rice and pasta based meals
* 1 packet Surprise dried mixed veges serves 3-4 people
* add additional 1 cup water when cooking to rehydrate the veges.

Mince

* allow 200g mince per average person, this can be adjusted quite a bit depending on the meal between 150g and 250g per person
* normally only have mince on the first night (frozen from night before) unless dehydrated.
* mince is an important source of iron (red meat) especially as often no more iron sources for rest of tramp.

Tuna

* Tuna is a convenient source of protein and Omega-3, and works well on the side of most tramping meals based on rice, pasta or cous cous.
* Available in drained form in foil lined packets which are perfect for tramping.  Brand is Greenseas, not available at all supermarkets so shop around.  Foodtown Sylvia Park has them.  Comes in Chunky, Sweet Thai Chilli and Tomato and Basil Flavours.
* 1 packet between 2 people works well on the side of a main dish although you could have 1 packet each if desired.


- Craig Smith

Meal Ideas

Insert your meal ideas here or for longer recipes make another wiki page!


Some ready made meals (slightly more expensive but easy!)

* Rice Risotto Packets (add dried mixed veges).
* Family Pasta Meals (add dried mixed veges).

* Tuna (Greenseas brand comes in foil packets)

-Craig

Warrior Burgers

Warrior Burgers

Pattie Ingredients (serves 6 people):

• 500g lean minced beef
• 1 onion, finely diced
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
• 1½ tsp prepared mustard
• 2 Tbsp sweet chilli sauce
• 2 tsp prepared horseradish (optional)
• 1½ tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 egg
• 2 cups breadcrumbs
• 1 tsp salt and pepper to taste

Hamburger Fillings etc:

• 6 hamburger buns, halved and toasted
• Lettuce
• Cheese
• Sliced tomatoes
• Tomato relish
• Tomato sauce

Method:

Mix all together and form into 6 thin patties. For best and quickest results make before the trip and cook. The prepared patties can than be frozen, and heated up in a frying pan before serving.

- Rob

Burritos

Burritos are an excellent first night recipe, they scale very well for large groups and are suitable for vegetarians when mince and beans are cooked separately (which usually happens as you usually don't have big enough pots!)

Ingredients

* Tortillas (come in packets of 8 from supermarket - get fresh from bread section).  Taco shells are different and not what you're after. Allow 2-3 per person.
* 150~200g mince per person (frozen the night before)
* onions - 1 per ~3 people
* a little oil
* tomato soup packets - 1 per ~1kg mince
* cans of chilli beans, baked beans.  1 can per 3-4 people.
* tomatoes - 1 per 2-3 people
* lettuce - 1 feeds 8+ people!
* cheese - ~250g per 4 people

Optional Extras:
*avocado - 1 per ~4 people
* peppers

Method

1. Fry mince and onions in a little oil until mince is brown and no red remains, add tomato soup in concentrated form (1 packet-> 1 cup water) to thicken and add more flavour to mince.  Drain fat from mince if desired. 
- If you have a dehydrator you can do this step at home and dehydrate, then when you come to eat just add a little water at a time and heat gently until desired consistency is reached (don't add water all at once tho or a mince 'soup' will be created instead!)

2. Heat beans, add some cooked onion to them also.

3. Chop tomatoes, peppers, avocado, cheese.  Wash lettuce.

4. Serve as production line with people starting with picking up a tortilla, then adding mince/beans, and then veges in turn.  Eat and then come back for seconds etc.  Cutlery and plates are optional although eating outside may be a good plan if following this route!

- enjoy!  :-)

- Craig Smith

Perfect Instant Pudding

As you may have noticed, in the absence of a fridge and a full kitchen Instant Pudding never seems to come out properly... often it ends up being a cold 'drink' rather than a 'set' pudding!

Here is how to do it so it comes out perfect every time!

Ingredients

* Gregg's Instant Pudding - 1 packet per 2-3 people
     (avoid Pams, it doesn't mix so well, don't be afraid to splash out that extra 5c per packet! ;)
* Milk Powder
* Water
* Optional: crushed chocolate, marshmallows, dried fruit etc

Method

1. For each packet of instant pudding add 1 cup of water and 6 heaped tablespoons of milk powder into billy. 
2. Stir until milk powder is dissolved. 
3. Add each packet of instant pudding, stirring as you go
4. Add optional ingredients if you wish
5. Place billy into the nearest natural fridge© (creek, lake, tarn, snow, glacier, hut sink, outside in gale force winds). 
6. Add substantial rock to ensure billy remains in place.
7. Wait about 20mins+
8. Try and remember where you left billy.  Bring torch.  Query nearby trampers, deer, possums and especially Kea!
9. After finding billy...... eat and enjoy!  :D


- Craig Smith

Tramping Jelly

Due to lack of a proper fridge and ample time for it to set on tramping trips 'Jelly' is one of those often dreamed about but never made desserts (with the notable exception when you are at the NZAC hut on a snowcraft course!)

Fortunately due to overprotective parents a product exists on supermarket shelves that is the answer to all our prayers!

Jelly Time!

Jelly Time is the new jelly that is made using COLD water and sets in less than 60 minutes. Available in four favourite flavours that kids can safely make themselves. Now anytime is Jelly Time!

A bit cheesy, but just follow the instructions on the packet, they work fine.  Leave to set in a natural fridge© (creek, lake, tarn, snow, glacier, hut sink, outside in gale force winds).  And voilà...in an hour you will have jelly! 

If by chance you are tramping in snow don't be afraid to take real jelly and use the snow to cool it, it just takes a bit longer to set but tastes a bit nicer!

- Craig Smith

Possum and Rock Stew

Possum and Rock Stew

Ingredients:

• 1 possum (skin optional)
• 1 rock (several stones if no rocks available)
• Several litres of water. (this is where the flavour comes from so choose your vintage carefully)

Directions:

• Boil the water, not so long as to reduce it’s natural flavour.
• Add the possum, boil for several hours.
• Add the rock, simmer for a couple more minutes.
• Discard possum and eat rocks (the rocks are probably softer)

-Rob

Bush Tucker

Karamu (Coprosma) berries. All of the 5 species of N.Z coprosmas are edible. Quite tasty. Make good juice. Coprosma is part of the coffee family, and you can make coffee out of the seeds.

Rimu berries (except the blue bit).

Kahikatea berries (except the blue bit).

Ponga you can eat the white pith inside the branches. You have to be fairly desperate (i.e. in a survival situation to do this) its really stringy.

Spaniard you can eat the roots of spaniard plants. You would need to be really desperate though! You get to the roots by pulling the plant over by a rope. The goldminers in Otago did this sometimes.

Bull kelp is edible. One Maori recipe is to cook Kawhai in a slip open peice of bull kelp.

Mermaids necklace is edible as well.

Raupo The roots are edible. The pollen is as well. Maori used to make soup out of it, and small cakes.

Braken fern foots are edible. They are carcinogenic in the long run though, so its not recommended that you eat these, they are also really tough, and require a lot of beating and soaking apparently.

Supplejack The tips of the vine are edible. They look like asparagus.

Bush lawyer The berries are edible.

Reinga lily The roots are edible.

Hen and Chickens Fern The new shoots are edible. They taste spicy.

Kawakawa The berries are edible, when orange. You can also make tea out of the leaves, which act as a stimulant.

Manuka you can make tea out of the leaves. Honey from its flowers acts as an antiseptic and fungicide.

Pepperwood dried and crushed, the leaves make a spicy seasoning for food. The leaves are really peppery, Maori mothers from some Iwi used to rub the leaves on their breasts to wean their babies. If you taste the leaves you can see why even the deer won’t eat them!

Bush mans toilet paper The leaves are slightly antiseptic so they make good bandages. They can be used as toilet paper as well! Don’t eat it though, its highly poisonous.

Kauri the gum was chewed as chewing gum. Careful about standing on the roots of Kauri though, it can really damage them. the best place to get the sap is where a boardwalk goes over the roots.

Lemonwood The gum can be chewed to give you nice breath. Maori used to make oil out of the leaves as a perfume.

Mairehau Maori used to make the leaves into perfume. Don’t rub it straight onto your skin though, it burns your skin!

Mokimoki or Fragant fern only smells when dried. It smells like marzipan. Maori used it to perfume their houses.

Don’t eat them unless you are sure you’ve got the plant correctly identified.

Apricot Chicken Pasta

Ingredients:

Breakfast, lunch and snack ideas!

Snacks

For snacks you can't go past the traditional Scroggin!  Available premade in supermarket bulk bins (Pak'n'Sav's mix is highly recommended) it is like a multi-stage rocket, with chocolate for a quick boost, dried fruit for slightly slower release and nuts for longer, sustained release!

Muesli bars also work quite well for food on the go!

Breakfast

The most important meal of the day, and definitely not optional when tramping!

Porridge

The tramping staple is porridge, to make it tastier add some dried fruit, sultanas etc.  For quicker cooking time prepare it the night before and leave to soak, in the morning it will just need a quick heat.

Cereal

Bringing some of your favourite cereal from home works well, although avoid the high sugar ones that have little substance.  Muesli is a good choice.  Use milk powder instead of liquid milk, it won't go off and is much lighter!

Lunch

There are many options here, for day and overnight trips a packed lunch of sandwiches/filled rolls (like what your mum used to make you for school!) is great.  For longer trips bread tends to get squashed and fillings go off so other ideas are needed.

Base

* Cabin Bread (crackers)
* Pita Pockets

Spreads

* Peanut Butter
* Nutella
* Cheese
* Salami

Chocolate Creamed Rice

Ingredients:

Instant Potato Scones

This recipe makes scones you can cook on a frying pan (and was tested at a recent 'club lunch')

1 cup instant potato flakes
1 1/2 cups boiling water
2 tablespoons margarine or butter or oil

1 teaspoon salt
1 cup flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

Make up instant potato using boiling water and melted butter/margarine. Mix with flour, baking powder and salt to make the scone dough. Fry flattened scone in pan until done, make thin otherwise takes ages to cook.

Serve with jam, golden syrup, honey, nutella or just by itself.

Adding cheese is also good :-)

Pancakes

Pancakes

Ingredients:

1/4 cup of plain flour. 1/4 cup of self raising flour. 1 tbls sugar. 1/4 cup of milk powder. 1 tbls powdered egg.

Method:

Mix ingredients and place in a sealed bag prior to your trip.

To cook:

Mix contents of bag with half a cup of water. Melt some butter or
margarine in a frying pan over low heat. Our half the mix into frying
pan and cook until set. Turn pancake over and lightly brown over side.
Repeat for second half of mix.

-Rob

Tomato Soup

Tomato soup

2 tbls of tomato flakes 1/4 cup of milk powder 1 tbls of flour 1 tsp of basil 1 tsp of dried parsley 1/4 tsp garlic powder

Method:

Mix ingredients and place in a sealed bag prior to your trip.

To cook:

Place contents of bag into saucepan and gradually blend in two cups
of cold water. - Bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 5
minutes, stirring occasionally.

- Rob

Tramping Cheesecake

This is a special recipe only to be used on multi day trips (longer than 3 days) in order to fully appreciate the gloriousness of having a cheesecake while tramping.

Guaranteed to make all other hut users very jealous (especially if talked about for several nights beforehand to build up anticipation!).  This recipe is usually shared with others in the hut in return for their eternal gratitude!  ;-)

In order to find out the recipe you have to talk to certain people in the club.... or come on one of the epic multi day trips and taste it for yourself!