#my aunt makes hers with chicken powder its wild

[lanshappycorner]

Important question

How do u guys make ur eggs what is ur recipe

[justlookfrightened]

Prompt request: after retiring Jack takes up gardening

CW: Mentions of wild animal death

Jack stared. It looked like one compact bundle of dappled brown fur lying there in the ornamental grass, but when he looked closely he could see five … no, six tiny bodies. One raised its head and blinked at him.

Bunnies.

Well, that explained what had happened to the row of lettuce yesterday. All twelve plants just gone, looking like someone had taken scissors and sheared them off even with the soil.

Not these bunnies. They looked like hopping out of the nest — really just a fur-lined depression in the ground — would be beyond them at the moment. But they must have a mother around somewhere.

“Bits,” he called, voice low but urgent. “Bitty. Come and see.”

Bitty walked over from where he had been tsk-ing over the peas, which, yes, had a distinctly gnawed appearance.

“Look, lapinou, bunnies,” Jack said.

Bitty’s eyes went wide and his face went pale.

“How’re you going to do it?” he said.

“Do what?” Jack said.

“Kill them,” Bitty said, and turned and walked toward the house.

Jack hurried to follow, pausing only to slip off his mud-caked gardening shoes before stepping on the deck.

“Why would I do that?” Jack said, watching Bitty fuss with his pots of mint and basil, very deliberately not looking in the direction of Jack’s garden.

“Because rabbits will eat just about everything in a garden clean down to the ground,” Bitty said, plucking mint leaves off a plant. “And they reproduce like … well, you know. Uncle Peter used to drown them in a bucket of water. He said it was more humane than other ways.”

“Bitty —“

“Of course, my cousin Timmy wanted to shoot them once he got a BB gun,” Bitty continued. “But Uncle Peter and Aunt Marilyn wouldn’t let him.”

Thank God for small mercies.

“Bitty, I’m not going to kill any rabbits,” Jack said.

“But you’ve put so much work into the garden,” Bitty said. “And it produced so well last year, and it’ll probably do even better this year, and I do appreciate all the fresh produce to cook with, and so does the rest of the neighborhood, and it’ll all be a big waste of all your time and effort if the rabbits overrun it and eat everything up. An’ unless you’re planning to make rabbit stew, the rabbits don’t do us a lick of good. And I, for one, am not gonna skin any rabbits.”

“Bits, we’re not going to kill any rabbits. And they do do us good. I see the way you smile when you see them hopping around. That’s good enough for me.”

Bitty looked at the garden, and then uncertainly up at Jack.

“But the garden —“

“If they eat every plant in the garden, we’ll just buy what we need at the market,” Jack said. “I know nothing beats home-grown, but the price can be too high if it means turning us into bunny executioners.”

“You mean it?” Bitty said, smiling for the first time since he saw the nest.

“Of course, lapinou. I’m not going to invite them in, but if we do our best to keep them out, and they still get in, well, we’ll deal with it.”

Jack went in to shower and start researching how to rabbit-proof a garden. It clearly would not be easy; there would be chicken wire fencing to install (complete with a section on top of the ground outside the garden), natural repellents to buy, maybe a motion-activated sprinkler.

Jack was still reading and making notes when Bitty brought him a tall glass of iced tea — thankfully not sweetened — but infused with the mint Bitty had picked earlier.

“You’re happy as a clam up here with something new to learn about, aren’t you?” Bitty said.

“I guess so,” Jack said. Yes, he was happy. He hadn’t really noticed as he clicked through websites and blogs looking for the best advice.

It was kind of like the winter he was planning the garden, just looking for something to do after retirement. He’d learned the pH of his soil and how to treat it when necessary, researched different varieties of vegetables and planting schedules, developed an actual affection for mulch and compost (and knew the difference between the two).

Then that spring, he’d worked hard to change a large corner section of the back yard into a garden. They hired someone to bring a rototiller to turn the soil over to start, but there was plenty of physical labor to do once he was gone.

Jack started to understand why gardeners seemed to live so long — he was a 40-year-old retired athlete and a day working in the garden left him exhausted. But it was a pleasant kind of exhausted that came with fresh air and sunshine and, sometimes, Bitty in a ridiculous wide-brimmed hat. Which didn’t seem so ridiculous after Jack got sunburned on the back of his neck.

More rows of shoots disappeared the next few days while Jack laid in his supplies, but he found it hard to begrudge the rabbits for eating the bounty all around them. Still, it would be nice if he and Bitty got some vegetables from the garden.

Jack started by installing a chicken-wire fence, stakes hammered deep and wire securely fastened. He extended the wire fence a foot out from the base and covered it with mulch. He spread powdered repellent along the entire perimeter.

The whole time, the bunnies watched him. He was out there enough that they seemed to have decided he wasn’t a threat.

When he was done, he hooked up the hose and dragged it clear to the other side of the yard. There, just along the fence line, he had planted a couple of rows of lettuce and peas — the things the rabbits seemed to like best.

He gave the plants in what he thought of as the rabbits’ garden a good water, and retreated to the deck to see if the rabbits would find them.

“I thought you were going to do a motion-activated sprinkler,” Bitty said from his seat at the table.

“Maybe if I have to,” Jack said. “But for now I’m trying this.”

They were both watching as the mother rabbit hopped out from the hedge. She turned to look at them, nose twitching, and made her way to the rows of new plants.

[the-coconut-asado]

Crazy for Kiwi Crickets

When it comes to eating out in Fiji, you are only as good as your last success.

 Consistently get it right and the punters will flock. Anything less than excellent and it’s ‘Maaan that place has gone downhill – but the duck soup at Harbour Centre is the Bomb!’ You can’t actually get duck soup at Harbour Centre, but anything with duck in Suva is a sure-fire winner as they are in constant short supply.

 Fiji is always in pursuit of the New Big Thing. That duck soup place I mentioned was actually the New Big Thing once, so was The Guava Café (doorstep griddled toast and Land of the Giant-sized portions); Singh’s burn-your-ring curry house and the Chinese restaurant at Samabula where you got a decent takeaway and a ringside seat at a sailors’ punch up.

 There are some classics that never go out of fashion. The cream buns at Hot Bread Kitchen – the ‘cream’ is actually buttercream and they sell them in sets of six like monkey bread so yeah, good luck with just eating one; Cardo’s Steakhouse in Denarau – they claim their cattle are descendants of Argentine castaways from the 19th century (kind of yarn that could spark a punch up in that Samabula Chinese restaurant, but the steaks ARE consistently good); Friday seafood lunch at Suva Bowling Club (you may not recognise half the seafood on your plate, and that’s a good thing); And, sadly closed now, The Cottage – tucked behind the main drag in Suva, serving the best local Fiji food and only open at lunchtime. And didn’t we all wail when the owner retired and shut up shop after decades of top-quality chow.

Anyway, it’s quite something when the New Big Thing is your sister-in-law’s café. Weta (Coffee) Fiji, the fifth child of Mue and her husband Darran, opened its doors in March this year. 

The café gets its name from a gerbil-sized cricket native to New Zealand. A quick google search and you can watch a film of a weta fighting a foraging pig, so maybe not exotic pet material. 

While the lion’s share of daily sales will always be the coffee (and we returned with bags of beans to London, it’s that good), it’s the food at Weta that’s getting the lion’s share of hype. World Health Organisation apparatchiks would probably advise not have more than one Honey Butter Waffle a month, yet people are spectacularly carb-loading these Weta signature goodies daily on their way to work. Take a look at the picture below and you could so easily join them.

Aside from the waffle-fest, Mue and cousin Cherie (whose aunt founded that other Fiji café classic Bulaccino) have entered into a kind of foodie face-off with each other, competing to see who can come up with the most mouth-watering innovations. The Honey Butter Waffles already give 1-0 to Mue; but ever thought of combining crispy nuggets of bacon with a rich mayonnaise, slathering it on a chicken schnitzel and sandwiching it all in a toasted mini baguette? Then check out their Chicken Baconnaise Panini and Cherie evens the score. How about a teal-green smoothie that tastes fruity and delicious but you don’t know why? Place your order for their Ugly Green Juice  - a joint invention so let’s call it a draw. I assiduously worked my way through most of their menu over two weeks and couldn’t find much that was less than evil genius.

Because this is a family concern, and Mue does a lot of her experimenting in her own kitchen, I got caught up in the whole entrepreneurial swirl when we were there this summer. Watching while Mue, with apparent carelessness cloaking a keen cook’s eye, tossed ingredients for her Marsala Chai muffins into the food processor at 5 in the morning while simultaneously whipping up a vegan version of her waffle mix. Slavishly watching her EPOS app to see if the sales dial had moved to kerching! levels – in short, generally starting to catch the fever of the hospitality business owner. Is Suva ready for Kava Hot Chocolate? (Kava is the ceremonial drink of Fiji with delicate overtones of mud). Apparently yes, and at least 10 people on the first day of sales had a dreamless sleep that night. Another invention marked up to Mue and another profit stream.

Having eaten our body weight in tropical breakfast patisserie, we left Suva for a few days to head to our own New Big Thing on Fiji’s Other Big Island.   

Savusavu is a picturesque town with a bay big enough to host a fistful of yachts and a marina to moor them. Even though it’s popular, the road to Savusavu – which nestled on the South coast of Vanua Levu - is one less travelled compared to the resort islands of Western Viti Levu. It has a reputation as a millionaire’s playground and we were told ‘be careful, you won’t want to come back’ (do people wrongly assume that we are at home in the company of dicks with yachts?). Anyway, they weren’t wrong about the beauty of the place, and I can now tell them a few tales about some unexpected food epiphanies.

The first was thanks to Sarah, the owner of the Gecko Guesthouse. It said in our Airbnb blurb that she would throw in a cooking lesson if we asked nicely. Which we did, and she obliged, if a little reluctantly at first. We spent one chilled-out evening learning her techniques for snake bean and bitter gourd curries (be sparing rather than slavish with your spices), a-ma-zing fish madras (although we can’t get fresh walu in the West, swordfish would be a decent substitute) and clever hack for cooking rice (err, use an electric rice maker).

However, the piece de resistance of Savusavu is a ‘dive’ (my friend Ije’s word when he saw the Insta post) called Arun’s Hidden Taste of Paradise. 

The name felt a bit at odds with its appearance, which is a little grubby and dishevelled, but don’t be fooled. The clue is in the word ‘hidden’ because if you make it through their mesh-covered door you will taste cassava chips which are meltingly creamy on the inside and quadruple-cooked crispy on the outside and, hands down, the best butter chicken I have eaten in my life. The eponymous Arun, both owner and cook, seemed frankly scared when I asked for a photo, so I didn’t push on asking for the recipe – but kept the flavour profile running around in my head for the rest of the trip.

Obsessed as I was, I hunted down ingredients lists for butter chicken on my bookshelves and I think I have found a pretty good match in Vivek Singh, who based his Cinnamon Club classic on a 1950’s recipe from the Moti Mahal in Old Delhi. But then I saw a recipe for a curry pie in last month’s Delicious Magazine and had the brainwave to make this pie with the butter chicken. And while you might have to make the trip to Suva to get Mue’s original and best Honey Butter Waffles TM, I have slightly adapted her Chai Latte and Choc Chip Muffins  and Ugly Green juice here.

So raise your Ugly-Green juice-filled glass to New Big Things. And watch out for the next one - the launch of Mue and Darran’s Writers Lodge guesthouse with Kava Bar and Weta Café later this Autumn.

You can follow them on @wetafiji. 

 Butter Chicken Pie

You can just make this butter chicken straight with pilau rice and all the trimmings, but turning it into a pie takes it to the next level. This pastry is super short and crispy, thanks to a mix of butter and lard. Don’t be put off by the long list of ingredients or the processes. It’s dead easy over a lazy Sunday and the flavours are so worth it. Serves 4.

 Ingredients:

For the butter chicken:

800g boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces

One red chilli and some coriander leaves

1 large red pepper, seeded and cut into strips

For the marinade: 

120g Greek yoghurt

5 garlic cloves, grated or crushed

1 inch piece  of ginger, peeled and grated

1 tbsp sunflower oil

Juice of 1 large lemon

Kosher salt and pepper to taste

3 tsp chilli powder

1 tsp ground cumin

½ tsp garam masala

½ tsp turmeric

For the sauce:

8-10 tomatoes

1 in piece of ginger, half grated and half chopped finely

4 garlic cloves, grated or crushed

4 green cardamom pods, 2 cloves, 1 bay leaf

2 tsp chilli powder

80g salted butter, diced

2 green chillies, split lengthwise but still joined at the stem

80ml single cream

A few dried fenugreek leaves

1tsp garam masala

1 tbsp. sugar

For the spiced butter:

1 Tbsp. ghee

1 tsp black mustard seeds

1 tsp. crushed chillies

For the pastry:

230g plain flour

1 tsp kosher salt

65g salted butter, and 50g lard, both chilled and cubed

4tsp. soured cream

1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar( or use white wine vinegar as a substitute)

4 tsp. water

1 egg., beaten

3 tbsp. lime pickle (I like Pataks)

2 tbsp. sugar

How to make:

First marinate the chicken. Mix all marinade ingredients, stir in the chicken, cover and pop in the fridge for at least 2 hours, or preferably overnight.

 Heat the oven to 220C/ Gas 9. Spread the chicken pieces out in one layer on a large baking tray, leaving a margin on the side to say out the strips of red pepper, tossed in a tsp. olive oil. Cook for 15-20 mins, turning the pieces halfway through so that they cook evenly. Remove from the oven and set aside while you make the sauce.

 Slice the tomatoes in half and put in a large saute pan with 125 ml water, grated ginger, garlic, cardamom, cloves and bay leaf. Simmer, covered for about 25 mins until the tomatoes are mushy (the aroma from this simmer will already be driving you wild with desire). Remove the whole spices, add the chilli powder and simmer for a further 10 mins (Vivek likes to push the tomatoes through a sieve and just use the resultant puree, but I prefer my sauce to be a bit more rugged, a little less refined).

 Add the chicken pieces and the red pepper slices and all their juices and give it a good stir. Slowly stir in the butter, a couple of cubes at a time, and simmer for about 8 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. Add the chopped ginger, chillies and cream and simmer for a minute or two longer. Stir in 1 tsp.kosher salt, crumble in the fenugreek leaves and the garam masala. Adjust the seasoning if necessary then add the sugar.

 In a separate small pan, warm up all the ingredients for the spiced butter until the seeds start to pop. At this stage you can serve the Butter Chicken with the spiced butter spooned over the top, but if progressing with the pie (which I urge you to do) , then set both the chicken and the spiced butter to one side.

Now make the pastry (you can also make this ahead and chill, just bring back to room temperature before rolling out). Combine the flour , salt and a generous grind of black pepper in a food processor. Add the butter and lard and blitz until it has the texture of fine breadcrumbs. In a separate bowl, mix the soured cream, vinegar and water then add to the flour and butter mix and just blitz until the mixture starts to come together (don’t overwork it). Turn out onto a floured surface and bring together into a smooth ball. Wrap in cling film then chill for at least 30 mins.

Heat the oven to 200C/ Gas 6. Brush the rim of your pie dish with the beaten egg, then fill the dish with the butter chicken and drizzle the spiced butter all over the surface. Roll out the pastry in a circle big enough to cover the pie dish, then lay over the top of the dish, crimping the edges to seal and trim off any surplus pastry to neaten the edges. Cut a small cross in the middle to let the steam out during cooking and make some pastry leaves with any pastry offcuts.

Brush all over with the rest of the egg glaze then pop in the fridge for 10 minutes.During that 10 minutes, make the lime pickle glaze by mixing the pickle with 2 tbsp. boiling water and the sugar. Set aside.

Bake the pie for 40 mins then brush all over with the lime pickle glaze and bake for 15 mins more. Serve garnished with the chilli (dipped in a little oil to make it glisten) and a few coriander leaves.

 Mue’s Chai Latte Choc Chip Muffins (and some variations)

When I asked Mue for the recipe she had to quantify her instincts on ingredients, (and thanks for leaving out the eggs first time round missus) but the results were judged by those who ate them as ‘the best they have ever had’. I have slightly adjusted the recipe, using chai latte mix instead of masala chai and used my favourite buttermilk instead of sour cream. (makes 12 generous muffins)

Ingredients:

3.5 cups flour (about 350g) plain flour

3 tbsp. baking powder

1 tbsp chai latte powder

Pinch kosher salt

125g butter, melted

200g sugar

2 tbsp. Coconut oil, melted

2 tsp vanilla

2 cups buttermilk and maybe a tbsp of milk

2 eggs

1 50g packet of chocolate chips plus a few extra for serving

For the streusel topping: 

20g plain flour

10g sugar

10g butter

1 tsp. Chai latte powder

How to make

Heat the oven to 220C/ Gas 7-8. Line a 12 cup muffin tin with muffin holders (I like the tulip-shaped ones in the photo). 

In a large bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, sugar, chai latte powder and salt. In separate bowl mix the melted, cooled butter and coconut oil with the beaten eggs, Buttermilk, splash of milk (1 tbsp) and the vanilla paste. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix with a wooden spoon until a thick, gloopy consistency. Add a little more milk if the mix is too stiff. You want it not quite falling off your spoon. Then fold in the chocolate chips. 

In a third bowl, rub the butter into the flour until you have fine breadcrumbs then mix in the sugar and chai latte. 

Fill the muffin cups evenly (about 2 tbsp. Mix per cup), then top with the streusel and pop in the oven, turning the heat down immediately to 180C/ Gas 5. Bake for 30 mins until a skewer comes out clean from the centre, then remove from the oven and dot each muffin with a few more chocolate chips cool and serve. 

Variations

For Blueberry muffins, omit the chai latte powder and choc chips and stir in 3 oz fresh blueberries into the muffin mix. Bake as before. 

For Apple, Pecan and Golden Syrup muffins. Melt 2 tbsp golden syrup with the butter and coconut oil, then add all the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients as before. Fold in 1 grated apple and 50g coarsely chopped pecans into the muffin mix then bake as before. Dot each muffin with a few more chopped pecans when out of the oven and before they cool. 

Mue and Cherie’s Ugly Green Juice

This is the colour of verdigris but tastes delightful. Just shut your eyes and drink (or colour match with your nail polish, like here). 

Ingredients: 

½ cup frozen strawberries

2 tsp acai berry powder or lingonberry powder

2 tsp Splenda or Stevia sweetener

4 tsp. Spirulina

1-2 Cups nut milk (try to get a nice think consistency, so start with 1 cup and add more to taste

How to Make

Put all your ingredients into a blender, blitz till smooth and serve. 

It’s that simple.

[ntrending]

Freezer bags are the secret to eating well on your next camping trip

New Post has been published on https://nexcraft.co/freezer-bags-are-the-secret-to-eating-well-on-your-next-camping-trip/

Freezer bags are the secret to eating well on your next camping trip

Nobody’s going to summit Mount Rainier or trek through Yosemite’s vast wilderness on just a handful of trail mix. When you head into the backcountry, you need balanced, hearty meals to fuel your adventures.

But not all rough-and-ready sustenance gets the job done. Ideally, your food will fit three criteria: It must taste good, cook fast, and not require too much precious stove fuel. That’s why freezer-bag cooking works so well on the trail.

I discovered the brilliance of this method at age 18, while taking an overnight trek with my aunt. For the previous 10 years, ever since my first hiking trip with my dad, I followed my father’s food preferences. He has always been the kind of backpacker who doesn’t worry about the weight of his pack, stuffing in cans of beans, tins of tuna, and boxes of Velveeta macaroni and cheese.

My aunt, on the other hand, dutifully weighed and portioned her meals in advance, creating stunning single-serve bundles that cut packaging waste and eliminated the weight of unnecessary extra servings. Plus, there was practically no cleanup after the meal. My eyes were opened—freezer bags became my default for backcountry cooking. Here’s how you can follow my lead.

The freezer bag advantage

This preparation is cheap and easy, and it also saves waste, weight, and water. What you carry into the wild, you have to carry back out. But no one likes toting a pack stuffed so full of garbage that you can’t find your eating utensils. Most of that waste comes from the packaging around your trail food. So remove those boxes, tins, and plastic wrap and place all of your ingredients in one compact zip-top freezer bag before you leave home. When you eat its contents on the trail, all that’s left to throw out (or wash and recycle) is the one bag.

With no unnecessary packaging and perfectly-portioned servings, you’ll also have less weight to carry. This is of the utmost importance to backpackers, who often cut toothbrushes in half to save an ounce or two.

This cooking method also requires less fuel, because you don’t have to simmer the food over a flame: You just add hot water and let the meal cook in the bag. On top of fuel, you save water: Instead of rinsing cookware with your precious liquid reserves, there’s zero cleanup, so you can save the H2O for the hike out.

Why build your own bags rather than buying pre-made freeze-dried meals? You can find backcountry fare lining the shelves at REI, but these meals cost about $8 to $12 on average. Plus, your options are limited, especially if you’re on a special diet. By crafting your own lightweight meals from grocery staples or bulk bins, you can save some cash and customize your meal plan.

Building your meal

A balanced diet is even more important when you’re on the trail. There, even the smallest deficiencies can seem monumental—just ask anyone who has backpacked the Grand Canyon in July without electrolytes or salty snacks. Fortunately, getting all the nutrients you need isn’t too difficult.

“Eat regularly, eat a variety, and eat often,” says Claudia Pearson, Rocky Mountain Rations Manager at the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS). “Those are the rules of food on the trail.”

Every meal you eat in the backcountry should contain three main components: fat, complex carbohydrates, and protein. Fat tops up your energy reserves, carbs offer a quick boost, and protein helps repair stress to your aching muscles. Salt and sugar play a part too, but at dinnertime, it’s all about refueling for muscle recovery and restocking your energy stores for tomorrow.

So when you craft your meal-in-a-bag, start with carbohydrates that cook quickly and easily, such as couscous, rice noodles, or ramen. Aim for starches that take no longer than five to seven minutes to rehydrate—otherwise, your carb may not cook fully with the freezer bag method.

Next, add a serving of protein like nuts or seeds, dried tofu, dried beans, or pre-cooked foil-packed tuna or chicken. If you opt for animal sources of protein, keep them separate in their foil-pack wrapping until you’re actually cooking the meal. That way you avoid spoilage.

And don’t forget the veggies. A few tablespoons of dried peas or mixed vegetable flakes offer necessary vitamins and minerals. To top everything off, bouillon cubes and dried spices add flavor.

It’s also worth your time to seek out foods that have the most calories for the smallest weight and size. Pearson says she often includes components like honey, peanut butter, coconut, chia, raisins, cheese, and powdered eggs, which are all nutritious and easy to prepare.

If you’re not comfortable creating your own recipes yet, we’ve provided a couple examples in the next section. Alternatively, Pearson recommends that you head to the grocery store and look for soups in bulk bins or instant cups. If you’re looking for prepackaged options, then dried refried beans, curried rice and vegetables, and ingredients like peanuts and miso paste all make for great freezer bag meals. Pearson regularly includes these foods in NOLS students’ meal packets.

“Your imagination is your only limitation,” she says. “It just has to taste good, that’s the bottom line.”

Recipes

Although you can build a meal yourself, I have a few tried-and-true recipes that have served me well. One contains meat, and the other is vegan.

Spicy Couscous

1/3 cup couscous

2 tablespoons freeze-dried peas or other vegetables

¼ teaspoon cumin

¼ teaspoon spicy chili powder

½ teaspoon dried cilantro

½ bouillon cube

1 tablespoon dried cranberries

1 tablespoon sunflower seeds

1 pouch of single-serve foil-pack chicken

Salt and pepper to taste

Place all ingredients except chicken, sunflower seeds, and cranberries into a sealed double-zipper freezer bag before hitting the trail. At dinnertime, boil 1 cup of water and pour in enough to cover the couscous. Massage or stir the bag to mix the ingredients. Zip the bag closed, then wrap in a towel and let sit for five to seven minutes, or until couscous is soft, massaging once halfway through. When cooking is complete, stir the bag’s contents (if necessary). Then add chicken, seeds, and cranberries. For minimum cleanup, enjoy straight out of the bag, or transfer to a bowl if you prefer.

Vegan curry noodles

1 package of rice-noodle ramen, without seasoning packet

½ vegetable bouillon cube

2 tablespoons dried vegetables

¼ cup textured vegetable protein (TVP)

¼ cup Coconut milk powder

1 tablespoon curry powder or paste

¼ teaspoon ground ginger

½ teaspoon red pepper flakes, optional

Place all ingredients into a sealed double-zipper freezer bag before hitting the trail. At dinnertime, boil 1 cup of water and pour in just enough to cover the noodles. Massage or stir the bag to mix the ingredients. Zip the bag closed, then wrap in a towel and let sit for five to seven minutes, or until noodles are soft, massaging once halfway through to break noodles apart and encourage even cooking. When cooking is complete, stir the bag’s contents (if necessary). Again, you can eat out of the bag or move your food to a bowl before you dig in.

Take away your trash

After you eat your meals, pack up your tent, and check your boots for spiders, don’t forget to pack out your waste—freezer bags and all. As the non-profit Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics beseeches: Enjoy your world. Leave no trace.

Written By Alisha McDarris