Backpacking cacao-spinach-chia pudding

Bad boy Misha investigates dinner and backpacking foods on counter.

Freezer bag backpacking meals

Backpacking or easy-travel cacao chia pudding

My husky puppy, Misha's latest trick is to stand on his hind legs to try to reach whatever food items are on the kitchen counter. What this means is never leave the kitchen unsupervised when food is out. The picture above was taken after I didn't follow this rule and left the kitchen to return to find "you know who" trying to reach our dinner. Of course, my husband had to encourage him to do it again so he could snap a picture.

At least, the masked-bandit Misha wasn't successful in making off with any of our food. It's hard to stay mad at him but I admit I could have if he had taken any of the backpacking foods I had labored over preparing for hours.

I had no idea what I was getting into when I started preparing my own backpacking foods for a two trips, one for two days and the other for three days. It took forever and didn't help that husband simply grabbed some Mountain House entrees off the shelf at REI.

I spread the task over several days and ended up spending about four hours. All those freezer bags in the photos above contain all my meals, treats, snacks for the trips. Everything had to be pre-assembled in freezer bags and ready to simply add hot or cold water on the trail to rehydrate. Fortunately, I got some great ideas from a website called http://www.trailcooking.com/

I tested out some of my backpacking meals at home and found out how easy it is to rehydrate foods in freezer bags. The idea of pre-packaging foods in freezer bags can be used for taking lunch items to work or packing along foods for travel, biking trips, hiking. I'm sure there are more possibilities!

One of my favorite backpacking recipes is Backpacking Cacao-Spinach-Chia Pudding. If you are not a backpacker or hiker, it could easily be taken along anywhere or just kept on hand for easy preparation when you are in a hurry.

Ingredients for 1 serving:

1. 2 T. freeze-dried spinach (can be purchased from http://www.beprepared.com/)
2. 1 1/2 T. chia seeds
3. 1 1/2 T. cacao powder
4. Stevia to taste
5. 2 T. seeds of your choice (I used half each pumpkin and sunflower seeds)
6. 1 T. hemp seeds
7. 1 T. rice protein powder
8. 1-2 tsp. cacao nibs
9. Optional: 1 T. unsweetened coconut flakes, 1 T. powdered soymilk (purchased from http://www.iherb.com/)

Directions:

1. Place chia seeds, pumpkin, sunflower and hemp seeds in a coffee grinder and grind until a coarse meal.
2. Place all ingredients in a pre-labeled pint or quart-sized freezer bag.
3. To rehydrate, simply add 1/2 cup cold or warm water. Can be eaten immediately but best if you wait several hours.

Get more healthy, vegan recipe ideas at http://www.dietdessertndogs.com/2011/08/25/wellness-weekend-august-25-29-2011/