Post-backpacking reward

Misha and I in the a.m. at Loon Lake

My post-backpacking reward

Lace cookie cones

Baked
lace cookie cones before shaping. Notice their airy appearance.

No- cook backpacking cereal with blueberries

Food and environmental allergies, as well as candida, needn’t stop you from getting out and trying new adventures as I found out when I went backpacking. The keys to making it work and having fun are planning and preparation.


I recently completed two overnight adventures with all my gear on my back. That gear included my allergy meds (singulair, nasal wash syringe and solution packets, nasal spray) and all my allergen-free meals and snacks that also were low glycemic.

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. But it was well worth the effort. Our last backpacking trip was into Loon Lake, a 12-mile round trip journey along the Secesh River. The scene I enjoyed in the morning after our hike in the previous day is pictured above. Misha, my husky-malamute, went along.

I enjoyed some great food including No-cook breakfast cereal which was a tweaked version of Breakfast Porridge, a recipe I found on http://www.dietdessertndogs.com/


Ingredients
2 T. unsweetened coconut flakes
2 T. raw pumpkin or sunflower seeds
1 T. chia or flax seeds
2-4 T. quinoa flakes
1 T. vegan rice protein
½-3/4 boiling water
Sweetener of choice
½ cup freeze-dried blueberries
2 T. powdered soy milk

Pre-trip preparation: grind seeds and coconut in a coffee grinder. Transfer to a container and mix in other dry ingredients. Pour into a zippered plastic bag. Place blueberries in a separate pouch. Rehydrate everything with 1/2-3/4 cup boiling water when ready to eat and enjoy. I rehydrated and ate my breakfast in the same heavy-duty freezer bag I used to pack it in. It saves a lot of clean up!

The weather on our outing was a bit hot for the mountains, high 80s, so I was kind of drooling for something cold and refreshing after hiking out. The next day after getting home, I got busy in the kitchen whipping up some blackberry-banana sorbet. That wasn't enough. I also wanted some kind of cone to put it in, just like an ice cream cone. The result was Lace Cookie Cones with Blackberry Sorbet. The cones were super easy to make.

Ingredients
2 T. coconut sugar
1 T. agave nectar or yacon syrup
1/4 cup quinoa flour
3 T. canola oil

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Pan spray a cookie sheet. Mix all ingredients in a medium bowl. You should get a fairly runny batter. If not runny, add more oil or agave. Drop by tablespoons-full onto the cookie sheet. Bake in the oven for 4-5 minutes. The batter should spread out as pictured above. If it doesn't, you will end up with cookies rather than lace cookies.

Remove from the oven. Allow to cool for 3-5 minutes before attempting to move with a spatula. Shape the cookies into cones by wrapping around a wooden spoon handle. Or shape into a small edible dish by placing into a small dessert bowl. Place in the freezer to harden before filling with your favorite frozen dessert.

I made blackberry sorbet with one-cup of fresh blackberries I picked from the garden. Other ingredients included: frozen banana chunks from 1/2 a medium banana, 1 tsp. agave nectar, 2 T.+ coconut milk and dash of stevia.

It came together pretty fast, which was a good thing, as I had been drooling for a frozen dessert since hiking out the day before.


I've entered this recipe in Wellness Weekend at http://www.dietdessertndogs.com/2011/09/01/wellness-weekend-sept-1-5-2011-plus-an-event-update