THE MINERS MEAL TIME PLANER

[goldenIrishman]

Hey guys, I thought I'd start this thread for all of you that like me, get tired of the same ol same ol things for dinner when your out in the field mining. Living and cooking out of cans and or the cooler gets old after an extended stay in the field so something that's easy to fix, tasty and filling it great to have.

Spices are easy to carry even if you don't have the super deluxe mining trailer like me and they can really improve the taste of some of the "food" available in cans. One of my favourite things to eat while I'm out in the field is Black Beans. Plain BBs are pretty dull fare, but a couple of good shakes of garlic powder, a couple of shakes of cumin and some dried onions added to them really improve the flavor. Adding in a can of precooked chicken or some salsa is also good.

So... post up your favorite field recipes. Just make sure that they are things that can be made with a minimum of kitchen utensils as most miners try to travel light and don't happen to have a deep fryer handy.

 

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[AuSomeness]

I'm not sure you can call mine a "recipe". but I like to pack tuna fish pouches... the kind that can be torn open. They do not require refrigeration and are light and easy to pack. If you add some crushed red pepper flakes, drived chives, sea salt, whatever other spices you like to it, it's not bad. It can be made into a quick sandwich if you have a piece of bread. You can also just eat it out of the foil pouch with a fork if you're out in the field.

 

[AU_Solitude]

I'm not sure you can call mine a "recipe". but I like to pack tuna fish pouches... the kind that can be torn open. They do not require refrigeration and are light and easy to pack. If you add some crushed red pepper flakes, drived chives, sea salt, whatever other spices you like to it, it's not bad. It can be made into a quick sandwich if you have a piece of bread. You can also just eat it out of the foil pouch with a fork if you're out in the field.

I'll second this - I use celery salt though. Tastes awesome.

 

[IdahoGoldGettR]

I like things I don't have to worry about fixing in the field. One quick meal is those Ramon noodle packs, fish if can be caught from the stream added to the meal but if not, pre-boiled eggs for a substitute filler. The latter just needs a touch of salt and a little effort peeling away the shell. A half dozen will last a good outing of prospecting without refrigeration (best kept in a cool/shaded place when possible however). Makes for a great fart material to start a camp fire as well! Lol.

 

[fowledup]

Shake those eggs vigorously a few times end to end and you'll be amazed at how easy they peel.

J you need to get a couple Dutch ovens, no need to eat like a hobo! Mining takes calories. Bring two, one for the main meals and one dedicated to breads and deserts. Easy cooking, easy clean up and best of all real food that lasts. Put in a stew, chili, or some kind of"bake"like a sheperds pie, put it in the fire in the morning bury it in the ashes that you should be "banking" anyway, go mine and tons of hot yummmies are ready to go when ya get back. lots of simple recepies made from food thats keep well without refrigeration. I also do alot of precooking of stuff like gumbo, hamhocks and beans or redbeans then freeze. first couple of days meals are frozen meals cooked like above as they thaw.

Trick for the ice chest- old foam or memory foam put in old pillow cases set on top of ice chest and cheap mirrored bubble wrap windshield sun deflector cut to size and put inside on top of food will double your ice time.

Crack and pour eggs into a plastic jar.

Those 50cent bisquit tubes, the ones that you pull the tab and they pop, make awesome camp donuts. Poke a hole into the center. fry them in hot oil until light golden brown, dip in powdered or plain sugar and cinnamon. Serve with coffee -AAHHHHH

Do you have a cold water creek running through the new claim? If so make yourself a fridge with a buried ice chest, or insulated lockable box, a coil of 5/8" or 3/4" drip line, and a five gallon bucket (spring box).

Forgot one other kitchen utensil must, well at least in Ca. - Crawdad trap. Nothing like fresh homemade crawfish Etouffee' over rice!
Voila, La Bon Ton Roule!

 

[ratled]

A few of these types of meals go a long way when out for any length of time - just add water. Use a Seal a Meal instead of a glass jar for space, weight and no breakage.
There are tons of these out there to follow or make up your own. My favorite is Tortilla Soup


ratled

+ 1 on the crawdad trap

 

[Caribou369]

I like to travel light and travel far to less-accessible places as easily as possible, so I do variations on real old fashioned trail foods - jerky, toasted corn (think corn nuts), granola bars, and dried fruit.

Different flavors BBQ sauce (store bought faves or make your own) give variety to batches of jerky. Freeze a lean cut a little until firm but not solid, slice it thin, roll in sauce, and dry at 225 until bendy, but not squishy or crackly.
Seasoning packets (savory or sweet) mixed with oil and salt create different flavors of toasted corn.
Decent grocery stores, but ideally farmers markets or heck, best of all the local neighbor with a fruit tree provide source material for different kinds of dried fruit. Slice thin and evenly and dry at 225 until bendy, but not squishy or crackly.
Granola bars are just 4-mesh bar cookies.

Using a half dozen recipes for each I can rotate flavors through a summer so I'm never bored. Best of all these things seem to get better over a season if stored properly in cool, dry, airtight containers. If they last that long!

My one indulgence on the trail is real coffee with real creamer and honey... ^^;

 

[Hoser John]

Steak and taters is my recipe also steak and eggs works too. Cold cereal with banana for breakfast with PLENTY of hot coffee starts the day usually. Cooking takes up too much time,then dishes,then,then...Like mining I like to keep it simple as use a screen room/tents. Sometimes when spending months I'll get much fancier but for up to 5 day runs simple works-John

 

[goldenIrishman]

Some good ideas here so far guys! I was thinking more on the lines of things that do not require refrigeration ( spell that ice ) for long term storage. I'm out in the desert and unless I get rich and can afford a YETI cooler ice is not going to be happening any time soon here.
Another variation on the tuna idea is to add some good hot sauce. ( is there such a thing as a bad one?) Stir it up and enjoy the burn!

Since I work solo, I am the entire staff most of the time so that's why I want easy meal ideas. I'd much rather spend my time digging or processing materials than cooking after a long day of busting butt.

Now on the rare occasion when my lady friend Danger comes out to the camp, I can and will get fancy with the cooking. She admits to not being much of a cook anymore but more than makes up for it in other ways. (She brings the steaks out. Get your minds out of the gutter here!!)

 

[fowledup]

Get yourself a dehydrator, you can cook just about anything at home and dehydrate it. Put in gallon freezer bags. Add water to meall in the morning, when ready to eat fill a pot with water put freezer bag in hot water until hot. Light , cheap, no mess, no ice, and it doesnt get any easier. Look at some of the hiker food sites they have backcountry food down to a science.

 

[spaghettigold]

for those who dredge or snipe-don,t eat your spaghetti with tomato sauce,-acid reflux and burpin in to the snorkel

 

[russau]

I like to keep my dinners simple ! big steak cooked medium rare and several double rums to wash it down!

 

[KevinInColorado]

Haven' a double rum as I read this Russ!

 

[Asmbandits]

I guess im spoiled as usually when im working the claim I stay about a 15 minutes away with the trailer and full hookups, eating donuts and cereal with coffee in the morning, usually pack a lunch consisting of a sandwich and chips or trail mix then head 15 min into town for dinner and a cold one to finish off the day.. I dont get out much solo overnight anymore but when I get to work the claim its my chance to hit Georgetown or Coloma in the evening for some good food and beers and maybe a round of billiards or two..

Ive done my fare share of ruffing it back in my backpacking/fishing/hunting days and I do enjoy it once in a while, I like to spend as much time working as possible leaving before sun up and back at the trailer just before dark, and I hate cleaning dishes after cleaning rocks all day! I can get a very decent meal and a few drinks in town for under $20 and for me its money well spent while surrounded by good people.

 

[2cmorau]

yeah, my backpacking days are almost over, but when i do backpack i like the local cuisine

 

[Aufisher]

Fresh Tuna is best, cooked or not!

 

[63bkpkr]

I backpack into rough country initially dropping some 3000' vertical feet to the canon bottom so I am limited by what I can take with me. I have two options low cost or simple freeze dried. Low Cost: oatmeal with raisins for breakfast, nuts/fruit/beef jerky for lunch, dinner a combination of black beans/split peas/lentils at a 1:1 ratio with some Cajun Seasoning, garlic cloves all soaked for many hours in water in the hot sun, dumped into a pot and cooked till soft.

This food weighs pounds and must be carried down the mountain and then up/down river to wherever I've chosen to go however as far as the dinner goes even Hefty 1 likes it as do I.


The simple version of this is the same for breakfast and lunch with freeze dried meals for dinner so the pack in weight goes down but the cost goes up. When the Mountain House Freeze Dried Meals are available at a Costco store they cost about $4.35 per dinner versus a dollar a pound for the bean combo. Also the cooking time is much less with the freeze dried as one only needs to boil the water and then pour it into the sack the dinner is in (remove the packet of moisture absorbent before adding water, makes the meal taste better).


Then again fish taste good as do squirrels but either takes time away from the main purpose of a prospecting trip, though gathering either meal can be fun in itself.


The bean dinner is wholesome, can be boring but cost effective YES. Again, I'm doing hard core backpacking into rough wilderness country and I love it..............63bkpkr

 

[fowledup]

This is the portable spring box I was talking about, you can't see valve and bulkehead fitting. The inside is lined with mesh screen and filled with 1'' drain rock. The other was the family washing machine, it broke, momma got new one, papa went broke buying new one and got bonus miner tested forest circus approved firepit/grill for the claim. And as usual the picture flips on it's side, I don't think iphone and google chrome get along very well

 

[azblackbird]

Get yourself a dehydrator, you can cook just about anything at home and dehydrate it. Put in gallon freezer bags. Add water to meall in the morning, when ready to eat fill a pot with water put freezer bag in hot water until hot. Light , cheap, no mess, no ice, and it doesnt get any easier. Look at some of the hiker food sites they have backcountry food down to a science.

De-hydration is good for some stuff, but freeze drying is best if you want to preserve the nutrition, flavor, and longevity of the product. All your meats, veggies, even ice cream can be freeze dried down to almost nothing in weight. If I didn't buy my freeze dried goods wholesale, and if I was going to go "off-grid" for many months at a time, I'd be buying myself my own personal freeze drier and do my own.

 

[fowledup]

De-hydration is good for some stuff, but freeze drying is best if you want to preserve the nutrition, flavor, and longevity of the product. All your meats, veggies, even ice cream can be freeze dried down to almost nothing in weight. If I didn't buy my freeze dried goods wholesale, and if I was going to go "off-grid" for many months at a time, I'd be buying myself my own personal freeze drier and do my own.

That is cool, but man are they proud of that puppy, $4k by the time you pay tax and shipping. And I complain about the price of MTN House stuff phew!