More Backcountry Cooking: Moveable Feasts from the Experts (Backpacker Magazine) Review

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(More customer reviews)Eight hungry souls and myself were heading out for an 8-day trek through the Andes (Peru), and I was put in charge of menu selection. I searched Amazon.com books that would give me a hand in developing the menu for the group. I found "More Backcountry Cooking," and, overall, I impressed.
Though the book was not perfect, see my `problem' paragraph below, it did provide me with some good ideas to make the meals more ambrosian. I found Dorcas S. Miller's advice, especially her 17 "Hot Topics" (40 pages), to be informative and practical (choosing the right stove, carrying your kitchen in a pack, etc.)
She has great tips and many charts (charts-cooking time, salads, more) as well as great appendices. Most of her recipes are easy, appealing and clearly explained.
However some sections are better than others, and her breakfast selections, well, was as appealing as `tofu pancakes'.
My greatest problem with the book is that is designed for those in the US and I am backpacking in Peru, a developing (third world) country. Millers' recipes use `mucho' instant and dried ingredients. Here in the USA it is not such a problem to purchase them, but where I am going the markets do not carry instant or dried ingredients. That means I had to buy everything here and lug it to Peru. My bags were already full, and at their weight limit. Thus, many of the recipes were not practical. I point this out for those of you that will be heading to remote and faraway worlds.
That said, the book was still informative, helpful and I recommend it for any backpacker or camper who wants good food under the stars.

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How does ginger-cashew chicken and rice or sweet and sourpan-fried noodles with no-bake berry pie for dessert sound?The days of roughing it are gone and so are the days of long preptime for cooking something you actually like to eat. With asmorgasbord of information, Miller covers the basics aboutingredients, nutrition, fuel efficiency, dehydrating, andbackcountry baking. Most of the 140+ recipes take little effort toprepare on the trail. If you're willing to go the extra mile at homeand do a little prepreparation, the sky's the limit on what you cancreate for lip-smacking meals and snacks.

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Fork in the Trail: Mouthwatering Meals and Tempting Treats for the Backcountry Review

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(More customer reviews)A Fork in the Trail: mouthwatering meals and tempting treats for the backcountry
By Laurie Ann March
I have really enjoyed A Fork in the Trail even though I am not a hiker and am rarely in the backcountry. I do, however, have a boat, and the recipes in this book fit my needs as a boater to a T. There is not much space on our boat to store consumables, and in the moist environment at the marina or on the river does not lend itself to longevity for prepared dishes, so the use of dehydrated items and those that are easy to carry and take up little space in storage is perfect for me. I am very grateful to Laurie Ann March for doing the thinking part of meal planning for those long boat trips.
Even though it is winter, and boating season is a few months off, I did try a few recipes from this book. It is my policy to cook from every book I review, and A Ford in the Trail was no exception. I even rehydrated dehydrated items to achieve authenticity. I first prepared March's Salmon Cakes, and found the addition of mozzarella cheese brilliant. We enjoyed them immensely on a Lenten evening with sides of buttered noodles, and green beans. (I had to resort to a fast food restaurant to get the packets of mayonnaise, but the recipe was worth the effort) Of course, people who hike and people who boat collect additional packets of sauces and seasonings whenever possible anyway. March's Breakfast Bread Pudding was an ingenious use of powdered egg mix, and quite good. Prepared in my kitchen it was quite easy. I cannot attest to the outback oven method, but it does seem quite doable.
I do recommend this cookbook to anyone preparing to hit the trails or water this summer. You may want to experiment, as I have, before the season starts so you will have an idea of how the dishes come out.


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Inspired by foods from all over the world and the guiding principle of "if you wouldn't eat it at home, why eat it in the backcountry," Laurie Ann March has created over 200 lightweight, taste-tested recipes to turn an ordinary backcountry outing into a gourmet adventure. In addition to the recipes, March covers menu planning, recipe creation, and meal planning for families and larger groups. Color photograph insert.

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Raw Energy: 124 Raw Food Recipes for Energy Bars, Smoothies, and Other Snacks to Supercharge Your Body Review

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(More customer reviews)I'm very impressed with Raw Energy. I've been looking for ways to add more raw food to my diet, but not necessarily at dinner. And I don't have time, nor the organization, for raw food cookbooks that make you start an entree 3-5 days ahead of time to sprout, soak and dehydrate the creation. This book focuses on snacks.
I like that most recipes use ingredients I already have around the house. There are a few with more exotic ingredients like spirulina powder, but these are easy to skip over if you don't wish to buy the ingredient. Each recipe is fairly simple and straight forward. Most use a blender or food processor, a few use a dehydrator (but if you're into raw food, you probably already have these anyhow). There are lots of recipes that omit frequently allergic ingredients such as dairy, egg or gluten so I can make snacks for my friend with food allergies.
I just made Cashew Maple Oatmeal Squares and they taste just like an out-of-the-oven oatmeal cookie, but cold. There's also recipes for breakfast cereals, "milk"shakes and smoothies, dips, trail mixes and lots of desserts.
This book is going to be getting a lot of use at my house.

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It's time to rescue snacks from the realm of empty-calorie packaged junk food and transform everyday pick-me-ups into healthful, satisfying mini meals. Why waste calories on cookies or chips that have no nutritional value and provide only short-term satisfaction when raw foods are delicious, simple to prepare, and bursting with natural energy boosters that everybody needs to stay fit and healthy?Thanks to Raw Energy, it has never been easier to add a full spectrum of raw ingredients to a healthful lifestyle. Author Stephanie Tourles's 125 recipes for trail mixes, parfaits, energy bars, juice blends, smoothies, soups, vegetable chips, zippy dips, candies, and cookies combine raw ingredients in delicious snacks that are chock-full of nutrients and long-term energy boosters.Made from real, whole foods that are uncooked, unadulterated, and unprocessed, these snacks are 150- to 250-calorie packages of health and vitality, dense with naturally occurring vitamins, minerals, fiber, and enzymes. The snacks in Raw Energy do not rely on refined white flour or sugar, they are not cooked in any way, and, with the exception of honey, they do not use animal products.They do include raw nuts and seeds, nut butters, dried and fresh fruits, oats, carob, cocoa, freshly extracted juices, and vegetables. They taste great and are easy to digest. Tourles provides a complete overview of the benefits of raw foods, along with an introduction to "uncooking" techniques and an ingredient-by-ingredient food guide. For anyone looking for more nutritional punch from low-calorie snacks, Raw Energy provides 125 tasty starting points.

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