(no subject)
Interesting times, though aren’t they all? I’ve held true to my social media abstinence, although I did go on a bit of a bing a few days ago watching backpacking meal videos, but I don’t consider that reneging as it was for purposes of research. And that’s what’s been filling my thoughts the past several days, aside from gardening.
Why backpacking all of a sudden? Well, I didn’t camp at all last year (in the backyard doesn’t count), so I guess I’m kind of missing it. But what has become all of a sudden appealing to me is the sort of meditative nature of it: nothing to be preoccupy the mind except setting up camp, eating, and moving on to the next spot. I would love to have a week long trip once a year, although I don’t know if I would want to go that long by myself, at least while the kids are still a large part of our lives; I feel like long solo trips could happen when they’re grown up and I have a lot of free time; but I would like to take one of them along for a 2- or 3-nighter. First would be South Mountain, as they have two or three backpack camp sites, and I’ve only been to the one near the waterfall, so it would be nice to explore the entire park.
And so, the only thing standing in the way of multi-night backpacking trips is the meals, as I would have to make my own because any prepackaged means would be high in salt and oil, and that seems stupid. I also l like the idea of cold soaking meals and not having to cook, especially during the warmer months, or limiting myself to just needing to boil some water for dinner during the colder months. For breakfasts I can do variations on overnight oats, with dried fruit and spices, and shredded coconut and/or other nuts. The gap meal (“lunch” and/or “snacks”) could be bars (preferably homemade), roasted chickpeas and dried fruit, or even fresh fruit like apples or mandarin oranges, bread and peanut butter. Dinners would center around a dehydrated starch combination, be it couscous, rice, beans, corn, or potatoes, with dehydrated vegetables, mushrooms, and spices, and maybe soy curls or dehydrated tofu, and a nut butter for richness like cashew butter or tahini, and other potential flavor enhancers like nutritional yeast or lemon/lime powder. Right now I am starting to dehydrate some things so that I can start testing meals out and creating a menu to draw from.
Aside from that, been persistently working in the yard, cleaned up the front bed and just waiting on fresh wood chips to mulch it, since I won’t be doing anything in the front yard this year, digging out the paths around the dedicated annual beds to store wood chips and keep free from growth, the idea being that in the fall or following spring flipping those composted wood chips over onto the adjacent beds and replenishing with additional wood chips. I am waiting for trees to arrive any day, although I haven’t dug any plots for them yet, but I’m not worried (yet).
Why backpacking all of a sudden? Well, I didn’t camp at all last year (in the backyard doesn’t count), so I guess I’m kind of missing it. But what has become all of a sudden appealing to me is the sort of meditative nature of it: nothing to be preoccupy the mind except setting up camp, eating, and moving on to the next spot. I would love to have a week long trip once a year, although I don’t know if I would want to go that long by myself, at least while the kids are still a large part of our lives; I feel like long solo trips could happen when they’re grown up and I have a lot of free time; but I would like to take one of them along for a 2- or 3-nighter. First would be South Mountain, as they have two or three backpack camp sites, and I’ve only been to the one near the waterfall, so it would be nice to explore the entire park.
And so, the only thing standing in the way of multi-night backpacking trips is the meals, as I would have to make my own because any prepackaged means would be high in salt and oil, and that seems stupid. I also l like the idea of cold soaking meals and not having to cook, especially during the warmer months, or limiting myself to just needing to boil some water for dinner during the colder months. For breakfasts I can do variations on overnight oats, with dried fruit and spices, and shredded coconut and/or other nuts. The gap meal (“lunch” and/or “snacks”) could be bars (preferably homemade), roasted chickpeas and dried fruit, or even fresh fruit like apples or mandarin oranges, bread and peanut butter. Dinners would center around a dehydrated starch combination, be it couscous, rice, beans, corn, or potatoes, with dehydrated vegetables, mushrooms, and spices, and maybe soy curls or dehydrated tofu, and a nut butter for richness like cashew butter or tahini, and other potential flavor enhancers like nutritional yeast or lemon/lime powder. Right now I am starting to dehydrate some things so that I can start testing meals out and creating a menu to draw from.
Aside from that, been persistently working in the yard, cleaned up the front bed and just waiting on fresh wood chips to mulch it, since I won’t be doing anything in the front yard this year, digging out the paths around the dedicated annual beds to store wood chips and keep free from growth, the idea being that in the fall or following spring flipping those composted wood chips over onto the adjacent beds and replenishing with additional wood chips. I am waiting for trees to arrive any day, although I haven’t dug any plots for them yet, but I’m not worried (yet).