Beef & Bean Burrito

Serves 3:
Ingredients:

• ½ Tbsp Olive Oil
• ½ Cup Chopped Onion
• 1 tsp Minced Garlic
• 1 Cup Water
• 1 Can of Canned Beef(14 oz)
• 2 tsp Chili Powder
• 1 tsp Dried Leaf Oregano, Crumbled
• ½ tsp Ground Cumin
• ½ tsp Salt
• ¼ tsp Ground Pepper
• 1 Can Re-fried Beans (16 oz)
• 1 Can Enchilada Sauce (10 oz)
• 6 Flour Tortillas (8-inch, non-refrigerated) wrapped two at a time in foil
  

At Home:
The canned beef needs a little preparation. Pour meat onto a plate and rinse the congealed fat and liquids from the meat under running water. Using a fork or fingers, lightly shred the beef into bite size pieces. Watch for and remove any fat in the meat.
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and garlic, sauté until onion softens.
Add water, chili powder, oregano, cumin, salt, and pepper. Simmer for 2-3 minutes.
Add meat, re-fried beans and enchilada sauce. Heat thoroughly, stirring often. Add just enough water to make the mixture thin enough to pour and spread evenly on dehydrator trays.
Dehydrate at 125° for 8 – 10 hours. After about four hours in the dehydrator, break up any mixture that is stuck together with your fingers to expose pieces to more air circulation.
Divide dried mixture into three zip lock bags, each with two foil wrapped tortillas. Makes three 1-cup servings.
On the Trail:
Combine about 3/4 cup water with one cup dehydrated burrito mixture. Bring to a boil and continue cooking another minute or two. Remove from stove and place pot inside insulating cozy for ten minutes. Add a few tablespoons of additional hot water if necessary for a good texture.
Choose your favorite way to heat the two soft flour tortillas. A few clean twigs across the top of a pot of boiling water (already heating for the side dish) makes a nice steamed tortilla. Tortillas spread out on a clean forked stick directly over the fire works well but keeps you busy. Placing the tortilla foil on top of the rehydrating burrito meat with the tortillas on top of the foil is an easy way to soften the tortillas.
Spoon 1/2 of the re-hydrated mixture onto each tortilla; roll up and eat.
Additional Comments or Suggestions:
If you added too much water, you can dip the tortilla in the "stew" or tear up the tortilla to use like crackers in the "soup".
After trying out the dehydrated canned beef, you may want to replace the ground beef in some of your other recipes.
One serving with two tortillas and a small side of MEXICAN BEANS AND RICE makes a great meal that will have you looking for the Margarita!

Mexicaanse Beef & Rice

Ingredients:

• ¼ cup ground beef, dried
• ¼ cup combined bell peppers (assorted colors), onions, and tomatoes, dried
• ¼ cup black beans, dried
• ½ cup instant brown rice
• 1¼ cups water
• 1 tbsp + 1 tsp cheese mix
• 1 tbsp instant dry milk
• 1 tbsp taco seasoning
  

Cheese Mix: The cheese mix for this backpacking recipe can be borrowed from a six ounce box of Back to Nature brand Spirals & White Cheddar Dinner or Annie’s Homegrown brand Bunny Pasta & Cheese. Look in the health foods section of your grocery store. These brands have no artificial preservatives, flavors, or colors. The cheese mix packet inside the box can be divided into three servings approximately 1 Tbsp + 1 tsp each. Use one third of the packet for this recipe and save the rest for other recipes. The macaroni can be saved for other meals as well. In a pinch, you could settle for the Kraft brand if you don’t mind a little artificial coloring, but the other brands taste better to me.


Instant Dry Milk: I use Nestle Nido brand instant whole dry milk instead of the easier to find instant low fat milk varieties. The extra calories from the higher fat content in whole milk provide more energy for my long distance backpacking trips. If you’re just out for the weekend, instant low fat milk works fine.


At Home:
For information about dehydrating ground beef and vegetables for this recipe, review the DEHYDRATING MEAT or DEHYDRATING VEGETABLES pages.
Combine ground beef, beans, vegetables, rice, and taco seasoning in a zip style plastic bag.
Combine cheese mix and instant dry milk in a 2 X 3 zip style plastic bag. (Bags can be found at craft stores)
Enclose the smaller bag in the larger bag, press out the air, and seal. You are ready to hit the trail.


On the Trail:
Add all ingredients except the cheese/milk mix to your pot with water. Allow contents to rehydrate for five to ten minutes.
Light stove, bring to a boil, and continue cooking with the lid on at medium to high heat for a minute or two. Don't stir rice while cooking. Leave it alone and the rice will turn out fluffy.
Place pot into insulating cozy. Wait ten minutes for the meal to continue rehydrating and cooking inside the cozy. Stir in contents of the cheese bag. Add a few spoonfuls of extra water if you want a saucier meal. Enjoy!


Optional Enhancements:
If you happen to have some tortilla chips handy, scoop your meal out of the pot with chips or crumble chips over your Mexican Beef & Rice.
I use a medley of green, red, yellow, and orange bell peppers for this recipe. If you desire a little fire in your Mexican Beef & Rice, by all means throw in a couple slices of dried jalapeños.

Apple Cobbler

Serves 4
Ingredients:

• 4 cups Apples
• 1 cup Self-Rising Flour
• 1 cup Sugar
• 1 Tbsp Whole Egg Powder (the kind for baking with only)
• 1/3 cup Oil
• 1 tsp Cinnamon
  

At Home:
Cut and slice apples and sprinkle with lemon juice so they don't turn brown. DEHYDRATE APPLES
Make self rising flour by combining 1 cup of all purpose flour, ½ teaspoon salt and 1½ teaspoons baking powder.
Combine self rising flour, sugar and whole egg powder in a ziploc bag. Put cinnamon and dehydrated apples into separate ziplock bags. Pack oil in a leak proof container.
On the Trail:
Layer apples on bottom of pan for Outback Oven or reflector oven.
Add 3 tablespoons of water to flour/sugar/egg mixture and then sprinkle over apples. Drizzle oil over top of mixture and sprinkle with cinnamon.
Bake in Outback Oven for approximately 30 minutes or bake in reflector oven (cover baking pan with foil).

Dehydrating Fruit

Dehydrating fruit is easy and fun. Cut the fruit into small, equal-sized pieces; spread in a single layer on the dehydrator trays, and crank up the dehydrator. It takes from 6 to 36 hours to dry fruit, depending on the juiciness of the fruit, but the wait is worth it when you taste the final product.
Dehydrating fruit concentrates the natural sugars so your pineapples and bananas will taste extra sweet on the trail. Choose mature, firm fruits for the highest sugar and nutritional content, but avoid bruised or overripe fruit. When dehydrating fruits such as apples with the skins on, thoroughly wash and rinse the fruit to remove any wax and pesticides.
On the trail, you’ll maintain peak energy by snacking on dried fruit throughout the day. My recipes will give you simple ways to incorporate dehydrated fruit into your breakfasts, desserts, and trail mixes. Try cooking oatmeal with dried apples, raisins, and cinnamon, topped with crunchy granola for a quick-energy breakfast. I even slip pineapple and coconut into my recipe for Hawaiian Shrimp and Rice.
The range of drying times listed below for dehydrating fruit are what you could expect using an Excalibur Food Dehydrator. Factors such as humidity, the size and thickness of your fruit pieces, and the juiciness can all affect how fast fruit dries. Most fruit will be pliable or leathery when done, meaning you can bend it and it won’t break. You can easily tear a piece of dried fruit in half and if no moisture beads up on the inside and there is no stickiness on the outside, it’s done.
One of the features that I like about my Excalibur is its large capacity for dehydrating fruit- drying 30 pounds of Georgia peaches in one batch was no problem. I use the nine tray model which has 15 square feet of drying area. As an avid gardener, I load my Excalibur up when fruits and vegetables are in season.
Dehydrating fruit will fill your home with pleasant, fruity smells. If you are like me, you will get hungry and start snitching before the fruit is dry. Enjoy!


Dehydrating Apples

• Thoroughly wash apples to remove pesticides and waxes that may be present unless you plan to peel off the skin. Because the skins contain nutrients, I leave them on.
• You can core and slice apples into rings or cut them into whatever size pieces you like. I quarter the apples first and remove the core and stem with a sharp knife. I then cut the quarters into 1/8” slices.
• Dehydrate at 135° until pliable (7 – 15 hours).
• Because the flesh of apples turns a little brown when exposed to air (oxidation), some people dip their cut apples into a bath of water and sodium bisulfate or ascorbic acid for a couple of minutes before dehydrating. Treating apples with either of these anti-oxidants is safe and will prevent the fruit from browning. I am not bothered by the slightly darker color of my apples, so I skip the dip.
  

Approximately two processed medium apples will fit on one Excalibur Dehydrator tray.

Cinnamon Biscuits

Ingredients:

• 1 Can Buttery Flaky Biscuits
• Sugar
• Cinnamon
• Aluminum Foil
  

At Home:
Keep canned biscuits cool by placing in plastic bag. Put this bag and ice or ice pack in another bag to keep cool. Pack sugar and cinnamon in a separate bag.
On the Trail:
Sprinkle sugar and cinnamon on one layer of foil and place biscuits on foil.
Sprinkle sugar and cinnamon on top of biscuits.
Enclose biscuits with another layer of foil on top.
Place on rack over fire or on hot rock in coals. Or place on bed of coals. Turn over couple of times to keep from burning. Check for done. Cooking varies with fire, rack, rock, coals and other factors. ENJOY.. They are yummy.