Chili Cup Dinner - Leave the Pots at Home!

My wife found these great boxed chili dinners at the grocery store. I was going on a really long backpacking trip by myself (about 12 miles in one day) and I knew that I needed to shave every ounce off of my pack weight that I could if I was going to make it. I decided to leave almost all of my cooking gear at home. All I brought was my 4 ounce stove, a half-empty canister of propane/butane gas, my stainless steel camping cup, and a spoon. The chili and dinner rolls were delicious! And I managed to shave about 2 lbs off of my pack weight.

Here’s how it worked. I emptied the contents of the box of chili into my stainless steel cup and placed the cup on my stove with the heat on low. Stirring if often so the bottom wouldn’t burn, I heated the chili until it was steaming (the chili is pre-cooked so all I had to do was warm it.) Then I ate the chili right out of the cup.

Clean up is easy, too! wipe out the cup with a piece of your dinner roll and then boil a little water in the cup to clean up what’s left. Boil a little more water and make some hot chocolate. Burn the chili box in your campfire.
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If you've ever done this or have similar idea, let us know about it!

Bring the Booze

Here’s a little tip to bring some luxury to your next backpacking trip - bring your favorite wine. There are many brands and flavors that come packaged in mini plastic bottles that are easy to pack, fairly light weight, and unbreakable.

A friend of mine did this on our last trip. He cooled the wine in a pot full of ice-cold lake water just before dinner. It sure beats drinking warm lake water with your meal!

Leave a comment if you've done this or have another idea!

Backpacker's Omlet

What You’ll Need

• One small onion
• One small can of spam
• 4 eggs 1 cup of dehydrated hash browns
• Salt and Pepper

How to Prepare

• Boil 1/2 cup of water and add to the hash browns.
• Let soak. In a pan, fry onions and spam until onions are soft. Use a small amount of water or cooking oil to keep the bottom of your stainless pan from overheating.
• Add hash browns and eggs and cook until eggs are done, stirring regularly.
• Cheese can also be added, if desired.

Serve!
This is a great meal for 3 or more people. Bring bagels or English muffins and toast over stove or campfire to add some variety to the breakfast. Add extra eggs and hash browns for more than 3 people.

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Share your experience with this meal or tell us how you made one better by commenting, below.