Wednesday night when we arrived and set up camp, we were super tired and I wasn't particularly hungry. But Carol saw that this might be exhaustion and altitude speaking, so managed to provide fish tacos for our group that a neighboring camp was giving out. They were delicious, and came with potentially bottomless margaritas.
Thursday night, Carol fired up the camp stove and heated up a pan of water and pulled the bags of food out of the cooler. Does meal prep get much easier?
Chili and Cornbread
The chili was delicious and the rewarming process (Ziplock heated in a pan of simmering water) went perfectly. It could have used a bit more spice, but it really hit the spot and the contrast between the zucchini and the ground beef was good. Sour cream turned out to be one of the things that sounds really really good in the dessert, so the leftovers we didn't eat in the chili, we ate with salsa and corn chips.
The cornbread didn't fare as well. Being cooked, left for two days, frozen, unthawed, it was pretty dry. I think saltines or oyster crackers, or even corn chips, would have been better for this particular situation, should I ever find myself camping in the desert again.
Meatballs, Polenta, and Broccoli
Friday I pulled the tomato sauce with meat out of the cooler and we warmed it all up. It was hard to get the whole package warmed evenly, so the insides of the meatballs were still pretty cold and a big dry as well. The polenta suffered the same fate as the cornbread, where it was a dry but non-essential part of the whole process. Saying that, I think that having two nights of tomato-based dishes in a row was just fine. My body wanted acidic foods.
The broccoli was delicious to some, but I thought it smelled really strongly. I think the roasting and freezing concentrated the hydrogen sulfide chemicals that cruciferous vegetables produce, and made it a bit overwhelming for my taste.
East African Chicken
The chicken held up the best, I think, of all the meals. It was savory and filling, and the couscous mix was unexpectedly awesome. It did seem a bit underspiced, which speaks to the ways that the altitude/dryness sorta saps your tastebuds. If I did it again, I might include a side of lemon pickle.
Mjadra and Chard
This was the best thing we ate out there. The chard was EXACTLY what I needed to be eating, and the cooking method worked equally well for both of these. The Mjadra was spiced evenly and ended up sorta sweet and savory and very very comforting.
So to sum up, I would totally use this form of cooking again on my next camping trip. I would skip the cooked carbs and go with dry goods like chips or crackers. I would also skip the broccoli and just make extra chard or mix it up with some kale instead.
