Upcoming trips, plans, and prep

Its been a boring Summer so far. Dennis got a new job and has been too exhausted on weekends to leave town, and I was in the middle of the move when backpacking season began. There are plenty of awesome backpacking spots here in Southern California so I could go solo, but weekends are really the only time I have with Dennis, and he'd be trapped at home without the car. Huge bummer.

So without any backpacking to actually do, I've been spending some of my free time preparing meals for our upcoming trips in August and September. For our long trip, I'm doing all homemade food. My intention is to experiment with more vegan dishes, and because our mileage will be on the low side (in the company of a friend who is new to backpacking), we'll be having more full breakfasts. 

Here's what I tentatively have planned for the long trip (location TBD):

Dinners

Night 1: Cheese tortellini + olive tapenade + parmesan + puy lentils + sauteed fennel

Night 2: Enchiladas with anaheim chili, black beans, brown rice, sauteed onion, zucchini and cheese, in gaujillo sauce

Night 3: Ratatouille and cheese stuffed bread, fish (whatever night we catch fish, we'll have this meal)

Night 4: Vadouvan curry with mixed veggies and brown rice

Night 5: Misir wot with injera

Drinks

Horchata mix (rum)

Margarita mix (tequila)

Breakfasts

Breakfast 1: Berry protein smoothie

Breakfast 2: Annie's cheddar mac & cheese with broccoli or peas

Breakfast 3: Breakfast burrito with sauteed peppers, onions, potatoes, veggie sausage, scrambled eggs, tapatio packets, and cheese

Breakfast 4: Carrot cake pancakes with maple cashew icing

Breakfast 5: Vegan breakfast skillet with sauteed peppers, onions, spinach, veggie sausage, potatoes, and cashew cheese 

For the short upcoming 2-night trip, which unfortunately had to be rescheduled from this last weekend, we'll be in the Golden Trout Wilderness. I have some pre-made foods still to get through, so we're doing a few pre-made things and having a trial of the misir wot I prepared last week.

Dinners

Night 1: Misir wot with injera

Night 2: Thai green curry noodle soup

Lunches

Lunch 1: Berry protein smoothie, Packit Gourmet potato salad

Breakfasts

Breakfast 1: Hawk Vittles North African Stew

Breakfast 2: Hawk Vittles Peanut Soup

For the September 3-night trip, I'll be cooking for a friend who is allergic to fish and mushrooms, and a little picky besides that, so I'm keeping it low-key and familiar.

Dinners

Night 1: Spaghetti w/ Beyond Meat marinara sauce

Night 2: Cheesy bean, Beyond Meat, and veggie burrito, to be adapted from the glorious resource that is ThruEat

Night 3: Jambalaya w/ homemade seitan andouille

Breakfasts

Breakfast 1: Fried spinach & potato hash brown cakes, scrambled eggs

Breakfast 2: Annie's cheddar mac & cheese with broccoli or peas

Breakfast 3: Walnut, brown sugar and raisin hotteok

Recipes will be up in the coming months. I've been toying with the smoothie - it's absolutely delicious, super flavorful and tart, and is definitely going to make an amazing breakfast on the trail!