Dehydrating food for the trail opens up many possibilities for the picky hiker. Cook it, dehydrate it, pack it, add water on the trail and…voila. It’s hard to beat a quickly-prepared, hot, tasty meal at the end of a long hiking day.

The problem: Food dehydrators can be expensive.

The solution: You can make your own!

Grab some duct tape, mosquito netting and a concrete form cylinder (5 bucks at your local hardware store) and head over to instructables.com for easy-to-follow instructions.

Know how to boil water and slice some cheese? Sweet! I saw this video the other day and decided to test it out.  The results were delicious! Try it on your next hike and let me know how it goes.

Recipe and video courtesy freezerbagcooking.com

I was surfing YouTube today and happened upon this video detailing various ways to make DIY ultralight backpacking gear from stuff you probably already have around the house.  Check out the video below:

Add a little variety to your trail lunch with Trail Quesadillas, and the best/most easiest version is this one from TrailCooking.com. The ingredients are simple:  tortillas and 2 packs of little cheese cubes.  That’s it.  All you need is a medium-sized titanium pan (gotta keep it lightweight!), a stove and an appetite. Watch Sarah from TrailCooking make it from scratch:

Do you have a favorite trail quesadilla recipe to share?  Add to the comments below!

Meatball hates waking up but loves his breakfast

If you’re like me, you love backpacking to a remote location, setting up camp, cooking dinner, then falling asleep to the serene (and sometimes scary) sounds of the backwoods.  If you’re like me, you also dread the waking-up part, because that means stepping out into the cold air, cleaning up camp and walking up more mountains on legs flush with lactic acid buildup.  For you non-morning hikers, here are 5 excellent lightweight, simple to prepare, downright delicious trail recipes to make your AMs just a little easier.