New Single Serving Meal - Creamy Italian Polenta

We added another option to our single serving meals this week - our Creamy Italian Polenta with Sausage!

This is an extremely easy meal to make - it's a cook-in-bag meal, so all you have to do is pour 9 oz (a little more than a 1 cup) of boiling water over the polenta – stir – let it sit for about 5 minutes and dig in!

Although we designed it as a breakfast, the Creamy Italian Polenta with Sausage also makes a great dinner. Savory and full of sausage, we think it makes a great, filling meal any time of day!

Each serving makes a serving large enough to feed a hungry man-sized hiker after a long day in the outdoors.

Backcountry Comfort Food

We introduced two new meals to the site this month both showcasing our version of comfort food.

All-American Burger Wrap

We were talking about the food that we crave the most when we've been in the backcountry for several days...and we pretty much all agreed on the hamburger! And so the All-American Burger Wrap was born. Although we admit that it doesn't look like a traditional hamburger - sure does taste like one! Lightweight, super low water requirement and delicious, this is a great meal for kids and burger-cravers alike.


Dottie's Chicken & Dumplings

My grandmother was famous for her chicken and dumplings and they've been a favorite in my family for as long as I can remember. Packed with a variety of vegetables, chicken, traditional-style Southern dumplings and a rich broth, this is a meal that really hits the spot after a long hike. And to top it all off? Some of our delicious Cornbread Toastees!

June Features

Dixie Grits

A favorite found throughout the South, grits are a quick, easy and delicious way to start the morning. Traditionally, eaten on their own, or served on the side with eggs, they are almost always accompanied with a crispy piece of toast and our grits are no exception: we serve them up with a package of our Artisan Bread Toastees. Yum!


Freeze-Dried Super Sweet Corn

Freeze-dried corn is restored to its sweet corny goodness instantly when added to water and can even be eaten on it’s own as a crunchy snack! Use in soup, chowder, mixed into refried beans or rice or served as a simple side dish.


Dehydrated Carrots

Delicious and nutritious, carrots make a great addition to stir-fry, pasta sauce, stews or made into a "fresh" carrot salad. Now available in a penny-saving bulk bag size for more carrot crunch for your buck!


Silicone Steamer

We discovered this small steamer some time ago and thought that it would be perfect for steam-baking with silicone muffin cups. The steamer keeps the muffin cups elevated off of the bottom of the pan – so just put a little water in the bottom of your pan, plop in the steamer and baked goods and voila! You’re baking in the backcountry!

Toastees Included

We include Toastees with many of our meals. This is a lightweight and easy way to enjoy bread in the backcountry; and they work with everything from eggs to dessert.

We serve our traditional Toastees with many of our breakfast dishes in place of bread. Eat a couple of Toastees with a bite of egg and you’ll swear that you’re munching on a piece of toast! We get our traditional Toastees from a local bakery well known for their high quality artisan breads - so our Toastees are always fresh and the ingredients are top notch!



Living in the South, we eat cornbread with many, many meals and we were not willing to give up some of our favorite pairings in the backcountry. To quench our cornbread cravings, we include a packet of Cornbread Toastees with many of our Southern meals including ‘Nawlins YaYa Gumbo, Dottie’s Chicken & Dumplings and Zydeco Red Beans & Rice. Our Cornbread Toastees are mixed, baked and cut by hand resulting in a Toastee that’s so tasty, we often end up eating them as a snack!


Backcountry desserts are often puddings and other easy to mix items. In order to take shortcakes and trifles up a notch we developed our own dessert Toastees in both chocolate and vanilla flavors. Spoon pudding over our dessert Toastees, allow them to sit for a few minutes and you’ll be enjoying a moist cakie dessert in no time!

Iced Tea in the Wilderness (Sun Tea)

Here in Texas, iced tea is always available – there’s a pitcher of tea in the refrigerator at all times and tall icey glasses are served at every restaurant. And yes, we also drink tea in the backcountry!

For years people in the South have been making sun tea. It’s an easy way to make tea of any variety without the need to turn on the stove and this same no-heat method works well in the wilderness too. Plus it makes for a refreshing change from Tang and Gatorade!

Here’s how you do it:

1. Fill a Nalgene with cool filtered water.
2. Use 2-3 tea bags per quart (32 oz) of water.
3. Remove the paper tags from the tea bags and place the bags into the water-filled Nalgene. Give it a gentle shake to hasten the bags in becoming saturated with water.
4. Place the Nalgene in the sun to brew for at least 2 hours or until water is infused with the color of "tea.".
5. Remove tea bags. Stir in a little honey or sugar if you like your tea sweetened. Chill in a cool stream or enjoy as is!

You can do this with traditional black tea bags, herbal teas - or a mixture of each. One of our favorite blends is Black Tea + Earl Grey + Red Zinger. Sprinkle with a bit of True Lemon or Lime for an additional punch. We usually prep sun tea while we’re setting up camp so that by the time dinner is ready, we have a lovely glass of tea to go with!

Summer Photo Contest!

Packit Gourmet is having a summer photo contest and rewarding the best pics with some great prizes!

1st Place: $100 Packit Gourmet Gift Certificate
2nd Place: $50 Packit Gourmet Gift Certificate
3rd Place: Three Packit Gourmet free shipping coupons




In order to win, you do have to include a few things in your photo:

• The photo must contain a Packit Gourmet meal
• The photo must be shot in a wilderness area
• Not required, but it will help your chances of winning if YOU are in the photo
• Not required, but we'd love to see your photo added to our interactive map

To submit your photos for the contest, email your photos to trailfood@packitgourmet.com by August 31, 2009, at 11:59 p.m. Please include the following information in your email:

• Your first and last name
• When and where the photo was taken
• Which meal is featured in the photo

Read more about the contest

Bulk Savings

We’ve noticed that many of you like to buy multiple packages of our freeze-dried and dehydrated fruits, veggies, beans and meats. This is a great way to make sure that your foods stay fresh until you’re ready to use them since while they’re unopened they remain protected from exposure to the air, light and moisture that can lead to spoilage.

But, for those of you that would like to save a few dollars (and who doesn't?), we’ve added the option to buy these popular items in bulk. Add we’ve added the tools you’ll need to keep them at their peak after opening – food storage containers and desiccants.

Exposure to light and oxygen are two of the main factors that contribute to the spoilage of dried food. Our new food storage containers are opaque which helps to prevent light from damaging your food and they include a snap-on lid, which will keep the air out. Add a few desiccants to absorb the oxygen and moisture trapped in your storage container and you’re good to go!

Don’t forget that heat is the forth enemy of dried foods so keep your bulk food stored in a cool location. The optimal temperature for freeze-dried food storage is between 32°F and 75°F. Typically, room temperature is fine, but if you have space in your refrigerator that would be even better.

We'll eventually offer all of our beans, veggies, fruits & meats in bulk but for now, here's what's currently available:

DH Carrot Flakes
DH Mixed Bell Peppers
DH Mixed Leeks
DH Spinach Flakes
DH Tomato Dices
FD Bell Peppers
FD Black Olives
FD Broccoli Florets
FD Celery Pieces
FD Chopped Spinach
FD Garden Peas
FD White Onion Flakes

Black Bean Flakes, Organic
Pinto Bean Flakes, Organic
Black Beans
Garbanzo Beans
Great Northern Beans
Lentils
Navy Beans

May Features

Tomato Dices

Tomatoes are an amazingly versatile vegetable (or fruit?) and can be used in practically any dish from Italian pastas to Asian stir-frys. And don’t forget stews, soups, vegetable gravy, scrambled eggs and omelets! The possibilities are endless…


Great Northern Beans

Pre-cooked, dehydrated beans are a handy item to have around camp and can make a great lunch or dinner. They spring back to life in fifteen minutes or less when simmered, but also work well when left to ‘steep-cook’ in the bag in hot or cold water. If you're going the "cold water route" be sure to plan ahead as they may take up to two hours to fully rehydrate – pour water over your beans, seal up the bag and throw them in your pack for an easy protein and fiber rich meal later on down the trail.


Cheese Sauce Powder

A quick and easy way to enjoy pasta on the trail! Just add a little hot or cool water to this cheese sauce powder and dig into a cheesy meal in no time!


Black Bean Flaquities

A notched up version of a traditional burrito, our Flaquities are packed with beans, rice, corn, cheese and a delicious veggie blend! Fry them up to make a flaquitie or fill a tortilla for a delicious ‘camp grande’ burrito.

Keep up with Packit Gourmet on Google, twitter & Facebook

I just discovered a new feature from Google that we’ve now added to the blog – ‘Follow’ with Google Friend Connect. This is an easy way to keep track of blog updates from your favorite blogs without needing to visit each and every blog.

You can also get timely updates from Packit Gourmet by following us on twitter or joining our Facebook page.



By joining us on twitter or FaceBook you’ll get daily updates on new blog entries, giveaways, interesting outdoor events, wilderness news, useful products that we’ve come across, coupon codes, etc.

Backpacker's 2009 Gear Guide is now Online!

We turn to Backpacker’s Gear Guide every year to find out about the newest and best gear on the market – and I’m not just saying that because we’re in it this year!

For all of those who don’t subscribe, you can now get your gear fix online. Straight from the Backpacker website, here’s the scoop:


Look out, gearheads—your source for this year's best packs, tents, boots, bags, and more is here

Beloved gearheads, the day has come: BACKPACKER's 2009 Gear Guide is now free and online. If you're in the market for new packs, bag, boots, tents, or anything else to help your escape into the wilderness, we've got your Bible to the best of this year's crop. Get busy—with over 521 total pieces of gear and skills packed on our pages, this could take a while.

Or you could zoom straight to your favorite items:
PACKS
TENTS
BOOTS
SLEEPING BAGS
THE ESSENTIALS

Our editors winnowed down the best-of-the-best to determine which trail-tested gear gets to walk away with a coveted Editors' Choice Award. This year, staffers took a punishing trip through wet and windy Wales, subjecting gear to a true beating. If something won this year, you can bet it's Ironman-tough. Wanna see it in action? Check out our Editor's Choice 2009: Wales video blowout.

And if you're looking for just one specific piece of gear—now—try out our all-new, revamped GearFinder tool. Search our expanded database by brand, price, weight, size, and more to find the gear that matches your specs and budget. We now have more than 2,000 products, plus photos, reviews, and user ratings.

The Gear is Here...you know what to do.