Whos Hungry - Part 6 Couscous w/ Chicken & Veg

D.I.Y. Meals For The Trail

To start I must reiterate, these are not my meal creations, they come from sources that I found on the internet.  I will attach links to where I found them.

My sixth menu item comes from Monica Matheny. Monica is a home cook that has a great blog on healthy cooking with fresh ingredients.  I ran across Monica's blog in search of web because she posted a blog that was exactly what I was looking for. Her post is a bit of a departure from her norm. Normally she only uses fresh ingredients and everything is from scratch.  However, she is married to an avid backpacker who often needs to take food on the trail that requires nothing but boiling water to make a meal. So, she set out to create some instant meals for her husband she refers to as "King-Man" that used prepared ingredients that were as healthy as possible. Flavor, nutrition, and portability were her primary goals.

theyummylife.com

Lightweight for backpacking. After considerable experimenting, she came up with these six meals. They all use lightweight dried and freeze-dried ingredients. There are no wet ingredients or heavy cans. These 6 recipes are tried-and-true on the trail.

Monica also points out that these "can be used for meals at the office, in dorm & hotel rooms, and to stock for emergencies. These meals can be used any time you need a quick, instant meal. All you need is access to boiling water. For an easy occasional meal, they're handy to have around and way more nutritious than ramen noodles and cup-of-soup type instant meals."

Not diet food. These 6 instant meals are nutritious but not designed to be low in calories, although some of them are fairly figure friendly. They are healthy in terms of nutrients like protein, fiber, vitamins, and iron; but they aren't necessarily low in carbs, calories, or sodium. After a long day of hiking, backpackers need calories, carbs, & sodium in their food. So, these meals are designed to provide nourishment for refueling; they're not necessarily for those concerned with weight loss to incorporate in a regular eating routine. But, they can be great as an occasional convenience for non-hikers.

All of Monica's recipes are prepared meals that just require hot water to be added.

My sixth meal trial comes from one of Monica's 6 great recipes.

Monica's Recipe #1

Cous Cous with Chicken & Vegetables

Key Stats

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION (per 1 cup serving): 177 calories, 1.8g fat, 736mg sodium, 153mg potassium, 28g carbs, 6.5g fiber, 2.3 g sugars, 12g protein. Notable nutrients: calcium, vitamin C, iron

Total weight of dry ingredients in bag: 3.9 oz.

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup whole wheat cous cous
• 1 teaspoon chia seeds or ground flaxseed (optional)
• 1/3 cup freeze dried chopped chicken
• ½ cup freeze dried mixed vegetables
• 1 tablespoon freeze dried onions (or 1 teaspoon dried onion flakes)
• 1-1/2 teaspoons powdered chicken flavor base (or boullion granules)
• 1-1/2 teaspoons freeze dried poultry herb blend (or 1/4 teaspoon each dried thyme, sage, & parsley)
• ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
• ¼ teaspoon salt (or more to taste)
• 1-1/2 cups water

At-home preparation

TO ASSEMBLE: Add all ingredients except the water to a quart freezer Ziploc bag. Seal bag and store until ready to use. 

Cooking instructions

TO COOK IN BAG: Bring water to a boil. With opened bag resting on plate or bowl, pour in boiling water. Seal bag and let soak for 9 minutes, turning bag upside down after 3-4 minutes to redistribute & mix ingredients. Open bag and eat directly from bag, if desired. Or, transfer to a bowl or mug for eating.

TO COOK IN MUG OR BOWL: Transfer dry ingredients to a microwave-safe mug or bowl; add water and microwave until water boils. Cover and let rest until ingredients have softened (4-5 minutes). Or, boil the water separately and pour it into the mug or bowl with the instant dry ingredients; stir, cover, and let rest for 9 or 10 minutes.

Gathered Ingredients

Measured Ingredients Combined in a Ziplock Freezer Bag

Ready for the Cozy

1-1/2 Cups of Boiled Water Added

Cooking

Dinner Served

My Rating

• 3.5 out of 5

What I liked:

• Good Taste.
• Very filling.
• Rehydrated nicely for my liking, more time would be even better.
• Easy to make.

What I disliked:

• Not sure how much I like the texture of Couscous.
• Flavour was good but not great.
• Realized I'm not a big fan of rehydrating in a Ziplock bag.

What my fellow tasters thought:

• I think I liked it more then my fellow tasters, it was was graded as OK and would be acceptable for camping but it wasn't a hit.
• They felt the veggies definitely needed more time to hydrate then the suggested 9 minutes. 
• Most thought the texture was the biggest problem. 

My thoughts and recommendations:

• I thought this meal was OK and think it will be a good option for trail.
• The portion was good for an adult, but I think for my kids I will divide it between two.
• This would be really good with rice. 
• After cooking this and one other meal in the freezer ziplock bag I think I will stick to rehydrating in the pot.
• For a boost in calories, olive oil can be added.