When I wrote A Fork in the Trail I included a small section that I named More Elaborate Dishes. This was a series of recipes that would be suitable for the weekender type of trip or for car camping excursions.

In preparing for an upcoming wilderness trip I decided that I would convert the recipe on page 260, Citrus Mango Grilled Salmon, to a version that would be practical for the seventh day of our trip. The idea worked brilliantly in my tests at home, so I thought I would share it.

I made a half batch of the citrus salsa/marinade and dehydrated it. I did a rehydration test at home and the salsa came back perfectly. So here is the plan…

At camp I will rehydrate the salsa and about an hour before we stop for lunch I will add a nice piece of smoked salmon. Smoked salmon can be purchased in small pouches from MEC.ca. Once the ingredients have a chance to marinate I will put some of the salsa and salmon in a wrap.

We’ve tried this at home and it was delicious so I can’t wait to have it on our trip through Temagami’s Chiniguchi Waterway.

In the past I’ve used Jell-O® gelatin mixes in conjunction with other ingredients to make flavorful hot drinks for the trail but I never thought of using it in other things until now.

My friend Joe, of Bozeman Stoveworks, recently posted an oatmeal recipe on a forum that we both participate in. He made it for his daughter, who adores flavored oatmeal. Not only is this healthier but it is also tastier.

Joe was kind enough to allow me to share it with my readers… so without further ado….

“Try Jell-O®. It already has sweetener so you can cut out any sugar that some recipes call for.

We have taken all sorts of Jell-O® fruit flavors and mixed them as experiments with different dried fruits. It works and works well.

Here’s an example of just one of the varieties we made as an experiment. Oh, and for Oatmeal, get yourself to Costco, Sams, BJ’s wherever, and buy it in large bulk sizes. It’s dirt cheap that way.

Orange Blueberry Pecan Oatmeal
3/4 cup Quaker Old Fashioned Oatmeal
1/4 cup dried blueberries
1/4 cup smashed or chopped pecans
1 teaspoon and a pinch more of Orange Jell-O®
2 tablespoons of dried milk
1/8 teaspoon salt

Mix all ingredients dry and toss in freezer bag. Add one cup of boiling water in camp. Cozy about 8 minutes whether in pot or freezer bag.

You’ll taste a hint of sweet orange when you try it.

As an FYI, I have used as much as a teaspoon and a half in a cup of oatmeal with 1/4 cup fruit and 1/4 cup nuts and it has not been too overpowering. For me anyway.”

Thanks for the idea and for sharing the recipe Joe! We’ll be taking it on our next backpacking trip.

I love to use fresh lemon, lime or orange zest in some of my recipes. I often dry my own zest too but when I don’t have time to do so I buy the dehydrated lemon, orange or lime peel from The Spice House.

They also have two brand new zest offerings — Meyer Lemon and Seville (Bitter) Orange.

I like to use dehydrated zest in a variety of ways on the trail. Sometimes I use it in trail baking such as muffins or pancakes and other times I use it in a trail salad. It works well in loose team, is a nice addition to a black bean soup and can jazz up a salsa.

One of my favorite ways to use zest on the trail is by putting a little of the dehydrated zest in my water bottle to liven up my drinking water.