Food To Go: Book Review
Food To Go – a cooking e-book for the outdoorsy type
Written by seasoned hiking pros, Frank and Sue Wall, of Our Hiking Blog, and Deb Hadskis, Food To Go is a 169-page e-book about cooking in the outdoors. If your idea of camping food is Ramen and Easy Mac, you could greatly benefit from the advice this book has to offer.
What I liked most about this book is that it takes you through the entire meal process from planning your trip menu through prepping, cooking, and enjoying your meal. I am a pretty poor planner in general so their ideas for creating a meal plan were most helpful. Usually I just buy a bunch of food and hope that I have enough for the week. The book includes a bunch of sample meal plans from different types of travelers so you get plenty of ideas on how you can eat better outdoors.
The authors have been dehydrating their own food for years so they walk the reader through the entire process of dehydrating fruits and vegetables as well as whole meals. Dehydrating food has always seemed a bit daunting to me, but their step by step instructions will be helpful if I ever get organized enough to attempt it. I had no idea you could dehydrate eggs, I kind of want to try it.
Some of the recipe ideas are a little obvious like sandwiches and veggie burgers, but many are pretty novel like Creamy Tomato Fry Up and Pasta with Pesto Sauce and Salmon Bits. The recipes come with plenty of colorful photos and helpful step-by-step illustrations. My favorite chapter is the one on snacks. I was intrigued by scroggin, the Aussie version of GORP that consists of high energy sugary snacks, which isn’t at all healthy but keeps you well fueled in the bush.
The last chapter touches on cooking gear and how to choose the best backpacking stove with tips on setting up your camp kitchen. This book isn’t just for backpackers or bushwalkers, but great for anyone who will be cooking outdoors like car campers, picnic-ers, rafters, and cross-country cyclists.
The quick & dirty:
Where you can find on:
Food To Go E-book
The authors were so kind to offer a 20% off discount to Travel Gear Blog readers. Just use the code GOTOFOOD at the checkout.
Why they rock:
- Menu planning tips with sample menus from experienced adventurers
- Tips on food packing and storage
- Detailed instructions on dehydrating your own foods
- Over 60 recipes anyone can prepare along with tips for making preparation easier
- Reviews of pre-packaged meal options from around the world
- Reviews of lightweight cooking stoves and camp kitchen gear
Seat-of-the-pants rating: 10 out of 10
I really enjoyed the book, it made me realize how pathetic my outdoor cooking skills are. In addition to all the camping and backpacking food ideas, you also get a good introduction to Aussie talk which is quite fun. Even though Australians wrote the book, the information is universal and easy to understand by backpackers everywhere (except for the occasional food name like Promite Squeeze packs).
Looking to buy? Here’s where you can get one:
Food To Go E-book