Friday, June 15, 2012

Backpacking Food: OvaEasy Powdered Whole Eggs

I'm planning a two night hike along the Laurel Highlands Trail next week and thought it would be the perfect opportunity to try making some meals with freeze-dried or dehydrated foods. Going crazy (how unlike me!), I ordered freeze-dried natural chicken, ground beef, diced tomato, peas, and a couple 4.5 oz of packs of  OvaEasy powdered whole eggs worth a whopping $80 total.

My usual low-carb diet consists lots of eggs, salads, lightly cooked veggies and meats. Fresh eggs and produce are kinda heavy and not very amenable to being lugged around in a backpack across miles of rugged terrain. Eggs crack, and make a stinking mess all over the insides of your bag. Well, ok, my bag (not pretty). And even tough veggies like carrots and cabbage are more than 90% water - I don't really wanna be mule-ing water weight, or any more weight than necessary.

So, I'm eager to put these dried and freeze-dried foods to the test and if they are at all edible, I could then plan for that three month Appalachian Trail hike that I've been dreaming of since I read A Walk In the Woods by Bill Bryson. Imagine being able to carry a month's worth of food and have my backpack weigh a mere 20 lbs.

One 4.5 oz sachet of the OvaEasy eggs reconstitutes to 12 eggs, thus would last me three days. Or, if I had four eggs for breakfast, then another four for lunch, and another four eggs for dinner, one sachet could feed me for a day. For a paltry $7 per sachet, that's pretty good! That's in theory of course. :)

I'll keep you posted as to how these taste. Stay tuned!

xo Gracie

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Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Cooking Classes in Natrona Heights

I started cooking classes featuring my most popular dishes. Cooking is fun and doesn't have to be complicated for the food to taste great. I like to keep things simple, so simple that kids can enjoy them too.

Classes are $60 to $80 for a 1-2 hour class, with four persons max per class. This includes all the ingredients, and you get to take home a delicious dish (or two) at the end of each class. I prefer to hold classes from 10 am to 5 pm, but can also do evening classes on occasion. Vegetarian and vegan options are also available for all my dishes. For More Information CLICK HERE.
I particularly enjoy the kids classes, and teach simple basic pizza, pies, breads, cookies, other baked goodies and family favorites.

The Nicholases stirring up some delicious fried rice!