Monday, July 10, 2006

Hobo Packs

I've discovered a new favorite camping meal this summer: hobo packs. I've been spending a lot of time perfecting the little foil pouches, filling them with fantastic things and fresh herbs and whatever I can find in the house. Sometimes blue cheese gets in there. The best thing about them is that even though I am doing tons of work preparing them at home before we leave, by the time we set up camp and build the fire and throw 'em in there, it feels like they were effortless. To clean up? Just wad that foil and throw it in the recycling bag.

As I sat munching my oregano/sage/olive oil chicken with potatoes and squash this weekend, I began wondering what vegans eat while camping. You can't really (probably?) put tofu in a hobo pack. I can't imagine rice would do well in there and vegetables alone are not enough protein to satiate a vegan through the night. So how do they camp? What do they eat on the trail when backpacking? I need to know!

When I finished my thoughts and fabulous packet, I also decided I will dive into dessert hobo packs as my next experiment. Mountain pies, I am so over you. Hobo packs are the new cool thing. Imagine if I put raw cookie dough or cake batter in there? Or fruit with brown sugar and oatmeal? Oh man, the weekend needs to hurry up and arrive so I can go camping again. Is it cheating to make hobo packs in the oven?

2 comments:

Jane said...

Do you have a grill? Hobo packs are great on the grill, but the oven will do in a pinch.

ecogrrl said...

Ah, we get by...(I'm not vegan anymore, alas, but we used to have lentils, peanut butter, protein bars...there are a lot of options out there. Of course, this is when I lived in crunchy granola Seattle, so maybe it's not so easy elsewhere.)