Cheaper and Easier SPAM Mac & Cheese

I've already written up instructions for a Kraft Dinner based version of this. Using a freeze-dried backpacker's meal is easier as you just need to add hot water, but it's also relatively expensive. I think my new preferred middle-ground solution is to use Knorr Sidekicks and some fresh kale. Unlike Kraft Dinner, you don't need to cook the noodles separately or worry about draining them. And you can always mix up the flavours of Sidekicks if you feel like a change.

SPAM Mac & Cheese

Ingredients

• 1 pat of butter (optional)
• 1/2 can of SPAM, cubed
• 1 1/2 c. water
• 1 package broccoli and cheese flavoured Sidekicks
• black pepper, to taste
• 4 Tbsp. powdered milk
• 2 large kale leaves, chopped
• 1/4 c. cheese (optional)

Directions

1. Melt the butter (if using) and add the SPAM. Cook until SPAM is a bit brown and crispy.
2. Add water, Sidekicks, pepper, powdered milk, and kale and cook covered, stirring occasionally, until noodles are done.
3. Stir in cheese (if using).

I've made a car camping version of this recipe a few times now and it's worked out pretty well. I think it could be adapted to backpacking fairly easily as well.

It's taken me a while to get the hang of putting together good camp menus. I don't normally use a lot of mixes and packaged ingredients in my cooking, so I don't tend to think of such things when planning meals. That said, they are very well suited to camping and backpacking. Having a mix means needing to bring fewer ingredients. And they're usually pretty shelf stable as well. It's a nice way to keep things quick and simple when you have limited tools, time, and carrying capacity.

I recommend cooking this in a large cast iron skillet or dutch oven over the fire/hot coals. If your cooking vessel doesn't have a lid, you'll want to bring along tin foil to cover it with or else the biscuits won't cook properly.

Chicken and Biscuits

Ingredients

• 400g cooked chicken breast pieces
• 4 c. water
• 1 c. milk
• 1 packet dry cream of vegetable soup mix
• 1/4 c. dried vegetables
• 1/4 c. freeze-dried broccoli
• 1 tube Pillsbury Country Biscuits¹ (or similar)
• black pepper (optional)

Directions

1. Combine chicken, water, milk, cream soup mix, vegetables, and broccoli and give it a stir.
2. Separate the biscuits and place them on top.
3. Cover and cook until biscuits are done.
4. Season with a bit of pepper, if desired.

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Variations

Backpacking Version

I've adapted this to cook a smaller portion in a pot on a stove for backpacking. If you are willing and able to build a fire and want to feed a crowd, then feel free to double these amounts and cook it in a larger vessel over a fire.

Ingredients

Chicken

• 1 1/2 Tbsp. dry skim milk powder
• 1/2 packet dry cream of vegetable soup mix
• 2 Tbsp. dried vegetables
• 2 Tbsp. freeze-dried broccoli
• 1 can chicken breast chunks
• 2 c. water
• pepper

Biscuits

• 1 c. Bisquick
• 1 Tbsp. dry skim milk powder
• 1/3 c. water

Directions

Before You Go

1. Combine milk powder, soup mix, dried veggies, and broccoli in a baggie.
2. Combine Bisquick and second measure of milk powder in a separate baggie.

At Camp

1. Combine contents of first baggie (with the soup mix), chicken (no need to drain), and 2 c. water.
2. Add 1/3 c. water to second baggie (with Bisquick) and mix to make a dough.
3. Top the chicken mixture with chunks of dough.
4. Bring to a boil, then simmer, covered, until biscuits/dumplings are mostly cooked.
5. Remove from heat (but keep covered) and let stand until dumplings are cooked through.
6. Season to taste with pepper, if desired.

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¹ It seems that Pillsbury may have discontinued their tubes of chilled country biscuit dough. It looks like they have "Southern Homestyle Biscuits" that are pretty similar, but I've never seen them in the shops here. I guess next time I make this I get to try it with "Flaky Dinner Rolls" or something instead. ^Back

I've seen ramen recommended as good backpacking food before. It's lightweight and easy to cook -- just add water and heat! The problem, for me, is the lack of nutrition. I've seen it dressed up in various ways. But often those additions end up negating the "light" and "easy" qualities that might've caused one to consider ramen in the first place. This sort of mock pad thai seemed like a reasonable middle ground to me. And, just as importantly, it's quite tasty!

Backpacker's Pad Thai

Ingredients

• 3-4 c. water
• 1 packet ramen¹
• 1 can chunk chicken breast²
• 1/4 c. dried veggies
• ~1 Tbsp. crunchy peanut butter³
• ~1 Tbsp. sriracha
• ~2 tsp. fish sauce
• 1 packet True Lime crystalized lime (optional)
• 1 handful bean sprouts (optional)⁴

Directions

1. Fill your pot with enough water to cover the noodles and place over a hot stove or fire.
2. Add ramen noodles, chicken (no need to drain), and dried veggies and bring to a boil.
3. Check noodles for doneness after 4 minutes or when water boils, whichever comes first.
4. Once noodles are cooked, drain all but a couple Tbsp. of the cooking water.
5. Add peanut butter, sriracha, and fish sauce to taste. Add a little seasoning from the ramen packet if you like.
6. Mix well and sprinkle on TrueLime/lime juice if using.
7. Add bean sprouts if you have them.

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¹ Any brand or flavour is fine. You'll be using little to none of any of the seasoning packets that come with it. ^Back
2 Feel free to substitute shrimp here if you'd prefer. ^Back
3 If you want to save even more weight, you can use 2 Tbsp. peanut flour instead. ^Back
4 Bean sprouts aren't really practical when backpacking since they're generally highly perishable. That said, if you happen to be close to a resupply point and can get your hands on a few they're really, really nice here. ^Back

If you're car camping, things like Tuna Helper can make for a nice easy dinner. It's still doable as a backpacking meal, but you'd either need to divide the noodles and sauce and only cook ~1/2 at a time or make sure you have a fairly large pot. I cooked mine over the fire this time. I think next time I'd attempt it in my little cooking pot. Easier to control the temperature and cooking time that way. I ended up overcooking the noodles in my big cast iron pan and it picked up a distinct smoky flavour from the fire which, while welcome in many other applications, did not jive particularly well here. I'd also double the tuna next time. Despite what the package says, one tin does not provide nearly enough tuna for one box of Tuna Helper.

Tuna Helper: Creamy Pasta

Ingredients

• 3 c. water
• 2 tins tuna (packed in water)
• 1 c. milk
• 1 box Creamy Pasta Tuna Helper
• 3 Tbsp. butter
• 1/2 c. dried veggies

Directions

1. Combine water, tuna (no need to drain), milk, pasta, sauce mix, butter, and veggies in a pot.
2. Bring to a boil.
3. Simmer, covered, for 5-10 minutes.
4. Uncover and remove from heat.
5. Let stand 5-10 minutes.

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Variations

Backpacking Version

Ingredients

• 2 c. water
• 1 tin tuna
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. skim milk powder
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. ghee
• 1/4 c. dried veggies
• 1/2 box Creamy Pasta Tuna Helper (1/2 the pasta + 1/2 the sauce mix)

I was initially planning on just making this with a box of Kraft Dinner, but then I found I had a bag of Mountain House mac & cheese left over from a camping trip a couple of years ago and figured I might as well use it up. I wasn't expecting much from a "just add water" dehydrated meal, but it was actually really delicious. It came out a lot more saucy than KD normally does, but the sauce tasted rich and unctuous and it meant that the extra SPAM and broccoli that I added in got a generous coating of sauce as well and everything merged into a deliciously cheesy glop.

The procedure for this is a bit simpler when you're using a Mountain House-style dehydrated meal, but it should be easy enough to adapt to standard Kraft Dinner-style boxed mac & cheese options. The main difference will be cooking the pasta in the pot and bringing along some milk and butter for the sauce.

Mac & Cheese with Broccoli and SPAM

(Serves 2)

Ingredients

• 1 can reduced-sodium SPAM
• 3 c. water
• 1/2 c. freeze-dried broccoli
• 1 bag of Mountain House (or similar) freeze-dried mac & cheese
• black pepper (optional)

Directions

1. Cut the SPAM into 1cm cubes.
2. Add SPAM to pot and cook until it begins to brown and crisp.
3. Add water and broccoli to pot and bring to a boil.
4. Pour ~2 c. of boiling water into the bag of mac & cheese and mix well.
5. Seal bag and let stand for ~10 minutes.
6. Drain excess water from broccoli and SPAM.
7. Empty bag of mac & cheese into pot and stir to combine with SPAM mixture.
8. Season with pepper if desired.

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Variations

Kraft Dinner with Broccoli and SPAM

(Serves 3-4)

Ingredients

• 1 can reduced-sodium SPAM
• 5 c. water
• 1 c. freeze-dried broccoli
• 1 box Kraft Dinner (or similar)
• 1/3 c. milk¹
• 2 Tbsp. butter²
• 1/4 c. Cheddar cheese (optional)
• black pepper (optional)

Directions

1. Cut up and fry the SPAM as above. (1cm cubes cooked until slightly crispy.)
2. Add water to the pot and bring it to a boil.
3. Add broccoli and pasta and cook for ~7 minutes.
4. Drain.
5. Add milk, butter, cheese sauce mix, and extra cheese (if using).
6. Mix well.
7. Season with pepper if desired.

Vegetarian Version

Ingredients

• 1 package veggie dogs or extra delicious tofu
• 5 c. water
• 1 c. freeze-dried broccoli
• 1 box Kraft Dinner
• 1/3 c. milk
• 2 Tbsp. butter
• 1/4 c. Cheddar cheese (optional)
• black pepper (optional)

If using tofu, add at end of cooking (with sauce ingredients).

Spicy Asian-Inspired Mac & Cheese

Ingredients

• 1 can spicy Mala SPAM (if you can find it)³
• 5 c. water
• 1 c. freeze-dried broccoli
• 1 box Kraft Dinner
• 1/3 c. milk
• 2 Tbsp. butter
• 1/2 tsp. ginger powder
• 1/4 tsp. Chinese 5-spice powder (optional)
• 2-3 green onions, chopped

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¹ If you don't have access to a cooler powdered milk works just fine here. Skim/fat-free milk powder will keep for longer than whole milk powder. Just add 1 Tbsp. of milk powder and 1/3 c. of water along with the other sauce ingredients. ^Back
2 Salted butter will keep better than unsalted butter without refrigeration. Ghee will work just as well as butter and keep even better still. ^Back
3 If you can't find any spicy Mala SPAM, just use regular or reduced-sodium SPAM and add ~1 Tbsp. of sriracha and 1/4-1/2 tsp. Szechuan peppercorn powder. ^Back

Chili Cheese Fries

Equipment

• tin foil (and parchment paper)
• can opener
• knife and/or cheese grater
• oven mitt(s)

Ingredients

Feeds 4-6 depending on appetites

• 1 bag frozen fries
• 2 tins chili
• 1/2 small block Cheddar cheese

Optional extras:

• green onions
• (pickled) jalapeños
• (lightly dried) cilantro

Directions

Fire up your grill (or get a camp fire going).
If using parchment paper, place it on top of the tin foil.
Dump the fries onto the (parchment-lined) tin foil and let them cook for a bit. (Leave the foil open.)
When the fries seem like they're just about cooked, dump the chili on top and top with cheese. Top with any other extras you like.
Close the foil to make a sealed packet and cook until everything is good and melty.

A couple cans of vegetarian chili makes this an easy vegetarian meal.