Paleo Joe Recipe

Ok, so a lot of people have asked for the Paleo Joe recipe (the dehydrated meal in my previous post).  All credit goes to Dana Carpender's "500 Paleo Recipes" book.  There are some gems in this title but some people complain because there are no pictures.  Funny, I don't remember Grandma's recipe box having any pictures either yet I managed to eat just fine.  I know in this day and age people have to have photos before trying something but whatever...get the book, it's cheap with a ton of ideas.  Ironically I don't have any elegant photos of this meal other than me chowing on it in my other post.

So, let's get to it.  Here's what you need:

Ingredients:

• 1.5 Lbs Ground Beef
• 4 oz Mushrooms (Rough chop)
• 1 Medium Onion (Chopped)
• 1/3 Cup Sundried Tomatoes (Chopped)
• 3 Garlic Cloves Crushed
• 10oz. Spinach
• 5 Eggs (Whisked)
• Salt and Pepper

Note: For the spinach I get frozen because, well, it's already 10oz and I don't have to wait for it to cook down.  Just thaw it prior and wring out the juice in a cheese cloth or clean tea towel.  If you'd prefer Kale or Collards I'm sure both would work just as well.  In fact, this recipe for Sukuma Wiki from The Domestic Man (which uses collards) would make for a perfect dehydrated meal as well with some slight adjustments.

Directions:

1.  I change things up a little from the book's recipe.  I always cook onions first.  So get a dollop of your favorite fat (bacon grease, lard, butter, coconut oil etc.) over medium high heat and get your onions cooking in your cast iron skillet.  I usually cook them down a bit until they're translucent.
2.  Add in your garlic and give it a quick saute (careful not to burn it) 
3.  Add in your beef and start breaking it down with your spatula and getting the onions worked in.  I always season my meat as I go so, add salt and pepper here.
4. When the meat is nearly browned, add in your mushrooms and they'll absorb the fat and the flavor.
5. One the mushrooms begin to break down a bit, and all meat is no longer pink, add in your tomatoes and spinach.  Get all of the ingredients worked in real well.
6. Now take your whisked eggs and pour them over the mixture.  Keep stirring until the eggs begin to set.  
7. Add a little more salt and pepper at this point to taste.

Now we have our vat of yumminess.  If it's time for a meal, go ahead and grab a bowl and enjoy.  It's also a good gauge to see how much you might eat on the trail.  Once you are ready for the next step, scoop out a portion for your trail meal and add a little extra to it.  You just hiked 20 miles, you deserve an extra bite, right?!

Now, dehydrate what you have until all moisture is removed.  When you're ready to rehydrate, just add about a cup of boiling water and let it sit for 5-10 minutes.  The burger may have a little crunch if you're impatient like me but it didn't stop me from gobbling this down.

Testing the Osprey Manta and Dehydrating Trail Foods

As long as the weather holds this weekend I am going to take a day hike out to Stone Mountain Park.  There's a nice loop trail of about 4 miles so it's a pretty easy trek compared to what I am normally doing on my backpacking trips.  Over the holidays I got an Osprey Manta 20 pack for doing some day trips.  I did a bit of research before the purchase.  I looked at Black Diamond and CamelBak.  I really did like the CamelBak packs but the price point compared to Osprey wasn't worth it to me.  The Black Diamond packs were better priced but none of them seem to give me exactly what I wanted.  I am familiar with Osprey with my Atmos 50 (review on my website) and I couldn't be happier and I really like the styling and fit of Osprey packs for me so it was an obvious choice.  Granted Osprey has a number of different day packs to choose from so it came down to styling and the Manta 20 included the Hydraform.  Most of the CamelBaks included a hydration pack as well but for another 50 bucks that I was unwilling to spend.  It didn't hurt that Amazon was running a sale on all Osprey packs at the time of my purchase as well.

Along with my Manta, after a refund from one of my holiday gifts, I picked up a Nesco food dehydrator.  I've been wanting to get a dehydrator for a long time now and finally have one to use.  So I am excited to start putting together recipes to try out and post on my website for others to try.  I think I may do a simple fruit dehydration for this weekend's hike and see how it goes.  Prior to this purchase I was using the Lex Rooker box method for making jerky.  It worked and it was cheap however it wasn't always precise and it depended a lot on the conditions of the air (humidity and coolness) where I was using the box in my basement.  Now I feel like I can control the environment a bit better or at least regulate it enough to better dial in when things should be completely dry.  The other advantage will be the ability of creating a paleo meal and then dehydrating that meal completely to be used on the trail.  No longer will I need to worry about no-cook meals (unless I want to).  Now I just need to convince someone to get me a JetBoil to try out and I will be complete  Ok maybe I should just purchase it myself!