# Massive River Meals



## jmacn

Gearing up for a proper shit show, 25 fools on the Yampa soon. I've read lots of tasty river meal ideas here. What is your favorite meal (dinner or breakie) for easy, high volume, private boating? Leaning toward a throw down at home and vac-packing/freezing before the trip. Thanks!


----------



## pinemnky13

When we did our food cycle on the yampa we did all the cooking at home other than breakfast and vac packed it frozen. Gumbo and chicken and shrimp etouffee, hurricanes for cocktail hour and beads for.... Well you know.
Have a great trip!


----------



## MT4Runner

Big breakfasts are easy. 

Precook (or mostly precook) bacon or sausage and heat on the griddle.
Precut mushrooms, peppers, and onions in ziplocs.
Hash browns or obrien spuds, scramble or eggs cooked to order (hey, it's faster than bacon start to finish) and serve with tortillas.
Add refried or black beans for more protein or a veget option.
Serve with salsa/sour cream/shredded Mexico cheeses.

Same fillers to do fajitas for dinner. Use deer, elk, or beef round steak, fajita seasoning, and fry with peppers/onions.


----------



## Crazy Nate

MT4Runner said:


> Big breakfasts are easy.


So are sheep...


----------



## MT4Runner

Dumb sheep are a bunch'a damn liars! 
What did they tell you?!


----------



## Crazy Nate

I'm not allowed to tell you...just be sure to remember your black boots.


----------



## codycleve

Jambalaya is a lot of food and easy... my favorite meal... I pre slice and vacume seal all the ingredients... freeze the meat... pre measure the rice and put it in a small Tupperware. ... then when its time to cook just start opening and dumping... for breakfast I like the sausage links.... and the mcdonald style hashbrowns.... I used the crystalized ova easy eggs and they where actually really good...


----------



## TriBri1

For eggs, I either pick up egg beaters, I seem to remember that you can safely freeze them too. For shorter trips, I fill nalgene bottles with eggs, about 22 eggs per bottle. Costco sells precooked sausage patties, they work well for a quick breakfast.

On cold weather trips, I cook up chili at home and freeze it. Pulled Pork cooked in the crock pot is nice for the first few days of the trip and slaw is easy to make up quick on the river.

Later in the trip, I tend to lean towards pastas and such that is easy to pack and by that point no one cares what the food tastes like.


----------



## pinemnky13

I pack eggs UN a nalgwne you can get about 2 dozen in one. When u ask people how they like their eggs I alway respond bag ok scrambled then......


----------



## Moon

For breakfast I like pancakes. You can store the mix and syrup in a dry box so you're not using cooler space. They cook super quick so you can feed lots of people. On my last deso trip I had 2 griddles going and was able to cook 10 at a time. Everyone loves it when you add blueberries!


----------



## 86304

costco has some great chicken and apple sausages that are vacu-packed and precooked. you can just brown them on a griddle or a grill. a couple tubs of tater salad, some bush's grillin' beans, pickels, mustard and french rolls. mmmmm. 
quick and easy.

any leftovers---they're not bad with eggs in the am.


----------



## Nessy

For breakfast make a huge pot of sausage gravy. Cut up canned biscuits and throw the pieces in the gravy. Sausage gravy with biscuit dumplings.


----------



## cataraftgirl

Nessy said:


> For breakfast make a huge pot of sausage gravy. Cut up canned biscuits and throw the pieces in the gravy. Sausage gravy with biscuit dumplings.


Now that sounds yummy. I'll have to give that one a try.


----------



## rehamxela

premade breakfast burritos. quick easy tasty! make a couple hundred at home with amix of ingredients boil water in big pot all are wrapped in foil put a colander on pot of water steam burritos and eat. best part of it is no breakfast dishes!


----------



## Avatard

rehamxela said:


> premade breakfast burritos. quick easy tasty! make a couple hundred at home with amix of ingredients boil water in big pot all are wrapped in foil put a colander on pot of water steam burritos and eat. best part of it is no breakfast dishes!


+1. We precook the eggs/sausage. Then reheat on warm skillet with shredded cheese and salsa


----------



## BilloutWest

TriBri1 said:


> For eggs, I either pick up egg beaters, I seem to remember that you can safely freeze them too. For shorter trips, I fill nalgene bottles with eggs, about 22 eggs per bottle. Costco sells precooked sausage patties, they work well for a quick breakfast.
> 
> On cold weather trips, I cook up chili at home and freeze it. Pulled Pork cooked in the crock pot is nice for the first few days of the trip and slaw is easy to make up quick on the river.
> 
> Later in the trip, I tend to lean towards pastas and such that is easy to pack and by that point no one cares what the food tastes like.


One can even scramble the eggs before going in the nalgene. Just be sure to label those as *not OJ* in a pronounced duct tape fashion. Some sort of pre-attacking the eggs sure makes breakfast easier. Saves time, kitchen mess and garbage.

Pasta dishes can be great if you prep a *great sauce* before hand. If its just a Prego/Ragu no one will care that its food. Have that sauce frozen and then thawing at the end of the trip with a frozen colorful vege to be steamed and viola. Coming up with a garlic bread is difficult at trips end.

Pasta doesn't have to be a penalty.
People spend all this time lauding different noodles when the sauce is what makes the biggest difference.


----------



## yesimapirate

How come no one's saying hot dogs? You can feed the masses easily with them. They never go bad, and there's tons of cooking methods. Burnt on the campfire, grilled on gas grill, dirty water dog boiled, chopped in mac 'n cheese, covered in chili & cheese, or even used as fish bait(pending local river laws). Nothing like a good dog to soak up some of the day's boozing.

I know, not super healthy, but jmacn never specified that he's feeding healthnuts.


----------



## TriBri1

yesimapirate said:


> How come no one's saying hot dogs?


I typically keep a pack of hotdogs hidden in the bottom of my cooler as a just in case meal. I have done brats on trips. I get a variety of different types. and serve with potato chips or potato salad. Everyone except the vegetarians and the groover are happy.


----------



## jmacn

I definitely try to eat and cook healthy. I'll eat damn near anything if someone else is cooking. Most of the crew is also mindful of what they eat. We're dividing to conquer with 6 cook crews of 4 peeps. Each crew to plan a dinner and breakfast, with each crew coordinating their own lunches w/ the boatman carrying their gear. I'm leaning toward a homemade soup, quesadillas, and salad for dinner and chilequilles(?) for breakfast. Thanks for the ideas!


----------



## 86304

have a great trip on a great river. 

we are all glad to hear you got such a tough permit to get.

bob


----------



## kikii875

MT4Runner said:


> Dumb sheep are a bunch'a damn liars!
> What did they tell you?!


They said you made an illegal ewe turn.


----------



## Schutzie

jmacn said:


> Gearing up for a proper shit show, 25 fools on the Yampa soon. I've read lots of tasty river meal ideas here. What is your favorite meal (dinner or breakie) for easy, high volume, private boating? Leaning toward a throw down at home and vac-packing/freezing before the trip. Thanks!


Got a good flat grill or two?

This is an old Rocky Mountain River recipe..............

Omelets. Bust the eggs into bags, bottles, whatever works for you. Figure for 25 people 3-5 dozen eggs. Make sure you mix em up real good and break all the yokes. Freeze solid. Be sure to start them thawing the night before.

On Omelet morning, you cook up your meat (sausage, bacon, whatever) heat up your diced peppers, onions, mushrooms.......you know, the fixins!

Then announce breakfast;
Pour a couple cups of your eggs onto the flat grill, spread ingredients down the middle, drop cheese on last.
cut into individual omelets, 4-6 per griddle. Flip the sides over the middle, flip once to seal, and serve.
Nice thing is, you can customize your omelets; Don't want onions, no onions on yours, you do want onions, onions on yours! and so on.

If you have a really hungry bunch, use dutch ovens and make hash browns. I once had nothing left but a bag of frozen tater tots; mashed them up, seasoned them, tossed in onions and green pepper, put em in the dutch oven, and damn they were good. Or, you can bake extra potatoes for dinner the night before, then slice the extras, season etc., put em in the dutch oven and let em cook.

You should be able to feed 25 people some truly tasty omelets in short order. It takes longer to heat the fixins than it does cook the omelets.


----------



## moetown

*EZ Irish Stew Cooks*

EZ IRISH STEW cooks overnight. Because the smell fills your house Your sure to dreams of all those Irish babes you use to pick potatoes with out in the fields. Spoon it into Ziplocs or vacuum packer and put them on in the freezer. If you freeze them first in the ziplocs it makes it easy to vacuum pack when they are solid. Pour it in and go on the river. Hearty Goodness


 6-3/4 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1 inch cubes 
 3/4 cup and 1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour 
 1-3/4 teaspoons salt 
 1-3/4 teaspoons ground black pepper 
 3-1/4 cloves garlic, minced 
 3-1/4  bay leaf 
 1 tablespoon and 1/4 teaspoon paprika 
 

 1 tablespoon and 1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce 
 3-1/4 onion, chopped 
 5 cups beef broth 
 10 potatoes, diced 
 13-1/2 carrots, sliced 
 3-1/4 stalks celery, chopped 
 

Place meat in slow cooker. In a small bowl mix together the flour, salt, and pepper; pour over meat, and stir to coat meat with flour mixture. Stir in the garlic, bay leaf, paprika, Worcestershire sauce, onion, beef broth, potatoes, carrots, and celery.

Cover, and cook on Low setting for 10 to 12 hours, or on High setting for 4 to 6 hours.
 
Wear your kilt while you are cooking her


----------



## Kendi

Taco soup is a quick fav of mine. All the ingredients are either pre-cooked (meat) or shelf stable (the beans and tomatoes). When heated together and served over tortilla chips it's fast, filling and cheap which I believe are the most important qualities of a river meal (and it even tastes great!)


----------



## BilloutWest

moetown said:


> EZ IRISH STEW cooks overnight. Because the smell fills your house Your sure to dreams of all those Irish babes you use to pick potatoes with out in the fields. Spoon it into Ziplocs or vacuum packer and put them on in the freezer. If you freeze them first in the ziplocs it makes it easy to vacuum pack when they are solid. Pour it in and go on the river. Hearty Goodness
> 
> 
> 6-3/4 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1 inch cubes
> 3/4 cup and 1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
> 1-3/4 teaspoons salt
> 1-3/4 teaspoons ground black pepper
> 3-1/4 cloves garlic, minced
> 3-1/4 bay leaf
> 1 tablespoon and 1/4 teaspoon paprika
> 
> 
> 1 tablespoon and 1/4 teaspoon  Worcestershire sauce
> 3-1/4 onion, chopped
> 5 cups beef broth
> 10 potatoes, diced
> 13-1/2 carrots, sliced
> 3-1/4 stalks celery, chopped
> 
> 
> Place meat in slow cooker. In a small bowl mix together the flour, salt, and pepper; pour over meat, and stir to coat meat with flour mixture. Stir in the garlic, bay leaf, paprika, Worcestershire sauce, onion, beef broth, potatoes, carrots, and celery.
> 
> Cover, and cook on Low setting for 10 to 12 hours, or on High setting for 4 to 6 hours.
> 
> Wear your kilt while you are cooking her


I'm thinking skip the kilt and round down on the ingredients. 
3-1/4 stalks celery becomes 3 stalks. Are you OCD or just buzzed?

I am interested and will try thanks.
This could be served with a DO roll and make for a nice evening meal.

- - - - -

We like to freeze zip locked items flat and smooth on cookie sheets.
Makes for a professional 'filed away' freezer.

The prep for these frozen meals is a fair amount of work but can be done a couple months in advance and two batches can be done efficiently for preferred items. Just have a checklist so that things aren't forgotten in the freezer.


----------



## shappattack

This will feed six to eight wet and muddy big dudes after a 14 hour drive through the mud and the blood into the upper owyhee during a flood, feeds 8 with 1 more can each of beans, stewed tomatos and tomato sauce (scale up as needed):

Taco Soup (for six wet and muddy dudes)
2 cans of mexian style stewed tomatos
1 big can of crushed tomatoes
2 can beans (1 black, 1 pinto, or what ever)
1 can tomato sauce
1 big can of yellow hominy
1 taco seasoning mix
1lb turkey burger or what ever meat you like in your mouth
1 medium onion, 1 large green pepper
sourcream
shredded cheese
tortilla chips or tostadas

saute meat, burger and pepper, add in taco mix when browned, simmer a bit, drain beans and hominy. Dump in all the cans, stir it up and simmer for 15 minutes or so. Serve in a bowl with a scoop of sourcreem and shredded cheese on top and cruched up chips or tostada shells. A bag of tostadas has a lot less volume and more chip/chrunch factor than a bag of chips for efficient river packing


----------



## Wadeinthewater

shappattack said:


> This will feed six to eight wet and muddy big dudes after a 14 hour drive through the mud and the blood into the upper owyhee during a flood


It was darn good! Thanks for sharing the recipe.


----------



## boatingbuss

I made chx tortilla soup and froze it for the first night on the salt. Chips, cheese and sour cream on the side. You could beef it up with quesadillas and apps. I also cook for the masses a pasta bake. Rotini, ground beef, tri colored peppers, onion, mushroom and sauce. At the end I cut motz rounds layer the top, heat the dutch lid on the blaster to melt the chz. Garlic bread and salad.
ps hi josh


----------



## jmacn

Bummed you couldn't join us Bussie. See you next month...


----------

