I had an idea pop up into my mind the other day: Make a meal for 2 people, for under $10, with good protein, and you can find the simple ingredients in nearly any grocery store–even in the smallest of towns.
Let’s face it: While commercial meals can look good, for 2 hungry hikers, they are not cheap. Because most of those meals serve 1 to 1½ people, and the average price is around $14 per meal now. If 2 people are each eating a meal alone, backpacking and camping gets expensive fast. You can nearly always make a meal, if you are open to a little cooking, to save money and get mare calories.
Let’s call these “inflation meals,” shall we?
I made a quick Short of me cooking it:
At a small independent grocery store in a small, outdoorsy town, Knorr Rice Sides were on sale for $1.66 each. The truth is, we have no corporate grocery stores on the end of the island we call home. Even on the “busy” north end of the island, our one tiny corporate store is the size of a 1990 fever dream. So when people come to our island to camp, it’s like a free ride back in time. And people love camping here, at the multiple state parks we are home to.
Single servings of cheese are 69 cents each. I went for a good brand, of course. This was at an even smaller grocery store, in a town that is a “village”.
I decided that Spanish Rice would pair well with uncured beef pepperoni. I opted for the very local 3 Sisters, which is a local family beef ranch on Whidbey Island (their father is a Washington State Senator now, but always a rancher at heart while serving the islands).
I spent $10.02, so technically, I went 10 cents over, but that’s a big whoopie. Had I bought a national company for the beef, I’d have dropped the price down by $1-2, but I wanted quality and, well, taste.
The Spanish Rice mix has 575 calories for the bag, so 288 caories per serving. This doesn’t seem like a lot, but most commercial freeze-dried meals have the same calorie content, including meat. The pepperoni/beef sticks added pump up the count.
The pepperoni is 100 calories and 7 grams of protein a stick, And I added 4 sticks. So that bumps it up to 488 calories and 21 grams of protein, which is a great set of nutritional stats for a serving.
And that doesn’t include the cheese, either, at ¾ ounces per serving. That’s an additional 90 calories and 5 grams more protein!
26 grams of protein per person is excellent.
For best results, this is one of the few times I highly recommend a non-stick pan. It’s also easy to clean up with a paper towel to wipe out any leftovers, before a quick rinse. We used a Sea To Summit Ultralight 1.3 liter pot.
I added 2 cups water, the dry ingredients, and the pepperoni and brought it to a boil. Stir, cover, and turn the flame down to maintain a simmer. In this prep, I used our MSR WindPro stove. It is a low-profile stove and can be dialed down to a very low flame that doesn’t scorch. Having multiple stoves offers choices. While normally my goal is to boil water fast, and I use a Snowpeak Giga, being able to simmer is a great tool.
I cut up the sausage and added it to the rice mixture. Mine was chunky, a little smaller might have been better.
While cooking. The pepperoni gets all nice and plumped up as a side benefit.
Meanwhile, I sliced the cheese, and when the cooking time was up, I added it to the dish.
I covered it and let it sit for a few minutes for the cheese to melt, then stirred the rice well.
Plated and ready to enjoy.
Sure, vegetables would have been nice, but since I bought the pricier beef, I passed over it. You could, though, pick up a 2-pack of the single-serving canned vegetables (they come in plastic tubs like applesauce) and add one in for more calories and fiber.
~Sarah
Fantastic idea! Thank you.