Recipes for Nourishing Traditional Travel Foods

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Preparing nourishing snack foods before leaving home really helps when making a meal is inconvenient. Always have a thermos for hot drinks while traveling. Make the hot drinks up in the morning during breakfast.

Beef Jerky
2 large lean beef roasts (about 6 pounds)
1tsp Himalayan salt per pound of meat (or to taste)
Let the pastured beef roasts thaw in the fridge for 3-4 days. This gives the roasts a bit more aging which improves the end flavor. Cut the roasts into 1/4 inch strips the width of the roast, if possible. Add Himalayan salt to the strips of meat and mix well. Let the meat sit for a few hours or overnight, if you have time. Himalayan salt is a “pink salt”. Traditional pink salts were used for curing meats. These pink salts have natural sodium nitrites and sodium nitrates. Himalayan salt is great for curing meat. Put the salted meat into the dehydrator at a low temperature for 12-24 hours. The best beef jerky is dried but chewy. For travel, store a day’s supply in paper bags with a plastic zip-lock outer bag.

Soaked and Dried Nut Granola
3c soaked and dried pecans
3c soaked and dried walnuts
6-12 pitted and soaked dates
1T vanilla extract
1T ground cinnamon
1/2tsp sea salt (optional)
1c soaked and dried pumpkin and sunflower seeds (optional)
Soak the pecans and walnuts in lightly salted water for 12 hours. Pour off salted water and dehydrate nuts of 12-24 hours at a low temperature. When the nuts are dried they can be stored in the freezer for later use. Grind the nuts into a course meal in a food processor and put aside in a large bowl. In a small bowl, cover the dates with very hot water. Soak the dates until soft. Grind up the dates in a food processor and add some of the date water to make a smooth paste. Add the vanilla extract, ground cinnamon and sea salt. Mix in nuts and add more date water, if needed. Add whole pumpkin and sunflower seeds, if desired. You can shape the mixture into granola bars or crumble into irregular shapes for a granola cereal. For travel, store a day’s supply in paper bags with a plastic zip-lock outer bag.

Dried Bananas
2-3 bunches of over ripe bananas
Peel the bananas and cut in half. Then cut down the mid-line of the banana. You will have four pieces for each banana. Place the cut bananas in the dehydrator with the curved side down, to avoid sticking. Dry at low temperature for 24-36 hours. My girls call these dried bananas candy.

Frozen Tomato Salsa
6 large frozen garden tomatoes
1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped
1 fresh red or green pepper, chopped
1 small fresh carrot, chopped
1 small onion, chopped (optional)
small amount of fresh hot pepper, minced (optional)
1tsp sea salt
Frozen tomatoes make wonderful salsa. Let the tomatoes unfreeze overnight and pour off extra liquid from the tomatoes. (This liquid is great for thinning out guacamole.) Chop or food process the fresh vegetables. Add unfrozen, drained and hand-crushed tomatoes. You can remove the tomato skins, if desired. Add sea salt to taste. For travel, store the salsa in a glass mason jar with a plastic lid.

Frozen Berry Sauce
2c frozen garden raspberries
2c frozen garden blueberries
small amount of local raw honey (optional)
Lightly simmer at very low temperature until the berries lose their shape. (You can use any frozen fruit you have leftover after the winter.) Do not over cook the sauce. When the sauce cools, add a small amount of local raw honey, if desired. For travel, store the berry sauce in a glass mason jar with a plastic lid.

Caesar Dressing Base
4 cloves garlic, finely grated or minced
1/2c olive oil
juice of one lemon
1/2tsp sea salt
Mix all the ingredients together and store in a small mason jar. When ready to make the salad, rip up most of a head of romaine lettuce. Soft boil two eggs for five minutes and add half of the Caesar dressing to the eggs and mix well. Pour over romaine lettuce and serve.

Spelt Sourdough Pancakes
10c whole spelt grains, soaked, sprouted and dehydrated
sourdough culture with Kefir culture
2c ground spelt flour
2-3 pastured eggs
1/2tsp baking soda
1tsp sea salt
Take the whole spelt grains and cover with filtered water. Soak the spelt for 2-3 days, changing the water 2 times each day. When the spelt has small sprouts, rinse and drain one more time. Dehydrate the grains for 12 hours or until dry and store in the freezer for later use. Grind the spelt into flour and add to sourdough culture. (I use a Vita-Mix for grinding grains.) Add raw milk Kefir to culture and stir. Return culture to fridge for the night. When ready to make pancakes in the morning, preheat two or three cast iron pans on the stove-top. Use a small amount of lard or schmaltz in the pan. The pans are at the right temperature when the grease is just below the smoking point. Fill a large bowl with about 2 cups ground spelt flour, baking soda, and sea salt. Mix well. Add eggs and about 3 cups of the sourdough culture. Add more culture to thin out the mixture. Pour about 1/2 cup of batter onto the hot grill. Turn pancakes when brown and bubbly. For travel, I cool the pancakes and layer with wax paper. I divide the pancakes into daily amounts and wrap the stack in wax paper bags.

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Nourishing meals while traveling is a challenge but good planning will make the job easier. Prepare as much as you can at home.