The past couple of months we have been preparing the scouts for a backpacking trip.  One of the essential items you need to take with you on your backpacking trip is food.  The challenges with food and backpacking include weight and waste. One way to have the scouts realize the differences in weight is have two different types of soup on the table for them to pick up.  One being a can of ready to eat chicken noodle soup, and the other a bag of dehydrated chicken noodle soup. When it comes to backpacking, ounces add up to weigh down you pack. 

There are many options for store bought backpacking meals.  The issue that I have found with these meals are that they are usually overpriced, and they usually don't taste very good.  One option is to dehydrate your own food to take backpacking... yes, you do not have to buy pre-packaged meals! The book Backpack Gourmet, by Linda Frederick Yaffe is a great resource to making your own backpacking meals from scratch to dehydration.  Make sure to have some really strong baggies to keep your food dry, fresh, and ready for you to re-hydrate on the trail. One of her receipts I'm excited to take on this next trip is a Turkey Chili. I'll let you know how it goes as I will be preparing this meal this weekend in preparations for our backpacking trip next week.