It's fun to prepare and dry your own instant trail meals, and you may be surprised at just how delicious they taste when reconstituted. Cook down liquids as much as possible when cooking main dishes to be dehydrated, use as little oil as possible in their preparation, and make all pieces of vegetables small and the same size so everything will dry properly and uniformly.

Don't use meat in the main dishes you plan to dehydrate. Meat will be better added to the cooking pot later. For example, slice Andouille sausage into the Cajun Black Beans in camp. The black beans retain a more distinct flavor of their own, and the sausage will taste fresh and spicy.

The following soup and main-dish recipes can be reconstituted into at least 10 different meals. The French Onion Soup Base also makes an outstanding pasta sauce with Parmesan cheese; spaghetti sauce can be a base for soups, pizza, and so on. These recipes are also representative of other old favorites you can turn into quick trail dinners. You may want to try dehydrating your favorite recipe for chili using the black beans recipe as a guide, or perhaps Curried Lentil Soup will inspire you to dehydrate your favorite split pea soup recipe.

Remember: the sooner you use these dishes, the better they'll taste. Store in the refrigerator and never attempt to dry main dishes containing cream or eggs. Andjust to make sureuse them within a couple of weeks after drying.