Backpacking is always enhanced by a good meal. Happy, full stomachs will always be remembered in the fondest of ways. So, when planning those dreamy tasting palette soothers, keep in mind some fantastic cooking staples that are easy to prepare (way) in advance.

At the beginning of each backpacking season I always dehydrate batches of staples that I know I'll be using. There are many dehydrated staples that work well in all kinds of recipes. For example, mushrooms, rice and spaghetti/tomato sauce.

Below, I've put together some quick recipes fro dehydrating bulk staples. I use an 8 tray American Harvester food dehydrator which has a variable temperature dial. For dehydrating small foods (like rice), I use a screen insert that fits into each tray. For wet foods, I replace the screens with solid inserts.

Quick Tips:

(1) THIN Slices:
Remember, food should be sliced thin - not only for better dehydrating, but for quicker hydrating in the field! This is critical for chicken. When dehydrating sauces and soups, make sure solids are finely chopped (or pureed) and ladled thinly into the tray inserts.

(2) High Water Content:
Tomatoes, and other foods with a high water content, take much longer to dehydrate.

(3) Oil Substitutes:
Avoid recipes that include oil or ingredients with oil (like, garlic and butter) because oil does not dehydrate and you might end up with a greasy dehydrated mess that could turn rancid. Substitute small amounts of margarine or fat-free oil sprays for oil or butter when sautéing. Vacuum seal sliced garlic in small amounts of olive oil to add to cooking in the field.

(4) Putting Meals Together at Home:
Packaging ingredients and meals is critical for easy storage in a bear proof food canister and when preparing meals in the field. Using freezer/boiling grade, vacuum sealing bags can be be great substitutes for cookware which is much heavier and takes up a lot of pack space. When using the same bag to store and hydrate food in, make sure the bag will be large enough to hold boiling water at camp; always bring a spare hydrating bag just in case the storage bag springs a leak. Always bring separate hydrating bags for dehydrate rice, because rice is pointy and will put zillions of pin holes in the storage bag.

(5) Quick Meat:
Tuna and shredded chicken now come in no-oil, vacuum sealed pouches in most large grocery stores. They are packaged flat for easy pack storage.

(6) Hydrate in the Field Separately:
Dehydrated ingredients hydrate MUCH slower when mixed together in soups or sauces. It's a real time saver to hydrate ingredients like shredded chicken separately because it can take up to 30 minutes in boiled and reheated water to become tender. Hydrating in a sauce, can extend the hydration time for the sauce with chicken to an hour.

Ingredients like mushrooms and snow peas which hydrate quickly, should be hydrated in 5-10 minutes in hot water in their storage pouch, and then added to the meal before serving.

(7) Experience Counts:
Given ones stove, fuel type, cook ware and desires for eating, preparing and cooking dehydrated foods and meals in the field can take (only) a little time to master. Never add all the water required to hydrate food at one time; add amounts gradually. Boil water and then add to dehydrated foods. Simmering and constantly stirring soups and sauces is the key for not burning your meal and keeping the temperature hot enough for good hydrating. In bear country, prepare hydrated meals that take less time to cook in the field. Always store food in certified, bear proof food canisters away from your tent.