Delicious & Nutrious Backpacking Breakfast Recipe

Coconut Vanilla Quinoa with Cashews

This delicious recipe is perfect for breakfast or even a hearty dessert after a big day on the trail. This energy packed recipe is rich in protein, carbohydrates, and fats, giving you the long lasting power to actually make it from breakfast to lunch without a big snack in between. 

Prep and cook time: 35 minutes

Makes: 4 servings

Ingredients:

 

1 cup quinoa

2 cups water

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup whole powdered milk

1/4 cup shredded coconut

1/4 cup raw cashews

1/2 vanilla bean pod

Pinch of salt

At Home:

1. Measure and package all ingredients. Due to moisture, package shredded coconut separate from cashews so they remain firm.

In Camp:

1. Add quinoa and powdered milk to 2 cups water. Stir well and bring to boil, and then reduce to simmer. Cover. Cook for 25 mins. or until milk is absorbed and quinoa is soft. Add a pinch of salt if desired.

2. While cooking, slice bean pod in half and scrape out vanilla bean seeds with sharp knife.

3. Once milk is absorbed, add coconut, cashews, vanilla bean seeds and sugar. Stir, cover, and let rest for 3 – 5 mins.

4. Enjoy!





Packing Tips for Air Travel

Many clients ask me for tips about how to bring their backpack (or soft sided luggage) with them for their upcoming travels. Below are a few suggestions based on many years of client successes (failures) with backpacks, duffels, and air travel.

* Arrive at the airport with your pack “air ready”. Nothing can derail yourluggage more than if you get to the counter to check your bag and it isn’t ready to go.

* Close all buckles, zippers, Velcro, etc. and then tuck in all straps to any pockets so they won’t get hung on the luggage conveyer belt. You want your backpack to look like a neatly wrapped package if possible.

*Bring a large clear heavy duty plastic bag with you. If the airline will let you put your backpack or duffel it in, do it. Some airlines don’t.
Put your name in several places on your backpack. Tags fall off, and then luggage handlers have to dig through your stuff for your name. Put it in multiple places with contact info inside your backpack.

* Travel with all your water bottles, camelbacks, etc. empty. We had a client once who was concerned about having to step of the plane and onto the trail. She filled her camelback up with water and checked her back. When she picked up her bag in San Francisco, her items were soaked. We spent the next 3 hours having a guide go to a nearby Laundromat to dry them out.

* Carry all valuables with you on the plane. Sadly, many items like carabineers, cameras, battery chargers, etc. go missing between the time you check your luggage and the time you collect it.

* Consider using a luggage delivery service. Call of the Wild has had great success with Sports Express. With new fees for checking luggage by the airlines, this expense isn’t so expensive anymore and we haven’t had a problem yet with this service.

www.callwild.com