After getting tired of lugging around too much food on my backpacking trips,  and not really enjoying the prepackaged flavorless goo that many of the freeze dried meals consist of,  I purchased my very own dehydrator.  My Daughters and I have been having great fun seeing what the best possible snacks we can come up with,  and have found some fantastic fruits that dehydrate really well.   Watermelon is currently my favorite,  it shrinks down to these little shriveled pieces,  but the flavor of a huge slice of watermelon is compacted into that bite sized chunk.   We have also had good sucess with pineapple,  strawberries, apricots,   and the other assorted fruits that are good to dry.

The next step is getting a handle on the meals I will be taking on the trail with me.  I have a horrible habit of packing enough food for a small army,  and lugging that weight around until we arrive home.  I am going to make a concerted effort this summer to get a handle on food preparation on the trail.  For anyone interested,  a good start is the fantastic Freezerbagcooking  website,  that has loads of info on preparing trail foods,  including a recipe book you can order.

I am excited to see where this goes,  and will keep you posted.