Under Western Skies

Lugging around fuel is no fun.  I like cooking in the backcountry as much as anyone but learning how much fuel you can get away with carrying.....or not carrying, is another great way to reduce weight.  Check out the many lightweight stove options at your local gear store.  There are a few other things you can do as well.  When shopping for food at your local grocery store look for things that have a minimal prep time.  Most noodle, rice, and Chinese/Thai things in the supermarket can be cooked with nothing more than hot water.  Heres the trick!
Bring your water to a boil and then shut the stove off.  Add your ingredients and just let it soak.  The hot water does the rest.  At the end if your food has absorbed most of the water you might want to "goose" it a little with some heat just to sear or brown or melt a little cheese, and of course don't forget the spices!   This method works well for hot cereals and dinners as well.  Try cold lunches of cheese, hard crackers, salami, licorice, hearty breads and dried fruit.  No cooking for lunch means less fuel.  Boiling water only for dinner,breakfast and cleanup means little or no fuel consumption. 
  Experiment and see what you can get by with you'll be surprised by what you can do. 
Until next time see you Under Western Skies!