Paddle Meals : Cruising with Coyne

October-November 2000

This is an article from WaveLength Magazine, available in print in North America and globally on the web.

by Deb Leach with Phyllis Coyne

Oregon in the autumn-the North Santiam River beckons. In a raft bouncing along behind Phyllis Coyne, her purple Perception and her paddling buddies, I learned why they have well worn copies of Soggy Sneakers-A Guide to Oregon Rivers. After an exhilarating run, we sat on shore wolfing down yummy 'Vegetarian Pemmican' bars.

Phyllis loves white water paddling and has sea kayaked as far north as Alaska and down under in Australia. She raves about Admiralty Inlet in Glacier Bay (Alaska) and the Bella Bella area of British Columbia. Some of her favourite summers back east were spent off the coast of Maine and Martha's Vineyard. Phyllis is still figuring out how to take her pup, Maya McGuire, cruising.

Fresh Water Notes

You can't always lug all the drinking water you need, but you want to avoid the ravages of E.coli, cryptosporidium or whatever lurks in foreign water. Bring along an antibacterial hand-washing gel for apres-potty and before food prep. No water required. Use 'safe' water to mix with dehydrated foods. Purify water from streams or rain.

Water purifiers are effective, but bulky. Boiling water for 3 minutes is one option. Pristine water purification drops are popular with paddlers and backpackers-safe water costs about 25 cents per litre. The system requires mixing and waiting about 20 minutes. Pristine drops are favoured over iodine for the improved taste and protection against Giardia (beaver fever) and cryptosporidium.

[Note: this new product was not mentioned in 'Water Your Options' in WaveLength August-September 1997.]

Vegetarian Pemmican

At home, mix:

1 cup sesame oil or peanut butter
1 cup honey
1/4 cup or less molasses
2 cups soy flour
1 cup rice flour (or other flour or bran)
1 cup sesame seeds
1 cup sunflower seeds (or crushed peanuts or almonds)
1 cup walnuts.

You can also add: unsweetened coconut, orange peel, dried fruit, vanilla or nutritional yeast. Spread in 9-inch square baking pan. Cook at 350 for 45 minutes. Let cool and cut in bars. Store in zipper lock bags or plastic tub.

Skillet' Beans Serves 2 generously.

1 package of refried beans
1 tbsp. butter or oil
slices of jalapeno pepper (remove seeds which are the hottest or drops of green Tabasco sauce
sour cream sauce (made from packet of dry mix) or 1 cup plain yogurt or sour cream
1 fresh tomato or handful of sundried tomatoes reconstituted
2 green onions, chopped (or chopped white onion, or rehydrated onion flakes)
Tortilla chips or wedges of corn tortillas heated over a fire or in a dry frying pan.

In camp:

Add 2 cups boiling water and butter to refried bean mix. Let stand a few minutes. Heat in skillet. Remove from heat and quickly spread reconstituted sour cream sauce over top. Sprinkle with jalapeno, tomato and onion. Dip from skillet with tortilla chips.

Option 1. On top of hot beans in skillet add a layer of cheese dip or Monterey Jack cheese with jalapeno (1/2 cup cheese shredded). Continue heating until cheese starts to melt. Then layer on toppings as above.

Option 2. If you have a food dehydrator, use dry sliced and pitted black olives. Reconstitute in camp.

Tabouli

At home

Mix in a zipper locking bag:
2 cups bulgur wheat
1 cup dried parsley
1/2 cup dried onion
2 tbsp. dried mint leaves
handful of cut-up sun-dried tomatoes and dried green peppers

In camp:

Add 1/2 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup warm water
Reconstitute (or soak) for one hour.