I am a grandmother paddling alone over 2,500 miles from Maine to Guatemala. Along the way I will be:
- telling the story of the children who live in the Guatemala City garbage dump community
- honoring their entrepreneurial mothers
- talking about the success of the Safe Passage model school and
- raising funds for additional grades for the school.

Monday, January 27, 2014

Breakfast menu and some gear it requires

Turkish tea and yoghurt-granola-fruit-nut-seed mixture at home
Will my usual breakfast at home, that I'm happy to eat every day, work on the expedition?
Breakfast is the easiest meal to plan and pack for an expedition.  I know I never get tired of the same thing everyday, so it's just a modification of my usual breakfast at home.  There is tea. There is cereal: granola with yoghurt or hot cereal with milk.  If you like more variety at breakfast, my method may not work for you.

On a kayaking trip I have a thin ziplock bag for each morning containing cereal mixed with all the fixings: powdered milk, dried fruit, nuts, seeds and flax meal.  In some bags the cereal is granola.  These become quick breakfasts by mixing with cold water, or hot breakfast by mixing with hot water.  The cereal in other bags is instant oatmeal.  (You can easily make the instant oatmeal by taking rolled oats, and pulse chopping half of them in a food processor, then mix the two halves together.  To use, just add hot water and let it sit 3 to 5 minutes.)

The dried fruit on an expedition is a combination of commercially dried fruit such as raisins, and my own home dehydrated fruit such as apples and strawberries.  (I'll have to write a post about the "prototype" food dehydrator my husband and I designed and made many years ago.  As with many things we make as a prototype (rapidly and roughly with supplies on hand) we never got around to making the finished item.)

Then there is the very important tea.  I like the tea and I like the ritual.  (Did I mention I lived in England for 8 years?  Did I mention I'm waiting until I grow up before starting to drink coffee?)   The type of tea changes: often Turkish tea,  sometimes Gunpowder green and occasionally Pu-erh.   I don't use tea bags, as they add more weight and more garbage.   I use loose tea and a "tadpole" tea infuser in an insulated mug.
Camping tea set with insulated titanium mug, lid, nesting tea cup and tadpole tea infuser
I like my tea very hot, so I put the insulated mug into a homemade tea cozy (made by cutting up a car sun shade, and then taping the pieces together with aluminum foil tape).  But then the tea is too hot to drink at first, so I use a small tea cup where it can cool quickly to the perfect temperature.
Homemade tea cozy and tea cup
Did I mention I like the ritual which includes having esthetically pleasing (to me at least) tea ware?  This is one small luxury I like to take on expeditions.  In a post on creating a camp kitchen I'll show how it all nests together, and what I use for a camp stove.


3 comments:

  1. I love the tea cozy and your low weight ideas. I had to laugh at the cut-off spoon. Best of luck, Deb.

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  2. Yep, had to be able to fit the tadpole tea infuser inside the lidded mug to brew (and to store). And think of all those grams I saved in weight!

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  3. Interesting post, Deb! I'm still trying to reconcile the vision of your paddling merrily along, bouncing up & down with the waves, while mixing & heating breakfast ingredients! Kathy :o)

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