Living Overland's Recipes, Reviews, & Techniques

[flyfishexpert]

Camping Wineglasses

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Can the material our wineglasses are made out of add unwanted flavors to our favorite Sauvignon Blanc? We set out to set out to see if there was a difference contacting GSI Outdoors and having them send us two of their plastic (co-polyester) and two stainless steel stemless wineglasses.

The Test
We headed down to Marigolds Wine and Delicacies for their weekly 5 for $5 wine tasting event with our GSI Outdoors wineglasses in hand. Both of us would sample each wine out of a traditional glass wineglass, to be used as our 'control point', and then out of both the stainless steel and plastic stemless wineglasses. We compared how flavor of each wine was affected by the materials, and how they compared against our glass control point. Between each test we ate a cracker or two and took a sip of water to cleanse our palate. The following wines included in this test:
Red Heads Studios Yard Dog White
Walnut Block Wines Collectibles Sauvignon Blanc
Pillar Box Red
Red Heads Studios Yard Dog Red
Morse Code Pathway Shiraz

You can find our entire review on our website www.livingoverland.com or clicking this link.

 

[flyfishexpert]

Bananas Foster

Don't let the cold of winter deter you from enjoying the great outdoors! We spent New Years snowshoeing into one of the U.S. Forest Service cabins located in Southeast Idaho. The temperatures dipped to -15F at night, but we stayed nice and warm inside thanks to the cabin's propane heater. One of the benefits of winter camping is...Ice Cream! The benefit of camping with ice cream is wowing your friends by igniting a pan of Bananas Foster!

Ingredients
•3 Bananas
•2 tablespoons banana liqueur
•2 tablespoons rum
•1/2 cup brown sugar
•1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
•2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Serves 2

Pre-Trip Preparation

Preparation for this dish is quite simple. Measure out the liquid ingredients into reusable plastic containers and set aside. Next measure out the required amount of brown sugar and cinnamon, placing them together in a zipper bag. The liquid and dry ingredients can be stored in your 'dry food' box. Finally, place the required amount of butter into a reusable plastic container and place in the cooler.

You can find the entire recipe on our website livingoverland or by clicking here.

 

[spressomon]

Your Bananas Foster recipe looks great!

 

[flyfishexpert]

It has been a while since I have posted a recipe on the website, due to travel and professional exams, so here you go!

Ingredients

• 1.25lb chicken breast cut into 3/8" thick pieces
• 2-1/4 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup Parmesan
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 2 Tbsp fresh parsley
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp oregano
• 6 Tbsp lemon juice
• 4 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
• 1/2 cup white wine

Cooking Instructions
In a zipper bag combine all ingredients, reserving 1 Tbsp fresh parsley, and marinate for up to 4 hours. Cook chicken and sauce over high heat until chicken is cooked through. Serve over your favorite rice and garnish with the remaining parsley.

Cooking near Fishing Bridge Yellowstone NP​

 

[flyfishexpert]

Review of VinniBag

Whether you are taking a bottle of your favorite balsamic vinegar with you to camp or are returning from a trip to California's Sonoma Valley with a bottle of your favorite Syrah it is important to protect them from being damaged during transport. We were once forced to wrap our bottles in an extra T-shirt or bubble wrap, place them in our chuck box or luggage and hope they made the journey undamaged. No matter how well we packed, there was always the possibility of a bottle breaking and leaking onto and damaging or ruining the the items around it.

Specifications

We no longer have to worry about bottles breaking and leaking with our VinniBag. Retailing for $28, the VinniBag is designed to securely hold a standard 750ml wine bottle but can be used for a multitude of fragile items. Instructions are printed on the bag and are clear and easy to follow. Bottles are inserted into the bag, the bottom is rolled up and secured, and the air chambers are inflated.

The air chambers provide a thick cushion around the wine bottle, protecting it from the abuse of airline travel, while the dry bag like seal keeps the contents of a broken bottle in the bag and not on your clothing.

To read more or our thoughts on VinniBag, visit our website at livingoverland, or by clicking here.

 

[flyfishexpert]

Stuffed Peppers

Bell peppers were in season during our trip to Chile and we couldn't help but begin to crave stuffed peppers as we walked through the produce market in Pucon. Not having the equipment to bake the dish back at our cabin, as we would at home, we decided to try blanching the peppers prior to stuffing. Although the dish lacked the crunchy texture of an oven-baked stuffed pepper, we were pleasantly surprised by how well it turned out.

The produce market in Pucon, Chile​

Ingredients

• 1lb ground beef
• 3/4 cup cooked white rice
• 1 tomato, diced
• 1 small onion, diced
• 3/4 cup diced zucchini
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2/3 cup Queso Chanco (Monterrey Jack would work as a substitution)
• 4 large bell peppers
• 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 avocado, sliced

Serves 4
You can find the entire recipe on our website www.livingoverland.com or by clicking here.

 

[flyfishexpert]

Review of Magellan's Travel Supplies' Bottle Armor

As we were preparing for our 16-day trip to Chile, it was becoming obvious to us that we wanted to bring home some Chilean wine to share with our family and friends. We have traveled with wine tucked away in our checked luggage before and have always feared arriving home to find our bottle broken and our clothing covered in red wine. We contacted Magellan's Travel Supplies and they sent us a pair of their Bottle Armor to review.

Specifications

Bottle Armor can be purchased directly from Magellan's Travel Supplies for $24.85 a pair. The set includes a corkscrew, which stores away in the convenient pouch located on the back of every Bottle Armor. Bottles are protected from damage using a thin layer of bubble wrap which is secured within a durable nylon shell. The shell is designed to be puncture resistant and in the event a bottle does break it is designed with a double zipper-lock closure to prevent liquid from leaking out. Bottles are simply slid inside and the end sealed up by pressing the zippers and adjoining the Velcro.

Bottle Armor can be purchased in two sizes, standard and XXL. Our Bottle Armor was the standard size.

To read more or our thoughts on Bottle Armor, visit our website at livingoverland, or by clicking here.

 

[flyfishexpert]

Tapioca Parfait Topped with a Strawberry and Fennel Compote

This is the perfect desert for relaxing after a long day of exploring. The dessert can be quickly assembled on the trail by performing much of the prep-work at home. The tapioca can be made prior to the trip and stored in a reusable plastic container, ready for use.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup small pearl tapioca
• 3 cups whole milk
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1 quart strawberries, trimmed
• 1/2 lemon
• 3 TBSP sugar

Serves 4

You can find the entire recipe on our website www.livingoverland.com or by clicking here.

 

[flyfishexpert]

Review of GSI Outdoors Pinnacle 10" Frypan

As we prepared for our trip to Chile, it was apparent we needed a new frypan, our 12" cast iron just wasn't going to cut it, so we contacted our friends at GSI Outdoors and they sent us their 10" Pinnacle Frypan. Since its arrival, the frypan has followed us on our snowshoeing, Chile, and Yellowstone trips tucked away in our backpack or in the back of the 4Runner.

Specifications
Major Dimension: 10"
Weight: 17.8 oz.
Dimensions: 11.1" x 10.6" x 2.8"
Material: Non-Stick Coated, Hard Anodized Aluminum
Product Use: Car Camping

For our full review, visit our website at livingoverland, or click here.

 

[flyfishexpert]

Inexpensive On-Board Water System

We live out of the back of our 4Runner for days at a time and to make life just a little easier we built this inexpensive on-board water dispensing system. The water tank sits adjacent to our cook stove and allows us easy access to fresh water when we cook. We can also roll down the back window to fill water bottles while we travel.

Parts List:
1 Whale 881 submersible pump
1 Shurflo 94-009-01 faucet
3' of 3/8"ID tubing
3/4"NPT-1/2"NPT reducing bushing
7-gal Reliance Products Jumbo-Tainer
4' 18ga wire
1 12V cigarette outlet adapter

Tools Required:
Soldering Iron
Hacksaw
5/16" drill bit
Drill
Dremel Tool

Finished Product

Video: Inexpensive on-board water system

To learn more about how we made our water system, visit our website at www.livingoverland.com or click here.

 

[VanGo]

Beau,

I am not aware of another OB water system that can be as easily sourced and constructed, great work, and most of all, thanks for sharing- I can imagine this took awhile to research!

Van

 

[flyfishexpert]

TheOverlandGourmet.com is headed to the 2011 Outdoor Retailer Summer Market

We are pleased to announce our application for a press pass to the 2011 Outdoor Retailer Summer Market was approved and we will be headed to Salt Lake City August 5 and 6. Be sure to follow us each day as we post information and photographs on the latest in outdoor cooking products.​

Follow us on facebook and twitter for updates throughout the day. Check out our website, www.livingoverland.com, each night as we will be posting a list of the day's most exciting products and interviews with the manufacturers.​

For a full list of equipment manufacturers attending the show visit http://www.outdoorretailer.com/.​

 

[flyfishexpert]

Freezing Beer for Your Cooler

If you are anything like me, you read the title of this post, tears welled up in your eyes, and you screamed expletives up to the heavens. I assure you no (good) beer was severely injured in the making of this post.


Background
A couple of long-time river rafting friends of mine and I were discussing coolers and keeping food cool when they mentioned 18-day trips they had taken down the Colorado. "We would just freeze our beer," they said, "and we could make the entire trip without ice." " I am sorry," I said to them, "you lost me at 'We would freeze our beer.'". The two of them proceeded to explain how they would utilize two sets of coolers for their river trips. One set would be filled with cans of beer, which would then be placed in large commercial freezers.

The other set of coolers would be used to store their perishable foods. Frozen beer would be used to keep these coolers cold and as the beer began to thaw they would replace these cans with fresh ones from the 'beer coolers'. Now, I remember my roommate in college forgetting about some beer he had placed in the freezer to chill and when we discovered it the next day, several of the cans had exploded. They explained to me how they had made the same discovery and said we would be fine as long as I did not freeze 'Light' beer.

The Experiment

As we contemplated how we would test this technique, we knew we wanted to keep this relevant to the beer we, and our friends, typically drink. We chose to experiment with New Belgium's Fat Tire, Cerveza Tecate, Pabst Blue Ribbon, and Coors Light to show 'what not to do'.


Before we got started we contacted New Belgium Brewing to inquire into the possible ill-effects of freezing beer and we got this response back:

"...unfortunately it will only keep your food cold, it will not keep the beer flavor. When you freeze beer- it basically turns the solution back into a mixture of frozen highly alcoholic beer and ice. So when you thaw, you will have high octane beer and water mixture- no bueno. But, if you were REAL thirsty, I bet you would not mind that much."

We pressed on in the name of 'Science' to determine how well this technique really worked. We established a test plan for the experiment:

1. freeze individual cans
2. freeze a 12-pack and a Starbucks Coffee Traveler bladder
3. place the 12-pack and bladder in two separate coolers
4. measure the temperatures in the coolers, seeing which of the two coolers stays the coldest
5. determine which, the beer or the water, thaws the fastest.

Individual cans, of each of the four beer brands, were frozen one at a time in a plastic container to ensure we wouldn't end up with beer on the inside of our freezer.

For more information on this technique and to find the results from our testing, visit our webiste at livingoverland, or click here.

 

[flyfishexpert]

We are attending the 2011 Outdoor Retailer Summer Market bringing you the latest in outdoor cooking gear. These are some of interesting items we discovered today.

Nutriom makes OvaEasy, a powdered egg product that is easy to prepare tasted great. We think this product might be perfect for those campers who have limited space in their cooler.

Reliance Products now offers a line of eco-friendly water containers; the Green Glacier Cooler and Water Bottles are insulated with straw.

Camp Chef is improving on their popular Rainier Stove by now bundling both the griddle and grill grate. Now it is even easier to prepare a great breakfast and dinner while on the trail.

Byer of Maine manufactures an innovative wash basin that incorporates both the wash and rinse stations as well as a drying rack. The stable platform also converts into a camp stool.

EcoQue has created an efficient portable grill that uses fewer charcoal briquettes and has the ability to bake.

Journey Bar is filling a niche in the energy bar market by creating a savory line geared toward those tired of the same old sweet-flavored bars.

For even more information on the cooking items we have seen, be sure to check out our website, www.livingoverland.com, and follow us on Facebook and Twitter

 

[flyfishexpert]

Primus Camping is updating their Profile Stove with some nice features including an integrated light/timer and it is now even easier to setup.

NaviSafe has a cool boating light that we think has some applications for overland travel. Be sure to check back as we review the many applications of the light.

GSI Outdoors' new Wine Glass Gift Set incorporates a reusable bladder and a place to store two glasses all within an insulated neoprene case. This would be perfect for those outdoor concerts where glass containers are not allowed.

GSI Outdoors' new Kung Foon integrates a pair of chopsticks with a foon, and the name is cool!

For even more information on the cooking items we have seen, be sure to check out our website, www.livingoverland.com, and follow us on Facebook and www.twitter.com/livingoverland"Twitter[/URL

 

[flyfishexpert]

Chorizo and Black Bean Breakfast Tostada

Ingredients
12 ounces chorizo, casing removed
1 16-ounce can black beans, rinsed
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
4 tostadas
1 16-ounce carton Egg Beaters
1 avocado, peeled, pitted, diced
1/2 cup grated 'Mexican-Style' cheese
1 cup cherry tomatoes

Serves 4

You can find the entire recipe on our website www.livingoverland.com or by clicking here.

 

[packetstormin]

I made your chicken dish above and it was amazing. Very simple and amazing flavors. I cant wait to try your stuffed peppers. Kudos on your recipes

 

[flyfishexpert]

I made your chicken dish above and it was amazing. Very simple and amazing flavors. I cant wait to try your stuffed peppers. Kudos on your recipes

Thank you for your feedback and kind words! We have some more great recipes in the works, including some amazing desserts!

 

[flyfishexpert]

Review of Fire Wire Flexible Skewers

Kabobs are an easy and fun way to prepare a meal when in the back country. There are several materials and styles of skewers on the market to choose from, and now INNO-LABS is changing everything with their FireWire flexible stainless skewers.

Specifications
Material: Stainless Steel
Length:
Quantity: 2 per package
Price: ~$10 per pair

Our Thoughts:
We had the opportunity to take a pair of the FireWire flexible skewers on our Independence Day Weekend camping trip. We used the skewers, in combination with one of their many their marinade kit varieties, to cook some chicken and vegetable kabobs.

For our full review, visit our website at livingoverland, or click here.

 

[hkeller]

Cool looking stuff. Where was the show?