Scurvy!

Well, what do you think?”

“I give it a 5 [out of 10].” John made his I-am-forcing-myself-to-eat-this face. 

I translate John’s 5 rating of macaroni and cheese using black bean pasta and veggie rotini to “I wouldn’t order it in a restaurant and don’t ask me to eat it at home; but I will force myself to eat it on the river if it means keeping myself alive and healthy.”  Apparently, John is willing to broaden his palate only when he is hungry and in danger of scurvy (black bean pasta has 24% daily value of vitamin C). Perhaps the best option for the black bean penne is in recipes where pasta isn’t the only main ingredient, such as taco macaroni and cheese.

Another 5-rated meal this week was black oats and quinoa with dehydrated bananas. I purchased this limited-time-only Norway blend from Norwex but couldn’t find any other distributers.  Since this blend boasts 5 grams of fiber, 8 grams of protein, and 15% of the daily requirement for iron, I researched a comparable blend. Regular oatmeal has 3.7 grams of fiber, 6 grams of protein, and 8% of the daily requirement for iron; Quinoa has 5 grams of fiber, 8 grams of protein, and 15% of the daily requirement for iron. This morning I combined oatmeal with dehydrated quinoa to replicate the nutritional value of the special blend. John’s rating—8. The nutritional values are not as high as the black oats and quinoa, but it will help in the fight against scurvy. And, John won’t make a face.

While experimenting with the black oats and quinoa, I realized the potential advantage of a lidded cozy. After adding water to the mixture in a freezer bag nestled in the cozy, I set the timer for twenty minutes. Twenty minutes later, the water was not totally absorbed. Even after another five minutes, the mixture was soupy—no need to add milk. My hypothesis is the lidless cozy contributed to needing more minutes. Solution—I can either clip clothespins to the top of the cozy or order a cozy with a lid. Since John and I had previously discussed purchasing another cozy for multi-course meals (dinner always includes dessert), I researched options. I found directions to make one, but moved to the next search result because I’m not that ambitious. In addition to a lid, free standing is a desired feature. Further research showed that most cozies do not have a flat bottom. I found one on Amazon that fits both criteria—closeable and freestanding. It’s on its way. Stay tuned. 

This week we had zucchini stir-fry with purple rice. Besides adding texture to the stir-fry, the purple rice added protein. For the trip, I will combine our stir-fry with purple rice (6 grams) instead of the usual brown (5 grams) to gain additional protein. 

The dehydrator hummed non-stop this week as I dehydrated grapes (on sale at Kroger), purple rice, zucchini stir-fry, bread cubes/crumbs, black bean stew, spaghetti, trail cake (use in Pineapple upside down cake, pudding cake dessert, strawberry shortcake), black beans, and veggie rotini.

No scurvy here.