I HATE planning what foods to bring to the playa!

[Savannah]

There will be tender steak at the M&G!

That's really the only reason I show up to the Meet & Greet, or--as I like to spell it--"The Meat & Greet". I just steadily eat steak in tiny pieces with a cocktail fork and pumpkin-carving mini knife, for three damned hours.

Oh sure--sometimes I will hug & greet people, but you will notice that it's strictly when I temporarily run out of meat, and even then, I'm looking over your shoulder, following the scent (and with my tongue in your unattended champagne glass).

Oh sweet girl. You do realize that now greidog will be following you around with steak and champagne right?

How awful!

[trilobyte]

You've got my condolences, working on potentially crazy logistics and coming from a great distance. If I were in your shoes, I'd buy a cooler after landing in Reno, and then either gift it to campmates, donate, or do the recycle thing when leaving. I'm sure I could survive trying to scrape by on the minimal supplies, but the people I camped with in my first year spoiled me. In that first year, I swear I ate better out there, in that crazy insanely inhospitable desert than I ever have in Defaultia. I still don't know exactly how they did it. The rational part of my brain knows we all just brought coolers, and we did most all our shopping at traditional grocery stores... but somehow it just came togther that whenever someone in camp was feeling peckish another campmate was just about to serve some kind of delicacy. It was epic and surreal and preposterous, and now I feel a big spoiled.

Especially considering that I'm generally low key in my own meal planning. I aim for comfort foods and carbo-loading. If you're a meat eater, I strongly suggest a few cans of corned beef hash. Easy to make and serve, dials up plenty of protein and carbs to help fuel playa shenanigans. Dogs and burgers and bacon and eggs are other standard staples - easy to manage in the cooler, easy to prep and serve (and clean up).

I hate being discombobulated by strange and foreign grocery store layouts, but just double the normal allotment of time that you think makes sense for a shop. I think the real game is not finding stuff fast, but managing expectations. If you think it'll take half an hour because that's how long it'd take you at home, you'll be frustrated and pissed off because everything is somewhere else and jesus fucking christ on a bike, you've been here for an hour and still need half the shit on your list. Plan for it to take a couple of hours, and the same situation seems a bit less angsty. Plus, feeling less rushed, you might just find some interesting stuff in the local stores that you might not have considered as an option.

[graidawg]

There will be tender steak at the M&G!

That's really the only reason I show up to the Meet & Greet, or--as I like to spell it--"The Meat & Greet". I just steadily eat steak in tiny pieces with a cocktail fork and pumpkin-carving mini knife, for three damned hours.

Oh sure--sometimes I will hug & greet people, but you will notice that it's strictly when I temporarily run out of meat, and even then, I'm looking over your shoulder, following the scent (and with my tongue in your unattended champagne glass).

Oh sweet girl. You do realize that now greidog will be following you around with steak and champagne right?

*cancels plan to buy extra champagne* seems someone else is stealing my name and plan!

[graidawg]

I have the convenience of a microwave & freezer in the RV, but I'm still a lazy cook out there. My main meals are Trader Joes soups - I eat them almost every day for dinner, occasionally for lunch. Faves are the garlic-onion, & the udon. I love kimchee ramen at home, so I'm going to try a couple pre-made brands the next week or so, and bring the best out with fresh kimchee from a local vendor to add to it.

Other than that, I bring a one frozen pasta-something as a treat dinner (TJ's has a great vegan penne Arrabiata), lots of pickles and snack-foods, and lots of chips & salsa, plus I'm thinking of making my own frozen breakfast burritos this year, since finding a decent brand of vegan ones has sucked, and I can't risk cheese on the playa.

"I'll have the Penne Arrabiata"

[media]

[Martiansky]

AH hahahahaha!!!!
Graidawg, that video is flippin' hillarious!!!

Digging through the cupboard this morning....SCORE!!
canned beef
canned chicken
canned ham
rotel canned tomatoes/chilis & lime juice/cilantro
couscous

[theCryptofishist]

I normally grocery shop every other day very close to my home, because I like to have whatever I'm in the mood for, so--I hear that, Lemur.

I'm shocked, shocked that Savannah does the classy, european thing!

[lemur]

OK!

reporting in on the packaged precooked hamburger.

it is ok! plenty good enough for the playa.


when you put it in the pan its something you could never tell from normal ground beef.... its got decent chunks big and small.

when it first comes out the water has a slight smell of the kind you get from similar style packages tuna.. if you eat it right out of the bag you taste a bit of that.. but after cooking in the pan for about 90secs - 2 minutes that water cooks away and that flavor is gone (though its not offensive when its there, more of a hamburger flavor)

i made a batch of tacos.. and nothing tasted off about it or odd in any way...and the texture was right too.

hooray!

[tamarakay]

The cooked rice in a bag is good also. Mix the two together and filling.

[delle]

I am absolutely loving this thread. My entire food list has changed since coming in here.

...and I just realized that I -- for the first time in my life -- will finally have access to a Trader Joes for my Playa Shopping experience.

Smoke House Pulled Chicken Breast;
Beef Brisket;
Carne Asada Autenti;

even bags of Hard-Cooked Peeled Eggs, for crying outloud!!!

This is gearing up to be soooooooo much better than 8 days of warm chili out of the can, thanks to you all!!!

[tatonka]

going to try to thaw a frozen spaggeti dinner ( mari calenders ,like the sauce ) open and pour contents into vacuem seal bag , refreeze it then boil it to eat. takes 40 min . in oven at 350 to cook , wonder how long to boil it?

[delle]

Ack.

Googled heating times for boiled bags and found this:

http://shangri-lawless.com/wp-content/u ... -Meals.pdf

Now I have to back up and see what else they put up, because there's a whole lot of love in that pdf!!!!

(ps. although I didn't get your answer, the very last paragraph suggests that you thaw first for even heating... which I suppose is pretty obvious, but I wouldn't have thought of it and would probably ended up drinking spaghetti and melted plastic soup)

[delle]

Oop. Nope. There it was, right there:

"COOKING/HEATING
‐
This is the easy part. The best thing to use is a turkey deep
fryer base and large covered pot. Fill it half way with water and make sure the
water is boiling before putting the bags in. It usually takes about 20 minutes to heat
everything
‐
30 for rice and couscous dishes. Make sure they are mostly immersed in
the water and use a large pair of tongs to handle the bags and stir them around
occasionally to ensure even heating throughout."

[Savannah]

I normally grocery shop every other day very close to my home, because I like to have whatever I'm in the mood for, so--I hear that, Lemur.

I'm shocked, shocked that Savannah does the classy, european thing!

. . . When the elevator in my apartment building is out of order, I do like to pretend I'm living in Paris in an ancient 5th floor walk-up.

[graidawg]

I normally grocery shop every other day very close to my home, because I like to have whatever I'm in the mood for, so--I hear that, Lemur.

I'm shocked, shocked that Savannah does the classy, european thing!

. . . When the elevator in my apartment building is out of order, I do like to pretend I'm living in Paris in an ancient 5th floor walk-up.

for some reason, that just makes a lot of sense to me. you would make paris bearable

[C.f.M.]

Did someone say steak and champagne??

Two of my favorite things.

I love cooking and food and eating. I hate trying to figure out what to take to Burning Man. I never get it right.

You know what REALLY sucks? Being gluten-free. And somewhat health-conscious. As opposed to say, my friend J, who lives off of cans of green beans and ravioli. It limits the easy food I can do - especially with the aforementioned strangerdanger grocery store problem, and not knowing what the store I end up at will have - and the free food I can accept. No pancakes, grilled cheese sandwiches, crackers, baked delights...or beer.

Even after five years on the playa, and...I don't even know how many regionals, the grocery list remains an unperfected task. Bah!

[delle]

CFM!!! Welcome back!!!!

[C.f.M.]

Thank you, delle!

[Elderberry]

I normally grocery shop every other day very close to my home, because I like to have whatever I'm in the mood for, so--I hear that, Lemur.

How is that much different from stocking your freezer/refrigerator/cupboards with a monthly trip to Costco? You can still eat whatever you're in the mood for without those extra trips. It's all right there in your house.

[lemur]

some people have woefully tiny pantries!

and tiny fridges


or they are all highfalootin and only eat 'fresh' 'bakery' bread.. that dies in 3 days.

[Elliot]

...
Elliot, you know what's really delicious out of the can? Hormel Turkey Chili: No Beans. i.e.: just turkey. Maybe a little garlic powder or hot sauce . . .

Tons of protein.

And... I like it! Had half a can for lunch and found it downright agreeable -- cold, straight out of the can with a spoon. Much tastier than the tray of roast beef and potatoes I tried a couple of days ago. A tiny bit spicy, even. I'll bring a lot of these.

[theCryptofishist]

I can't really do canned meat. Or chili in any form. I'm terribly fussy. It's annoying.

[lemur]

we can be fussy together!!!



2014 burning man camp idea: the Fussy picky eaters camp.. serving loads of buttered bread, potatoes and plain hamburgers.

[theCryptofishist]

We can set up next to Comfort Food Camp...

[C.f.M.]

Aside from gluten, I'm not fussy at all! I just don't like gross food. And I don't like moop. I've never taken canned stuff to a burn before...those Compleats someone mentioned earlier are terrible. I got a few on sale to keep at work, and they didn't taste good, weren't filling, and didn't have much in the way of nutritional benefits, to say the least.

I wonder if I could have some Tasty Bites sent mid-week, from Amazon...last year, a campmate had some cold, chocolate covered strawberries delivered. It was a treat!

[tatonka]

Oop. Nope. There it was, right there:

"COOKING/HEATING
‐
This is the easy part. The best thing to use is a turkey deep
fryer base and large covered pot. Fill it half way with water and make sure the
water is boiling before putting the bags in. It usually takes about 20 minutes to heat
everything
‐
30 for rice and couscous dishes. Make sure they are mostly immersed in
the water and use a large pair of tongs to handle the bags and stir them around
occasionally to ensure even heating throughout."

thks

[Krokodyle]

...
Elliot, you know what's really delicious out of the can? Hormel Turkey Chili: No Beans. i.e.: just turkey. Maybe a little garlic powder or hot sauce . . .

Tons of protein.

And... I like it! Had half a can for lunch and found it downright agreeable -- cold, straight out of the can with a spoon. Much tastier than the tray of roast beef and potatoes I tried a couple of days ago. A tiny bit spicy, even. I'll bring a lot of these.

This is a great idea. I'm okay with CftC, so I'm definitely bringing some of these with me.