Keeping eggs on the playa

[MrBeardy]

[quote="DiAliShea"]
Has any one taken avocados or bananas out there? How do they fare?[/quote]

Take bananas and avos out there unripe or at least several for alter in the week, otherwise they will go ripe in the heat right away and you will have to make guacamole....oh wait! Tell me where you're camped and buy them ripe!

[Savannah]

i am sooooo curious to know the ingredients list of that pack of beef *shudder*

-figjam, i am making that (minus the meat and with real cheese)! yum!

-yes to hard boiled eggs too, i had not thought of that.

why is everyone scared of cheese? i mean, i get that it's hot, but surely if packed right, you can make cheese last a couple of days?

I knew someone who liked to pass around those little Baby Bel wax-wrapped cheddar wheels. People were very appreciative.

I'm bringing some sliced cheddar this year, 'cause I'm also bringing a sandwich iron. I hope to keep the cheese in a trailer fridge til I get to the playa, simply because I'll be lucky enough to have access to it; then I'm going to buy some ice and stick the cheese in a tupperware taped to the underside of my cooler lid. I bet it will be fine for at least a few days. It'll help to re-wrap it well. Sometimes folks forget to bring kitchen aids that they would normally use at home--plastic wrap or wax paper, clothespins or rubber bands, etc.

I already bring Laughing Cow cheese wedges. They do not need to be refrigerated. The package says "Refrigerate after purchase", not "keep refrigerated". i.e., you can get away with no refrigeration, but chilling it slows overall aging if you're not going to eat it right away. Those things are highly processed. Also, tasty.

[Eric]

Cheese existed for thousands of years before refrigeration - as long as you're dealing with hard cheeses you should be fine just keeping it in a cool place (like Savannah's plan above). Soft cheeses, by their nature, are going to spoil faster, so if you want to bring them they will need refrigeration, & I'd eat them in the first few days.

We owned a cheese-store when I was a kid. It makes being lactose-intolerant all the more cruel.

[Dork]

Super easy snacks:
packets of tuna or salmon with a olive oil or mayo packet mixed in
peperoni or summer sausage slices with pre-sliced cheese on crackers
cheese sticks
yogurt

Meals:
Mix a raw egg or two into rice when it's almost done cooking, add a packet of salmon and a little soy sauce. Yum!
Mac n Cheese, with a can of vienna sausage added at the end
Drain a can of black beans into a pan, mix with water, rice and olive oil, cook the rice, then add the beans in at the end. Good cheap side dish serves a few people, no waste other than the can. Or, add a can of chicken, hot sauce, and sour cream to make it a meal.
Wolf Brand Chilli, texas recipe with beans. I've tried them all, this is the only worthy canned chilli I've found. Leave it in the sun, open and eat.

If you're sharing a cooler with others or even if you aren't it might be worth getting one of those plastic egg holder things so you don't get any breakage. Those paper cartons offer very little protection when they get wet from cooler water.

[kiss-o-matic]

+1 for Egg Beaters.

This is coming from someone who broke an egg in a gigantic cooler, unbeknownst to him until it was time to clean up. Nasty shit. I'm going beater or hard boiled all the way.

Other easy proteins (and note, I don't eat meat other than fish)
Cans of beans
Amy's Chili (I love this shit)
Hummus

I bought a lot of hummus and pita chips last year and ran out Wednesday morning. Needless to say, we'll be packin' this year.