Sunday Surfing ~ DIY Freezer Bag Cozy

A few times now we have looked at how to make your own freezer bag meals. The one thing missing with using plastic bags is insulation when making hot foods. Here is the solution, a DIY bag cozy.

If you get yours done before me, send me a note letting me know how it worked and if you modified yours to improve the one in the video.

Sunday Surfing ~ A trip to Canyon de Chelly

I love this place...I love walking around the rim, hiking the trail to White House Ruins and Jeep touring the canyon bottom. On my bucket list? Exploring by horseback. This rugged canyon is the stuff Cowboy movies are made of and that is my cup of tea. This is a wonderful segment from the show The Mysteries of  Monterey that features a Zuni-Navajo Indian Guide who tells stories of his people as he shows off this beautiful canyon. I won't be able to go back for a while so in the meantime you can be sure I will be watching this vid over and over again :)

Product Review ~ Long Handled Lexan Spoon.

Alright, I admit it, I am both a gadget hound and lazy. Anything that will get me out of cleaning will light up my heart, especially on the trail. I just don't want to be bothered by it if I can get out of it! I've really come to appreciate freeze dried meals for their lightness and simplicity...but until now I had to dirty a dish or two for each meal. This long handled spoon just changed my life.

Ok, I might have exaggerated a bit, but really, this simple addition turned out to be a cool thing. It's long enough to reach into the bottom of a freeze dried meal, eliminating the need for dishes. I so far haven't melted it or broken it so that makes me happy and even though you can't tell in the photo it's a pretty shade of blue. The bowl is just the size I prefer and even though the food is very hot, it doesn't seem to retain the heat so I have yet to burn my mouth on it's surface.

I like this and it is a cheap addition to my camp kitchen, only two bucks at REI. I never knew I needed it til I got it and now you'll have to pry it out of my cold, dead hands to get it from me.

My long handle spoon is just the right size to scrape the bottom of a freeze dried meal. Copyright Marcia Mauskopf 2013

 

 

Sunday Surfing ~ Hand Warmers And Their Many Uses

I get styes...I get styes and I get them at the worst of times. Once I got an enormous one hiking in Sedona. What to do? What to do? I always carry hand warmers and a bandanna, so I wrapped a warmer in my bandanna and tied it around my head crossing my eye. It worked! It soothed my stye in 15 minute increments and by the end of the day it had gone down considerably. I bet you have a couple of unique uses for these little survival tools, here's a list of 10 more to make your life easier on the trail.