View topic - Dilemma on very last minute school trip planning

The joke is on me.

After years of trying to get our Outers club up and running again, and of trying to get a canoe trip going, I gave up. A co-worker decided to give it one more shot, and put in an application in June for a trip to go out last week of Sept 2014. Lo and behold (new prinicpal and superintendent), it was approved for THIS Sept!! Good news is I get to paddle in my favourite month, and am out for my birthday. Bad news is I have to leave lessons for 5 days of school (I am on a course the Mon. and Tues, and we leave on Wed.).

I need to plan, have gear available (I am not even sure if the board sold off all the equipment when they sold off the canoes 2 years ago), and have food on the go to dehydrate. Remember, we don't have ANY kids signed up yet, there is 4 weesk until we leave, just 4 adults going. My fellow co-worker - who has taken care of all the paperwork this year is more laid back than me. I am much too up-tight. So I feel the need to get planning right now!

Anyone have some ideas about pre-prepared food (other than dehydrated meals) that I could grap and go for up to 3 food group of 9 each for 4 days? Ihave to have options to present to the teens. Normally we do balanced meals, and dehydrate pretty much everything!

Porridge
dried fruit
french toast (compress bread, dried eggs, cinnamon)
granola and tetra pack milk
eggs in a bag
redpper humas on a pita
PB and Nutella on torilla
KD and pepperttes,
Pizz Pizza
Bannock with shees and ham
Soup with chees
Tabouli/pitas
Sausage and cheese on ??
Salsa (but I won't have time to dry it) and black bean dip on tortilla
linguini pesto and parmesan
Falafels and tzatziki
Udon noodles (1 bag per kid so bulky) and madarine orange sauce
gnochi and spicy sausage
layered on plate sheppards pie (instant mashed, TVP with gravy and dehydrated veggies), grated cheese
bulk barn tortellini and tomato sauce (no time to dry) with fresh peppers and onion
spagetti
Israeli couscous and TVP + spices and beef boullion

Any othe ideas? What would you go with for quick andy easy?

I am in a course this week, so getting home to late to get out and shop. The joke is def. on me!

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"I've never met a river I didn't like. The experience is what we remember and the challenges make for great memories". Me

instead of dehydrating salsa and T paste you could put it in a fry pan on simmer and reduce the weight dramatically---takes a lot less time.

1 of our staples is Carribean beans and rice in a pkg from the supermarket---that gives some complete protein, throw in a bit of TVP with it.

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Old canoeists never die---they just smell that way.

you can also buy (at a regular grocers, e.g., metro, food basic) pre-dried hummus mix for about $3 - to put on flatbread, or whatever. one pack should be good for 3-4people lunch.

and pancakes, didn't see that in the list.

have fun!!

Here's what we used to do for our high school trips years ago:
Day 1: pancakes & double smoked baccon & fruit, oatmeal for breakfast
-soup & hot dogs, dread, aged cheddar, salami for lunches
- dinner on night 1 was steaks in a ziplock with marinade that was thrown into the freezer and usually thawed by dinner to grill on a fire, dinner on night two was pasta+can of mushroom soup+caned turkey/tuna/ham & veggie sticks, dinner on night three was pita pizzas(pitas, squeeze bottle sauce, peperoni, mozza)

On some trips I will take a package of stove top stuffing chicken in a pouch
and some dried cranberries. Throw chicken in the water to heat,add your
stuffing and cranberries when boiling. . Just like christmas dinner.

Randall

good ideas!

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"I've never met a river I didn't like. The experience is what we remember and the challenges make for great memories". Me

Which high school in Newmarket?

The largest school.

We are comming along nicely, with some research. I found out that the Outdoor Ed Depot is being moved, but it is transition, and there is some gear, adn we have applied for it. We have 12 kids so far. First meeting with them is in the a.m. tomorrow.

Thanks for the help so far.

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"I've never met a river I didn't like. The experience is what we remember and the challenges make for great memories". Me

Here are some of the ideas (some ideas fit in several categories) that I gave the kids.
They were very receptive, and came up with a decent menu.

However, we are all about to learn something new, as the other leader is gluten, wheat, msg, low sodium,no more than 3 ingredients on the lids or fresh food. So I am about to learn something new (how to trip with 2 coolers and dry ice). He did the shopping tonight, and I am itching to see how much space it takes up.

BTW, without any urging the kids asked to have their cell phones locked up in the truck before we head out

Here are the ideas I gave the kids, in case it wil help someone else:
- Don’t forget staples such as: dried milk, salt and pepper, butter/margarine, coffee, tea, sugar,

- Tetra packed milk or alternative (soy, coconut, almond) are okay
Breakfasts
-Tang (dehydrated OJ – just mix with water)
-French toast (compress bread (ASK how this is done), dried eggs*, cinnamon*)
-granola and tetra pack milk
-eggs - made from dried scrambled or “Egg Beaters” (if you freeze and wrap in a towel)
-summer sausages/hard sausages/salami all keep well (look in the refrigerated displays in grocery store were they keep the cheeses)
-English muffins with melted cheese
-pancakes (mix in zip lock bag. Cut corner off to dispense into pan)
-Bagels
-Peanut butter, jam (transfer to smaller jars)
-protein shake
-PB and Nutella on tortilla
-Porridge (with dried fruit and Peanut Butter even better).


Lunches
-red pepper humus on a pita
-PB and Nutella on tortilla
-Buy pizza. Then wrap up 2 slices lying face to face in saran wrap (double wrap)
-Bannock with cheese and ham
-Salsa and black bean dip on tortilla
-pre-cooked bacon, tomato on rye bread
-Avocados, red peppers, baby carrots, cucumbers keep well for 4 days if not smushed

Suppers

-Soup (potato) with chunks of cheddar cheese
-Tabouli on pitas
-Sausage and cheese on pita/tortilla/nan bread (note: if out more than 4 days, or if it is hot, then put rounds of waxed paper between each tortilla piece to keep them from de-laminating).
-pasta with pesto and parmesan (pesto sold in plastic jars ) (need a bit of olive oil)
-Falafels and tzatziki
-Udon noodles (1 bag per person) and package of mandarin orange sauce/lemon chicken sauce
-gnocchi and spicy sausage (pepperoni)
-layered on a plate Sheppard’s pie (instant mashed, with gravy and TVP and dehydrated veggies), grated cheese
-Hamburger helper and So Soya chunks or TVP and beef/chicken bouillon
-pasta or Israeli couscous and a sauce (see below for sauces). Add TVP + spices and beef bouillon
- KD and pepperettes
-Lipton sidekicks potatoes
*-Ravioli with Ricotta and spinach (find at Bulk Barn (BB)) and a cream sauce
-*tri-coloured tortellini with cheese (BB) (toss with sauce, oil or butter). Cut up peppers and dried onion nice in it)
*tortellini with mushrooms (BB) “ “
* can cook these at breakfast and then eat cold at lunch. Nice if just tossed in oil.

Snacks
Dried fruit –blueberries, cranberries, mango, prunes
GORP – good old raisins and peanuts, dried fruit and nuts
-energy bars, granola bars
-treats – m & m’s, Eatmore (candy bar – available at Home Hardware – does not melt, and can be squished)

Loblaw/Metro
-Creamy carbonara pasta sauce and mix
-Honey garlic noodles and sauce mix
Lunches Apple Cider in individual packages

In spice section:
-Club House/Knorr/Lipton sauce mixes
-Sundried tomato parmesan
-Fine herb
-Alfredo
-Rose
-Pasta salad
-Creamy garlic
-Gravy mixes

Bulk Barn (BB)
-dehydrated eggs
-mixed veggie flakes
-onion flakes
-So soya slices
-Mac a cheese sauce
-Casba boxes (lots of choice - hummus, rice pilafs, couscous)
-Juice crystals
-Hot chocolate (regular, candy cane, heavenly white)
-Apple Cider
-Gravy mix
-Soups: minestrone, curried roasted carrot, chicken soup, onion soup, wild rice veg. soup, Asian chicken soup, cream of cauliflower and 3 cheese, Szechuan noodles with lemongrass and veg., potato, carrot, ginger soup, barley mushroom
-Alfredo Past Sauce Mix
-Complete gravy mix (brown (vegetarian), beef or chicken)
-Vegetarian chicken soup base
-TVP Textured vegetable protein. *Just add hot water it becomes like minced beef. It will become whatever flavour you add to it)

Always check out the “ethnic” aisles and Natures Emporium for ideas)

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"I've never met a river I didn't like. The experience is what we remember and the challenges make for great memories". Me

Well, it all worked out well...but it took me until now to catch up on missing a full week of school.
My co-worker learned that dehydrated food is not that bad, how to use barrels (and how to air them out for condensation), and I learned that if you have strong-like-bull kids, it doesn't matter if you dehydrate. We all ate like kings, and the vegetarians, gluton free, soya free, dairy free people all made out fine as well.

We had perfect weather - wind came up afternoon of the first training day, 2 days of glass like water, a head wind from the west as we came out of the loop from Sisco and then Loren, and then a ferocious wind as we hit the west end of Amable du fond.

Only 1 kid has every paddled a bit before, and ony 2 had slept in a tent before, so it was really taking them by the hand all the way. But by the end they were doing pretty well. The proudest moment for me was when on the last 2 km leg of the 5 km portaging we did on one day, the weakest group of 3 (all small and thin) asked me if they could try solo carrying rather than double (all youth found this tough). I had taught them on day one but it took until then for them to try it...50 steps at a time, rotating off. By then end of the port they were vying to carry it for bragging rights. So all but 1 of the 7 canoes ended up being single carrried.

I was also thrilled that the girls were on a different site than the boys, and that even though the sites were liked, each youth sought solitured at some point. The moring they got up early to watch the fog roll off the lake in shades of red, purple, pink and orange was a miracle.

Only had the first aid kit out 4 or 5 times, and no forms had to be filled out

Biggest diappointment was that depsite filling out and submitting 52 pages of forms to get this trip off to go, we did not get permission to do canoe over canoe rescue, or go swimming. It was so warm the last week of Sept that you could have swam. So they settled for wading and learning how to have a sponge bath and wash their hair using 1L of water back in the bush.

They are now talking about a spring trip (late May), but no matter how much I tell them about black flies, they can't comprehend them

It was a much harder trip to do than when I did it every year with the grade 12 PHE classes. They had a whole semester to prepare and learn what to do. We had less than 3 weeks and only 4 1 hour meetings to get these guys ready. If we do it again, forms will go in over Christmas so that we can select a group and have them ready to go in Sept....if my husband and I can ever have time to do a debrief with our co-worker, wno has been just as swamped as I am , and who is now working on a ski trip to Quebec.

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"I've never met a river I didn't like. The experience is what we remember and the challenges make for great memories". Me

It sounds like a total triumph Cheryl. I bet they came back as proud of their bruises as their accomplishments. You engaged, educated and enriched their lives. Those were lasting memories! A trip in May will certainly be memorable as well!

Interesting...why would they not give permission for canoe over canoe or swimming? Canoe over canoe is one of the OPHEA requirements, as is the swim test.

Glad it went well for you!

The best self reflection (2 people no less) was "sometimes the pain is worth the end result".

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"I've never met a river I didn't like. The experience is what we remember and the challenges make for great memories". Me

Great news/update!

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Brian
http://www.JohnstonPursuits.ca