Them Be Keepers!
I have written about how our group creates and executes our meal plan for our fly in trips Meal Planning for Fly In's Our 2020 trip to Slates Falls Root Bay Report we needed to make a few changes as a) We would be flying commercially to Thunder Bay then driving to Sioux Lookout and b) Between our 2018 trip Ogoki Trip Report and our 2020 trip my brother started following a vegan diet. With all of that in mind I wanted to call out our top meals from 2020 and why they were a hit.
Fish Tacos
Fish tacos have been a staple for our group for a few years now. Since my brother wasn’t going to be eating fish we needed to adapt. Typically we keep it basic – pan fry fish coated in taco seasoning, 10 inch wraps, chopped lettuce, grated cheese, salsa and sour cream. For Dave we ended up cooking up a batch of basmati rice and black beans so he could create his own (probably more of a burrito than a taco but I digress). I loved this meal for a few reasons 1) Simple to shop for 2) Easy to make and 3) It actually made lunches for Dave easier – we made lots of beans and rice and it was a nice option to offer Dave (I am guessing he got sick of PB and honey fast!)
Fusilli with Pesto
This was a new meal for us, specifically added to appeal to the vegan among us and it was another easy shop. This was another basic meal but ended up being one of my favorites! I had never eaten pesto before so I will admit I was skeptic but man I enjoyed it. The basic requirements: bag of fusilli pasta, 1 jar of pesto sauce. We had onions and bell peppers on hand so we diced those, sautéed them and added to the sauce at the end. Very good and easy – my favorite type of meal.
Stir Fry with Rice, Vegetables and Chicken
Another new addition. The plan was to cook chicken separately (basted with some stir fry sauce) and then us carnivores could add it into our portions of the meal. Simple requirements again: basmati rice, 1 jar of stir fry sauce, 1 bag of frozen “stir fry mix” veg, boneless, skinless chicken thighs (We used 2 breasts per man to estimate amount required). To cook we simply BBQed the chicken thighs (which was basted with some of the stir fry sauce) on the patio while inside we cooked the rice, sautéed the veg. When veg and rice were done, we put them together, poured in the sauce, warm and serve. Another good meal that was easy (I will say was a bit more complex for shopping – lots of aisles to hit)
Steak Night
Who doesn’t love steak right? But how did we include the vegan in this meal? Well initially the idea was to grab a few large portobello mushrooms to be grilled with some oil, salt and pepper. We had done this before on a cottage weekend and Dave really enjoyed it. Sweet, done! Well unfortunately yours truly F%$(D this one up. When we hit the grocery store, we divided our shopping list up and I had responsibly for fruit and vegetables. After an initial look I didn’t find any, I meant to circle back but, in my rush, to get on the road (With flight issues we were already way beyond) and wanting to get out of the grocery store (Covid) I forgot. I am pretty sure this will haunt me for all trips to come, I heard about it for the bulk of this trip (steak night was our first night), I won’t be surprised if Portobello or Shroom becomes my new trip nickname. For this alone this was a favorite meal (Steaks were great, Colin made Dave happy with something else and steak night will live on in future meal plans lol)
Walleye Toronados
This was not part of the plan. We are fortunate that two of the guys in our group are great cooks and don’t mind taking charge. The rest of us act as sous chefs, dish washers or lunch makers while they do their stuff. We had headed back to the camp for lunch and the plan was some variation of pan-fried fish. Walking into the kitchen Mark and Colin were dicing fish, rolling it in bacon and I asked “Toronados” Mark grinned and said “Yes, new plan”. Always a favorite I grabbed my camera and started to film.
So, there you have our top meals from our 2020 Fly In Fishing trip. Hopefully the above gives you some ideas for your next trip or weekend at the cottage. Our group’s motto is “good, simple, quick” and I wasn’t sure if the vegan component would change this but it really didn’t. A little preplanning, keeping it simple made this one of our better trips yet. I know we did decide that we want to add a few more items for breakfast (instant oatmeal, more bagels), spend more time organizing our shopping list and make sure we (I) don’t forget the mushrooms!