Here are some guidelines for planning your menu. I'll add thoughts as I think of them, so check back frequently. Please feel free to send me comments, suggestions.

• There should be enough food for 16 people with hearty appetites. Meals should be on the easier, quicker side to prepare as most dinners will be finished in the dark and breakfasts started before the sun has risen.
• Meals should not be "pre-made." Plan to make your meals on the river. The risk of spoilage, contamination, being ruined due to a flip, etc. is too high. Purchasing and packing ingredients is the way to go. Plus, you would be missing the wonderful camaraderie of cooking on the river.
• Prepare a list of all ingredients necessary for your meals, don't relay on memory. Pack this list in your rocket box with the food.
• There will be vegetarians on this trip, so each menu plan should keep that in mind, whether it's a veggie meal with "dead flesh" on the side, or it's easy to make a separate veggie option in another pot (spaghetti sauce for example). However, the vegetarians that I know are coming so far do eat fish.
• Food should be healthy and filling. For example, plan on whole wheat flour products rather than while flour, "real" peanut butter rather than "Skippy" or "Jif," things like that.
• Don't plan on lot's of "extras" like you would have on shorter trips or commercial trips. Space for the food will be limited. Most if not all your dry ingredients should fit in the 20 mil rocket box you will be bringing.
• Minimize "garbage." If the ingredient can be repackaged so the garbage is left at home, please do so, just don't forget the directions.
• Any food that does not fit in your rocket box, label with a Sharpie with your assigned meal day.
• Plan to purchase all the "dry" ingredients for your meal. The staples box is limited in size and contents should be considered as a backup.
• Some of the staples that WILL be purchased for the entire trip are - however, if you need a large quantity of one of these items for your meal, then purchase it:
  • cooking oil
  • garbage bags
  • salt & pepper
  • paper towels
  • tea & hot chocolate
  • zip lock bags
  • coffee, tea, hot chocolate
  • sugar
  • Peanut Butter & Jelly
  • Mustard
  • Vegetable Oil
  • Aluminum Foil
  • Charcoal & Lighter Fluid

Menus as of 10/13

Budget: based on 16 people - this includes ALL ingredients
Dinner - $82.75 (reduced to allow for wine budget)
Breakfast - $$54.50 (reduced to allow for coffee budget)
Lunch - $72.75

Click on the Head Cook to see their menu.

Day	Cook	Dinner	Breakfast	Lunch
PI	Boatmen	Eat out Marble Canyon Lodge	Bagels, juice, yogurt, fruit	Deli Sandwiches
1	Jeff	Pine nut pesto & pasta , salad, peach cobbler	Egg McMuffins	Taco salad
2	Krista	Fish/vegetarian tacos; chocolate chip cookies	Camper's skillet (eggs/potatoes)	Turkey/veggie sandwiches
3	Sue	Spaghetti, chocolate cake	Whole wheat pancakes	Cold cuts/sandwiches
4	Cecilia	Chicken fillets, noodles	Swedish breakfast (eggs)	Pita bread, salad spread
5	Sharon C 1	Steak/Tempeh, rice pilaf, Waldorf salad, brownies	Poached Eggs, rusk bread	BLT's
6	Sadie	Vegetable stir fry (vegetarian version) or (meat lovers) veggie stir fry with chicken. Brown Rice. Dessert apple cobbler.	Scrambled eggs with veggies and cheese; bagels with cream cheese; mixed fruit and standard morning beverages.	whole wheat wraps with cream cheese (or other filling) cheese, cold cuts or chicken salad; veggies, fruit, brownies for desert.
7	Tom P	Indian-spiced chickpeas with tomatoes over rice, cucumber salad, no-bake cheesecake	Breakfast burritos	Salmon salad w/peppers
8	Paul	Cheese enchiladas, corn salad, spanish rice, brownies	Cold cereal, fruit, bagels	Ham, Turkey, cheese Sandwiches
9	Jamie	hamburgers, mac and cheese, choc chip cookies	French toast, bacon	Bagel cold cut sandwiches
10	Tom H	Lasagna, green salad, gingerbread	Hot Cereal	Deli Sandwiches
11	Sharon C 2	Hearty vegetable Soup; bread , hot fudge pudding	Oatmeal; toasted bagels	Chicken/humus sandwiches
12	John	Red lentil stew with brown Rice; dried fruit	Eggs and oatmeal	Tuna and salad wraps
13	Hilary	Sweet potato, curry soup; fry bread, pineapple upside down cake	breakfast burritos	Tuna Salad
14	Megan	Risotto, coleslaw, lemon bars	Eggs & river potatoes	Pasta Salad
15	Sharon S	Black Bean Soup , Spanish Rice, Brownies	Migas (eggs)	Cheese, meats, crackers, fruit
16	Colleen	Burritos, rice, pineapple upside down cake	Pancakes, sausage	Egg salad sandwiches
17	Lisa	Honey-mustard salmon, Dump Cobbler	Breakfast bagels, eggs	Tuna salad sandwiches
18	Melanie	Swedish "Meatballs", Noodles & Corn, peach cobbler	Hiker cereal and fruit	Cold black bean tacos
19	Ken	Pad Thai Noodles with Salmon	Pancakes	Chicken Salad Wraps
20	Elizabeth	Briggs Beans, Coleslaw, Corn Cakes, Applesauce and Cookies	Breakfast: Granola, muffins and fruit	cold cuts and cheese

Cooking Crews

Here are the cooking crew assignments. Top half folks have two meals, bottom half folks three, and full trippers four. Ken has just one meal as he's volunteered to take responsibility for filtering water, and I have just one meal as I will be taking responsibility for the set-up and break-down of the groover. The "Head Cook" column is who's menu is being used for that day. That crew is responsible for dinner, then the next day's breakfast and lunch. I tried to mix it up and rotate people around for the most part, to make sure there were experienced river cooks in each team, and to space out your days of responsibility. Hopefully, everyone will be happy with his arrangement.

Click on the Head Cook to see their menu.

Put-in	Breakfast - self serve		Lunch - Boatmen
Day	Head Cook
1	Jeff	Sadie	Colleen
2	Krista	Tom P	Lisa
3	Sue	Melanie	Hilary
4	Cecilia	Jamie	John
5	Sharon C 1	Megan	Krista
6	Sadie	Jeff	Colleen
7	Tom P	John	Lisa
8	Paul	Sue	Melanie	Hilary
9	Jamie	Cecilia	Krista
10	Tom H	Sharon S	Elizabeth
11	Sharon C 2	Megan	Colleen
12	John	Tom P	Lisa
13	Hilary	Melanie	Cecilia
14	Megan	Jamie	Sharon C
15	Sharon S	Tom H	Elizabeth
16	Colleen	John	Hilary
17	Lisa	Tom P	Jamie
18	Melanie	Cecilia	Sharon C
19	Ken	Megan	Krista
20	Elizabeth	Sharon S	Tom H