I personally detest commercial freeze-dried dinners (many of them are mostly preservatives and all have too much sodium), so I dry my own. I also prefer whole-grain foods (rice, pasta, cous-cous, etc.) which is another reason for doing my own. Brown rice cooked in well-seasoned chicken and/or vegetable broth and then dehydrated is really good! Add some TVP for protein and you're all set.

A lot of one-dish meals you like at home work really well when dehydrated and reconstituted. Just be sure to dehydrate only one serving and test the results at home first. I well remember (and have mentioned before) the chicken casserole with peas I took out without first testing. I boiled and boiled the thing until everything was the consistency of glue--except for the peas, which were still like buckshot. To avoid this situation, it's a good idea to buy freeze-dried veggies (I use the "Just Tomatoes" brand) and add them to the dish after dehydrating. Spinach is an exception that works fine in a home dehydrator.

While it's always barely possible that something you really like at home may not taste good on the trail, I've never craved anything that I disliked at home. That's why taste-testing before your trip is so important, whether a commercial freeze-dried meal, one out of supermarket ingredients or your own home-cooking.

By using Sarbar's freezer bag cooking method as detailed on her website (hooray for Sarbar!), there is no dishwashing--just lick off and rinse your spoon. The dirty freezer bag that remains is great for sealing up your garbage (especially packing out your used TP).