Hopefully Sarbar of Freezer Bag Cooking, our resident expert, will chime in here, but she's probably busy getting ready for her big presentation this Saturday at Trailsfest (if any of you are in the Seattle area this weekend, check the Washington Trails Association website for details).

My own experience is that if you removed all the fat you possibly could, the stuff will keep at room temperature for several weeks. You'll know if it didn't because the fat will become rancid. Long-term storage should be in the freezer. Leave a little bit at room temperature for the next week; if it tastes OK you will be fine.

You are smart to try out everything before you leave home! I didn't for my first trip with home-dehydrated foods (that was many years ago) and had several strange meals. The worst was the chicken casserole with peas--I cooked and cooked it until the chicken and rice were mush, but the peas were still like buckshot, hard enough to break a tooth.