Fortunately, I have no gluten allergies. ... Having clarified that, I do enjoy some gluten-free side dishes while on the trail or trip. I have started eating more quinoa and rice in the past few years. One recipe I like on the trail is Orange Rice with Cranberries. This was developed as a backpack meal, so I use instant rice, (enough for a serving per person), dried cranberries, and a powdered orange drink mix.

Here's how to make it: In your pot, bring enough water to a boil to cook the rice. When it boils, add the orange drink mix, the instant rice, and one-quarter cup of dried cranberries per serving. Stir, cover, remove from heat, and wait five minutes. Remove lid, stir again, and serve.

When canoeing, I use orange juice in place of the orange drink mix and water. Sometimes I top this with pan-roasted pine nuts or almond slivers. I also serve this at home as a side dish with fish tacos or grilled fish. Sometimes I serve it just because my girls like it. Let me know if you try it and what you think.

Good to read your article on gluten-free paddling. My wife was diagnosed with celiac disease several years ago, so we have faced all the challenges you mention. Evening meals are generally not the problem, since we can usually substitute gluten-free pasta for regular pasta, or cook with rice. Lunches are the big challenge, since we always used to make traditional sandwiches. Here are some of our lunch alternatives:

Bean Salad  Combine one tin each of garbanzo beans, kidney beans, black beans, and green beans, plus some banana peppers for interest, and mix with balsamic vinaigrette dressing.

Crackers and Cheese  Gluten-free crackers (easy to find these days) and goat cheese, or any gluten-free cheese spread.

Guacamole and Gluten-Free Tortilla Chips  Guacamole doesn't keep too long, so it's best to use this on the first day, or take the avocados with you and make it fresh.

If we have access to a stove at lunchtime, then anything with eggs can be good -- an omelette, scrambled eggs, even a breakfast (lunch?) burrito, made with a gluten-free tortilla.

Our favorite evening meal when camping is a red Thai curry prepared from these ingredients:

1 can coconut milk
1 tablespoon (vary amount to taste) Thai red curry paste
3 tablespoons fish sauce
1 pound pork, chicken, or tofu pieces
1 can mixed Asian vegetables

Just mix together and cook until the meat is done -- about 10 minutes -- and then serve with rice. I measure out the curry paste and fish sauce at home and pack them in small plastic bottles.

We have two gluten-sensitive people in my family. My Mom makes "party mix" (usually posted on the Chex boxes during holiday seasons) using only rice squares and rice-corn cereals, so they can enjoy this treat along with the rest of us. I don't think the two family members are so sensitive that very minute amounts of gluten affect them, because they tolerate this combo of cereals. For a different flavor, we sometimes dust the cooked mix with Parmesan and garlic powder while it's still warm.

You could start with this idea and add nuts prior to cooking, then add craisins, raisins, etc., to make a pretty good snack after the original cooked mix has cooled. It's also light weight, depending on how many and what type of nuts you add. I just googled "Chex party mix" and found tons of ideas and recipes that could be modified for those who can tolerate these cereals.

We had too much food. We got into camp and everyone was absolutely BEAT. We'd have the main meal, no side dishes (except two nights), and we had dessert only three times. Aside from this, the menu was a hit. There were clear winners, and there were no major losers. The two definite dinner winners? A spicy Thai peanut chicken and khao soi [a curry-noodle dish from northern Thailand – Editor].

For breakfast there were no losers, with scrambled-egg hash, apple corn cakes, and scrambled-egg frittatas scarfed down readily.

I picked up some gluten-free pizza dough mix for pizza night. Everyone enjoyed the pizza, but we had big issues with the dough "inflating," rather than staying more flat. If I'd cut the mix down and used more water, that might have taken care of the problem.

Gluten-free is definitely doable for a canoe trip, but it comes at a cost. You won't get nice, light, prepackaged, "add boiling water and you're ready" meals. Our method of choosing what to eat any given night was "Which is heaviest?" And that's what we ate. The Thai peanut chicken was the first to go, and was unanimously voted the favorite meal of the trip.

We never had bannock, Irish soda bread, or scalloped potatoes. Just not hungry enough (or maybe it was "too worn out to cook"), but another winner was the Hudson Bay Bread, baked in advance of the trip. Absolutely delicious and a major energy booster.