Camping Food Ideas?

amylb0822

I freeze chicken breasts, turkey burgers and other lean meats for grilling... that way they stay colder in the coolers on ice. I also by the ore-ida precut frozen hash browns and bring those sometimes.... they cook great ina pan on the fire !

I also bring eggs... but I crack them into a container with a screw on lid before they go in the cooler, so there is no worry of breakage.

i chop up onion, and peppers and put those in ziplocks too... baby carrots and cherry tomatoes travel well too and so does a bag of oranges and apples. We always bring onewatermelo too, butI shop that up and put in in a big plastic container to avoid having to deal with mess while camping.

We bring premade granola and lately I have brought lowfat greek yogurt also. The yogurt travels well in coolers and has it's own container, so it is low mess.

Cans of black or refriend beans are also a great staple... tortillas too!

I am kind of camp cooking master, having traveled and camped for years and alsodone several long horse riding journeys...

casmithis

Hot dogs
Smores

Hobo dinners
Hamburger or chopped steak
pre-chopped potatoes/carrots/peppers
Aluminum foil

Smores

Pre made granola

MMmmmm. Hobo dinners. Haven't had them in years. Way over due!!

jdhosier

Anything you can find or kill. You will burn a lot of calories finding and killing things...

whierd

It depends entirely on whether you are camping, or "camping".

What do you have to cook on/with? Are there coolers or any other type of refrigeration?

Eggs are always good to bring. Contrary to popular belief, they do not need to be refrigerated. In fact, rubbing them in mineral oil preserves them for months.

Chili made with canned ingredients + ground beef/sausage. A big enough pot will last several days.

Hobo dinners and Hobo pies.


I would also recommend taking some time to forage. There are usually excellent books on local foliage that is edible. It could be a lot of fun going out to look for and gather ingredients, plus it is a useful bush skill.

AZDewd223

Great thread, I was wondering the same too. Taking down some of these ideas...

kayemmgee5

You guys are all so awesome thank you for helping me "think outside the bun" of the traditional burgers/brats/hotdog ideas!

We are camping at what is considered a rustic campground (no electric or running water) however we do have our coolers and our portable grill plus the campfire. I'm loving all the hobo/foil packet ideas!

Truly appreciated, thank you all and I hope others benefit from this thread as well!

poohpoohpeapod

Im a big foil packet fan if you can grill. Chicken or ground beef patties sliced veggies and seasoning in a foil pack on grill. Full meal no clean up. dessert slice banana lengthwise spread some PB down middle sprinkle dark choc chips close foil grill melty goodness!!

Sonj1973

Bump.... Am away camping soon so will come back to this for ideas ....Mind I would'nt be to fussed personally as I tend to go all over the place hiking and biking so chances are the extra calories burned will help balance out the extra cals I will consume Yum Yum........:)

sjkcwatson

I just spent the weekend at the lake. We didn't have a way to cook so most of mine was snack food. Some of the things I took:
- sliced cucumbers into large baggie
- baby carrots
- hummus (although the kind I took wasn't very good)
- cherries
- pre cut strawberries
- celery sticks and prepackaged peanut butter (yummy on the boat)
- individual yogurt (great with some berries for breakfast)
- 100 calorie packs of keebler striped cookies (when i needed some chocolate)
- a couple of peaches
- Sparkling ice (Orange mango or kiwi) for when I wanted something besides water
- lots of water
- grape tomatos
- sliced baby bell peppers (red, yellow, organge)
- turkey lunch meat and bagel thins - made a sandwich with those and cucumber slices
- grapes
- pretzel chips (good with hummus or peanut butter)

Just washed, prepared, adn bagged everything for easy travel.

kayemmgee5

I just spent the weekend at the lake. We didn't have a way to cook so most of mine was snack food. Some of the things I took:
- sliced cucumbers into large baggie
- baby carrots
- hummus (although the kind I took wasn't very good)
- cherries
- pre cut strawberries
- celery sticks and prepackaged peanut butter (yummy on the boat)
- individual yogurt (great with some berries for breakfast)
- 100 calorie packs of keebler striped cookies (when i needed some chocolate)
- a couple of peaches
- Sparkling ice (Orange mango or kiwi) for when I wanted something besides water
- lots of water
- grape tomatos
- sliced baby bell peppers (red, yellow, organge)
- turkey lunch meat and bagel thins - made a sandwich with those and cucumber slices
- grapes
- pretzel chips (good with hummus or peanut butter)

Just washed, prepared, adn bagged everything for easy travel.

YUM! This all sounds so good!! Thank you for typing all that out!

Teardrop81

We do what others are calling "hobo meals" but we call them "foil packs". The last time we went we used a foil pan instead of just foil because the foil will tear and drip out all the juice. I put in beef stew meat, whole sausage links, quartered red potatoes, carrots (cut small so they cook through), onions, A LOT of worchestershire sauce, and any other preferred seasoning. A large one takes an hour or more to cook. We make it before we leave the house and keep in the cooler. Make the fire and plop it directly on top of the coals. It makes its own gravy and turns out like a stew. It's amazing.

We also make turkey burgers and grilled chicken. We take a lot of fruit like bananas, peaches, apples, cherries, anything else in season to snack on, and we don't take any chips or cookies. I always get tempted to grab for the snacks when I get bored so the only option is fruit. I love camping!

Danielle0227

I find that any prep you can do ahead of time really helps. Even the kids don't mind a weekend full of healthy food if it's pre-packaged for them already. I measure out baggies of fruits, veggies, trail mix, pretzels, and baked chips for a treat. By sticking to the serving size you can still track your caloric intake and not feel so bad about it.

As for main dishes, I like to marinate bite size pieces of boneless skinless chicken breast in light Italian dressing. Package it in a heavy duty freezer zip lock bag and you're good to go. We also cook up turkey dogs and lean burger. As long as you watch your portion of the meat and have the prepackaged sides to go with it, you won't have to feel bad about splurging.

Other than the S'mores of course. No matter how hard I try I can't pass those up ... :-)

Bruceapple

Breakfast burritos, sausage, bacon, scrabbled eggs, shredded cheese, salsa. Let every one make there own just cook the meat and eggs.
A cast iron ducth oven is nice and you can cook pizza, biscutts, and any reheatable frozen stuff, in large ones. Each new peace of charchol is valued at 40 degrees; need 400 degrees put 10 on the lid and 10 under your dutch oven. You can also flip the lid over on charchol or a stove and use it for pan cakes.
Car camping is nice; you can bring lawn chairs, tables, tikki torches, etc. have fun

corgicake

Strap your bike to the car and use it when you get there, and eat whatever you want.

misifer

We are frequent campers and I need new food ideas!!

I've been making egg/cheese/ham bagels for camping breakfasts lately. Nice protein/carb mix to start the day right.

We usually do deli meat sandwiches, fruit, cottage cheese, chips/pretzels for lunch, and hot dogs/brats/burgers over the fire for dinner. Lately I've been buying the chicken sausages for me, to help cut down on the dinner calories (that I later drink in the form of alcohol, whoops!)

The last camping trip we brought the following snacks: trail mix, granola bars, fruit bars, fresh fruit (grapes, strawberries, and raspberries), fruit cups (applesauce and pears), string cheese, yogurt, and goldfish crackers.

I've found we are doing so much moving, walking, hiking, bike riding, and swimming, that I have large calorie burns that makes up for some of the less healthy meals.

kellywa1179

for snacks I bring dates and figs, apples, grapes, dried apricots and some nuts and trail mixes (for hiking energy) Bagels work well with natural PB if you will be hiking, you'll need the energy. I make egg beaters and grilled ham or chicken sausage. If its chilly, oatmeal. You can even make whole wheat pastas, and grill chicken and fish. You can do veggies in foil or a grilling basket. Bring bagged salads, vinegar and oil coleslaws or bean salads as sides. Leave the chips at home. : )