Need Ideas - camping food??

myndikins

So, I have a 4 day music festival + camping coming up and I plan on taking a cooler to hold a lot of my food. There will be plenty of food available at the festival, but I'm just about broke and I'd like to be kinda self sufficient. Ideas?? You'll get bonus points if your suggestions are gluten free =]

I'm planning on taking some jerky with me (I make some awesome chicken jerky "dog treats") and some decent snacky foods. I also have a big jar of Garden of Life protein powder that I can use too. I thought about maybe instant oatmeal or something for the mornings? I dunno. I've never been camping before! Help me out :happy:

1971MLJ

Whenever we camp we cook and freeze our main meals. Normally we'll take curry, bolognaise or a stew of some kind. You then just need the accompaniments (rice, pasta etc) and a couple of pans to reheat. The frozen containers also help to keep your cooler cool. Enjoy your camping.

corgicake

Bring water. LOTS of water. Melons and other thicker-skinned produce are your friend on trips like this, as are cereals and dried meats.

ladycham

We do music festivals with camping yearly.
(one coming up in a couple of weeks even)
I used to bring sandwiches, but that got old fast and only made us want to eat the stuff they were selling at the festival.
Although PB&J is still a hit if there are kids.

Chicken wraps are a life-saver. I just cook the chicken and cut and pack the chicken and veggies in bite-sized pieces and bring squeezable ranch dressing and mayo. This all goes in the cooler. Then we pack tortillas and we usually have cut up fruit, chips and granola bars -- although I'm trying to stay lower carb this year so I'll need to find alternatives for those.

I definitely second the lots and LOTS of water though -- you'll need it! Have a great time!

1FearlessFighter

you could but ready made rice packets that are wholegrain and come in loads of flavours e.g., Tilda, and with that you can use tinned tuna, john west do these tuna infusions like lemon and thyme, basil and pepper and you don't need a tin opener.
nuts, seeds and dried fruit are also good as they last long, but also very calorie dense so moderation is key
maybe some healthy bars like nakd, quest, pulsin, trek, lara etc
fruits that wont get easily bruised are better , apples and pears over bananas and berries

OVERALL, HAVE FUN!!!!!

myndikins

Thanks for the ideas!! I'm definitely taking plenty of water, plus there's free water at the festival. I'm looking online for ideas too (pinterest, where every other recipe comes from!) and I'm getting more and more excited. I don't know if I'll have a fire to cook over, so that really limits things, but I can manage.

My dogs eat The Honest Kitchen, a human-grade food that is just veggies and meat and you just have to add water to serve. There's a nagging little voice in the back of my head that says I should just take a box of it with me :laugh:

cadaver0usb0nes

If you are going to be able to cook stuff > hot dogs, steak, egg beaters (actual eggs are too fragile to bring imo),

- jerky
- pre-cut fruits and veggies in baggies
- crackers
- protein/granola bars
- dip for veggies (greek yogurt dip or hummus)
- dried fruit
- sandwich stuff
- nuts/trail mix
- juice boxes (don't have to refrigerate or use a cup)
- lots of water!!! bottled water if you have a place to store the trash or get a big 5 gallon water jug)
- I've brought boxed mac & cheese before cuz I had a camping stove
- canned soups/chili


http://greatist.com/health/how-to-eat-healthy-camping-hiking-trail
http://www.pinterest.com/gswcf/healthy-camping-recipes/

MessyArts

you can make gluten free granola type bars. i've made some before and you can find ton of recipes on the interwebz. i would also freeze grapes and keep them in the cooler. mason jar salads are perfect (pinterest). beans are super easy to cook. just make sure you bring a camping stove. you can always grill veggies and pineapple, ect as well...

raintail8

Cool! You'll have fun- camping is awesome. When I went camping, I took a water bottle, some veggies with peanut butter in a container (a must have), some fruit like oarnges and apples and a sweet potato. As far as hot food goes, frito pie is the best (100% gluten free) which can be made with veggies and topped off with cheese. Yum! Also, oatmeal is the perfect breakfast food- I discovered that you can make oatmeal in the cooler overnight if you so desire- mix yogurt with honey (as a sweetener) and granola for instant cold oatmeal! Good luck!