Camping Food Idea's HELP!!!

attybell
attybell Posts: 81 Member
I just recently got back on track using MFP and have a camping trip planned this weekend and next weekend. I need some ideas of healthy choices to cook.. We usually go for burgers, brats, nachos (heat cheese in crock pot), s'mores, none of which are very healthy.. We have an RV so we have a grill, stove, griddle and crock pot to use.. I just don't want to ruin what ive been working so hard for. I would be grateful for any ideas, thanks in advance

Replies

  • kyregi
    kyregi Posts: 55 Member
    If you have an RV maybe you can also take a small microwave to steam veggies? Also, corn on the cob on the grill is just fantastic. Just don't add too much butter ;-) Also instead of all the burgers etc, go for chicken breasts or small steaks. Should have way less fat (and sodium). And I would add lots of salads to the meals. Even if you mix veggies from a can like corn, beans etc, it should give you a lot of possibilities to add to the "healthy" side. You can either take your favorite salad dressing or just oil and vinegar.
  • Hezmo82
    Hezmo82 Posts: 2
    Also, Jenni o turkey hot dogs are only 70 calories each. Not the healthiest, but they are a pretty good calorie bargain. Another easy fix would be canned tuna. Plus, there should be plenty of opportunities to burn some extra calories on a camping trip with hikes and things, so maybe opt for the lean hamburger meat burger on a whole wheat bun with lots of veggies. Hope you have a good trip!
  • suremeansyes
    suremeansyes Posts: 962 Member
    Make chili. You can just have the chili and the others can put them on hot dogs or whatever.

    I'd eat however I felt like, just eat less. Since you're camping, stay active, burn off the camping food.
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,217 Member
    Farmers fields. :bigsmile:
  • asciident
    asciident Posts: 166 Member
    Make salads and cook veggies to go with regular camping food. Kabobs are a good way to grill veggies and meat together. Don't eat as much of it all. Enjoy the burgers, brats, etc. I wouldn't worry about it too much :)
  • brizzeem
    brizzeem Posts: 82 Member
    Make salads and cook veggies to go with regular camping food. Kabobs are a good way to grill veggies and meat together. Don't eat as much of it all. Enjoy the burgers, brats, etc. I wouldn't worry about it too much :)

    Grilled Kabobs are amazing. IF you cans tick with one serving of the sauasge then theres nothing wrong with that. Chicken kabobs you can eat all day! Steak!!!
  • lujako
    lujako Posts: 87 Member
    I recently purchased a book called "Recipes for Adventure - Backpacking Chef". I have not made anything from it yet, but plan to use it for hiking this summer.
  • DamianaKitten
    DamianaKitten Posts: 479 Member
    We have an RV so we have a grill, stove, griddle and crock pot to use..

    That's not camping. :angry:

    Here I was gonna come in with all my campfire suggestions, and you've got that fancy RV thing going on. Honestly, with all those appliances available, why not just eat the way you would eat at home?
  • sfbaumgarten
    sfbaumgarten Posts: 912 Member
    Grilled veggies, fat free hotdogs (I love Hebrew Nationals), mini choc chips & marshmallows in a cut banana instead of smores...

    If all else fails, look on Pinterest.

    ETA: Since you'll be in an RV, why not just make food that you would normally eat at home?
  • Our go-to campfire meal:

    Open a packet of Lipton's Onion Soup and pour it into a cup or bowl so that you can mix the onions and powder together. Take chicken breasts (One packet will do three breasts) place on foil, sprinkle with equal measure of powder and dried onions, wrap up, and place on grill over a medium fire (or coals). Flip over after about 20 minutes and cook for another 10-20 minutes depending upon how hot the fire is. After 10 minutes on side two, I generally pull one off, open it up, and check the meat to make sure that all pinkness is gone.

    At the same time that I cook the chicken, I usually put peeled, cubed sweet potatoes in a foil packet with olive oil and a bit of salt and pepper to cook as well.

    You can save time by doing all the prep at home and sticking the packets in a ziplock in the cooler.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    What's so inherently "unhealthy" about grilling up a burger? We almost always have one night camping with some tasty grillled burgers or brats and I see nothing wrong with that at all.

    At anyrate, we camp quite a bit and we grill burgers, steaks, chicken, fish, etc. We usually have a vegetable side of some sort and a starch of some kind. If we know it's going to be cooler out we make some kind of stew; usually a Texas style chilli. The kids also love roasting hot dogs over the fire.

    There's more to being and eating healthy than just vegetables and fruits...proteins and fats are requisites to proper nutrition....
  • erockem
    erockem Posts: 278 Member
    Canned Tuna can be added to many things.
  • redwoodkestrel
    redwoodkestrel Posts: 339 Member
    If you want to get the genuine "cooking over the campfire" (or in this case, IN the campfire!) experience, this is one of my favorites:

    Campfire calzones:

    1. Either make some whole wheat pizza dough at home before you leave, or buy a bag of the pre-made.
    2. Roll it out into multiple smallish circles (think soft-taco size tortillas). You can do this at home as well and then pack the dough rounds between layers of saran wrap if you're going to eat them fairly soon while camping or just roll it out at your campsite.
    3. Let everyone fill half their calzone dough with the ingredients they'd like (options include lots of pre-cut veggies, shredded cheese, meat (sausage, pepperoni, etc.), marinara sauce, pesto sauce, etc.).
    4. Fold-over dough to close calzone, use a bit of water on the edges to make them stick and then fold edges over.
    5. Brush the outside (top and bottom) with some oil (you don't need a lot, but you do want to make sure all the dough is covered - dough without oil will burn).
    6. Wrap the whole thing in foil.
    7. Toss into the campfire!
    8. In about 15 minutes (or a bit more or less, depending on how hot your fire is), the calzone will be ready and delicious!

    I love this meal because everyone can make it exactly how they'd like it. You can make it generally low-cal by adding mostly veggies, a bit of marinara, a bit of cheese, and a bit of meat.
  • I like the Bear Creek soups, quick and easy.
  • cuinboston2014
    cuinboston2014 Posts: 848 Member
    Use lean ground beef for hamburgers - shouldn't be a problem.
    Instead of brats etc I love chicken sausage. There is maybe 170-190 calories I think in one and around 12g of protein. It has a decent amount of fat, but they are so good and have tons of flavors!

    You could always take pudgy pie makers and make grilled ham, cheese, and turkey sandwiches over the campfire
  • BootCampCrazy
    BootCampCrazy Posts: 53 Member
    You could prepare foil packets ahead of time. Wrap them individually per serving.. throw them on the grill and its an easy minimal clean up dinner. You could prepare a 'fajita' style one with sliced beef or chicken, sliced onions & peppers, toss the ingredients in olive oil, lime juice, soy sauce and however much cayenne & black pepper to add a kick. Do a hamburger style one, layer of potatoes, sliced onions, carrots (or any other veggie; green beans, corn, peas) and then topped with hamburger... add worcheschire, butter, salt & pepper for flavor. Italian sausage w/ peppers & onions could be another good idea! I would do a protein shake for breakfast just because I love them and do that now! For lunch you could make salads in mason jars (just make sure the dressing & lettuce do not touch...pinterist & goggle can give you good ideas on tasty ones).... I've also seen oatmeal prepared in mason jars using greek yogurt & fruit which looks delicious and could be prepared ahead of time & taken camping.
  • Asherah29
    Asherah29 Posts: 354 Member
    You can cook just about anything on a fire/grill if its wrapped in aluminum foil. Veggies with a bit of butter and spices off the fire are super amazing! Add with some chicken and a baked potato (all done in foil on the fire/grill) and you've got a crazy good meal!
  • asciiqwerty
    asciiqwerty Posts: 565 Member
    I often do the catering for my Girl Guide Unit (think girl scouts) and we cook over an open fire. I make bolognese with lots of veggies, lots of chilly, and a variety of curries, cook eggs (scrambled, eggy bread) and veggies (tomatoes, mushrooms) for breakfast, different cooking style each day , have soups and salads at lunch. Also there are some really good and healthy mixed bean chilly recipes out there (chop it all up and shove it in a pot - type meals).

    If we can i like to mix up a different meat every evening, and a different carb (rice, pasta, potatoes).

    At camp i like one pot for the meat+veg sauce and another for hte carbs - as i don't like washing up and don't have space on the fire.
  • dcc56
    dcc56 Posts: 172 Member
    I take turkey burgers instead, buy light hamburger buns. You can find lighter versions of brats (also made with turkey). I found the price of store made cold salads to be expensive so I made my own the week before I left using recipes from Weight Watchers. They have great potato salad and macaroni salad recipes available. I too bring fresh veggies and make them in the microwave and put light butter (Land o Lakes brand) on them with Mrs. Dash. On the hamburgers I bring slices of 2% cheese and light Hellmans Mayo, fresh sliced tomatoes and some good sliced sweet onions. Instead of potato chips I bring Wheat Thins and I happen to like the Sun dried tomato basil version as I try to watch my sodium intake. I found some pre-made kabobs at the grocery store with fresh chicken breast meat that has not been injected with sodium...they were easy to prepare on the grill turning often until done. Watermelon is a good dessert choice or a pre-cut pineapple chunks works for me. For the brats they also have light hot dog buns, I prefer the Village Hearth brand. For lunch I usually bring Oscar Meyer Turkey Breast lunchmeat from Sam's club and some light Village Hearth 12 Grain bread. Being more active camping and hiking I try not to worry about our intake so much, I know I will be working it off. Have fun.
  • sabbyfairy
    sabbyfairy Posts: 53 Member
    Usually, we're in the trailer with no electric or water hook ups when we go camping in national parks, so I'll just throw some ideas out there. Our refrigerator runs on propane, but we always have a back-up cooler. We try to limit use of the gas stove, since having the heater is more important, so... campfire food!

    You can pre-prepare and keep any sort of salad in the fridge. Our go-to ones are usually pasta, macaroni, or tuna. A small tub of chicken salad will go a long way too.

    Lean steaks cook excellently over a wood fire if watched well. Same with any sort of marinated chicken (barbecue, Zesty Italian). Usually we'll take marinated chicken wings up with us so we don't have to do the work on site.

    Grilled cheese is AWESOME over the campfire, it was one of my specialties in girls camp so that I could feed the vegetarians.

    I'm totally with the foil packet people, too. Potatoes, carrots, fajitas. You can make tacos that way. Corn on the cob can be foiled with any sort of seasoning and cooked that way.

    Basically, it's all about being a bit crafty and realizing that a fire is just as good as a stove, and gives off a unique flavor on top of it.
  • Including a few tablespoons of olive oil in your turkey burger mix keeps them from drying out! Tasty!
  • scribb
    scribb Posts: 3,659 Member
    You could always pre-cook the meals at hime and teke them with you. I have pre-cooked chicken and other fixings for a taco meal and heaated them up in a plastic bag in hot water. Not much to clean up, and a very quick and easy meal.
  • Strokingdiction
    Strokingdiction Posts: 1,164 Member
    Aluminum foil and about any vegetable/fruit or meat you enjoy. Wrap them up together and throw them into a section of your fire ring that's not in direct contact with the fire or red coals. Turn often with long tongs or a stick. Occasionally check the contents for doneness. Experiment with various combinations. I love peppers, onions, carrots, garlic and chicken. A camping desert I enjoy is fresh pineapple cut up and drizzled honey and cooked till hot and steamy.
  • scribb
    scribb Posts: 3,659 Member
    Dutch oven cooking is always a fun and easy way to cook. I made chicken pot pie last year which came out great.