ideas of what to eat while camping

I love to make packets of potatoes, carrots and whatever veggies you like in aluminum foil. Toss the whole thing in the fire 'til cooked.

theres this company that do bags of camping food.
i cant remember what its called but you just put the bag in hot water and wahla!
There really good and low calorie!
But one meal is like £4.
But there vegetable currys are to die for!

I wish I would have had this thread last week - I just got back from our weekend camping trip - 3 days and nights worth of hot dogs, smores, chips and cold beer - was a complete indulgence and I gained 7 lbs doing it!!! So be careful... thats quite a setback.

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Camp fire is like grilling. Anything you can grill will work. Chicken, beef, pork, fish, veggies, fruit, eggs, potatoes, ect

For snacks or with a meal :Awesome Fresh Black Bean Salsa recipe from Pampered Chef with Guiltless Gourmet blue corn chips:
2 med tomotoes (seeded and chopped)
1 can of Black beans rinsed
2 tbs of FRESH cilantro snipped (key ingredient)
1 garlic clove pressed
2 Tbls lime juice (i've used lemon and it was fine)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
mix and chill over night

or for meals

Light Sweet and Sour Cole Slaw

1 head of cabbage shredded
2 carrots shredded
1/2 green pepper diced/chopped
1/2 cucumber chopped

Sauce:
1 cup light Helman's mayo
3 Tbls apple cider vinegar
2 Tbls sugar or 2 Tbls splenda (or do half and half)
1/4 tsp dry mustard
1/4 tsp salt

mix sauce and chill overnight (I don't always use all the sauce. depends on how big head of cabbage was)

very yummy!

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Don't grill hot dogs and **** food like that. Do it right, eat a tasty steak, or a nice big chicken breast. Spend some time on a good dry rub for your steak (black pepper, garlic, paprika, cumin makes a pretty good one). Try a little vinaigrette with added thyme, garlic and black pepper as a marinade for your chicken. The calories will be similar to that hot dog, but it'll be higher in protein so you'll stay full longer and it'll taste vastly better, while being much better for you. If you want, make kebabs with it, it'll be a great full meal.

For meals without a fire cooking, or as sides, I like salads. Space is often limited, and I hate chopping vegetables without a counter, so I like to skip the greens and make veggie salads that I can make ahead of time and will keep, like my greek salad, made with seeded cucumbers (this is the main body of the dish), grape tomatoes, red onions, kalamata olives, bell peppers, feta, a little cilantro, black pepper, a little garlic powder, a little vinegar, and some good olive oil. Don't make it too heavy on the dressing, it's meant to be light, so the flavorful vegetables and feta can really sing, so if you go balsamic, go easy. It keeps well so long as you seed the cucumbers and don't cut up the tomatoes, though you can use less dressing if you let the moisture from the cucumbers and tomatoes spread throughout the salad over half a day or whatever. If you want to punch up the protein, garbanzo beans or chicken are both good options.

Also, other similar salads are good bets. Look up raw vegan recipes, you'll find all kinds of good stuff along this vein. 3-bean salad is a classic, and surprisingly filling. My mom used to make pea salad with some light miracle whip, a bag of frozen peas, some diced red onion, and diced extra sharp cheddar, sometimes with a can of tuna as well. I add a little fresh basil and black pepper to that, it makes it pop a lot more.

I also like nuts, extra sharp cheddar cheese, and summer sausage for camping. It's all calorie-dense and fat-heavy, but it's filling and flavorful. Just don't eat too much, it'll be fine. I find it's a lot easier to limit myself to a handful of almonds than cashews, which are just too ****ing tasty, I want to eat them two meals a day if I don't stop myself. Fruit is also a win.

As for the beer problem, I like to smoke weed instead. No calories in smoking weed, and the great high is just so much better when you're outdoors by the campfire, not to mention how much easier it is to sleep on the ground when you're drunk or stoned. As for munchies, you've got to keep it together, and plan out exactly what you will let yourself have, pre-portion it, and stick to it. Better still, don't smoke until after a protein-heavy dinner-- that way you aren't particularly hungry, and you can sort of dodge the bullet on the munchies entirely. YMMV

Alternately, you can starve yourself as you get towards the end of the day and drink liquor. It will metabolize in your liver super quick, get you drunk faster because you've got an empty stomach, and most of it will not be digested as proper calories. But if you are drinking, don't eat with it, and especially not a full meal or a big snack. Believe me, I know what I'm talking about-- I lost 80 lbs in 5 months drinking like a fish (>10 shots a day) and eating about as many calories as I'm having now. I'd be starving at the end of the day, when I could start drinking gin and whiskey (I had no beer while dieting at that time), but I did lose a ton of weight, so I have to assume what I've read about not mixing booze and food is true. I don't drink much anymore, and very rarely liquor, but I certainly did plenty of it back then.

Anyway, it's certainly possible to have a good weekend camping with a bunch of drunks and not go over calories, while eating damn well. If anything, it's almost easier eating well in small portions than going crazy all weekend eating whatever you want-- there's half as much food to bring into the woods that way.