Ideas for camping food - limited to boiling and disposable bbq

kjarvo
kjarvo Posts: 235 Member
edited June 2021 in Food and Nutrition
I am going camping tomorrow. I always end up eating processed rubbish and loads of carbs. I don't want to fall into this habit. I felt rubbish last time when I had a bag of processed rubbish and other friends were eating salads, avocado, fried eggs etc.

I try to have porridge for breakast. (the packet quick cook stuff)
Pasta lunch (packed pasta with tuna, smallish portion)
Pasta for my evening meal/pot noodle/processed food.

I don't have great cooking facilities. I only have a trangia, which is a few small pots which cook using methylated spirit. I've only ever boiled things in it and it doesn't have a massive capacity.

Last time we had a big bbq on the last night and had sausage butties for breakfast. I think that we might buy another disposable bbq this time too.

I don't have a fridge and it'll be warm this weekend. I also don't have any electricity.

Have you got any ideas for healthier food that can be cooked on a tiny stove or disposable bbq and doesn't have to be kept in the fridge.

We probably can pop to the shop, but this is not guaranteed.

I think that I will take some eggs, because these can be kept out of the fridge here, and they are fresher.

Thanks

Replies

  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    Bear Creek Country has some complete soup/stew/pasta mixes, that seem to have a tad less additives.

    I wouldn't bring camping as they have long boil/simmer times, but then again I'm usually winter camping so much more fuel used, and more than a couple days, and carrying all my stuff for miles minimum.
    But you didn't mention how long you'd be there with no cold storage, tomorrow and including weekend though.
    I'm guessing perhaps not long travel with food if others brought salad and such.

    Several of those mixes are good for adding some meat too, however that may be brought.

    Hoping to get a bounce on topic for others with more experience for this type of camping.
  • kjarvo
    kjarvo Posts: 235 Member
    It's not for long, only 3 days. I went last week for 4 days, but I think the salad was mainly eaten on the 2nd day. Thankfully, I won't need to carry my food for miles on hikes, as we tend to hike each day from the campsite or a nearby car park.

    I should probably have also mentioned that I am in the UK, but I will look for that brand.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,876 Member
    Is this a campsite you have to hike to or a drive up campsite? I'm in the US and I generally think of camping as sites you can pull up to in your car or RV like this...

    santa-fe-1-jemez-falls-campground.jpg

    whereas hiking in I would call backpacking. I'm assuming since you only have a trangia for cooking that you're backpacking in? But wanted to make sure as my recommendations would be different for each.
  • huntleigh3229
    huntleigh3229 Posts: 34 Member
    When we camp, I do beans on toast (our camp stove has a grill), burgers/sausages on the BBQ, risotto (works really well on a camp stove or BBQ), bean stew (a few tins of different beans, tin of tomatoes, spices), scrambled/fried eggs with toast and beans
  • kjarvo
    kjarvo Posts: 235 Member
    Yes, it is a campsite that you can drive up to, but a campsite which is more of a grass field than one with a electrical hookup. Then walk from their with a day bag. So I am not limited in weight for the weekend.

    We occasionally hike up a mountain and 'wildcamp', which is one of the reasons why I bought the spirit burner, because it is light and portable and we would have to carry all of our equipment. I don't really have any other equipment because the spirit burner is usually fine for cooking pasta type dishes.

    We try to find an actual campsite though, for the entire weekend, because it's just easier logistically.

  • MaltedTea
    MaltedTea Posts: 6,286 Member
    Personally, I'd bring protein powder, canned fish (or meats), and some energy bars.

    But...

    Are there other lightweight options in your pantry staples that you can take with you?


    Also...how open are you to foraging food in the location you'll be staying at? There may be edible mushrooms and surely plentiful greens to have 🤷🏿‍♀️

    Have fun camping!
  • littlegreenparrot1
    littlegreenparrot1 Posts: 694 Member
    Have a look at packets of rice or cous cous, easy and quite quick to boil.
    I would take fruit/veg that will happily sit outside the fridge, apples/oranges/cherry tomatoes.
    Hard boil a few eggs and take them along so they are ready to go.
    Salami/chorizo type sausages are dried and can be kept out of the fridge.
    Tins of chilli, or beans along with a chunk of bread.

    Do you have a cool box? It opens up a few options if you do, just freeze a couple of bottles of water or juice to stick in there. Even one of those little thermal lunch bags can keep things a bit fresher, for salad and stuff.
    It's going to be lovely this weekend, have fun :)
  • wilson10102018
    wilson10102018 Posts: 1,306 Member
    I really like military MRE's. At least the entrees. They are high calorie meals but mostly the caloris are made up by the side items like peanut butter, pop tarts, cheese spread, etc. Most of the entrees are 250-300 calories. Vegetarian are the best and they have a lot of good choices. No pots and pans, pretty much self contained and all include the incredible sodium heater.

    Trouble is that while they used to be $79 delivered for a case of 12 (very affordable) Covid has driven the price to double that. It will go down eventually and then they can be stocked. The shelf life is years not months.

    You can learn a lot about them here:

    https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2I6Et1JkidnnbWgJFiMeHA
  • KNoceros
    KNoceros Posts: 324 Member
    If you have a trangia, did you know that the lids of the pans are designed to double up as teeny frying pans? (Some are even non-stick)
  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
    Labeling some food as "rubbish" is usually not a good idea. I also would not care what other people are eating. If you want to balance your meals better that is fine but I do not put a lot of requirements on myself for situations unless they happen regularly. If I camped once every 4 months or more I wouldn't care to eat mostly ready to eat food. If it were once a month I might work at it a little harder.
  • kyGina
    kyGina Posts: 1 Member
    Look into foil meals, you could put a chicken breast and some cut up veggies in a foil packet and toss it on a fire for an easy meal.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,876 Member
    kjarvo wrote: »
    Yes, it is a campsite that you can drive up to, but a campsite which is more of a grass field than one with a electrical hookup. Then walk from their with a day bag. So I am not limited in weight for the weekend.

    We occasionally hike up a mountain and 'wildcamp', which is one of the reasons why I bought the spirit burner, because it is light and portable and we would have to carry all of our equipment. I don't really have any other equipment because the spirit burner is usually fine for cooking pasta type dishes.

    We try to find an actual campsite though, for the entire weekend, because it's just easier logistically.

    I don't and haven't ever camped with electric hookups, but I usually eat basically the same stuff I eat at home. When I was a tent camper I didn't have a refrigerator or anything like that, but I would pack a cooler. I grill most evenings and I freeze whatever meat I'm going to take up and put it in the cooler with ice. For lunches I usually just take sandwich stuff and typically do eggs, bacon, potatoes for breakfast except on pack up day when I have a bagel and cream cheese or something.

    For a long time I used something similar to the spirit burner because my wife and I would often backpack but also "car camp" and was still able to scramble some eggs and such or make whatever side to go with my grilled meats...we eventually started doing less backpacking and I bought a small two burner camp stove for easier cooking.

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