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Thursday, April 11, 2013

4 DAY CAMPING MEAL PLAN



 Camp Food Tips-Pack Smart and Safe

SMART
  • Fill empty/clean milk jugs with water and freeze.  This will give you clean-water as they thaw, and double as your cold source in your cooler.
  • Bring about a dozen frozen water bottles and refill with your water jugs throughout the week. Again, clean water source and cold course in cooler, making more room for other foods.
  • Non squish-able bread and snacks. Tortillas and bagels are great for quick & easy wraps and sandwiches, and don't take up tons of room because you don't have to worry about having to pack them on top. Brings apples instead of bananas.
  • Ziplocs are your best friend. Don't bring anything in it's original boxes if you don't have to. Put snack, like goldfish crackers or trail mix, into individual baggies before you leave. This make getting ready for hikes easy, and allows your kids to pick their own snacks easily. 
SAFE
  • Keep raw foods separate from other foods. Never bring meat or poultry products without a cold source to keep them safe and in water tight packaging. 
  • Freeze all cheese and meat individually in ziplocs before hand . It cuts down on ice/space you need in cooler and you can have "fresh" food the 1st and/ or 2nd night. Ziploc containers take up less space than bulky cardboard boxes,  and you only bring what you need. If you have frozen sausages for breakfast, they will thaw and make the cardboard wet. 


4 DAY CAMPING MEAL PLAN
For camp Kitchen Organization and lists- See Family Camping Organization 

Unless you want to spend your entire camping week preparing or cleaning up food then be OK with some repeat and/or easy meals.   You will be happier to have time to hike and explore, than spending all your time cooking.

Day ONE Check in at 2:00pm
You don't want to have anything to complicated the first night.  We are always tired from setting up the tent and the campsite, so simplicity is key. 

  • Dinner-  Hot Dogs over fire and Buns, apples
  • Snacks/Dessert- Smores


Day TWO-
This is our big fire-cooking food day because our "fresh" food is thawing and we have had time to tend the fire.  Since many campfire meals require hot coal beds instead of flames, you need to allow an hour or two tending the fire before it's time to cook.  We use up our frozen raw food that is thawing this day.

  • Breakfast – Use Gas Camp Grill so you don't have to wake up and build fire-shakeup pancakes,eggs and sausage patties (frozen in Ziploc) with syrup and milk (frozen in water bottles)
  • Lunch- Cheese, spinach & deli meat Quesadillas on Gas Camp Grill and apple sauce cups. You can also bring cooked shredded chicken that already has taco seasoning added (freeze beforehand)
  • Snacks- Apples and Trail Mix
  • Dinner- The fire must be a couple hours old with very hot coals to cook the hobo dinner.  Don't forget heat gloves or oven mittens when handing your pie-irons.
    • Campfire Stew- Frozen ground beef patties (on bottom), washed baby potatoes, baby carrots salt and pepper, dried onions, 2 spoonfuls of Cream of mushroom soup on top.  Cook for at least half hour on HOT coals. You can add other veggies that your family likes, like zucchini. 
    •  Campfire Pies for dessert- buttered white bread with pie filling in between cooked in pie iron. 
Campfire Stew-tastes SOOOO much  better than it looks.  Trust me. 
Campfire Pies with pie filling


Day THREE- 
This is usually the day we go hiking, bike riding, or swimming at the beacg, so we plan mostly easy and portable meals.

  • Breakfast – Fruit cups and bagels with spray butter (you can toast on fire or gas grill)
  • Lunch- Bagel or Tortilla Wrap Sandwiches with deli turkey and cheese
  • Snacks- Fruit snacks, goldfish, Animal Crackers
  • Dinner- Grilled Cheese and canned Soup (heated on gas grill or over flame)

Day FOUR-Check out at 11:00am-
 Since you will be packing up campsite today, keep it easy and simple.

  • Breakfast- Poptarts and Fruit Punch
  • Snacks-Whatever is left in snack bins
  • Lunch- Deli Meat Bagel Sandwiches with ham and cheese
 
Use Pie iron to warm up your Poptarts:)


GROCERY LIST-4 Day Camping Meal Plan

DAIRY
  • Eggs (use first morning)
  • Half gallon of milk (you can freeze also)
  • Shredded Cheese (freeze)
  • Frozen cheese slices (enough for at least 3 meals)
MISC.
  • Empty Half Gallon Milk Jugs, clean & washed.  Filled with water and frozen
MEAT
  • Sausage patties (frozen in Ziploc) 
  • Hot Dogs  (freeze hot dogs if not using the first night)
  • Frozen ground beef or turkey patties (at least one for each person)
  • Frozen Deli Meats (gets individually wrapped in a variety of meats so you can mix it up)
  • Cooked shredded chicken that already has taco seasoning added (frozen in ziploc)
DRY GOODS
  • shakeup pancake mix
  • Hershey bars (freeze to avoid melting in heat)
  • Graham Crackers
  • Marshmallows 
  • Syrup
  • Pam Spray (for camp stove)
  • Spray butter (for corn and grilled cheese)
  • Individual Apple Sauce and/or pudding
  • Water bottles (freeze and fill up through week with water from milk jugs)
  • Trail Mix (you can make your own and put in individual Ziploc bags before for easier access for kids while hiking)
  • 1 to 2 cans mushroom soup
  • Ketchup/Mustard
  • Pie filling
  • Lemonade Mix
  • Canned Soup
  • Fruit snacks, goldfish, Animal Crackers (indivudal bags or bag in small snack bags before you leave)
  • Pop-tarts
BREAD
  • Hot Dog Buns
  • Tortillas
  • white bread
  • Bagels- plain for sandwiches, flavored for breakfast
PRODUCE
  • romaine lettuce for sandwiches
  • Apples
  • Washed Baby Potatoes 
  • Baby Carrots
SPICES
  • salt and pepper
  • Dried minced onions
MATERIALS NEEDED
  • Heavy Duty Aluminum Foil  
  • Pie Irons
  • Camp Stove
  • Fire tongs


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18 comments:

  1. very nice your camping meal plan. I'm really impressed to see this wonderful post. You are truly to be commended. Your blog posts are very good about. I will also trying visit this site. Thanks for sharing.

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  2. Wow! Was about to start my menu planning for a trip with 2 of my grandchildren. A little rusty and prayerful, I googled and yours is the first post to pop up! Grateful for the work and thought you have put in and God for leading me here. Many thanks! Grandma in Indiana heading to Smokey Mountains National Park in early June 2016

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    1. I am so glad it could help, have fun in the Smokeys! That sounds wonderful!

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    2. Trip was a success! Didn't have to buy ice or carry a camp stove. My nephew and his 2 teenagers came along. I switched up the hamburger hobo's a bit as they said they didn't like gravy or mushrooms. Mine were made with broccoli, baby carrots and hamburger topped with Italian seasoning mixed with butter. It was a hit and everyone pitched in on putting them in the coals to cook and deciding when they were ready. We had so much fun we will be going again! Grandma and Auntie in Indiana

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    3. Sounds like fun, glad it was a success!!!

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    4. Sounds like fun, glad it was a success!!!

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  3. Definitely smart and safe; as far as the smart part is concerned I will go with the Ziplocs. The one thing that I am always reluctant to do is freezing cheese and meat individually beforehand. Great post, thanks for sharing. I also checked out a resourceful camping food list here: http://survival-mastery.com/skills/camp/camping-food-list.html

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  4. It never gets easier, you just get stronger. Get the perfect weekly meal plan for your active lifestyle.

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  5. Did you make or purchase the swinging arm grill thingy? I would love one!

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  6. It was the time of summer vacations. So, our whole college gang planned a trip to get a break from our monotonous routine. We had decided to visit the high mountains in the USA that are best known for the camping trip Cooler.

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  7. I wound up skipping meals and eating a ton of treats and chips amid the outing,Camping Meals for Kids since I didn't think to bring an assortment of bites, as I was depending a lot on the meals that I had arranged.

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