OK, so I'm back from camping and I'm thinking I just can't wait to get back in the swing of things; hitting the gym and working and whatnot. These little wilderness breaks my family take are therapeutic and help us appreciate things like indoor plumbing, clean sheets, HDTV, broadband, and the dreary, soul-crushing experience that is our day-to-day existence back in the real world.
I'm kidding and I kid because I love. Things really aren't that bad- could be better, could be worse; but I don't want to talk about that right now. I want to talk about the consequence of camping food on the ol' diet.
It seems that camping is all about snacking- at least that's how it's been with us. Muffins for breakfast, hotdogs for lunch, hamburgers for dinner, dumpcake for desert, S'mores for after-dessert-dessert. All of it bound by a never-ending stream of chips, cookies, peanuts, candy, gorp, energy bars, and hot cocoa. It's all about carb-loading and mosquitos- or carb-loading mosquitos via transfusion, I dunno, but I do know that I came back with an extra 2 pounds of cargo. I mean flubber, and a new found determination to make the next camping trip more nutritious.
I'm curious about what others pack when they go camping, food-wise. I have another trip planned and need to come up with a menu that is do-able in the woods (no electricity).
(Day 447/ - 151 lbs.) An Appetite As Big As All Outdoors
8/12/2008 06:00:00 PM | camping, convenience, cookies, meal plan | 6 comments »
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Stock the cooler with veggie sticks, maybe some dressings. Salads work out also in the early part of the trip.
Chicken over the fire, awesome.
If you do not have a Dutch oven I suggest making the investment. As Scout Leaders we are always having to find better ways to create healthy camp foods. We always love to make our own granola mix too for hiking and munching rather than resorting to the salty or sweet snacks.
Looks like you forgot the alcohol on your list!
We usually go with a few families when we go camping, sharing the meal prep. So we only had to prepare breakfast for one of the days we were there. I brought sausage, ham, croissants, eggs, bagels (blueberry and whole wheat),and yogurt. Everything was gone except for my whole wheat bagels and yogurt.
That just goes to show that people will not choose to eat healthier even when they have the healthier food laid out in front of them. As for me, I tend to not snack when I am not at work. So I save my "treat calories" for a smore and a shot before bed.
I so respect those that dare to camp - haven't done it for years and I'm probably missing a lot.
Don't have any first hand food ideas for camping, but did find some interesting sites that might be worth looking into:
http://www.razzledazzlerecipes.com/camping-recipes/index.htm
http://camprecipes.com/
http://www.chuckwagondiner.com/
and so on.....
Really happy to hear that things are going ok for you.
@sassy mamma bear - excellent ideas. Do you have a good granola recipe?
@asithi - looks like my kind of breakfast- I mean, what could possibly be better than waking up to the smell of sausage (bacon rocks my boat, too)? Oh man! Moderation, Steve, moderation.
@lucy jones - I was never a camper while growing up- didn't start until I was in college- funny story there (sigh). I'm really into it now, year-round. Thanks for the links, I'll check them out.
I have the same problem when camping. Things like Gorp really put me under. I think the key is just to keep yourself so busy you don;t have time to graze. And of course keep the S'Mores to a minimum.
We LOVE to go camping! The whole family goes (23 of us) and we always have a blast. It's been many years since we've gone though. Like you, we don't eat all that healthy. We warm up taquitos for breakfast (eggs, sausage, onion, and bell pepper wrapped in a flour tortilla) that we cook prior to the trip, then we have burgers, dogs, and chips for lunch and then a fish fry for dinner. And don't forget dessert! We have lots of cookies to eat plus we do S'mores around the campfire at night. Just thinking about how much fun we have makes me want to go again.