We were able to sneak away this past weekend and get some great camping and hiking in. I adore camping with my family. Something about (mostly) living outside gets me in touch with what matters again, and allows me to slow my ever-growing anxiety and stress level.
If you’ve camped before, you know that the success of a camping trip is dependent on two things: 1) weather (which cannot be controlled) and 2) preparation (which can). Preparation is key not only for gear and sleeping arrangements, but also for food and cooking.
We ate very well this camping trip. And as I had planned our meals in advance, it was not at all stressful. Mealtime was easy, and everyone could pitch in and have fun cooking around camp.
Please note that there are some affiliate links below. Thank you for your support.
A couple of tips, though, on camping cooking:
1) I will say it again: do as much prep work in advance as you possibly can. Cut and dice all vegetables and place them in a Ziploc (such as those for the Sloppy Joe recipe); measure out spices and put them into a Tupperware container so you can simply dump and stir; you can even crack and whisk eggs before packing them (this makes them much easier to transport!).
2) It helps to have a camp stove. We also were gifted a cast iron camp Dutch oven a few Christmases ago and it is phenomenal. We put it right on the grate over the campfire and it works so well.
3) Get roasting sticks! We used these for the sausages and the marshmallows.
I hope you are able to get out and camp this fall. Happy trails!
Menu and Meal Plan for a Camping Weekend:
Friday dinner-
- grilled sausages
- Dutch oven nachos from this recipe: https://www.freshoffthegrid.
com/campfire-nachos/ - carrots & hummus
Friday dessert-
- cookies
- hot apple cider (feel free to add a splash of bourbon for the adults if the campground rules allow alcohol!)
Saturday breakfast-
- coffee with cream & sugar
- bananas
- scrambled eggs with cheese
- bacon
- bagel (we put the eggs and bacon on the bagels and made breakfast sandwiches)
Saturday lunch-
Hiking picnic
- sandwiches (these can be prepared in advance and brought homemade but, as I forgot to do that this trip, we stopped at a sub shop and got sandwiches to go)
- chips
- Jolly Ranchers (we learned in the Grand Tetons that bribing our children to hike without complaining is totally worth it)
- clementines
Saturday dinner-
- Dutch oven Sloppy Joes from this recipe here: https://50campfires.com/
easy-dutch-oven-sloppy-joes/ - bagged Caesar salad
Friday dessert-
- s’mores
Sunday breakfast-
- coffee w/cream & sugar
- oatmeal made in the Dutch oven w/fresh fruit, cream and sugar