Ideas for Eating Great in Outdoors
If you and your family are planning a camping trip to a campground you will need to pack light to save space in the car. If your planning a backpacking trip or a longer stay in the outdoors, it becomes especially important to pay attention to how much you can haul, both in the car and on your person once you start walking.
Food and water are the most essential item you can carry or haul on a trip into the outdoors. Eating right on your family’s next outing can still mean packing light.
There has been an explosion of prepared food products available in the supermarket in recent years, making it not only possible to eat great food but to lighten your load, as well.
Some foods simply are not easy to pack and do not store well. Things like canned foods, fresh fruit, sodas, and so on are just too difficult to carry and take up too much space. Although, with the convenience of the pop open cans that are now available, a small amount of canned goods may be appropriate.
Meals in the outdoors do not have to be complicated or take a long time to prepare. On your family’s trips by car to improved areas you’ll want to take a campstove or portable propane barbecue.
A small, portable propane barbecue can perform double duty, not only as a barbecue, but also as a heat source for your pans. Simply place the griddly, frying pan or saucepan right on the grill. The grill from the barbecue could also be place over the coals of your campfire to support a coffee pot or pan.
For backpacking, however, you will want to purchase a good quality, lightweight backpacking stove for cooking. A small stove that uses white gas would be good choice for a backpacking trip. Lightweight utensils and cookware are readily available.
The most important thing is to make sure you have the cooking equipment necessary for the great meal you planned. Take some foil, just in case. It is also a good idea to have a good quality lantern or two. Mealtime can often vary when having fun in the outdoors. Your meal may end up needing to prepared after the sun has gone down.
Your meal planning should always be done prior to shopping for groceries. Prepare as much ahead of time as you can. If you are the designated cook for your outing, then plan ahead.
As far as how much or little food and cooking equipment to carry, take more. You’ll be glad you did since you and your family will be hungry quite often whether you are backpacking or camping in a campground.
At the end of the day’s strenuous activities such as hiking to your favorite fishing spots or rounding up firewood for the campfire, you’ll all be hungry.
The best time for a good meal is, of course, in the morning before hitting the trail.
The National Outdoor Leadership School estimates that backcountry travelers burn between 2,500 and 4,500 calories per day, depending on their individual physiology and their activity. That translates into roughly 1.5 to 2.5 lbs. of food per day.
Some ideas for breakfast include pancakes, eggs, bacon, and OJ (add blueberries, walnuts, etc.; eggs scrambled with some grated cheddar and jack cheese melted in. Or you might just skip the pancakes and add the scrambled eggs to some hash browns, peppers, onions, suasage, cheddar cheese mix. The easiest and qucikest meal, if your in a hurry to get going, the third day for example would be something like bear Claws, grapefruit juice and coffee.
Being creative and planning ahead for your next camping or backpacking trip includes meal planning. Bring plenty to drink and make a meal time at the campsite a special event for everyone in your party.
