Fueling your Camping Adventure
Don't let the snow falling outside fool you, we will be camping again someday soon! Or maybe you are the super adventurous type and are already winter camping? Either way, let's talk food. I'll be honest, the food is the most stressful part of camping for me. Our family likes to eat, there are a few food aversions (peanut butter and avocados for Ellie and celery for Reagan...to name a few), and I love to cook and eat healthy. Meal planning at home is a non-issue, but when we are going to be on the road, that changes things a bit!
We are primarily car campers these days, so that makes things easier in that we are not carrying everything on our backs. A great trick that we've been using for years now is to freeze water jugs, rather than throwing loose ice in your cooler. We have a few gallon jugs that we freeze (tops off) and then put the tops on and throw in the cooler. No more food swimming in a sloppy mess of water (gross). You can do it with smaller bottles too.
In an effort to freshen up our camping recipes, I recently discovered an amazing website called Fresh Off The Grid.
This website elevates your camping food game in a very approachable way. There are tons of delicious recipes for car camping and backpacking. If you are a "can o chili" kind of person, this might not be the place for you...but if you enjoy cooking over the fire, then check out their recipes. Since they are designed for camping, they are relatively low maintenance, tasty, and nutritious. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert...they have you covered!
Here's another thought, why not try them out and get them fine tuned for your family BEFORE you go camping? These recipes are seriously so good that I've started making some of the recipes from their website for dinner at night (bonus - VERY few dishes!). By the time we go camping, I am going to have a cache of delicious recipes that I know my family likes and that I've made a handful of times so I know just what to do. Their beef stroganoff is really amazing, and we've adapted it to just use mushrooms so we can go veggie or meat with it!
In my mind, it is never too early to start planning your next adventure...whether it's two weeks or two months away. In fact, it is proven to increase your happiness to have a trip to look forward to, even if it is only pitching a tent a few miles up the road. I hope this gives you some inspiration for new weeknight dinners and perhaps a new camping meal or two in the future!
Stay Wild and Free!
Michelle