Going camping - bouncing ideas off fellow beachers
Hello, everyone! I'm new around these parts, and you may have seen my stellar debut post in the "constipation" thread where all sorts of personal details were revealed...ahem.
Anyway, I am leaving Thursday to go camping for four days, and I'm in heavy-duty food planning mode. My bf is checking with friends tonight about whether there will be a "camp kitchen" setup there, so I'm not sure what the availability for heating foods will be. This is a music festival, and there will be vendors selling food, but I'm guessing most if not all will not be SB friendly, so I'm trying to plan ahead.
So far I'm thinking of bringing a cooler loaded with ice and the following:
Deviled eggs and cheesecake cupcakes for breakfasts;
Salad fixins, dressing, and pre-cooked chicken and SB appropriate lunchmeat for lunches;
Cut veggies, cheese, turkey kielbasa, pre-measured baggies of nuts, and pre-packaged jello cups for snacks;
Pre-mixed chocolate ricotta for dessert (or should I stay away from that if I'm already having the cheesecakes in the morning?)
And water, of course!
Now I'm trying to think of dinner options...if there's a grill (I think there will be,) I guess I can bring some steak, pork chops, and chicken to grill up. I usually like baked casserole-type dishes, but without a way to reheat, there doesn't seem much point in pre-making anything, as I can't think of anything I'd really enjoy cold.
I should mention I'm on phase 1 and and scheduled to start phase 2 on Thursday. But I'm not sure I want to start adding grains and fruits when I'm already a little stressed about the food situation and there will be all sorts of fried unhealthy temptations around me, so I'm thinking I'd like to stay on phase 1 until I get back.
SO...how does this look? Can you think of anything really good and handy that I've missed, or anything that looks like a bad choice? (Of course I'm assuming there will be access to more ice, or I'm gonna waste a lot of food, but I'll check into that tomorrow as well.)
I always bring baby carrots, snap peas, celery sticks and black bean hummus. I also like easy vinaigrette type veggie salads and bean salads. Oh, the chick pea crunchies are nice to have on hand too! I've camped twice so far on the beach and the planning really makes all the difference. Have a great time!
My plans:
Breakfast - kiddos get pannycakes or french toast, I'll get eggs/omelette (well, scrambled egg pile with veggies!) (or yogurt). Fresh fruit too.
Lunches - wraps or mountain sandwiches (on grill), I pre-make salads. I'll probably make 3 bean salad, and black bean salad. I've been trying to fill up on veggies so I eat less of other!
Supper - bought turkey smoked sausage (the new ones from Johnsonville are awesome!), probably get a steak too to share with my honey.
Dessert - they get marshmellows . Last time, I did resist!! I'll probably have watermelon, but I eat that freely on SB, since the Glycemic load is low.
You can search threads for the word "camping" We've had some threads over the years with a lot of good information. I normally have a propane stove when I camp so it is easy to cook things in pots or skillets. I often bring precooked food and then heat it up. I love soups depending on the weather. If there is electricity, I have even brought my George Foreman before.
The suggestions you have been given are good ones but I would really try to find out what cooking facilities are available. A small propane stove is easy to use and doesn't take up much room to bring. You might even have a friend who has one who can loan it to you (ask anyone in Cub/Boy Scouts).
If you're going to have a stove or grill I have two suggestions. For breakfasts you can make baggie scrambled eggs. Fill a sandwich baggie with veggies and cheese, crack two eggs into the bags and smash them up. Place them in pot of boiling water and cook for 8 - 10 mins. Very little clean up, particularly if you cut the veggies and put them in the bag before you go. For dinner you can make meat & veggie packets in foil and grill over the coals. (Chicken, peppers, onions, mushrooms, & italian dressing is a favorite of ours). Have a great time!!!
Anyway, I am leaving Thursday to go camping for four days, and I'm in heavy-duty food planning mode. My bf is checking with friends tonight about whether there will be a "camp kitchen" setup there, so I'm not sure what the availability for heating foods will be. This is a music festival, and there will be vendors selling food, but I'm guessing most if not all will not be SB friendly, so I'm trying to plan ahead.
Next week I'm also taking my family to a 4-day music festival and we'll be camping out with no idea whether I'll have any way to heat stuff, or whether I'll be able to replenish ice. We've done this before, but this year my diet is very different, so it's taking a bit more consciousness to plan out. The very most important thing to me, personally, is to avoid sugar and keep my total carbs in control and balanced. I'll give myself leeway to overeat on nuts and things like that, just so I don't get into a situation where I'm tempted to eat sugar. Things I'm thinking of so far:
Breakfast
-- I'm going to pre-mix a blend of soy protein powder, sucralose, nonfat dried milk, and cinnamon in a gallon-size bag so that I can make protein shakes for myself and my kids.
-- A phase 2-acceptable breakfast cereal, with nonfat dried milk and dried fruit on top. We can all eat this.
Snacks
-- Trail mix with nuts, dried legumes (possibly roasted chickpeas, recipe from here), dried fruit, and some chocolate for my kids
-- Apples will travel well and can stand some heat, and my kids like them
-- Peanut butter
-- Whole-grain crackers
-- Carrots
-- Beef jerky
-- Sweet potato chips (either make my own or I'll buy some healthy ones)
-- Oranges will probably also travel pretty well
-- Homemade sugarless cookies or muffins
-- I'm going to pre-freeze small bottles of water so that as we're hanging around at the festival during the day, we'll have cold water to drink. Festival prices for water are just TOO high. Bottles we haven't used yet will help out with keeping the cooler cool.
Lunches/Dinners
-- Turkey breast and veggie sandwiches on the first night, when stuff is still fresh.
-- Salmon-salad sandwiches - canned salmon with fixings of some kind.
-- Th-Sat evenings we will probably have to buy dinner at the festival since that's right before the big concert, but usually it's possible to get a chicken-on-a-stick kind of thing that's not too bad. I'll be pre-scoping the food stands so I can let my husband know exactly what I will and won't eat.
Thanks for all the suggestions! I have my grocery list and will be heading to the store in a bit. I've never made the roasted chickpeas, but I'll be making them this evening!
It also occurred to me today as I was making deviled eggs to bring extra portions to share with others in the campsite. I'd feel bad munching on those eggs, or some yummy cheddar cheese or turkey kielbasa and not having any to spare. I've already pre-bagged my daily nut servings, and my bf will be warned of dire consequences if any go missing!! (But I am also bringing some in a different container for him...)
For breakfasts you can make baggie scrambled eggs.
I used to do that but read that it actually isn't safe. Apparently baggie manufacturers are pretty clear that the bags aren't meant for high heat cooking unless they are labeled specially. I was disappointed - it's such an easy way to make breakfast.
We did recently get a new Coleman stove with a griddle and that's really great and easy for eggs, burgers, etc. I almost never do pan cooping anymore because I love the grill
First as someone mentioned above, add in a lot of cut-up raw vegetables for meals and snacks.
Also, since you don't know if you'll be able to cook or heat up food, why don't you precook boneless skinless chicken breasts, low fat burgers, any kind of low fat meat that you'd be willing to eat cold if you needed to. If you have a grill you could heat it up. If not you're not sitting with a cooler of raw food.
Great ideas you guys, it makes me want to go camping. No suggestions to add, but I don't see where your question about hte cheesecake got answered. You can have the ricotta cheese too on the same day.
Thanks for the extra info, Schmoodle. Actually, the ricotta didn't keep well so I only had a little on the first night and had to throw the rest away. The deviled eggs were also sacrificed because water got in the container - but the rest of the ideas worked pretty well. I stayed on program for 2 1/2 days really well and then slipped up a bit the last 1 1/2, but I did get back on track when I came home and moved on!
Going camping - bouncing ideas off fellow beachers
. Last time, I did resist!! I'll probably have watermelon, but I eat that freely on SB, since the Glycemic load is low.
with no idea whether I'll have any way to heat stuff, or whether I'll be able to replenish ice. We've done this before, but this year my diet is very different, so it's taking a bit more consciousness to plan out. The very most important thing to me, personally, is to avoid sugar and keep my total carbs in control and balanced. I'll give myself leeway to overeat on nuts and things like that, just so I don't get into a situation where I'm tempted to eat sugar. Things I'm thinking of so far:
