How to Plan a Camping Menu

Camping is fun family vacation.

Camping is a great way to spend a memorable vacation. Family members and children will remember hiking, swimming, fishing, and sitting by the campfire for the rest of their lives. Camping is a great family tradition to get away from all the stress, computers, video games, and telephones.

Cooking and eating meals at the campsite and/or over the campfire can be a lot of fun for the whole family. Many skills from cooking over the campfire can be easily passed down to the next generation.

Two important list are needed to be prepared for camping. The first list needed is of all the camping gear and personal items including clothing for all weather; rain, shine, hot, or cold days. The next list needed for camping is of what food to bring camping and along with necessary items for cooking.

If camping in a large group, dinners can be made easier if each family takes turn making a meal for everyone. Taking turn making dinner will help give a break to the other families.

When camping out of RV you most likely will have a refrigerator to be able to easily store cold foods. Camping without the luxury of a refrigerator means you will have to continually monitor the ice in the cooler. Its is best to get cold foods as close as possible to the camp site. If camping in a park, check to see if where the nearest store is located.

Things You'll Need

• Firewood
• portable stove (optional)
• tin foil
• cooler
• ice
• Paper Plates
• Plastic Silverware
• Spatula
• Long Poker - for marshmallow or hot dogs.
• Tripod stove
• Hamburger Flippers
• Snacks

Instructions

1. 

   Determine how many days of food you will need. Make sure to take into account any day you may plan to go into town to buy more food, supplies, or do laundry that you will be eating out for. Example: Going camping for seven days, but we are going into town on the fourth day to do laundry and pick up any necessary food. So we plan to make six dinners and eat out when we go into town. So we only need to get three days worth of food and the breakfast for the fourth day morning.

   The best food for camping are any food that are easy to store or keep on hand and easy or no preparation.

2. 

   Choose easy meals that your family will enjoy. Some simple or easy breakfast and lunch foods are: Donuts, Single serve cereal, cold Pop-Tarts, Scramble eggs, Sandwiches. Serving easy meals though out the day helps to cut down on the time spent making and cleaning meals and leaves more time to play and relax with the family.

   Scramble eggs or easy food that need heat up can easy be heated on a plugged in skillet or portable stoves. Portable stove come in electric or propane, to make it easier for campsite without electric. Another way to heat up food with out electric is with a tripod stove over a fire. Cooking over the fire takes more time, so I would suggest avoid cooking over the fire until dinner time.

3. 

   Picking some easy but nice dinners will help start each night off just right. Some great dinners that are easy to cook over a campfire are: Hot dogs, Hamburgers, Beans, Canned soups, and Hobo Dinners.

   Hobo Dinners are a tin foil meal. Simply put in hamburger, potatoes, carrots, and onions in the tin foil. Cook on the inside the fire ring next to the fire or on the tripod stove. Cook until potatoes are soften about twenty to thirty minutes.

   If you choose to have a more elaborate meals dinner time is the best time to show off your cooking skills. You can easily make almost any meal you would at home with the help of a portable stoves.

4. 

   Pack snacks for all day use and around the campfire. Running around playing, hiking, swimming, and even just relaxing will make everyone needing a snack between meals. Some easy all day snacks are fresh vegetables, peanuts, cookies, crackers, chips, candy, or dried fruits. Great nighttime snacks are popcorn, (that is cooked over the fire)marshmallow, S'mores, and more hot dogs.

5. 

   After you decide the meals you want to have while camping, write down everything you will need. Make sure to include any condiments you may need.

Tips & Warnings

• A hamburger flipper can be used for more than just holding your hamburgers to cook over the fire. The flipper can also be use to hold chicken, left over pizza, or anything else that will fit.

Resources

• Coleman Camping Store