Backpacking Foods for Kids

Plan simple, healthy meals with foods the kids already know and like.

Select foods you know your children will eat. A backpacking trip is not a good time to introduce too many new foods. With ingenuity you can shop your local grocery store for many items avoiding expensive freeze dried alternatives when possible. You and the children can make foods like trail snack and granola the week before your trip.

Breakfast Foods

Introduce your children to eating cereal out of a cup without milk before the trip. Certain cereals lend themselves to this such as Cheerios, Chex, Shredded Wheat or granola. Granola is a food you can make at home for fun and to stir up interest in the trip or purchase it and repackage in serving size plastic bags. Pancakes make a special breakfast. Measure and mix the dry ingredients and store in a labels zipper plastic bag. Include a list of the wet ingredients to add at the campsite. Use jelly for a sweet topping. Bring powdered milk to reconstitute for recipes or cereal.

Lunchtime Meals

If the weather is cool you may want a hot lunch, otherwise, save cooking for the evening meal. Take Gouda or other wax covered cheese and crackers for a quick lunch. Bring apples to be consumed early in the trip. They travel well and taste great on the trail. Get dehydrated peas to supplement your meal. These small, tasty gems are fun for kids to pop in their mouths and easy to carry. For subsequent lunches consider PBJ wraps. Peanut butter in lightweight plastic jars and jelly in squeeze bottles make delicious tortilla wraps. Don't try to bring bread, you will have a mushy mess that no one will eat.

Snacks on the trail

Apples are a moist, healthy snack for a hungry hiker.

Fresh fruit is a good option for the first day or two, after that resort to dried fruits. Banana chips are sweet and crunchy treats that children like. Trail mix or gorp is a mixture of nuts, raisins, M&Ms, sunflower seeds and whatever else you might light to eat. Make your own, or purchase some and add ingredients your family loves, like various cereals and dried cranberries. For the cookie monsters in the family, tuck a box of cookies in your pack and surprise everyone on the third or fourth day. Dried fruit strips and rolls are packaged to go. Remember you have to pack out all food wrappings that cannot be burned.

Campsite Dinner

Plan to cook one meal over an open fire; let the kids help prepare the food.

A family favorite is Cowboy Stew and peaches. Purchase freeze dried backpacking beef stew. Stow a can on peaches in the bottom of your pack. Place the can in a nearby stream to cool them for the meal. You can also put an airtight pitcher of reconstituted powdered drink in a stream to chill it. You will have an outdoor meal just like they did in the old West. Couscous cooks quickly and is less messy to clean up than macaroni and cheese, but be sure the kids try it pre-trip. Slice potatoes, add a few seasonings and fold in foil, place on the edge of a wood fire to cook for 45 minutes. Campfire fries are popular with kids of all ages. Freeze hot dogs to cook on your first night out.

References

• Kids Domain: Kids Camping Cuisine

Resources

• Food Network: Granola Recipe