Get set.
Go!
We are in hardcore trip prep mode around here – we’ve got piles of camping stuff in the nursery, I’m prepping food on every surface, and basically nothing else is getting done.
That’s not really the point here, though. The point is that I’ve been food prepping like crazy, and we’ve got all kinds of stuff staged in the nursery, we did a test pack over the weekend to make sure everything fits…and I thought I would share my food plans here in case anyone else has a trip coming up, too!
We’re staying really simple with dinners – primarily brats and burgers…quick and easy to cook over the fire, but you can also cook them on the camp stove if you need to cook under shelter somewhere due to wind, rain, or other inclement weather. Brats are basically my favorite camping meal anyway – there’s just something so…right about sitting next to a fire with a brat smothered in relish and sauerkraut. However, to add a little variety to our dinners, I’m also going to make up a batch of instant pot beef stew (this is my favorite recipe). I cut up a very large brisket into pieces of stew meat a while ago, so I’ve got 3lbs of stew meat needing to be used anyway, and stew reheats so well! The other great thing is that this can be warmed up in the Lodge dutch oven in the fire, or in one of the stainless pots on the camp stove if we don’t have a fire, or it’s raining. I plan on making up a big batch of noodles, because I like noodles under my stew, and that way we can just throw everything in together and crank it up!
We’re going to be traveling for 3 days in a row on each end of the trip, so lunches will be at a park or rest area along the way, where we can let Maverick and James stretch their legs for a while before taking off again. We’ve got a few options there, too, so I’m making up a big batch of chicken salad (we’re going to try this one), to make chicken salad sandwiches (or wraps if I remember to take tortillas!), or just grab a few bites of salad while chasing the baby. I’m also going to make up a few mason jar salads – I’m thinking a we’ll do some sandwich meat, shredded cheese, hard-boiled eggs, and some dressing. Just something real simple, but some fresh greens will be really good to have with all the road trip snacks we’ll also be eating……… Lastly I’m just taking sandwich fixings so that if we decide to drive through lunch or if it’s yucky weather and we want something quick and easy, we’ve got the perfect option for that, too.
Okay, I saved breakfast for last because I’m really proud of this one. We picked up some Quaker’s instant oatmeal, for the mornings that we need to whip something up and hit the road, BUT. I also wanted something more. I thought about taking some of the breakfast burritos that I make for John for work mornings, but I couldn’t figure out how to heat them up. Then, John was saying something one morning about microwave breakfast bowls that he used to take on Boy Scout camping trips, and then add eggs to. So, of course, I got to thinking, as I’m wont to do. Why couldn’t I just whip up some homemade breakfast bowls that we could take with us? So…I did!
I cut up the potatoes, onions, and some red and orange peppers, then spread them out thin on cookie sheets lined with my silicone baking mats. Once it was frozen, I rolled up the baking mat, so that everything broke up into the individual pieces, and then threw everything back into the freezer in a big stainless bowl. Then I cut up some garlic sausages that I got at Costco (we also love these in our IP Gumbo!), and froze those on the baking mats as well.
This is when I got John involved, because I made more than what would fit in any of our bowls at once, he grabbed the 5 gallon bucket that he cut down to 3 gal a couple years ago when he cured our ham for Christmas, and mixed the potato portion with the sausages – it’s unconventional, but it worked like a dream! We have 6 breakfasts portioned out for the trip, and we got to try it out for breakfast on Saturday, and it was delicious! Added a few eggs on top once the potatoes were mostly cooked, and throw some salt and garlic in and you’re good! I’m so excited to cook these up on the road for our camping trip next week!
What are your favorite camping meals that you’ve ever made? Do you meal prep before camping, or just cook everything up on site in the campground?