Posted by Becca Larsen on Aug.21, 2009

ⓒ iStockPhoto - jeffshanes

Preparing a healthy meal at home can be tedious work.  While you’re out camping, Mom doesn’t want to be stuck in the camp kitchen and never get in on the fun.  Make it easy on yourself and make meals easy and fun for everyone.  Simple ingredients and preparing what you can at home will make meal time less work for you and more fun for everyone.

Breakfast

Start the day off with something easy so you can enjoy a cup of tea by the fire while your little ones stumble out of their bedroll.  A pot of oatmeal or other cooked whole grain is easy, filling and can be topped with trail mix or fruit to round out the food groups.  A spoon of fruit preserves stirred in is a good treat, too.  Actually, there are numerous toppings that can personalize a bowl of gruel.  Let your imagination run with carob chips, raisins, dried cranberries, seeds… the list goes on. 

Lunch

Sandwiches are a simple way to feed the troops.  They can be made after breakfast and tucked into backpacks along with some dried fruit for a hiking picnic to go.  Just be sure the filling isn’t perishable or pack it with ice and insulation to prevent food poisoning and ruining your trip.

Snacks

Fresh air seems to make kids grow instantaneously!  Growth spurts seem to make a kid eat more.  Trail mix or gorp are great snacking foods.  A blend of nuts, dried fruit, seeds and sometimes chocolate or carob chips, gorp is a highly portable and well rounded snacking food.  Jerked meat, dried fruit pieces and granola bars are other great snacks that can be tucked in a daypack for a day trip.

Dinner

Dinner is where the fun comes in.  Prepare a cooking fire an hour before dinner time.  Get several logs burning and allow them to burn down to glowing coals.  Move the coals to the cooking area of the fire ring and add 2 more logs to keep the fire going, but not roaring.

• Foil Packet meals are simple and can be prepared by a preschooler.  Set out cut potatoes, firm vegetables such as carrots, and ground or cubed uncooked meat.  Grease a 12” length of aluminum foil and layer the ingredients. Meet the opposite edges of the foil and roll down to the food.  Roll each end up to the food.  Place over medium coals for about 30 minutes or until cooked thoroughly.
• Hot dogs roasted over a fire on sticks is the time tested traditional camp meal. Low sodium, reduced nitrate franks are a healthy alternative to salty, preservative-laden dogs. Celery juice contains naturally-occurring sodium nitrate that is biologically indistinguishable from the concentrated additives. Help the small ones learn to give the fire a wide berth and observe them carefully so they don’t burn themselves or worse, fall in.
• Kebobs can be loaded with your choice of ingredients:   fruits and vegetables, meat cubes and/or mushrooms.  Prepare the ingredients at home and transport in a marinade for extra flavor.  Elementary-aged kids can help assemble them in camp.  Grill over medium coals on a grate until cooked through.

Don’t forget S’mores!

The traditional camping day finale!  No camping trip is complete without perfectly toasted marshmallow over coals paired with chocolate squares and graham crackers. S’mores aren’t health food by any definition, but an occasional sweet treat can teach kids that healthy diets can incorporated the occasional indulgence. Try some of these alternatives:

• Gourmet filled chocolate squares
• Strawberry, chocolate or caramel-flavored marshmallows
• Chocolate or cinnamon graham crackers

Now you’ve got your daypacks ready, your gear packed and your cooler filled.  Look for the last of this series on Tuesday where we’ll explore ideas for entertainment in camp.

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Posted under Food, Nutrition & Recipes, Healthy Recipes, Main Dishes.