Going camping gives you so much! You’re connecting with nature, spending quality time with your favourite people and living the ultimate healthy lifestyle all for minimal cost and travel. However, it is worth noting that you’re not exactly going to be tucking into any gourmet dishes whilst you’re chilling out in the bush or on the coast, it’s just not all that possible. That is not to say that you’re going to be munching on cardboard for your entire trip, there are still ways to make your food as tasty and nutritious as possible, it just takes some planning…
Create a meal plan
You need to plan exactly what it is you’re going to be eating when you’re camping out, especially if you’re travelling with a group or your family. This can be really fun, gather your future co-campers around and have a chat about what everyone would and wouldn’t like to be eating on your trip. Once you have your breakfast, lunch and dinner down for each day, you’ll understand what you need shop for!
Follow your shopping list closely
It is so, so easy to get distracted in the grocery store and veer towards foods that you really don’t want or need in the name of impulse. Avoid wasting money, food and packing space by only purchasing exactly what is listed on your shopping list. This will make your next few steps easy and will curb any nasty old foods waiting for you in the fridge at the end of your trip.
Pre-chop ingredients
Pre-chopping your veggies and other ingredients is so handy, it means you can leave a couple of pieces of cooking equipment at home and your time spent cooking on the campground will be minimised. Cut up your snacks and fruit as well to make sure your kids are eating healthy, fresh foods between meals or if you like to lead a healthy lifestyle yourself.
Pre-cook meals
For days or nights when you’re tired, exhausted or just having too much fun to slow it down and get cooking, pre-made meals are an absolute blessing! Cook up a few simple, vegetarian meals to freeze before you pack up the cup, you’ll be eating some delicious, easy and nutritious food without any effort at all!
Decant your essentials
Making yummy meals takes a few core essentials, which can be pretty clunky, heavy and messy to drag around a campsite. This tip is another time and waste saver, and once you start, you’ll probably be doing it religiously for your whole camping career. Decant your olive oil, salt, pepper, vinegar and any other spices like dried chilli or paprika, into small bottles or bags and get ready for some amazing meals that aren’t too different from your usual home cooking rotation.
Pack up properly
Packing your food up properly is very important! Make sure you have a separate bag or case to avoid any leakage disasters on your clothes or outdoors gear. Invest in some glass or high-quality plastic Tupperware that you only use for camping food to make packing up incredibly easy and avoid the dreaded lost lid tragedy that we all know too well.
Research for some inspiration
Hop online to look into some exact recipes or camping food ideas to get you inspired. You’ll find advice that’s specific to camping convenience instead of relying on cookbooks that contain meals meant for the table.
Following these tips will make sure you have the best camping catering possible on your trip! It’s never too early to start planning those meals, so get researching now!
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