Camping is an activity that many people enjoy, mainly in the warmer weather months when it is more comfortable to be outside. When eating at the campsite, you often do not have all of the amenities you would in a normal kitchen. Often times, the only means of cooking food is a fire pit with a grill grate on it or perhaps a portable propane stove. If you are heading out on a 10-day camping trip, meals need to be simple, as some times refrigeration and other amenities are unavailable. With some basic planning, creating a menu for a ten-day camping trip is not too difficult.
Equipment
If you are heading out a 10-day camping trip, refrigeration may not always be available. If it is, then any of the following dishes can be used on any of the days. If not, then the food that is perishable and needs to be kept chilled needs to be eaten early in the trip. If you plan to bring milk or meat products, invest in quality coolers and ice packs that will keep your food edible for at least a few days. After that, you will need to turn to vacuum sealed or nonperishable items for the remainder of your trip.
Breakfast
Breakfast for 10 days while camping isn't too difficult. Some of the easiest breakfast foods to make while camping are eggs, bacon and hash browns. Potatoes will easily last for 10 days, and vacuum-sealed bacon should last most of the time as well. All are easy to cook on a griddle placed over a campfire or portable propane stove. A great breakfast idea is a dish called shipwreck, in which scrambled eggs, hash browns, and sausage links are all cooked together in one pan. Sprinkle some shredded cheddar cheese over the whole think for a delicious easy breakfast. It is also easy to bring cold cereal, muffins, dry pancake mix and food that is nonperishable.
Lunch/Dinner
A great meal for the family at dinnertime is a meal called zip-packs. A zip-pack is a collection of ingredients packed into aluminum foil and placed in the embers of the fire. Easy ingredients to use are hot dogs, canned potatoes, Minute Rice and canned vegetables. Each member can customize their own pack to eat for dinner. The more canned food you bring, the more options you will have for the course of the trip. It is also simple to grill meats over a fire, but these may need to be cooked earlier in the trip while the food is still chilled. Sausages can be skewered and roasted over the fire, and vegetables can be added to make kabobs.
Dessert
Camping desserts often do not need any refrigeration and can be used any time during an extended trip. Dessert may be the most fun part of camping. The basic dessert is s'mores, which consists of roasted marshmallows placed between graham cracker halves with a square of chocolate added. Another dessert, similar to zip-packs, is banana boats. Again wrapped in aluminum foil and placed in the fire embers, you can add bananas, chocolate chips, marshmallows, cherries and various nuts for a melted treat. A third delicious dessert is a pudgy pie, which is pie filling between two pieces of bread, roasted over the fire in a pie iron.
Amount of Food to Bring
The amount of food you brings depends mostly on the number of people coming. Plan out how many eggs you might need per person per breakfast, how many hot dogs needed per person per lunch and so on for each meal. Planning before the trip and smart shopping beforehand will ensure a low-stress and enjoyable trip.
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