If you have ever seen us camping, you will know that we are very time optimistic. We arrive later than expected, set up slower than expected, pack down slo...yada yada yada. So, we have come to depend greatly on hacks that can help up make up for some of the lost time. What we lack in time management we make up for in meal planning. But it's not just about planning ahead on what to eat for each meal. When traveling with kids it's vital to plan ahead for snack times, where to keep your food and have backup meals and snacks for every meal because your toddler always seems to reject her favorite foods just as you counted on her to eat them.
Read on for our favorite and fairly healthy camping meals and snacks for the family as well as a meal plan sample for a weekend away.
Top left: breakfast burritos with pre-cooked sausage from home, and Costco’s dried, shredded potatoes. Top right: Chicken Biryani in our 12v slow cooker. Bottom left: local Mexican chillies roasting on our compact portable grill for fish tacos and pico de gallo. Bottom right: Coffee and rusks (South African) for breakfast.
Our favorite snacks for both baby and toddler for on the go and camping:
Protein:
Edamame beans (precooked from home)
Peas (frozen bag)
Yogurt
Boiled eggs
Cheese sticks
Carbohydrates and Fiber:
Freeze dried peas chips
Multigrain tortilla chips
Rice cakes
Whole grain crackers
Wholegrain Breakfast ''cookies'
Granola bars
Goldfish
Seaweed snacks (mess alert)
Baby Puffs and wafers
Pretzels
Nuts and seeds
Cheerios
Popcorn (kernels for popping)
Homemade crackers (recipe will follow soon)
Homemade rusks (recipe will follow soon)
Fruits and Veggies (Carbs and Fiber):
Bananas
Mandarins
Grapes
Blueberries
Baby carrots
Pure junk for bribery moments and special treats:
Hi-chews
Fruit leather, snacks or roll ups
Gummi Bears or small chocolates
Mix some in a snack cup and hang it on the back of the driver or passenger seat so it's always handy. Have a bunch of individually wrapped special treats ready for (potential) crisis moments. We now know that we can make toddler E do anything at the promise of fruit snacks, so I keep those handy in the glove compartment along with a novelty snack that’s extra special. I sometimes keep special snacks in a fabric bag that she is allowed to pick from every now and again. It makes her feel very special and diverts any crisis.
Just remember, without real food in their bellies, the drive will only seem longer.
Bring make-ahead foods for quick and easy family camping meals
It's always convenient to have pre-made food with you that you known your little one likes. Dinner time always sneaks up on us out of nowhere, and there's nothing worse than rushing to get everyone's meal done at 6 pm just to avoid a complete meltdown. We encourage our kids to eat the same as us at home, but definitely make exceptions when camping.
If your kid is anything like ours, they are sometimes too busy playing to eat or too distracted to eat what you're eating (unless it's their well known favorite). Having their favorites or easy 'snack' meals at hand makes for a smoother evening. If you're camping with other kids, try to get them to sit and eat at the same time. That usually keeps everyone still for enough time to shove 5 beans and half a yogurt into their mouths.
Getting kids to eat at the same time while camping helps them focus and encourages them to eat more. They are often too busy playing to remember to eat enough.
Quick and easy camping meals and foods we normally bring for kids:
Mac and cheese (either pre-made or in little serving cups where you add water)
Broccoli (precooked)
Plain pasta, sometimes with pesto.
Beans (green, edamame, kidney or the like)
Bread with cream cheese or PB or butter
Boiled or scrambled eggs
Lunch meat
Any pasta or rice dish we eat usually also works
Tortillas (E loves her own little personal burrito)
Sandwich bread for a quick sandwich
Oatmeal or cereal (breakfast for dinner is sometimes the best). I will be testing pre-made oatmeal in a reusable Squooshy pouch for our next trip.
Bell pepper, cucumber slices , carrots and cherry tomatoes
Yogurt or fruit pouches
Humus
Corn on the cob or canned
Canned fruit
Most of the above can be prepared at home or during the day when things are quiet.
Meet your new best friend for late night arrivals: the 12v slow cooker
Our 12v slow cooker working in the back of the car while playing with the kids at the campsite. Here, we are making queso dip.
I am learning to cook in our 12v slow cooker on our drive up when we leave after work Fridays. It’s also convenient for overlanding trips where you drive most of the day. I like to use it because we can cook a decent healthy meal while still on the go. I have so far mastered (more or less successfully) creamy potatoes, rice biryani, stews/chilis and curries (mostly reheating), queso dip, rice and heating up dumplings (Costco). I can highly recommend it if you want a proper meal upon arrival. It’s also great for your return trip as a way to have dinner ready after a long day’s drive.
See the recipe for Chicken Buryani here.
This was the first meal I cooked in the slow cooker and it came out slightly burned, but delicious nonetheless. When your car starts smelling like an Indian restaurant, it's time to turn it off. I followed this recipe loosely and started the rice and chicken at home before transferring it to the slow cooker. I think you can do it all on the slow cooker from the beginning.
Other favorite and (semi) healthy easy camping meals
We often splurge or take our time cooking on our shorter camping trips or the ones where we stay in the same spot and have more time to cook. We love cooking flank steak (any thin cut meat) because it’s so versatile to use and cooks relatively quickly. Eat is with chimichurri and grilled vegetables, baked potatoes, or in tacos with your favorite toppings.
Ramen noodles (dress them up with a few chopped veggies and and egg),
Chicken salad
rice/bean/feta/olive salads that you cook from home
Pasta and pesto or marinara sauce
Flank steak with chimmichurri (any quick cooking meat for an easy feast)
Chicken Alfredo pasta
Chicken Tikka masala (premade jar for reheating) and rice and tortillas
Tacos (ground beef, chicken, left over flank steak, beans..anything, really)
freeze dried backpacker meals (only add boiling water)
Carne Adovada tacos (pre-made)
Fish tacos (when near fresh fish) with pico de gallo. (yes, we love tacos)
Queso dip (1 can rotel/diced jalapeno and tomato mix, 1 pack Velveeta) - not exactly a meal, but it’s a favorite afternoon snack, especially when overlanding or camping with friends.
I try to get toddler E involved in the meal prepping and cooking on our camping trips. This is easy to do when you have the time and stay in the same location. She loves peeling onions.
Our camping or overlanding meal plan and food packing list for a weekend away could look something like this:
Mind you, we normally camp with friends and lots of kids, so we bring a feast. When we go alone, we definitely bring fewer snacks.
Important note: we have a 65 qt fridge installed in the car which allows us to bring a lot of food and not worry as much about space and expiration. See below for simplified cooler friendly substitutes.
Friday:
Dinner: Eat at Chick-Fil-A for dinner if passing one on the go to let kids run off steam. Or pasta dish reheated on go in 12v slow cooker.
Saturday:
Breakfast burritos (tortillas, sausage, eggs, chili, potatoes)
Oatmeal (for kids) (oats, milk, cinnamon)
Snack: Yogurt, crackers, berries, rusks
Lunch: sandwich (bread for E, tortillas, lunch meat, cucumber, mayo, cheese spinach)
Snack: mandarins, cheese, crackers, green chili dip and nacho chips for the adults
Dinner: Carne Adovada tacos (carne adovada, tortillas, lime, cilantro)
Mac’n’cheese and peas (for kids)
Sunday:
Breakfast: Musli (pre-made mix of bran, oats, cheerios, granola, milk) + oatmeal
snack: granola bar, yogurt, berries
Lunch: sandwich (same as yesterday)
snack: fruit snacks, crackers, edamame beans, home made crackers with seeds
Dinner at home: Leftovers or pasta w. pesto and veggies. (or take out)
Cooler friendly adjustments: limit what needs to be cooled down and pre-freeze what you can to help keep food cold.
Pre-cooked and frozen breakfast burritos
Freeze gogurts or yogurt pouches.
Squeezy apple sauce/fruit pouches instead of bulky fruits
Tortillas instead of bread for sandwich. Ditch the spinach.
Salsa as a dip
Popcorn kernels instead of bulky chips (or slimmer salty crackers)
Beef jerky as a snack
Potatoes cooked in foil in the fire (if you have time and patience)
Canned fruit packs easily
My favorite camping food hacks for family and kids
Finally, I want to share with you my favorite food hacks so far. They are not ground breaking, but they have helped us tremendously.
Use reusable food pouches (like these) for anything remotely liquid (yogurt, dressings, fruit/veggie sauce, oatmeal etc). The kids can better handle these and feed themselves.
Buying edamame beans at Costco where they come in pouches that you quickly cook in the microwave and toss into your cooler box
Keep a small cooler bag in the car for easy access to healthy snacks, such as yogurts, boiled eggs, fruit pouches, carrots, berries, mandarins, grapes, cheese etc.
I bake South African rusks for most of our longer trips. They are addictive and definitely not butter or sugar free, But they also contain tons of oats, bran, seeds and raisins, so we eat them for a quick breakfast or substantial snack when on the go or in a hurry. (They are in fact intended as a breakfast in South Africa). You can find lots of recipes online. Easy alternative: breakfast bars/healthy granola bars
Having snack cups for both babies and toddlers keep them happy and entertained in the car for long
Save room on freezer elements and freeze the foods you won’t be eating the first day to help keeping things cold. If we bring meat, I freeze that in advance. I also precook breakfast burritos that I freeze. They can be reheated frozen or thawed. Freeze some bottled water that help cool your food and have nice cold water day 2 and 3 on your camping trip.
Please share your favorite camping foods and meals!
Happy Camping!