Give Me A Tent
It’s no secret that I love camping. In a tent. On the ground. In the wilderness. Away from the chaos and overwhelm of the daily human experience.
It’s liberating to have no agenda, no distractions, and no connectivity for a day, a week, or, if you’re like my kids, all summer long. All my kids are serious campers too. I love camping with them and swapping recipes and tips for future campfire meals. One of my favorite challenges of camping trying out a brand new kitchen, of sorts.
Getting There
The week before a camping trip I totally throw myself into the challenge of creating a non-traditional camp menu and that sometimes includes gourmet meals. It doesn’t make sense to me to compromise and subject myself to bland and boring canned food. Or packaged deli stuff loaded with preservatives. Not while I’m hanging out in the toolies trying to escape the trappings of society.
Some Helpful Tips
I’ve fine-tuned my cooler packing/bear box packing situation. I’ve learned over the years that a load of veggies will feed you through a couple of weeks in nearly any remote outpost. And veggies need little or no refrigeration. The key is to leave the meat and dairy products behind in your refrigerator back home.
A trick to keep your cooler cool is to refill used plastic bottles with water and freeze them before a trip. Drop them into the cooler instead of bags of ice to keep everything nice and chilled. The bottles take a long time to thaw and they don’t leave a pool of water in the bottom of the cooler. After they melt use the water inside them for washing and anything else around the campsite.
I also keep a zippered lunch bag stocked with salt & pepper, dried herbs and spices, in my camp kitchen box. When I get home from the trip I take inventory and refill the lunch bag with fresh spices so it’s ready to go for the next camp out.
For the most part, I’ve found that my go-to pantry list works well whether I’m in the mountains or at the lake and can stand up to any season or weather. Importantly, you don’t need to pack a bulk load of food like you’ve just come back from a binge at Costco. On the contrary, just pack the amount you’ll need for the time you’ll be in the wild. The dried items pack down really small and the herbs and spices take up very little room.
Now Go Get Your Groceries
Take a minute to think about how long your favorite pantry items last at home. Then you can begin putting together a menu and shopping list. Think grab-and-go snacks and meals to assemble and get you far from home and out of town in no time.
So here it is: my personal grocery/pantry list for camping trips. Have fun out there.
- Potatoes
- Carrots
- Apples
- Broccoli
- Zucchini
- Mushrooms
- Peppers
- Bananas (For stuffed bananas roasted over the fire)
- Avocado (Use to replace mayo or other condiments that might spoil without refrigeration.)
- Dried fruit (raisins, dates, cherries, cranberries)
- Nuts
- Oats
- Granola
- Rice
- Flour
- Pasta
- Tortillas
- Lentils
- Beans
- Onions
- Garlic
- Shallots
- Lemons
- Canned tomatoes
- Salsa
- Non-tender herbs (rosemary, mint, dried oregano, dried thyme)
- Nut butters
- A bag of chocolate chunks
- Mini marshmallows
- Nut milks, coconut milk (for soups and coffee creamer)
- Liquid eggs (great for pancakes and work better for me than soggy egg cartons)
- Baking powder
- Honey
- Maple syrup
- Butter
- Cooking oil
- Tea bags
- Starbucks instant coffee packs
- Wine
- Beer
- Jameson
- Spice pack (salt, pepper, cumin, curry, onion powder, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, cinnamon)
