Following on from the picnic food topic, I thought I would pick your brains for this :)
My OH and the kids camp.  Have done over the past few years.  They take a tent and pitch it near some water in the middle of nowhere and that's camp.  They light a fire and cook over that, sometimes what they catch, sometimes burgers/hotdog that kind of stuff.  But this year, me and the young one are joining them but I don't like to eat rubbish, I want to eat proper dinners but I am at a loss as what to make/bring.  Probably for 3 days max but as easy as possible with only a cool box.  I'm thinkin of pre-made one pot wonders or pre-made curries so I just need to make rice? That sort of thing.
Help! I've been doing well with my healthy eating and I don't want to destroy it all with a weekend of crisps and biccys!!:)

If healthy eating is your no 1 criteria then I agree, I wouldn't want too much rubbish either! Take plenty of fresh fruit, including bananas which are great for feeling full, and ryvita type crackers for snacks.  Crackerbread with Marmite is a good low fat solution to the munchies.  Eat porridge (made with water if you can't store milk easily) and add some fresh fruit for breakfast.  Lunch can be soups made on site - start with softening some grated veg then add one of those stock pot things with water then add beans or lentils or other soups if you like.  You can buy long life pitta bread which keep for ages which will be useful too

I wouldn't pre make anything much due to the issues with cool storage but I would pre-think every meal and bag the ingredients up in advance.  You can manage a lot of variety though if you can carry some cans or jars.  If you go without meat for a few days then vegetarian chilli and curry are all pretty easy to make in one pot and rice is always good at filling a hole :)

We woudn't have an endless supply of water with us either and it's sea water all around so not edible so I dunno about the soups but great thinking!  I like the chilli idea too as I would be able to cook in advance and freeze then I know it would keep for a day or two once we got there.  OH thinks a meal is 2 burgers!!yeuch! I will need to get my thinking cap on as we are off this weekend(hopefully)
Now, what about the raw meat for the dogs?..........

Sausage & mash? We had that on guide camp so it must be possible. :-)

Sausage is probably going to be what OH makes for brekkie as he likes to do 'man with a fire' cooking.  My friends farm is not too far so I plan on wandering up and getting milk in the morning(not from an actual cow but from her fridge!lol) so I will have cereal as usual or fruit which I have at home.  I'm also planning on taking the salad bags from the supermarkets to make lunch and maybe some meat and rolls?  But dinners have me stumped!

If camping I do stir fry with veggies and noodles - no need to worry about taking up room in a cool box and very quick to make with the added bonus of not much washing up either.

I also like pitta bread stuffed with baked beans and mushrooms and some cheese - not quite so healthy but I do have salad with it :-)  and again quick and easy to make with minimal washing up.

Raw meat for the dogs - the first couple of meals stay frozen in the cool box and then I take tinned pilchards and towards the end resort to a small amount of kibble with some tinned mackerel on it.

What about pasta and a tomato sauce?  You could make the sauce and freeze - it would defrost nice and slowly in a coolbox.  If water is an issue you could pre cook the pasta as well.   

Sorry, can't think of anymore......I just do rubbish, unhealthy food when we camp *blush*

Invest in a Cobb cooker; you can even roast a chicken in it. :-)

Yum, Harley!! Those pitas sound great!!
That's the problem too. I need something everyone will eat and you know what kids are like!! I think I would be eating the stirfry myself. Nom, nom!

This first trip is just 2 days so we won't starve and neither will the dogs.  I've chopped and frozen their stuff into 4 bags for each brekkie/dinner and I will just guess weights as I figure the one that needs the least will be running about like a mad thing and the other 2 will just mooch about near the camp/food! so not need a lot of food! And they'll still get our leftovers too. Plenty.  Wish the kids were so easy!

Ahhhh, Jeangenie, I NEED one of these!!!

I've been a camper for years, we have a caravan now but the principal is the same - quick to cook meals, not too much rubbish!

I don't think there's anything much wrong with tinned veggies, potatoes, peas, carrots, sweetcorn etc. Add to that mix a tin of minced beef & onion or chicken in a white sauce & heat up. Lovely, quick, and no worries over temperature control.

I also find a quick cook pasta invaluable. Cook & drain, add pasta sauce jar & a tin of tuna, sweetcorn & a few sliced mushrooms. A meal in minutes & not heavy on calories either.

How about purchasing a small portable bbq? We got one last year for outdoor cooking at the van & used it a lot! Great for cooking marinaded chicken breasts, sausages, chops etc. Ours folds up flat so no storage issues either.

I don't know about you but all that fresh air makes me starving & cold meals just don't do enough to fill me up! Quick filling and warming meals are the order of the day for us when we're camping.

> I don't know about you but all that fresh air makes me starving & cold meals just don't do enough to fill me up! Quick filling and warming meals are the order of the day for us when we're camping.

I found the children weren't very fussy what they ate either after a day spent outdoors in the fresh air - my children weren't particularly fussy eaters anyway but on camping trips they just ate what was available. Tins of food such as itsadogslife suggested are great standbys for camping and if the children are allowed to help cook it they think it tastes great anyway.

I have a dry pan with a lid that can be used as an oven on a single ring burner - can dry roast potatoes etc and reheat items such as pies in about the same time as a conventional oven can but resembles a large saucepan with a lid. I bought it in a charity shop many years ago but would imagine camping equipment suppliers would still make something similar.

Tinned Steak and jarred bolgnese sauce.
Tinned chicken soup and Pasta.
All done on the stove :) :) :)
Lea :) :)

We do vegetable kebabs (whole mushrooms, half tomatoes, sliced courgette, aubergine, whole shallots and green /red peppers squares)--throw them in a big bowl with a lid, pour some olive oil, garlic and the juice of 2-3 lemons with 3-4 tablespoons tandoori powder--a fantastic marinade for fish, veg and meat) and then give them a good soak for 3-4 hours with lots of shaking about, thread them onto skewers and blast them on the BBQ. Stick them in pitta bread. They taste even better than they look.

Now that "Glamping" is in, there are a few cookbooks aimed at 'proper' food for camping.... I've seen one in my local library and I saw another last week in my local branch of The Works bargain bookshop. I am fairly confident there must be websites along that vein, too.

Couscous might be an idea - doesn't take up much space and can be made instantly, just needs a stock cube and something with a bit of sauce or juice to go with it. Proper noodles, likewise. 

I'm trying to think what I would plan if I was camping, but as I'd be on foot backpacking I would be too heavily laden to carry much beyond some packets of instant Oriental noodles (preferably from a proper ethnic shop as they are nicer), instant soup, porridge... and dog food, of course. Sometimes I wish I had a dog that would catch his own dinner, especially if he was willing to share!

Oh - and small amounts of my favourite herbs and spices, I would be very lost without those and they wouldn't take up much room.

Had a bit of a browse - maybe these links will provide some inspiration?

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/content/recipes/occasions/camping/
includes "No-Oven Pizza"

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/jun/20/annie-bell-camping-recipes
these are a bit posher and probably harder to do!

If you like the idea of foraging -
http://campinginfo.org/eatingforfree.php
will keep the kids busy anyway!

Thanks for this thread :) I have always wanted to camp with my dog, and haven't spent a night away from here for almost 2 yrs. I've been slowly building up the necessary equipment and hope to get away this year, even for just one night in the summer... hoping the sister of a good friend might allow me to camp on her acreage, or failing that I'll just quietly pitch up on the hill fort behind her land for a night or two ;)

I like the foraging thing but god knows what the kids would eat!!lol. And A&E is quite some way away!!
Some great ideas though although some of the recipies were a bit complicated.  I will try the easier stuff first and maybe build up to herbs and ingredients lol.  We have built up quite a lot of equipment ourselves but we won't be miles away from the car as the boys like to take their kayaks(too heavy to walk far). I always put obsticiles in the way before I go thinking of the 'what ifs' rather than just going with the flow but what my OH needs to remember is I like to be organised, I'm just not very good at it!lol.
Thanks again everyone!!

MsTemeraire, You should just go for it! There are loads of sites online about wild camping and they give you ideas of where you can camp for a night or two for free.

Camping with dogs is a must :-) mine are so thrilled with it that they even behave themselves when getting in and out of the sleeping pods, e.g. we'll let the old bat go first, she makes us breakfast :-). I absolutely love it and can't wait to go again...even thinking of doing some far away shows just so we have the excuse!

Found this on ebay for under £3 - maybe it'll give you some ideas?
The Camping Cookbook

> MsTemeraire, You should just go for it! There are loads of sites online about wild camping and they give you ideas of where you can camp for a night or two for free.

Would love to :)  wild camping doesn't seem easy in England tho' and I'd rather not travel too far, especially carrying all that weight! And I need to negotiate some time off as well.

Question is, which dog do I take? The protective one who will probably sleep on my legs and give me cramp, and bark at every gnat fart; or the one who likes to cuddle up and sleep alongside me?

Ms Temeraire, Think of poor me and my horrible gundogs who can't pass a puddle never mind sitting next to the sea! I spent most of last summer drookit from the knees down! And the springer killed the bbq when she came bombing up and shook just as she got to us! PAH! You give me a loan of the pretective(pref male) and I'll give you some good-for-nothing dogs that'll eat your food rations.lol.

> ....PAH! You give me a loan of the pretective(pref male) and I'll give you some good-for-nothing dogs that'll eat your food rations.lol.

Brilliant! LOL! Sitting here laughing out loud..... :)

...then the laughter died in my throat when it dawned on me that Dog A (the barky one) could find a puddle in the sahara and turns into a hairy sponge after running through wet grass, so I will need to take a spare groundsheet to sleep under or sew my sleeping bag into a tarpaulin. And.... Dog B (the clean, cuddly one) is a thief of criminal magnitude, so if I want anything to eat I'll have to pack a metal safe and hope she doesn't work out the combination.

Ooooh I haven't been camping for what seems like ages, I must try & get away this year, even if only for a weekend somewhere.

Big mixed 'Spainsh' type omlettes are great camping food, just bung a frying pan, some eggs, a potato & an onion into your camping kit, then add a bit of cheese or some ham/bacon or other meat, whatever is available really when you make it, but it's fairly quick, easy and if you make a really big thick omlette  you can save a few slices for lunch the following day too.

Another alternative is to make your own burgers or minced meat kebabs on bamboo sticks to take, that way your hubby & the boys have the fun of eating their usual 'junk food', but you know they're actually quite healthy ;-)

Have fun, whtever you decide to eat!

Claire

Some of the staples for our guides when camping is spaghetti bolognese, chicken supreme (essentially fry off diced chicken till cooked, make up some chicken cup-a-soup add the chicken and some veg and heat through like a casserole and serve with pasta), and clams (minced meat made into a bell/hollow ball like shape and then stuffed with sliced tomatoes, onions, peppers, garlic and a bit of grated cheese, wrap in foil and cook them in the embers of a camp fire.  Serve up in a bread roll, a much tastier alternative to a burger, especially as you can add your own herbs to the mince mix to flavour it, the kids are often happy with just the meat!).  They love all of these and are easy to cook on open fires.

Cleaning tip for you;  the day before you go coat the outside of all and any pans likely to be used over an open fire with a good layer of neat washing up liquid and leave them to dry.  Whilst on camp wash out the insides only making sure not to wash the outside of the pot and then the last time you wash them up you'll find the soot from the fire comes off much easier.  A bit of scrubbing may be required but not much.  We normally give each guide one pan each to clean on the last day of camp and they love it as they manage to get themselves filthy, blackpotting we call it.

Oh, clams sound yummy!  Will have to try that on the BBQ...or even just the oven :-)

luddingtonhall, while I wholly appreciate your advice on the menu front, there is absolutely no way I need washing up tips!! It's bad enough he has me camping and I do need to feed the brood but I totally draw the line at washing up!! (LOL!!)

Oh, I see, you're going to get him to do it's that's a much better idea! ;-)