healthy camp food ideas?

[terasec]

Other thread had me thinking of healthy foods at home and at camp.
Food plays such a big part of camping, but healthy foods is not so easy to store/prepare.
If your on a restricted diet, many times preparing one meal for yourself, while everyone has all the good stuff doesn't work.
All meals should be around your restricted needs.
Family members should understand that your health comes first.
Leave the salt at home,
Your tastes will adjust to less salt, after a while you will notice most foods are too salty as is.
For burgers I tend to use less meat and more fillers,
Fillers can be beans, mushrooms, peppers, onions, etc...
As a binder instead of eggs, I use ground flax seeds mixed with water,
For pasta I use dreamfields pasta, which has a type of carb that's easily digested, won't spike your sugar levels as much as regular pasta,
For flour I use ground beans a lot, ground chick pea flour taste and works great.
If you have tips for heatly eating while camping I'd like to hear it

[Joyous56]

Re: healthy camp food ideas?

Lots of people feel that camping is an opportunity to overeat and pound the carbs. For those that expend a lot of energy while camping...hiking and whatnot, it's not a problem. Sounds like you need to come up with some camp-friendly meals that others can enjoy, while still fulfilling your dietary requirements. Can you adapt some of your home cooking to camp cooking? Anything you like at home could be adapted to camp. Perhaps you can share some recipes?

[Mike]

Re: healthy camp food ideas?

Cooking at camp doesn't have to be different than the menu at home, although camp food is often something different and special

I would advise against trying to force your special diet on others. Your intentions for healthy low-salt, low-fat and on and on might not be appreciate by your camp mates

My camp group had a guy like that. We would take turns with the meals. "Mr. Healthy". Was a disappointing food provider. After a couple of trips, he was taken off the chef rotation and was asked to contribute cash instead

You aren't going to change somebody's lifetime eating habits on a weekend camping trip

[NYCgrrl]

Re: healthy camp food ideas?

I try to balance healthy eating habits both at home and the campground. I'm basically a perimeter shopper; on average, go through 2-3 lbs of sugar annually (turbinado sugar only and most of it is used during the month of December) and recently used the last of a box of table salt that cost lest than 15 cents ( I'm guessing I bought it in the 'late 80's, LOL). Also have to store flours in the fridge since it's used so infrequently mealy bugs thrive if it's stored on the pantry shelf. I keep my veggie bins filled and grind my own meat for burgers, pates, sausage and meatloaf. You'll find no pre sugared breakfast food in my home and I weally don't care that a recent study says children will not bounce off the walls if they eat too much sugar. Study was prolly funded by the sugar industry. And besides yer teeth will rot out:D.

Now the above being said...I switched to salt and kosher salt back in the '80's. And i use way less salt than one finds in processed foods on the supermarket shelves or national fast food places. Did go through a "rabid" period of banning salt shakers from the table (What?! R U saying I don't know how to season food properly?) but got over myself in time to not drive dinner guests away from my table permanently:D.

Chick pea flour! Gotta love the stuff. Makes a nice binder for shrimp fritters mixed w/ a bit of smoked paprika and tastes yummy enough that nobody runs into the woods screaming "Health food!"

You might want to try hazelnut flour for a light breading or sauce thickener for chicken, terasac. Lovely taste.


Oh Heckenspeck nooo to frying out of the house, hogsnapper! I. just. can't. do. it. at. home for the same reasons you noted. I'll be making fried chicky outdoors this year as a concession to children but normally I just relies on a local clam shack for my annual fried seafood platter.

I gotta say that I'm not a fan of most grains so try to make most of my meals without 'em as a side dish; they make me bloat whether complex or not. That's not to say, there will be no potato salad on the 4th of July. It'll be there fer sure but errr with the skins left on and peeps still clamour for it.

I like to serve cold lunches when ever possible: stuff like salads with meat, soups..anything that keeps me outta the heat of a cooking source at mid day. My longterm camp ground trip is at the beach and the sun makes warm enough temperatures, thank you very much.

When I make burgers, I make sure to put out a bunch of topping possibilities on the table: Fruit salsas, avocado slices, quick pickled radishes, fresh dill pickles (gotta love living in NYC for that), gardinia(sp?),coleslaw made with lots of carrots and yougurt replacing the mayo as dressing (tastes a lot like coleslaw made w/ buttermilk which my grandmother used to make) ..whatever hits my head that seems tempting, healthy and will keep folks from overdosing on meat, meat and more meat. I give 'em a choice of complex grain buns and the potato rolls. I never serve store bought sodas cuz I freeze bags of lightly and unsweetened teas (great for packing around the edge of the cooler to keep the contents frozen longer) and various citrus ades. Add water or club soda and you've a healthier bev that costs and takes up less storage space as well. You can also make ginger ale the same way by making a flavoured simple syrup.

I'm still making up my menu fer this year's big trip. When I pull it all together I'll try to post it here. Assuming i don't wait until the last minute.

HTH!

[Mike]

Re: healthy camp food ideas?

NYGgrrl, may you live a thousand years.

Seriously. I hope you and your family live long lives for the dietary abstinence you have endured.

Reminds me of visiting my friends in their final years; no salt, no sugar, no fat, cholesterol restrictions . And they did lose a lot of weight - mostly because they lost interest in eating that horrible diet. I liked visiting with them, but dreaded being asked over for dinner.

I might be wrong, but I think food brings joy and joy makes you live longer. I have had fat friends, skinny friends, friends who ate "Healthy and Natural" diets, and friends who ate ravishingly as they pleased. In the end there really did not seem to be that much difference in lifespan - the health eaters dying early from some form of cancer, the unhealthy eaters also dying from cancer or auto accidents or whatever. Getting in your car and going shopping for your food of choice is infinately more dangerous that whatever it is you are putting on your plate.

BUT.... if you like it, that is all that really matters. I recently traveled through China with a Chinese friend who would tell the cooks to leave out the MSG, leave out the salt, the oil, and all processed flavoring.

I said, "this is crazy. You are living in a country so polluted that you can't see across the street due to the smog. Your vegetables are grown on land irrigated with the most toxic water on the planet. Your milk is tainted with melamine, and you are worried about salt and oil????" So I suggested we divorce ourselves from Chinese custom of sharing dishes and order separately - which we did - AND he started eating from MY plates.

I don't care what other people eat, but I don't appreciate food zealots who try to indoctrinate me into joining their dietary novelties. I strongly disagree with politicians who make laws that govern what people eat or how much they eat; outlawing foie gras, or horse-meat, or large size beverages because it doesn't fit their own personal ideas of gastronomy or health or animal husbandry or whatever.

The bottom line is keep your hands off of my plate and stay out of my kitchen.

[sarahspins]

Re: healthy camp food ideas?

We eat much the same things on the road as we do at home (with only minor modifications to simplify things) - the only thing I've really found problematic is keeping produce in good shape, things usually get a bit beat up after just a day or two, even when kept in containers.

I don't personally see why camping food has to be "special" food.

[Joyous56]

Re: healthy camp food ideas?

I'm all for healthy eating. That said, if it doesn't taste good, I won't eat it. If NYGrrl likes to eat foods with chick pea flour, and really enjoys it, she is welcome to it. Personally I've never even heard of chick pea flour....and I don't have flour in the house anyway for some reason. I like the sound of her burger toppings though...avocado slices, pickles...she doesn't mention cheese though. Is cheese unhealthy? I can't keep track.

I guess that's my bottom line; I'll eat as healthy as I can based on my current knowledge and my willingness at the time to hunt out healthy foods. Eating healthy, camping or not, shouldn't involve significant sacrifice of flavor.

[tplife]

Re: healthy camp food ideas?

BEAUTIFUL rant, Mike! I think that one deserves a tall, cold one of your choice on my dime! Fortunately I was raised by an ER RN on healthy food, including salt and vegetable oil, and plenty of local game: squirrel, whitetail, grouse, duck, pheasant, turtle, clam, quail, etc. Even more to my good fortune, that nurse was trained (Penn State) on peer-reviewed nutritional guidelines, quite liberal really, but not the latest fads out of Berkley by a quack out to sell books.

[Mike]

Re: healthy camp food ideas?

BEAUTIFUL rant, Mike! I think that one deserves a tall, cold one of your choice on my dime! Fortunately I was raised by an ER RN on healthy food, including salt and vegetable oil, and plenty of local game: squirrel, whitetail, grouse, duck, pheasant, turtle, clam, quail, etc. Even more to my good fortune, that nurse was trained (Penn State) on peer-reviewed nutritional guidelines, quite liberal really, but not the latest fads out of Berkley by a quack out to sell books.

I am with you on that, TP. I too was raised on wild game - and remember spitting out lead shot pellets with a "clink" on the plate. I am not convinced that was healthy, despite the organic characteristics of the host game.

I was invited to one of the "important" Berkeley conferences on healthy eating. It was so much fluff and so impractical, I had to call the speaker out on it. She was talking about improving the health of the local Hispanic community by encouraging them to simply eat the outer parameter of the grocery stores - ie eating fresh vegetables, dairy, meats, etc rather than the traditional starch and bean heavy diet. "our study found that it is just that simple and non-Hispanics can benefit from our findings too!"

I asked this Berkeley office-chair nutritionist how much she figured it would cost a family of five to eat all fresh fruits and vegetables and if she calculated the ability of the local Hispanic demographic to afford to feed their family on the Berkeley diet. Well, "she hadn't considered that aspect, but it certainly seemed worthy of another (grant funded) study".

[NYCgrrl]

Re: healthy camp food ideas?

NYGgrrl, may you live a thousand years.

Seriously. I hope you and your family live long lives for the dietary abstinence you have endured.

Reminds me of visiting my friends in their final years; no salt, no sugar, no fat, cholesterol restrictions . And they did lose a lot of weight - mostly because they lost interest in eating that horrible diet. I liked visiting with them, but dreaded being asked over for dinner.

I might be wrong, but I think food brings joy and joy makes you live longer. I have had fat friends, skinny friends, friends who ate "Healthy and Natural" diets, and friends who ate ravishingly as they pleased. In the end there really did not seem to be that much difference in lifespan - the health eaters dying early from some form of cancer, the unhealthy eaters also dying from cancer or auto accidents or whatever. Getting in your car and going shopping for your food of choice is infinately more dangerous that whatever it is you are putting on your plate.

BUT.... if you like it, that is all that really matters. I recently traveled through China with a Chinese friend who would tell the cooks to leave out the MSG, leave out the salt, the oil, and all processed flavoring.

I said, "this is crazy. You are living in a country so polluted that you can't see across the street due to the smog. Your vegetables are grown on land irrigated with the most toxic water on the planet. Your milk is tainted with melamine, and you are worried about salt and oil????" So I suggested we divorce ourselves from Chinese custom of sharing dishes and order separately - which we did - AND he started eating from MY plates.

I don't care what other people eat, but I don't appreciate food zealots who try to indoctrinate me into joining their dietary novelties. I strongly disagree with politicians who make laws that govern what people eat or how much they eat; outlawing foie gras, or horse-meat, or large size beverages because it doesn't fit their own personal ideas of gastronomy or health or animal husbandry or whatever.

The bottom line is keep your hands off of my plate and stay out of my kitchen.

The women in my family DO tend to be longlived and ambulatory....I remind my sons and other men in my life of that frequently.

I'm slightly bemused cuz I don't see myself as a zealot; more like following a diet ( diet as in U R what U eat, not reducing weight)that more closely resembles that of my grandparents'. Yanno when soda was a treat at birthday parties and not the drink du jour (don't get me started on Big Gulps...the name alone is a joke); where you ate home regularly and it wasn't Stouffer's, Trader Joe's prepped for yer uber bizzy life or even (shudder) Swanson's/Hungry Man. In essence I'm a believer in moderation when it comes to eating. That means I'll occasionally partake of a White Castle burger anddddd suffer the consequences:D. BUT fer my tastebuds, there's nothing appealing about MickeyD's ,BK etc. I still remember what a "real" hamburger tastes like and that's what I want. As for foie gras just slap it on my bahn mi, gimme a side salad and I'm a happy being.

I camp with a darling granddaughter and one of her cousins and accept that not only are memories made by what we do but what we eat. I want her to be standing in her kitchen decades from now trying to replicate and recall how to make my multi bean soup and gazpacho which she's currently infatuated with. Better that than a Twinkie.

[renodesertfox]

Re: healthy camp food ideas?

Yep good replies one and all! Love gazpacho camping and sometimes I'll have what I call a gazpacho sandwich, which is a warmed tomato based gazpacho before the steak and then a hearty bowl of chilled gazpacho after! Haha! Eating healthy on our turf is a must! Even though some may say steak isn't good for one. But that's just a small sample of our menu! Near a stream or lake it's always trout with rice(wild or brown) cooked naturally never from a box.

[Mike]

Re: healthy camp food ideas?

I remember stepping off of an airplane from and international trip, scrambling to get my camp gear together to go winter camping with my pals that very day.

I didn't have any time to plan or put together my meals for the weekend, so I just threw a roll of aluminum foil into my backpack and stopped by Burger King and bought twenty Whoppers that I planned to eat every meal for the next several days. I wrapped the Whoppers in aluminum foil and tossed them into the fire to thaw and toast them. Crazy as it was, I actually did not have to eat a Whopper-Only diet because all the fellows were eager to trade their meals with me for a Whopper. "Sorry, NO I will not trade a Whopper for two packages of instant oatmeal. NEXT!"

[NYCgrrl]

Re: healthy camp food ideas?

Okay and back on topic.

terasac- you might find these links of use:

http://www.cookinglight.com/food/top...22/page17.html

http://www.nolacuisine.com/2006/02/2...-gumbo-recipe/

What I like about the gumbo is you can make the base sans meat and add protein on site. It's also tasty with w/o meat or seafood should you like. Last year my cousin camped w/ us for a weekend and brought his new GF. He neglected to tell me she was working on being a vegan so the gumbo worked well for her. Yesss there was chicken broth in it but she graciously ate it and I just kicked him under the table.

Another good base for omnivores and special diets is ratatouille. Served with or w/o animal protein, over your grain of choice, in an omelette, rm temp or hot, it's great. I've no link for it yet am sure you can find a recipe via google.. I just make it from memory.

renodf- Hehehe to the steak. I'm currently going meatless for Lent and and I'll deserve a steak come the summer. Besides a local market is selling Porterhouses for 4.99/lb- can't not stick that in the freezer.:cool:

[ppine]

Re: healthy camp food ideas?

I like Mike's post. Eat like you do at home, but more streamlined with fewer moving parts. Make sure you talk to your camping partners ahead of time.

For trips like canoeing for multiple days we usually take turns cooking dinners, but get reviews on the proposed menu ahead of time.

This February we went for a week on the lower Colorado River. Hard frost every night and hard paddling. The food was exceptionally good and made a big difference in the trip and in people's morale. We made things like corned beef and cabbage, green chile enchiladas, and beef burgoo.

[rjkgr]

Re: healthy camp food ideas?

fruits and berry, and also organic meat haha