Does your camp food resemble your normal home fare?

[TheWanderers]

This thread has become very helpful to understand the equipment that is favored by others as well as menu items. We've been reading the food topic seeing interesting recipes as well as use of equipment that we didn't even know existed. I'm extremely thankful for your participation as well as the information provided and will watch intently as others continue to respond.

[Timber Wolf]

I built-in a smallish microwave in otherwise pretty useless space in the Scamp and we use it when we have hookups. I do like cooking over an actual fire (like a real man) and have my cast iron for that. You can do a lot with a skillet and Dutch oven.

Our last trip out (October) we dry camped. One evening I wanted to start dinner and had planned fajitas but had not marinated the meat. Instead I sliced the steak thin and put it and some potatoes and onions in a double foil packet with some spices and olive oil. I put the packet on a trivet in the Dutch Oven and put the whole thing in the fire ring piling coals all around. My daughter thought it was great and delicious. She asked why don't we do this at home? Hmmm, to easy (lazy) to throw stuff in the microwave I guess.

[trainjunkie]

I've been on the Paleolithic way-of-eating for many years now and when I had a trailer with a galley I was able to maintain that diet while on the road. It's not so easy when eating in restaurants with all the processed food, sugars, and starch in the average diet. But having my own fridge and kitchen allowed me to eat the same types of food and meals I usually eat at home. It was actually one of the reasons I got the trailer to begin with.

I carried a microwave in the trailer for a couple years and never used it once so I finally got rid of it. I cook everything on the stove top, or a grill.

[emij]

I have Celiac's and our daughter has a wheat allergy, so we cook almost all of our meals while travelling and camping, because it makes it easier for me. We have a fabulous Coleman grill, with a single burner and a place to change out the grill for a griddle, so it gets used for EVERYTHING. I've cooked everything from pizza (premade gluten free crusts from Udi's) to jambalaya, to Salmon, to ribs and of course the burgers, steaks and other bbq foods. We tend to eat light for lunch, lots of egg based breakfasts along with gluten free pancakes, hash, oatmeal, etc. I LOVE to cook outside. Our meals are actually probably more gourmet, because I have the time to do so. I enjoy the process.

[Dudley]

The Casita 17sd has such a small amount of storage that the first thing that got yanked was the microwave. We just couldn't see wasting a whole cabinet to hold something we could only use with a genny. We take a coleman 2 burner propane stove and a small BBQ with us and a 10lb bottle. The BBQ also serves as our oven (even make cinnamon buns in the morning). In a pinch on a rainy day, we do break into a can of baked beans and cook them inside. We eat pretty well on the road, with the wife planning the menu. I try to eat healthy after my heart attack a few years back , but that darn fat tastes so good. We have amassed quite a few recipes that work well with what we have and the are tasty and fairly healthy. Some of those recipes make it into our home as well.

We seldom have hook ups where we camp and only have a 1000 watt genny for emergencies. I look at all of our friends with their big rigs firing up their gennys to cook the simplest meals. I do miss the hibachi that we used in the Ventura as it cooked the steaks with more flavor but the cheap ass $20 bbq does a pretty good job.

[Elly G]

As we follow the sun, we try to take advantage of fresh produce and local fare. That includes local vineyards and breweries.
We did not get a micro in our Casita. Not needed.
We fulltime and pack:
Small crockpot
Foreman grill
Propane o-grill
Coffee maker
Hot pot
Rarely cook inside trailer.
Biggest change in our eating has been that we try and have our big meal midday.
Life's short -- eat dessert first!

[Uplander]

Glenn Bagio, Your menu looks a lot like mine including adult beverages. I got a travel Trailer and not a tent to maintain my living and comfort standards. About 85% of my menu selections come off the charcoal grill...now that is camping...nice looking ribs!!!

Happy camping!

[stude]

Originally Posted by Cathi

You don't use the microwave but the question is whether your wife does.

A microwave can be used to steam food in silicone steamers or other microwave dishes including sweet potatoes, noodles, greens, squashes, rice, all kinds of vegetables and other foods. Plus any dishes that just need reheating. No mess, no clean up, fast, easy and the healthiest you can eat. If you do not do that at home, then likely you will not do it camping.

If people eat unhealthy food at home, they will likely eat unhealthy food camping. Some do take camping as an opportunity to eat unhealthy food deliberately! Their time away from worrying about it.

: placed it in the wrong location when they installed it way up there in a spot when you pull out the hot item and it catches on something causing it to tip so that it burns the hell out of the body that it spilled onto.
Whoever designed this location is nuts! I should of been places somewhere between knee level and waist level for way less chances of being burned badly.
Stude

[stevebaz]

I always eat better out as I have more time to cook and I have more time to think about it. If its pure travel food, I eat at better food places like diners when we can as opposed to fast food. I would rather travel further and maybe skip lunch totally and then have more time for a meal I'd rather eat at dinner time. We still working so camp food is a real treat. Work week food is just enough to get by.

[Jon Vermilye]

I eat better at home, at least during the growing season. I have a large garden so fresh vegetables & fruit are always available. I don't have a microwave in the Escape, however I've found that I can use a steamer to do most of the things a microwave could do. No built in oven, which I do miss. I have a large toaster oven for when I have hookups, and am learning to use a Dutch Oven.

My biggest problem is making meals for one while traveling. It is often difficult to find supplies designed for a single meal & I have limited freezer space...

And, another photo of Jim at the feed line at one of the Niagara Wine Escape Rallies -

[varmint]

Hi
We have a microwave. I hung it under the overhead cupboard on the stove side of our galley in our 16' Scamp. It takes no counter space. We heat our tea in the morning with it, we make oatmeal, we cook whole potatoes with it, we heat vegetables, we make toasted cheese sandwiches, we heat up leftovers and on rare occasions cook microwave dinners like lasagna. It makes the LP last much longer.
Nine out of 10 dinners are grilled outside, weather permitting. Left overs are common.
Our microwave is a convenience and a choice that we're happy to have.

[Wayne Collins]

Our Scamp is a 16 ft deluxe with Side Dinette.
It has the front bath/shower with the clothes closet just by the entry door.
Our microwave is in the space above the closet. We do a lot of cooking there with "plastic" pots. And, we get prepackaged meals that do not require refrigeration.
Also carry canned stuff, and dry packets as well as some fresh food that fits in the small fridge. Our diet is more or less the same as at home.
we love Pot Lucks when we gather with other "Eggs"
Bon Appetite

[cchandka]

when we renovated the 96 5th wheel we removed the stove... I couldn't cook without my microwave and installed it above the fridge; I purchased a portable BUTANE burner and also have an untried THERMAL cooker I plan to put into use soon. We also grill on the fire when one is available and I love to cook in quantity and reheat for convenience. When we hit the fulltime road in a few weeks we intend to eat healthier, less fast food quick fix lunches and inching toward less meat consumption for health reasons. Actually, I'm pretty flexible as long as the coffee is hot.

[stevenjuliehorney]

Since I am on a very restricted diet and we generally travel to visit others, we balance 2 menus with much planning. I make and stuff the freezer with portions of veggies and meats in baggies supplemented with salad ingredients (and replenished on the road during longer trips) for my menu. I'll freeze meat portions for Steve and add either canned veggies or salads for meals; he enjoys lunch meat sandwiches with cheese melted in the convection/micro oven. Since Steve enjoys all the menus of our hosts I generally do not need to cook for him and a supplemental burger on the road when travelling is generally a safe bet. We virtually never spend much time cooking but I do have: hot water pot and Foreman grill just in case!
The smell of propane, campfires, & all the gear (charcoal, portable tanks) doesn't bode well with the severe illness I am battling. We do grill at home though. Where do you all store a grill? We probably need to get a cover for the truck bed to carry a portable grill should we go to a place without access to a "family" kitchen!

[trainjunkie]

Originally Posted by stevenjuliehorney

...Where do you all store a grill? We probably need to get a cover for the truck bed to carry a portable grill should we go to a place without access to a "family" kitchen!

I keep it in my truck bed, which has a SnugTop cap. It gets pretty filthy so it's easier to stow it in the truck than in the trailer.

[DuaneQ]

I guess I have to join this conversation because I thought long and hard whether I wanted to bring my small microwave along on my trip to Arizona from Upper Michigan. Have a 4 cyl car pulling a 13' Burro and my first trip with it.

I am a big fan of a large bowl of Old Fashioned oat meal every morning with bananas, raisins, cinnamon etc. I have this down pat and don't have to watch it while it's cooking. Certain amount, certain time and walk away. I love simple things and am not a cook by any stretch of the imagination.

If someone has an idea for making oatmeal another way I would like to hear from you.

Breakfast is supposed to be the most important meal of the day and I enjoy mine each and every day here in the desert with electricity of course.

[Kai in Seattle]

Back when we had the GetAwayVan, we had a drawer filled with snacks and candies from the Dollar Tree, and ate very unhealthfully...by choice. Then last year we decided to quit eating table sugar, and last summer found ways to continue that while "picnicking," which we did several times for a whole day, eating all three meals out of a picnic basket. We're thinking often, now, of what appliances we want to take when we finally get the amerigo back together, and if we even want a sink. We no longer have the 42-year old appliances...we don't know if we'll replace them. We were thinking of "just" a microwave, as we can do everything from boiling water to "frying" bacon in it, I can make omelets there, we can reheat Paul's whole-grain muffins, and we can always do sandwiches cold.


Well, this is a great thread, lots of thoughts and ideas! Good question--do you eat the same as you do at home, or what? Yeah, that's the question, isn't it?


In Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, it said, something about the course of civilization running from "Will we be able to eat?" to "Where shall we do lunch?" And this discussion seems to go along those lines--very good!


How we finish the trailer depends quite a bit on how we answer this question. Myself, I NEVER cooked when camping--and I refuse to "bake" when on the road, so Paul mostly cooked over the Coleman or a campfire. Now we're even debating the Coleman stove. Since it went with the GetAwayVan, we'd have to get a new one...not wure it's worth it.

[Randy J.]

We are increasingly aware and careful of what we eat, both at home and on the road, and try to buy local or from local producers/farmers. Our little old Trillium has only a stovetop as did our tent trailer years before. But we've always eaten well while camping, cooking mostly outdoors. What changes is how we cook. We love to find local farmers' markets for fresh veggies and eggs and get fresh meat and fish where we can. We do take along a few decadent treats. We used to allow our children to come to the grocery store before each trip and pick out one of those junky cereals with all the colour and sugar that we would never allow them to eat at home. They loved that and so we have carried on the tradition with our grandkids. Oh, and don't forget the marshmallows and chocolate for "s'mores"!

So far as the microwave, its kind of funny: I've been actually thinking of putting a small one IN Little Green Trillium (they weren't an option in1976)! One can actually cook quite a few things there, including veggies and for less energy. And I've learned there is even a coffee maker that can go in the microwave (you could probably even heat up s'mores on a rainy day, but that wouldn't be nearly the fun!).

[Green Frog]

I CAN cook pretty much anything in my camper that I do at home... gas stove and oven as well as a BBQ grille. Generally however, I'm at an event that is more important to me than most cooking, so I don't actually do much cooking. The perked coffee in the AM is vital however, and we do at least one big team meal for which I cook something interesting. The question isn't WHAT I cook while I'm camping, but WHY am I camping (which can determine what I take time to cook.) That's the way I do it... YMMV!

Froggie

[Alf S.]

Hi: All... We eat in as much as possible. Don't stuff the fridge with "Barley sandwiches" but enjoy them just the same!!!
Here's a pic of my daughter treating us... doing the grilling for a change. Teriyaki pork steaks!!!
Alf S. North shore of Lake Erie