Eating "heart healthy" on the road

[jefflynne]

I've been wondering how easy it will be to stay away from high fat, high sugar, high salt foods while traveling in our trailer. Are there any mainstay foodstuffs or meals that would be considered "healthy" that some of the forum members rely on when camping? I'm trying to get an idea of things that don't necessarily require refrigeration since we'll be traveling with an icebox, not a fridge.

[KenReiss]

I bring along a little portable BBQ when I camp, which opens a lot of doors to food you can prepare. Upside to the BBQ is that the food doesn't cook in it's own fat, it'll just drip through the grates. If you want to reduce the fat even further, boiling the meat prior to BBQing it removes quite a bit of fat from sausages, chicken, etc.

Another hit when camping is a spaghetti diner. Since we sometimes make the sauce ahead of time at home, you can make it to your particular taste and content. I like meat sauces, but you can cut down the fats if you went to a meatless sauce or used really lean hamburg. All that's left at the campsite is warming the sauce and cooking the pasta. Another plus is if you freeze your sauce prior to the camping trip, it acts as an additional ice block and can be eaten 2, 3, 4 days later when it fully thaws. Since it's kept cool the entire time, no worries.

Salads are another easy addition to a meal, and don't need to be in a fridge....just kept cool.

You may also consider fish fillets, since they contain good fats (for the most part). Breaded, battered, seasoned, plain, it's up to you and your tastes. Can be pan fried, BBQ'd, or baked in foil with onion chunks, dill, lemon, seasoning.

I hope some of this helps...
Ken

[Bigfoot Mike]

My wife and I are losing weight and lots of it. I have lost 60 pounds and Lori has lost 40. We are doing it by eating HMR at Home foods. They require NO refrigeration and taste great. They also are very easy to prepare.

Here is a Look at what it is. HMR at HOME
We buy ours from another place.



Chicken Creole Dinner

[Bigfoot Mike]

OH, and also, My colesterol has gone down 30 points.

[Jackie]

Lots of fresh fruits and veggies - no refrgieration, or only a cooler needed. The Asian stores have some dried, shredded pork that is great to add to side-dish noodles. The Thai noodles dishes are low-fat (check the sodium, though). You can now get tuna and salmon in foil packs that do not need a frig; also, tuna steaks in foil packs. There are an abundance of packaged vegetarian meals in the grocery stores now. You can also learn to dehydrate food, and take that with you. Look into a kayak cook book - lots of ideas, and they don't have regfrigerators!!!

[Dan Quinn]

i started on this past friday a diet of ramon soup and salad for lunch and dinner lost 5 lbs already im going to do this for 30 days we will see...

[jefflynne]

Wow, everyone has such great ideas - I'm printing all of it and will start a "cookbook" off with your posts. Thanks so much for your help~Lynne

[Nancy]

Wasa Multi Grain Crispbread - can be bought in US in most grocery stores, product of Sweden/Germany. Very healthy, we don't usually carry bread with us, but we do have crackers.

Top with Makrell Filet i tomat - product of Norway (Stabbur), can be bought at some Scandinavian store in Seattle, or

Top with Gosch Herring Fillets in Tomato Sauce, product of Germany, can be purchased in some grocery stores, or

Top with some nice cheese.

I don't like sardines but that might work for some people. Also I have just heard that canned salmon has the best fat of all salmon, something to do with the time the salmon is canned, what is going on with the salmon at that time.

The fish in tomato sauce is really tasty on the Wasa. Have some cheese and wine and ummm.

Peanut butter on regular crackers is also a staple with us.

Nancy in MN

[CharlynnT]

Veggies are the key, I think.

Carrots, onions, peppers, etc. last quite a while, just need to be kept cool, not "refrigerated." One day they are grilled, later can be chopped for salsa, then they are cooked down for spagetti sauce, and so forth.

Buy tomatoes and cukes locally a few at a time. (It's also more fun that way.)

No worries, you will figure it out.

If working with coolers only, just remember to take care of your ice: move big ice to your fish/meat cooler, move smaller (partly melted ice) to veg/dairy cooler. Move mostly ice-water-in-a-bag to pop cooler, etc.

Then the mostly-bag-of-water "ice" is replaced by partly-melted ice which is replaced by new big ice, and so forth.

Whenever buying gas or pop, buy ice. (That is our Rule.)

"Police" that ice! Be the Ice Queen. (Hint: "Bag of water" ice may yield enough small cubes for the Ice Cop's rum 'n' coke.)

Whatever your line of work, being In Charge of Ice is a nice break!

[Lisa F]

I've been wondering how easy it will be to stay away from high fat, high sugar, high salt foods while traveling in our trailer. Are there any mainstay foodstuffs or meals that would be considered "healthy" that some of the forum members rely on when camping? I'm trying to get an idea of things that don't necessarily require refrigeration since we'll be traveling with an icebox, not a fridge.

There are many ways you can eat healthy on the road... and it will depend on how long you plan on camping days vs weeks. How much u are willing to pack in a cooler and how big of an eater vs small (multi) meals you eat

My mother sent me a website minimus.biz Here you can purchase many minis great for us campers

This is what I have done via tent camping (I am a newbie with the camper and haven't used the camper yet)

Breakfast: On minimus, you can buy healthy cereals. You can buy soy/rice milk (at a health food store and some local stores sell it), which comes in a box and open when you set up camp. Since the box is small, you can use it with various meals pretty quickly... breakfast, coffee, tea, hot chocolate,to make lunches, dinner, etc and then if needed, open another box while camping. Bringing oatmeal is another option for a healthy breakfast( with the soy/rice milk). Bringing a few bagels along is yet another option, on minimus, you can purchase individual jellys and/or p-nut butter and jelly packets... you can use these on bagels for breakfast and eat with fruit or for lunch with fruit. I thought of pre making whole wheat pancakes with blueberries and nuts.. I will warm them up in the microwave and minimus has low sugar syrup... Pre made scrambled eggs w/cheese and veggies would be good the first or second morning. They sell pre cooked bacon that would work awesome for camping

Lunches: You can purchase tuna packets and mix with packets of mayo/mustard/relish etc and ... however you dress your tuna and make sandwiches or for a healthy snack with crackers. Soup is always an easy option and they even have the ones you can microwave. If you want a little heavier lunch you can purchase a box of pasta with various packets of mixes (again use the soy/rice milk) and add tuna or canned chicken and some fresh veggies (I like the idea of cooking the fresh tomaotoes for sauce) grilled cheese may work on the stove.

Dinners: I am known for pre-marinating meat, (i'm not a huge meat eater) get all the air out of the freezer bag, and freezing the meat. Atleast the first and/or second night you will/can defrost the meat and cook it in the microwave, over a campfire, or maybe on the stove in the camper (I haven't been able to test the stove, microwave option... yet). I have also brought the pre made frozen hamburger patties and cooked them over a campfire. Hotdogs (low fat/turkey) are other options w/ baked beans in a saucepan (dr. them to your taste)

As others have mentioned fruits and veggies are safe and easy to bring along or purchase locally

I have already purchased a bunch of stuff of minimus and have collected packets from other places: olive oil from subway... with this you use your creativity on how to be a healthy eater while camping. What I have done, in the past, is go down the food isles and just look.. and think... will this work, what can I do with this? The Casita is opening lots of new doors for me: Having a microwave, stove, along with the old fashion campfire! With all my years of pitching a tent and backcountry camping I have learned to get creative before hand, so I can eat well out there. I have a camping grill, that lays over a campfire to cook on.. I want to keep in my Casita

I eat lots of snacks while camping: mixed (lightly salted) nuts, luna bars, dried fruit/meats, fresh fruits(u can probably find a stand near camping), pretzels, baked chips etc.

Frozen bottles/gallon of water makes great "ice" for keeping things cool along with ice

Good luck and I hope this helps!

[Suz]

I keep my cupboard stocked with whole grain and no-wheat pastas. Also, brown rice as well as a four grain rice blend. Cans of low sodium broth, chicken breast packed in water, canned tomatoes (no salt added) and a various other healthy no sodium added veggies. They're not as good a fresh, but it's amazing what can be done with a little proper shopping a the market before you leave home. I have made healthy biscuits out of Spelt flour and non-fat canned milk (diluted). I also keep some of my favorite herbs and a bottle of olive oil with me. They help a lot.

It's actually easier for me to eat healthy while I'm out because I try to stock up on the right things before I leave. I do allow myself the indulgence of having bacon, eggs, and biscuits at least once on each trip. Camping just would be the same without it.

[Bigfoot Mike]

My wife and I are losing weight and lots of it. I have lost 60 pounds and Lori has lost 40. We are doing it by eating HMR at Home foods. They require NO refrigeration and taste great. They also are very easy to prepare.

Here is a Look at what it is. HMR at HOME
We buy ours from another place.

Attachment 1596

Chicken Creole Dinner

Just an update. Several people have asked me about my weight loss program. We are doing great. I created a website for friends that are interested in what we are doing.

[b]Here is the website for myHMRdiet.com Enjoy.

[Jan Adams]

You can cook the spaghetti at home and add the sauce and freeze them together. That way, all you need to do, is heat it up when you are camping.

[Bigfoot Mike]

You can cook the spaghetti at home and add the sauce and freeze them together.

Jan, this is a good idea, but not what this topic is about.

JeffLynne is looking for [b]Heart Healthy, [b]no or minimal refrigeration on the road.

Are there any mainstay foodstuffs or meals that would be considered "healthy" that some of the forum members rely on when camping? I'm trying to get an idea of things that don't necessarily require refrigeration since we'll be traveling with an icebox, not a fridge.

[Anne H]

I just purchased a small pressure cooker for my camper - good for quickly cooking whole grains, beans (well I haven't tried beans yet - a little worried about 'frothing' up), and oatmeal. I've had great brown/wild rice in under 10 minutes, also steel-cut oatmeal which normally takes around 45 minutes in about 7 minutes. Saves fuel and is good for you!!

Other than that, what everyone else said - lots of fruit, vegies, and nuts. If you're moving around rather than staying in one place, local markets can be a lot of fun and a source of great food. I pretty much ate my way over the Canadian rockies this summer buying from farmers stands alongside the road - the only dry spot was a couple of days when I was actually in the parks.

[Jan Adams]

Jan, this is a good idea, but not what this topic is about.

JeffLynne is looking for [b]Heart Healthy, [b]no or minimal refrigeration on the road.

I realize that but someone else said about cooking the spaghetti on the road and having it with frozen sauce to also help keep the food cook. My comment was for cooking the spaghetti and adding it to that package.

Also, I believe K-Mart handles canned bacon. That is always in my "emergency" supplies.

Canned soup, boxed soup and the infamous "Ramen" noodles (which can be fixed as soup or a side dish - made with less water).

Stews in a can are good and you also get chili in a can.

[Alf S.]

I realize that but someone else said about cooking the spaghetti on the road and having it with frozen sauce to also help keep the food cook. My comment was for cooking the spaghetti and adding it to that package.

Also, I believe K-Mart handles canned bacon. That is always in my "emergency" supplies.

Canned soup, boxed soup and the infamous "Ramen" noodles (which can be fixed as soup or a side dish - made with less water).

Stews in a can are good and you also get chili in a can.

Hi: We just started seeing wine in cartons...like juice boxes...unbreakable and beer in plastic bottles...unbreakable What will they think of next??? Alf S. North shore of Lake Erie

[CindyL]

Kevin and I follow South Beach. He has lost 40 pounds while I follow the diet and cheat within it, so I have lost only 10 pounds.
We have no trouble following the diet while traveling in our Li'l Jenny. We make eggs and sausage in the AM usually, have a salad for lunch (most often away from the Burro as we explore), and then meat and veggies for supper. Our most common supper is sauerkraut and brats, as it is easy to make and easy to keep.
We use the propane stove, a microwave, and a small slow cooker while on the road.

CindyL