Essential camping food.

[Yawning Man]

Hey

Seeing as i've got some outdoor shit going on over the next month or two i was wondering if any of you had some good, practical and easy suggestions for food when camping. I've got a few rough ideas, but most of what i've thought were good ideas in the past have ended up being a real pain in the arse and impractical.

I'm looking for things that store well, are easy to cook (if they need to be cooked at all), minimal ingredients and filling, all the while being relatively nutritional.

Meals that you always cook and food that you always take when camping.

I'm thinking about investing in a small portable camping stove, one of those butane powered ones for cooking. So the faster i can prepare a decent meal the better. Any suggestions will be helpful.

cheers

[incognito]

goji berries, marshmallows, water, potatoes, butter, aloe vera juice with the floaties in it, long life milk.

i could survive on that!!

edit- wrappin taters with some butter in them in foil and putting in the coals is always the bomb! jst add some cream and some sweet chilli and wallah!

if u can invest in a campin jaffle iron, u will just need to bring some bread and spaghetti. so relaxing cooking em to.

in my opinion it is not camping without marshmellows. just ask JDanger!

Edited May 15, 2010 by incognito

[TheFriendlyPlanter]

I used to pack quick foods like 'shapes' and noodles etc but that type of crap is the worst food for camping, go for quality!

I can't get by without avocados, fresh greens, and the coffee plunger. It depends what type of 'camping' you are doing I guess. You could always go 'Man vs Wild' style and scavange for carcases...

[El Presidente Hillbillios]

mi goring is the bomb!

[incognito]

mi goring is the bomb!

touche'! dont eat to many though!! squirt!

oh yeah, plent of ur favorite fruits, ripe and in season. especially if u r going to

I just LOVE camping now. Get urself a good sleeping bag!!! i paid 140 for one made by ROMAN, it will keep u warm to -10. ive tested it out in - temps and have been warm as toast just in the sleeping bag inside a swag.

I can be fucked with tents anymore. pain in the ass to put up, take down and clean.

swags all the way for me from now on, u can drag em up next to the campfire and sleep all cosey. Can be a pain in the arse when trippers tread on you.

LOL i will never forget the noise Foolsbreath made when i accidently stomped on him when he was sound asleep at EGA. LOLOL. i am weird but that noise makes me chuckle everytime

accidental injurys are always funny IMO.

Edited May 15, 2010 by incognito

[bℓσωηG]

Eat what you enjoy eating , i see no reason to change your diet just cos your camping... life IS camping just in a house, take away the house put in a tent ,your food needn't be any less glamorous ... hope this helps

Edited May 15, 2010 by blowng

[naja naja]

jaffle irons, ~$5. Ham cheese and BBQ sauce. In the fire. Done. Chai tea for billy. Rivives u.

[Amazonian]

I'm thinking about investing in a small portable camping stove, one of those butane powered ones for cooking. So the faster i can prepare a decent meal the better. Any suggestions will be helpful.

 

I have one of these portable camp stoves which i take with me on day trips so i can have a warm toasted sanga instead of the traditional picnic food. Various rice flavors come in vacuum sealed pouches that you pop into boiling water for a couple of minutes, they are always good camping food. If you eat meat ,you could get, like, some of that Chunky soup or braised steak and onion type of stuff and have that on rice??!!. But i do highly recommend getting one of those portable camp stoves. They are sometimes on special for around $12 at KMART and 4 gas bottles for $6. Bargain.

[Yawning Man]

Hahaha thanks for the replys. Incog, i have invested in a very good sleeping bag. Out of pocket 160 i think, or there abouts. Plus i got a bag liner that adds 5 degrees to it. Plan on getting my moneys worth this year.

Fuck, jaffle irons are the bomb. I swear dad has one lying around here. Will ask him. Otherwise looks like a great buy. Great suggestion incog, potatoes are deff on the agenda now!!

thanks everybody

love

[Yawning Man]

They are sometimes on special for around $12 at KMART and 4 gas bottles for $6. Bargain

Shit, thats awesome. I'll deff have to pick one up lol. Mmm thats the thing, meat wouldn't be that pratical though ya know. It will only store for so long in the esky before it goes off, then i'll starve haha. But yeah i was thinking rice would be a staple of camping. Especially on long treks.

thanks

[GingaNinja]

Ive got one of the Trangia 27-1 UL on this page http://www.trangia.se/english/5614.27_series_ul.html

Its the bomb for cooking rice/lentil soup types deals. Can fry eggs. quickly boil water for tea or 2min noodles. Light weight.

1 bottle of metho will last more then 2 weeks. 720g fucking grams FTW

depends what level of luxury you want.

Ive never tried it but ive met people that take freeze dried fruits on long hikes. could be a good idea if you ahve good access to water.

some greenage always gives you a bit more life rather then only surviing on wheat and other carbs.

Edited May 15, 2010 by GingaNinja

[lampy]

one of my favourite snacks when camping is a piece of damper dough rolled into a long sausage and then wrapped around a clean buttered straight stick about 8mm diameter with no gaps in between. It is then cooked in the fire untill golden brown. Then the damper is slipped off the stick and honey poured down the hole.

mmm simply amazing

[Amazonian]

. Mmm thats the thing, meat wouldn't be that pratical though ya know. It will only store for so long in the esky before it goes off,

 

I was refering to the meat in those cans of 'braised steak and onion' type tinned foods( if you can call it meat) . No need to esky them. Bit heavy if you are hiking in to your camp spot.

[gerbil]

Variety of seeds and nuts, either keep them individual or mix to specific needs, also can make up spiced mixes with a little salt for a bit more flavour as well as a sodium source as a bonus i guess. Dried fruits (pref. the good organic non treated ones) can be good, or home made straps.

High % chocolate and or raw crushed seeds can be quite nice, especially if eating well and when you get to that natural feel state from being out there for a while and the high can be quite pronounced and clear.

Muesli bars, some good nut mix ones happenin' at health aisles in supermarkets.

if that inclined home or bought meat jerky.

Potatoes are the go too as said, as well as dehydrated mushrooms, pasta's, rice.

Long life milk can be handy, and airtight flour containers and some raising product if wanted.

Honey, Porridge oats, Dry Biscuits and tinned tuna. Some sugar if desired, spices like chilli, maybe some cinnamon for the high % hot chocolate, and things like tea.

Packet noodles can be handy, especially when tired and wet, but alot additives and stuff fuck with me, so the cleaner the better.

Fresh fruit for the start, apples and stuff, long lasting things if you're out for a while and desire it. Could buy unripe things like avocado if you wanted and let them mature for a good boost later in the trip (if a longer one)

With fresh fish, you could make sushi and cali rolls if you wanted to lol

Oil.

cleaning up scourers, liquids, towels etc. Don't forget Cutlery, mixing bowls for bread if at that direction etc.

Lotsa clean water for cook and washup.

[Yawning Man]

Ah ok i understand now. Guess i should read posts properly haha. Thats actually a pretty good idea. Or maybe some of the canned curries on rice.

@ lampy - make that on the otways camp bro. sounds awesome!

cheers

[divinersage]

lampy do it! i want to see the calorific creation with my own eyes

for the otway trip ill probably bring up potatoes, home-made raviolli and sauce , would bring mi goreng but its too fiddly and messy!

definitely some honey joys

aaaaaaaaaaaand some kind of trail mix with extra nuts and de-hydrated mango and apple!

probably have to thing of some munchies that dont require and cooking, im planning on at night? not sure though, never been to a SAB meet.

im guessing that would be acceptable among people like us! i just wont bring the gator or the springah i kid i kid.

[PD.]

Should be slipperies and saffies for breakfast, if i dont catch a blackfish for lunch ill punch myslef in the dick and its gon be cold so that means for dinner its slow cooked lamb shanks in the camp oven. F T W

[SunChaser]

You can get those heinz chunky soup cans, instead of worrying about eskies and fresh meat. They won't go off and all you have to do is open the can pour it in the pot cook for 5 minutes and you've got dinner.

A good supply of flour, sugar and jam for damper is always good to have well camping. Nuts and dried fruits too. Also peanut butter to just eat straight out of the jar is a good quick snack and a good energy booster.

[divinersage]

im kinda nervous to meet all you internet anomalies

[SunChaser]

im kinda nervous to meet all you internet anomalies

 

lol, personally I'm more nervous about yawning man going Walter E. Kurtz style on us all.

[Atlas]

I like trying to find foods when i camp like bush tuckers or seafood if near some good water.

I usually cook everything on a stick when i camp, sausages, fish, chops, everything.

Last time we went got alot of mud crabs and got a mullet with my bow and arrow (took about an hr to finally get one)

One of the not so good highlights was this though!!

Edited May 15, 2010 by Atlas

[santiago]

The most essential food could be in my opinion, lightweight to carry considering australian conditions. I have not read the 'into knives' thread in this forum however a good hunting knife NO#1

Beef jerky 1kg squeezed into a litre PET, small tube of condensed milk & a 200ml strong OP bundy for example. Maybe a small net & a sleeping bag with artic warmth. This is all one could need. Im totally convinced that im still forgetting a obvious other but fuck it i tell you what after watching the movie AVATAR or MAN vs WILD for example i feel like at least i should attempt 1 night alone in the wilderness.

Im convinced it would be as freaky as fuck, alone...25kms from help. Animals scurrying around at night, shadows and sounds.

Still it seems that in a world where thrills can be bought, we challenge ourselves in various ways such as relationships, workplaces, sports, hobbbies, friends......yet the animal instinct that we each and all possess is repressed to a point that its accepted.

What if really WE could really go AWOL or had the guts to, this is not about running away into the bush to prove a point, with proper preparation it secretely lurks to be the greatest release valve ever, the unravelling of the human psyche from consumer...to controller.

[Atlas]

Im convinced it would be as freaky as fuck, alone...25kms from help. Animals scurrying around at night, shadows and sounds.

 

A while ago I took my chick camping in the middle of nowhere and it was a no moon phase, we toured up river into a lake to find some crabs, after successfully catching a few, it began to get dark, "never go camping on new moon!!!"(stupid me leaving my torch and flint on land so they wouldnt get wet) we couldnt find the entrance to the little creek and took another hour to finally find it. by then it was so dark, i couldnt even see the canoe we were sitting in, and entering the river only made things a hundred times worse.The forest canopy hung well over the river blocking what tiny light there was making it pitch black, i could no longer see my hand in front of my face. I didnt know what to do, so we decided to keep going in the hope of maybe making out the tent in the darkness. after about 30mins and running into many fallen trees we decided to try and find a small beach we'd found earlier when looking for a place to camp, and leave the river and try and make it to camp through the bush.. as we were camped on the bank.. after another few minutes we noticed a slight lightness to the darkness, i couldnt tell if i was imagining it or if it was the small beach and we paddled over, the whiteness in the sand had about 1%visibility in the darkness and we had found the beach..We still weren't sure if this was the clearing we had seen because we couldnt see the ground, but pulled the canoe onto shore and decided to make a final attempt to find camp by foot.. I had broken my thong trying to pull the canoe up the bank so it was bare foot for me. we began to walk into the darkness following what we thought was the small road, but being so dark we couldnt really tell if it was or if we were wandering into the bushland.. so we just kept walking, i thought i'd be able to look at the sky and see the gap in the trees to follow the track but the canopy well overhung everything, after about 40mins of walking we started falling into big mud holes which felt like quicksand when u have no sight and my girl lost her shoes too, but we kept going... after another 15mins I started to give up hope and began to think of a new plan, "maybe we could try and get back to canoe and spend the night in there or maybe we could just sit where we were until morning""what to do what to do" girl decided we should keep going surely we would find our camp soon..after some time I couldnt tell where the track was to keep going or turn back it all seemed to be trees, sticks, grass, mud and rocks but we kept walking, after some more time, we finally saw a whitish tinge in the darkness, i thought it was just my eyes making up stuff and couldnt tell if it was anything and tried to walk towards it only to get.caught up in sticks and shrubs so we walked a bit more along and it seemd to become clearer, "i think its the patrol" even walking right up to it, we still couldnt tell until i grabbed the bull bar. we were standing up against it but still couldnt see it. WE MADE IT!!! but i buried the keys near the water under some leaves....so we were on our hands and knees scraching frantically in the leaves for about 10 minutes and girl hit the keys. lucky because i was about 1 min away from putting the oar id been carrying through the window to get some light, just wanted to see something again. so it was over... i'd always wanted to get lost in the bush for a little while anyway but with 0 visibility, that was just ridiculously terrible..the rest of the camp was good, we drove the car back and got the canoe and the crabs and I slept the whole night holding the torch, because i was sure id wake up in the middle of the night and think i was blind again. well that was alot longer than i thought, I guess the point was im pretty out of touch with wilderness even know ive always wanted to be tested, next time im tested i hope there will be just a little more light at least haha

[nabraxas]

a good solid frying pan is excellent for cooking on the embers, along w/your baked potatoes you can fry up eggs, onions, tomatoes, bacon, sausages, burgers, fish, bread etc.

[incognito]

would be worth buying: http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Hillbilly-Camping-Gear-Cookbook-3rd-edition-/390058548030?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_15&hash=item5ad14d1b3e