Gluten Free Camping Menu

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My little cub scout has a family camping event this next weekend and we decided to go as a family.  Traditionally parents feed kids cereal or pop-tarts for breakfast and sandwiches for lunch at these events because the scouting activites mean that you are out and about all day long.  Cereal is fine, we can do cereal but pop tarts are not exactly Celiac friendly. And thinking about sandwiches right before our first trip, I was not even sure that bread was do-able.  Not to mention that I do not have very good luck with bread that is not eaten right away.  Gluten Free bread around here tends to get stale.  Tho I did accidentally leave out the Udi's bagels and the next day they were still super soft.  Maybe I'll be packing those instead.

This is not the first time we camped as a Celiac Family.  This past summer we camped our way across country (cool huh?). We packed a footlocker full of Gluten Free non perishable foods such as Tinkyada spaghetti, Puffins breakfast cereal, Idahoan instant mashed potatoes, canned vegetables, Pamela's pancake mix, trail mix, Sunkist fruit snacks, Glutino chocolate cream cookies, Peretzels with Lays Cheese dip, and small bags of potato chips. The list is pretty long but I am sure that you get the picture. We shopped for fresh meats along the way. It really is not as intimidating as it may initially seem.  As long as you do all of the necessary planning you can enjoy eating just about anything you do at home.  I am not one to go "all out" while camping though.  My idea of camping is providing easy to prepare foods.  Limited packing space prevents us from bringing all sorts of ingredients to camp for one weekend.

I do recall planning for our first camping trip as a family.  I was completely overwhelmed at the idea of planning a trip where all your comforts were literally still at home.  I knew just who to call for advice.  My mother and brothers used to go camping and all the really owned was a tent.  They told me that they would bring two cinder blocks and the grate right off the grill out back to cook.  Sheets and pillows came from the beds.  They owned nothing that was purchased only for camping.  Foods were anything they can cook right off that grate (chicken, steak, hotdogs). I am sure they too had some sort of quick breakfast foods.  

Most of the prep work for our camping trip will be done at home.  The chicken will be marinaiding in a ziploc, steaks will be tenderized or marinading, Hobo packs will be fully prepped and seasoned, foil potatoes will be fully baked, sliced and layered with butter and onion, eggs will be pre scrambled and kept in a portable container and even the pancake mix will be premixed.

OK, are you ready for our weekend camping trip plan?  OK, here it is...

Breakfast:

• Pancakes (batter premixed) and Hormel Little Sizzlers
• Eggs (pre-scrambled), Hormel Little Sizzlers, foil packet potatoes and toast

Lunch:

• Sandwiches on Udi's Bread. (Hope this works out otherwise its chili)
• Chili and Foil Packet Potatoes

Dinners:

• Oscar Mayer Beef Hotdogs grilled over an open Fire (bun-less, just like my kids like it)
• Chicken marinaded in Wishbone Italian Dressing and Instant Mashed Potatoes
• Hobo Packets (Ground Beef and Veggies cooked over a fire)
• Foil Packet Potatoes is a side for breakfast or dinner

Desserts

• Skillet Apples (apple pie in a jar cooked in a skillet) with Udi's Granola topping
• Hobo Pies (Udi's Bread with Apple Pie filling)
• Roasted Marshmallows with Home Made Graham Crackers (Smitten Kitten's recipe made GF)

Snacks:

• Enviro Kids Chocolate and Peanutbutter bars
• Carrot Sticks with Ranch Dressing 
• Old Wisconsin Meat Sticks
• Trail Mix Crunch (nuts and dried fruit)