Healthy Campfire Cooking for Your Next Adventure

When you think about camping meals, what comes to mind?  Hotdogs, hamburgers, smores, chips and dip?  Those are all at the top of my list.  Our family likes all of these things while camping, and our favorite foods may not be the healthiest choices.  It is possible to make meals both healthy and delicious while at your campsite - keeping everyone happy.

For our Memorial Day camping trip, I planned a weekend full of healthy meals.  Each recipe was full of flavor and easy to make.  Those check off two big boxes for me.  Finally, I need meals that everyone is going to eat.  This includes a picky four-year-old.



I started our weekend off with some overnight oats.  I'm a big fan of anything in a mason jar.  This breakfast is a simple first-morning meal at the campsite.  Put together your jars before leaving home or at night before bed, place in your cooler or fridge and breakfast can be served to each person at your site in their own mason jar.  I tried to do these in a small mason jar.  Use a pint jar so that you stir it all up when you eat.  Otherwise, you will need to dump it out into a bowl to stir.  Stir together oats, chia seeds and cinnamon, top with blueberries and hazelnuts and finish with milk or a nut milk.  The oats are creamy.  The nuts and berries add a nice contrast and flavor.  If you a new to chia seeds, a tablespoon has as much protein as an egg and adds another layer or texture to your meal.

Overnight oats in a mason jar with hazelnuts, blueberries, chia seeds and cinnamon.

I planned Chickpea Buffalo Spread for lunches on this trip.  With a side of fruit, you have a complete meal.  I also love Wasa crackers for everything.  They don't get smashed like bread and are nice and crunchy.  Make this recipe and home and keep in the cooler for lunches or even and evening appetizer.  My husband loved this.  And yes, you can transport this in a mason jar as well.  The recipe makes two-pint jars full.

Buffalo Chickpea spread is full of flavor with blue cheese, hot sauce, celery and Greek yogurt.  It is a spicy and creamy treat!

Everyone loves a good taco at my house.  Chicken tacos are a healthy alternative to beef.  Marinade the chicken in a zip top bag and then grill.  Serve them with a side of avocado, lime wedges and shredded or crumbled cheese.  The marinade of cumin, chili powder, garlic and olive oil provides great flavor and has much less sodium than taco seasoning packets.  I serve everything with a side of fruit while camping.  Grapes and blueberries were staples on this trip.  So, we had these with our taco night meal.

This trip allowed us to enjoy eating down by the water at every meal.  It was nice to relax and eat outdoors.

Our taco tray.

Top with a little hot sauce for a kick.

Our Sunday morning breakfast was some no knead bread that I cooked in our Dutch oven with eggs and homemade strawberry jam.  I made some turkey sausage and left it at home in the freezer.  We will still enjoy it at home, but the recipe is available on my recipe guide.  The bread I made served double duty for lunch sandwiches.  No knead bread can be stirred up the day before and is ready to cook the next morning when you get up.  It truly is a stir, sit and cook recipe.

I cooked the bread in my Dutch oven using a parchment paper liner to keep it from sticking.

Simple eggs, bread and jam made a nice breakfast.

We did a snack lunch on Sunday afternoon with our Buffalo Chickpea Spread, fruit, and red pepper slices.  Our little boo had a peanut butter and banana sandwiches.  I recommend peanut butter and bananas for any camping trip.  Great for snacks or quick meals.  Plus, you can pack a peanut butter and banana sandwich for a hike without the worry of having your lunch spoil.

Sunday supper was a snack tray dinner.  I served dinner on a plastic tray filled with Genoa Salami, red peppers, blueberries and grapes, Buffalo Chickpea spread, mozzarella, and pita chips.  I had brought hummus for this meal.  But, we loved this Buffalo Chickpea dip so much that we could not stop eating it.  Make this stuff!  Camping or not!  It was like a meal of appetizers.  So good!  I got this idea from a college friend that does this all the time.  She shares her snack tray meals on Instagram, and I've been dying to try this out.  A snack tray dinner can be made out of anything you have on hand and enjoy at home or at your campsite.

Our snack tray dinner consisted of red peppers, salami, mozzarella, Buffalo Chickpea spread, pita chips and fruit.  Slice up your red peppers before leaving home to reduce one more task at the camp site.

For our last breakfast, we enjoyed fluffy oatmeal pancakes with almond drizzle and raspberries.  I made the almond butter drizzle at home before we left and saved it in a little mason jar.  While I made our morning coffee, I placed the jar on the stove and let it heat up as I cooked.  Pancakes are our son's favorite.  With the almond butter drizzle and raspberries, no one misses syrup.  These are a satisfying way to start the day.

Warming the almond butter drizzle on the stove while making coffee.  Turn the jar as the coffee perks to heat evenly.

Raspberries pair well against the pancakes and almond butter drizzle.  Raspberries won't keep long so plan to use them soon into your trip.

Fluffy pancakes made with oats soaked in buttermilk.

And did we have anything sweet?  Of course, I always do.  But, I chose something a little different but super yummy.  I made a pan of Fudgy Teff Flour Brownies.  These brownies are from Ann Taylor Pittman's cookbook on Ancient Grains.  Everyday Whole Grains: 175 New Recipes from Amaranth to Wild Rice, Includes Every Ancient Grain (Cooking Light)  This cookbook has become a new staple in my home.  The sheet tray meal idea and the Fluffy Oatmeal Pancakes with Almond Butter Drizzle are also her idea and recipe.  She is an amazing cook and author.  I find her ideas to be inspiring and challenge me to try new healthy foods in our kitchen.

Teff Flour Brownies have a fudgy center.  Leave them in the pan after they bake and cool to transport so they don't come apart.

Here are a few tips for healthy meal planning:

• Make your mixes, dips, and marinades before leaving home.  
• Reduce the amount of premade mixes and seasonings.  Make you own as a way to increase flavor, decrease salt and fat.
• For pancakes, mix your dry ingredients and place in a zip-top bag and write on the outside what wet ingredients to add. 
• Use nut butters as an extra source of protein and flavor change.
• Look for ways to use leftovers in other meals.  Grilled meats make breakfast scrambles and burritos and well as sandwiches for lunch.
• Try out new recipes at home to make sure that you like them.
• Have lots of fruit on hand for sides at meals and snacks.
• Swap bread for Wasa Crackers for a crispy, fiber swap at meal time.

If you want my recipe planner for our healthy eating camping adventure, you can open the link and add this to your Google Drive.  There is one meal that we didn't have.  The Egg Roll Bowl was not made because our trip was cut short one night.  I did test this recipe and thought it turned out wonderfully.  I do recommend trying this.

The Egg Roll Bowl is a low carb alternative to fried egg rolls.  Make with a bag of shredded cabbage or coleslaw mix to reduce prep time.

A bonus to healthy eating at your campsite is how you feel.  Your body isn't sluggish.  You feel ready for hiking and outdoor activities.  Trust me and try it.  I don't think that any of these meals sacrifice flavor.  Each meal was simple enough to make that I enjoyed preparing them and feel like these will be served at our campsite again soon.  

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