Just doing a tiny preparation for a camping trip me and a few friends are going on over new years… We have a small gas cooker, could you please give any suggestions on what food is easy to arrange when camping?
Pal of mine always takes some of those foil pouches of tuna fish They’re single-serving, vacuum packed, and easy to store, easy to open. You could make a tuna melt on your stove, or….?
luftherz on
September 4th, 2008
MRE’s!!
Meals Ready to Eat. You can find them in any sporting goods store like Dick’s, or Gander Mountain….they are easy to cook, all you need is hot water, which you can easily boil in a small pot on the gas cooker. They range from meatloaf, pastas, corn dogs, burritos, all the way to cakes, pies….
And they taste pretty good too, mostly low cost.
Bill M on
September 5th, 2008
Well, if it’s just for new year’s, like a week or less, you could possibly pull off some quick-to-expire stuff, at least for the first day or two. Bread would last the week. Any snack that’s not refrigerated. You could always bring a cooler full of ice to store some meat, if it’s cold in your area. If it’s hot, it’ll just melt right away and the meat will go bad. Potatoes and anything in the produce aisle. Canned food always works. Just walk up and down the non-refrigerated aisles of your grocery store and grab what looks satisfying. But, for the sake of a good meaty meal, that’s why I suggested the possibility of bringing raw meat at least for the first day.
jeeperman1 on
September 6th, 2008
freeze dried food packages. you can get them at any outdoors store. You just add hot water and you’ve got yourself a nice meal. Or you could get MREs. they have their own heat source, so you dont have to boil the water. you could also just take canned food, like chili. beef jerkey and peanut butter crackers are easy. If you are going campground camping anything would do, but if you are going backpacking you need freeze dried food or MREs.
jools4fools on
September 7th, 2008
Pasta is my camp fav. Mac-n-cheese with Rotel is not only another fav, but a staple of my diet…good or bad. Get the generic stuff. It’s cheap and packs well. Beef stew with Rotel is pretty nice. MRE’s and dehydrated stuff at the fancy outdoor stores are good quality (I question the quality of MRE’s) but crazy expensive. Grocery store is cheap and easy and just fine.
freeD on
September 8th, 2008
if you have a cooler, just go for the standard stuff like hot dogs, cold cuts and mac-n-cheese. then just fill in with canned foods and anything vacuum sealed. peanut butter is always good.
daversole2285 on
September 10th, 2008
Get some MRE’s. They kick ass
bamavol on
September 12th, 2008
assume cooker is small one burner, assuming 4 people, best to plan on mostly boiling water - still some good meals
morning - instant oatmeal and coffee - add some raisins or other dried fruit (toaster pastries, cereal, dry milk)
mid-day - sandwiches - PB&J is always good, cheese and crackers
evening - rice/pasta/Ramen noodles (flavored rice and noodle packs-usually with a cream sauce- are good as well as mac&cheese) add foil pouch of tuna or chicken and favored seasonings
above based on backpacking - use a lot of stuff I dehydrate at home too
if not backpacking, you can carry just about anything you want but it sounded like your stove would limit you - therefore recommendation to boil water
when you add boiling water to pot, wrap in insulation (sweater or something) - it will “cook” while you boil another pot for coffee and cleanup
you can buy fancy freeze dried stuff at camping store but you can probably do about as well at regular grocery - just have to do more planning
Rifleman 129 on
September 14th, 2008
Well, if you have a gas stove, bring a cooler with ice, and put in it: eggs, milk, sausages/ sliced ham, hot dogs, burgers, PB +J, fruits, ect.
William B on
September 17th, 2008
canned , beef stew, soups, prebake potatoes, or instant, any thing that is in a can or is instant [mix with water ]
or buy the meals ready to eat, [at a camping outlet,]
Larry on
September 19th, 2008
I would try that MRE’s thing, except if you can find the Canadian Forces ones, buy them instead. They are amazing for instant army meals, and one pouch will feed you pretty well through the entire day, you would probably also have leftovers. Other than that, I would plan out a meal plan and figure out for yourself what you want. Try to stay away from meats and other things that spoil quickly, and pack a lot of juice crystals. The meal plan idea has worked for food supplies for an 8 day, 12-14 man trip through Temagami, Ontario numerous times for a camping group I used to be in.
Schnurrbart on
September 22nd, 2008
In 30 years of camping and backpacking I’ve never felt the need to purchase expensive freeze dried food, nor heavy MRE’s. Everything I want to eat while camping, backpacking or hiking is available at my local grocery store. Cheese, crackers, dried fruit, fresh fruit, corn chips, bread, salami, Gatorade, foil packets of chicken and tuna, Snicker’s bars, nuts, sunflower seeds, stuffing mix, powdered potatoes, instant oatmeal, soup mixes, boxed meals like Zatarain’s Red Beans & Rice, Near East Med Curry Couscous.
canned food
Raman Noodles!!!
Pal of mine always takes some of those foil pouches of tuna fish
They’re single-serving, vacuum packed, and easy to store, easy to open. You could make a tuna melt on your stove, or….?
MRE’s!!
Meals Ready to Eat. You can find them in any sporting goods store like Dick’s, or Gander Mountain….they are easy to cook, all you need is hot water, which you can easily boil in a small pot on the gas cooker. They range from meatloaf, pastas, corn dogs, burritos, all the way to cakes, pies….
And they taste pretty good too, mostly low cost.

Well, if it’s just for new year’s, like a week or less, you could possibly pull off some quick-to-expire stuff, at least for the first day or two. Bread would last the week. Any snack that’s not refrigerated. You could always bring a cooler full of ice to store some meat, if it’s cold in your area. If it’s hot, it’ll just melt right away and the meat will go bad. Potatoes and anything in the produce aisle. Canned food always works. Just walk up and down the non-refrigerated aisles of your grocery store and grab what looks satisfying. But, for the sake of a good meaty meal, that’s why I suggested the possibility of bringing raw meat at least for the first day.
freeze dried food packages. you can get them at any outdoors store. You just add hot water and you’ve got yourself a nice meal. Or you could get MREs. they have their own heat source, so you dont have to boil the water. you could also just take canned food, like chili. beef jerkey and peanut butter crackers are easy. If you are going campground camping anything would do, but if you are going backpacking you need freeze dried food or MREs.
Pasta is my camp fav. Mac-n-cheese with Rotel is not only another fav, but a staple of my diet…good or bad. Get the generic stuff. It’s cheap and packs well. Beef stew with Rotel is pretty nice. MRE’s and dehydrated stuff at the fancy outdoor stores are good quality (I question the quality of MRE’s) but crazy expensive. Grocery store is cheap and easy and just fine.
if you have a cooler, just go for the standard stuff like hot dogs, cold cuts and mac-n-cheese. then just fill in with canned foods and anything vacuum sealed. peanut butter is always good.
Get some MRE’s. They kick ass
assume cooker is small one burner, assuming 4 people, best to plan on mostly boiling water - still some good meals
morning - instant oatmeal and coffee - add some raisins or other dried fruit (toaster pastries, cereal, dry milk)
mid-day - sandwiches - PB&J is always good, cheese and crackers
evening - rice/pasta/Ramen noodles (flavored rice and noodle packs-usually with a cream sauce- are good as well as mac&cheese) add foil pouch of tuna or chicken and favored seasonings
above based on backpacking - use a lot of stuff I dehydrate at home too
if not backpacking, you can carry just about anything you want but it sounded like your stove would limit you - therefore recommendation to boil water
when you add boiling water to pot, wrap in insulation (sweater or something) - it will “cook” while you boil another pot for coffee and cleanup
you can buy fancy freeze dried stuff at camping store but you can probably do about as well at regular grocery - just have to do more planning
Well, if you have a gas stove, bring a cooler with ice, and put in it: eggs, milk, sausages/ sliced ham, hot dogs, burgers, PB +J, fruits, ect.
canned , beef stew, soups, prebake potatoes, or instant, any thing that is in a can or is instant [mix with water ]
or buy the meals ready to eat, [at a camping outlet,]
I would try that MRE’s thing, except if you can find the Canadian Forces ones, buy them instead. They are amazing for instant army meals, and one pouch will feed you pretty well through the entire day, you would probably also have leftovers. Other than that, I would plan out a meal plan and figure out for yourself what you want. Try to stay away from meats and other things that spoil quickly, and pack a lot of juice crystals. The meal plan idea has worked for food supplies for an 8 day, 12-14 man trip through Temagami, Ontario numerous times for a camping group I used to be in.
In 30 years of camping and backpacking I’ve never felt the need to purchase expensive freeze dried food, nor heavy MRE’s. Everything I want to eat while camping, backpacking or hiking is available at my local grocery store. Cheese, crackers, dried fruit, fresh fruit, corn chips, bread, salami, Gatorade, foil packets of chicken and tuna, Snicker’s bars, nuts, sunflower seeds, stuffing mix, powdered potatoes, instant oatmeal, soup mixes, boxed meals like Zatarain’s Red Beans & Rice, Near East Med Curry Couscous.