Hungry for Adventurez

When I first started solo car camping, I was determined to use only shelf-stable, store-bought foods. It made sense at the time - cheap and easy to supply. My thoughts about how I prepare food while camping have changed a bit over time, especially now that I am preparing for my first multi-week trip. My sister, who started car camping around the same time that I did, and my dad, both have an interest in dehydrated foods, so I thought I would give it a go.  Reasons for adding dehydrated foods to my camping pantry Cook and prep time at camp I push myself very hard while traveling. I want to get the maximum fun out of my precious weekends and PTO. unfortunately, sometimes this means that I'm just an exhausted, sweaty mess when I get to camp. Nothing is left in the tank for cooking.  Dehydrating foods means a quicker cooking time, depending on the food. Some foods, like rice, won't need to be cooked at all and become a viable addition to cold-soaked  recipes.   (for...

Aldi is my absolute favorite grocery store, especially for cheap and lazy camping food. It’s easy to put together shelf stable meals that are actually pretty healthy and require almost no prep work. As an added bonus, Aldi also has decent outdoors equipment in the “Aldi Finds” aisle, but we will save that for a different post. For this post I will be assuming you have a camp stove , such as a jet boil, available.  Lazy Camping Food #1: Favorite Cheese, Fruit, and Crackers No cooking necessary, yet somehow super luxurious. I like to get a wheel of Cammebert or Brie, which I slice up and eat cold with strawberries, peaches or apples, and a sleeve of crackers. It's perfect for a mid hike meal or snack. It's the ultimate lazy food, but also kind of feels luxurious. Plus, rich cheeses are a great food for when you are are on longer, active trips. This is because cheese contains calorie-dense fats.  Camembert cheese, 7 oz: $4.19 Strawberries, 1 lb: $2.19 Crackers, 7 oz: $2.55 (...

If you hate cleaning dishes on vacation, you aren’t the only one. Plus,  ice is a hassle you don’t really need to bother with. These four recipes are far better than the typical ramen or plain instant backpacking foods, and pack a surprising amount of fruit and vegetables. These one pot camping meals (no refrigeration required!) are perfect for your next overnight adventure. One Pot Greek Pasta Salad Dinner for travel on day one of camping I usually make a big batch of this, or something similar, ahead of time to eat on Friday night after we drive to the campsite. It's very filling and the feta and veggies hold up well for a few hours on the road. I don’t do exact measurements when I’m cooking, so feel free to adjust ratios how you like them. If you would like to exclude the cheese, follow food safety for longer journeys, try adding in sun dried tomatoes and black olives for flavor and richness.  Ingredients: Broccoli florets Pasta shells, elbow macaroni, or bowtie pasta Crum...

I have been car camping with and without a cooler for a while now, using either a Prius or a Hybrid Rav4 with a bed platform. And honestly, I have come to realize that I really don’t need a cooler. Maybe my opinion would change if I was traveling full time, but for now, my mind is made up. Here is why for minimalist car camping setups, you really don’t need a cooler, even if you love meat or are trying to eat healthy.  Problems with using a traditional ice cooler Traditional coolers, such as your average Coleman cooler, use a combination of water ice or dry ice and insulation to keep food cold. This means that you will have to buy ice for each camping trip, and you might need to refill during your trip to make sure food stays at a safe temperature. While ice isn’t particularly expensive, it is an expense that should be kept in mind if you are working with a tight budget. A second problem with ice coolers is that water ice will melt into water, which has to be removed from the coole...

  Cooking is one of the most important systems that a camper needs to choose when starting out. In this blog, I go over the pros and cons of cooking via camp stove, electric kettle, campfire, and bringing food that needs no cooking at all. These are all from my own experience. Keep in mind that your experiences might be different from mine. Also keep in mind that you might need more than one solution in your rig. If you want to look at how cooking fits into the larger picture of your car camping rig, read this blog post .  Gas Camp Stove These come in several forms. You can get cute little ones that fit in a pocket when disconnected from the fuel canister, which are also perfect for backpacking. You can also get two burner stoves that fold up like a suitcase.  Pros: They heat up very quickly, and don’t require much futzing to get going. They will continue to work in the rain and elements. They come in a variety of sizes to meet your needs. You can take them off the grid ...