Camping (Preparing and Menu Planning)

• Students will learn to cook and plan a menu when camping.

Topic Outcomes

• Identify types of food suited for camping menus.
• Hone cooking skills and other outdoor cooking methods.
• Appreciate the importance of learning how to cook and set up a fire.
• Cook different types of food for camping using different cooking equipment like egg/hotdog/grilled fish or meat (pork or chicken), and rice

Cooking and Menu Planning

• It is critical to know how to improvise with kitchen accessories
• Campers can use simple camping stoves to prepare food.
• Campfires can be the primary heat source to keep warm and cook meals.
• Some campers hunt and fish to supplement meals.
• Preparing food to take camping can improve skills day by day
• It should involve a simplified recipe without the whole kitchen

Planning a Menu

• Packing the right amount of food for a backpacking trip can be challenging.
• Backpacking can be hard work, so portions should be large to keep energy levels high
• Hunger can lead to clumsiness, headaches, and grouchiness.
• Tasty meals can reward you at the end of a long day of exploring.
• The more food, the heavier the pack and also the trash that needs to be packed out
• Beginner backpackers usually bring too much food on their first trips.

Packing and Organizing Food

• Well-packed, well-organized food supplies make meal preparation and clean-up much easier
• Reduce trash and leftovers.

Plan Your Menu:

• Construct a day-by-day trip menu complete with plans for each meal, snacks, drinks, and condiments/spices
• Keep personal preferences, allergies, and medical conditions in mind.

Considerations for Choosing Food:

• Taste is important and delicious food can be a great reward.
• Backpackers can burn 2,500-5,000 calories a day hiking
• Calorie intake needs to keep up with the body's needs based age, weight, terrain, time of year, and difficulty.
• Marshmallows and graham crackers are good for occasional campfires
• A trip menu should have a well-balanced variety of foods, with plenty of complex carbohydrates.
• Stick to lightweight and low-bulk foods, especially on long journeys.
• Easier meals are better in the wilderness
• Simple, no-cook meals are trip-savers if the stove breaks or fuel runs out.
• Convenience foods have higher costs.

Purchase Food

• Visit the local grocery store, local health food store, and/or an outdoor outfitting store to find the foods needed for the trip.
• Shop around for the best prices

Pack Meal Bags

• Food can be packed in general breakfast, lunch, and dinner bags or individual meals into separate, re-sealable plastic bags.
• Eliminate as much packaging as possible
• Pre-measuring portions will make cooking easier
• Pre-mixing ingredients that can be stored together like granola and milk powder can save space and time.

Select Cookware Needed

• Ensure you don’t forget pots, pans, skillets, grills, or tools to cook with.
• Only pack what you need for mealtime
• Cast iron is durable and versatile and can be used as a go-to cookware.
• Write down the cooking instructions needed for each meal and slip the paper in the right meal bag
• Durable freezer bags make great meal containers that can be reused trip after trip.
• On long trips group individual meal bags together (either as breakfasts, lunches, and dinners or as Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, etc.)
• Spread the food supplies out among group members to have a food supply if anyone gets separated.
• Plastic containers are lighter than metal, impact resistant than glass, and can be washed and reused.

How to Cook Food

• Open Fire provides ambiance with cozy heat for groups to gather around, but may not be allowed for safety reasons
• Always check ahead

Other Grills and Stoves:

• Charcoal grills cook food more quickly than wood, but you can't sit around it like a campfire.
• Propane grills are quick for cooking food outside, but metal pots and pans must be used to avoid melting plastic handles.
• Camp stoves offer a quick, clean, compact option for cooking at a campsite with big double burner options for groups and tiny light-weight ones for solo backpackers and avoids finding dry wood.

Campfire Methods

• Use the most durable surface available in the campsite and have a minimal Impact

Ways to Make a Fire

• Bring a Fire Mat or Pan and set it on a few supporting stones to have zero impact: disperse the wood gathering and ash dispersal.
• Scoop out a shallow fire ring in the sand.
• Scoop out ash and dead coals and disperse them and smooth sand over the ring.
• Building a fire on a flat rock is durable.
• Be aware that fire blackens the rock noticeably and can leave a visible mark for a long time.
• Use the existing dirt fire ring.
• In a fairly pristine area, create a Mound Fire for a small fire
• Lay down a tarp
• Pile mineral soil on top and flatten it to 6 inches deep: use this mound for fire.
• Disperse the ash and return the soil

Other Camping Tips:

• Keep the menu in the pack – meal by meal, day by day including cooking and cleaning responsibilities
• Re-pack food into double-layered plastic bags
• Include instructions for meals with package
• Mark on the plastic bag – what meal and what day
• Pack individual snack packs into a group spot and individual spot
• Include the whole group in planning menu, food selections, packing, cooking, and cleaning
• Plan for emergency food.

Camping Activity

• Students will read and explore ways to cook while camping
• Identify what foods are practical and easy to cook using exploration and interviews
• Identify ways to cook eggs and hot dogs outdoors without a stove or equipment.
• Prepare and cook a menu planned for camping with teacher chosen items
• Make a 2-3 minutes video blog from preparation to presentation to be sent via goggle drive or FaceBook group chat.
• Prepare a 1-2 page blog (written and pictures of all prepared menus.)

Camping Menus:

• Egg (prepare 4-5 ways to cook an egg)
• Grilled Hotdogs
• The activities will be submitted through LMS. Plan three days of food while camping. A plus point for recipe will be added and submitted.
• Three days worth of camp food for breakfast, lunch and dinner
• Recipes to be recorded on the blog and submitted to LMS.

Cooking Egg and Hotdog Activity:

• Write a blog on cooking egg in 4-5 ways and grilled hotdogs using BBQ sticks or skewers.
• The blog output should be 2-3 pages, present the cooked material and add cooking tips and ideas.