14 day meal planning

I used to stock up on the frozen better pre-cooked meals like MRI's that was pretty good but after abit you start yearning for real food haha... One store chain (Maybe it's Albertson's) was known for its pre-made meals but not frozen... They are kept cool and wrapped up in their cold sections... Those are pretty good but you gotta watch closely if the start to spoil on you... Definitely good for a couple of days being out in the woods somewhere...

I guess on a 14-day trip you may have to take on a few road kills haha...

There is always peanut butter and jelly and POPCORN haha...

Roy Ken

We're doing the same, and as I understand it, there isn't anything "on the way" between Tetons and Yellowstone. We're going to bring in 12 days of food with us. Not sure how yet. Looking for ideas here.

I see Walmarts an hour or so out of the parks, so I plan to stock up at them and not have to tow all of that weight across country.

We look at it this way...stock up heavy and that's less vacation time used up shopping.

For the record, we have 3 freezers at our house and could probably make it 50 days or so with the food we keep on hand. Again, I'd rather shop big once a month than stop all the time. We freeze bread and milk too.

There is a good market at Colter Bay Village at the Tetons, and West Yellowstone has two nice markets in town just outside the Yellowstone West Entrance, and Gardiner has a good market as well just outside the Park's North entrance. Inside the park, you'll find General Stores with reasonable supplies at Canyon, Mammoth and Fishing Bridge. We always want to grab fresh produce and dairy every few days and these are all convenient places to pick them up and keep us from trying to stock perishables for a full 14 days
We usually freeze items such as beef, chicken & fish for grilling - and we love the instant mashed potatoes, 90 second rice and pasta mixes which round out meals nicely and are easy.

There is a WalMart in Cody. In fact, it's the first one where we ever encountered "camping at WalMart". And by golly, those folks were CAMPING! They had out the outdoor carpet, set up the grills and were all sitting around having a cold one. I don't know if that's still allowed there, but we actually went home and looked up Campingatwalmart.com.

2oldman wrote:
Do you do this at home too?

Yes :D.

Double ditto on swinging through Cody. Several options there. How many are you cooking for?

If you don't want to stock up in Cody then ditch some of extra items you rarely use and stock that storage with canned goods. Canned shredded chicken, tuna, ham etc store compactly.

Tins of stew and soups as well as other canned goods can stow beneath the banquet and soup and sandwiches are always good after a long day of walking and sightseeing. Don't put them in the basement storage with an outside door as bears can easily open those. Freeze dried soups are pretty tasty too. Don't forget instant oatmeal, cream of wheat, instant mashed taters and other instants. Take some fresh fruit: it's worth it.

A trip like yours is all about the sights and experiences: not gourmet meals every night. Go basic with sandwiches, soups and cereals. If you have the freezer space make your favorite casserole and freeze it for a break from the basics.

Another FoodSaver lover:).

I'll be leaving on a 3 wk camping trip for 2 adults and 3 kiddos at the end of June. For a variety of health reasons (physical and financial)I frequently freeze ahead and prep food.


Here's the menu for this year's trip that I'm quoting from a different forum. Sorry if you'll have to C+P in order to access links.

Spent a nice portion of this winter planning and cooking my kid friendly 3 week camping menu. One kiddo doesn't eat cheese but has gotten past her food can't touch phase (Hallelujah!)); another kid doesn't eat lamb or asparagus knowingly. The last and oldest is a stevedore in training and the skinniest of the lot; peeves some portion o' me off on a certain level.
Menu planning has become a true exercise in trying to get it right nutrition-wise, ease for the cook, and likes of the eaters.

Here is where I am to date, in terms of make ahead and prepping :
Lamb

Lamb and veggie stew over egg noodles. The noodles will be cooked on site. Think I'll use small egg noodles since they cook faster.


Chicken
Chicken shawarma. The pounded breasts are already seasoned and sliced before freezing. The rest of the dish will be made on site including the bread. Decided that pre-portioned grilled pizza dough tastes better than pita bread so I'll buy some dough before the trip starts.
Froze some brined chicky parts. I'll grill them on site.

Spatch-cocked some Cornish hens, seasoned 'em and will grill them over the fire pit and prolly serve w/ ratatouille what hasn't been made yet but will be by Spring.
Chicken and kale stuffed shells. I'll sauce them on site and serve with a salad. The entree freezes beautifully in a ZipLoc bag but needs aggressive seasoning to get past the freeze ahead aspect.

Turkey
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/fo...h-sausage-13063 . Haven't decided if I'll serve it w/ rice or not yet.
Mini turkey meatloafs. They freeze up nicely in muffin tins.

Beef
Italian beef wedding sandwiches. http://lidiasitaly.com/recipes/italian-beef-sandwich/ Meat is already cooked, thin sliced and in the freezer. Still need to make the pickled veggies and haven't found the right bread yet. I'll buy the pickled pepperoncino.

Lasagna Bolognese. 2 layers have spinach ricotta as a change up from the listed recipe. http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/fo...gnese-51193620 .I already know that the Princess(DGD) might not eat all the layers but I'll just remove the cheesy top layer and she should be fine. Again, no tomato sauce atop until we get on site and served w/ a green salad. Already cut the lasagna into serving portions before freezing.

Browned meatballs made from beef, veal, and pork. I make this w/o a written recipe so it's just in my head. Can say that a milk soaked panade is the secret to making the meatballs tender on my end. I'll serve em over angel hair pasta or fresh fettuccine from a nearby supermarket (either versions cook faster than most pastas which is good for fuel conservation and time) and marina sauce. Again, a side salad.

Oklahoma onion burgers.
Stuffed burgers. I do a variation or 2 on this recipe: http://leitesculinaria.com/4779/reci...#comment-87944. Serve em on store bought potato rolls.

Taco seasoned ground beef

Pork
Won ton noodle soup w/ spare ribs. Made the pork and shrimp won tons already and in the freezer. Brine boiled the ribs with lots of seasoning and will grill and glaze em on site. Blanched and froze baby bok choy. Will take a gallon of frozen pork and chicken stock and assemble the soup there prolly throwing leftover salad greens and cooked veggies in. The actual how to is pretty much out of my head based on too much time spent in Chinese restaurants.

Chinese roast pork served with ramen noodles and and stir fried brocolli. The pork is already made and sliced . If there are any leftovers it'll go in fried rice for another meal.
Here's my go to play with it recipe:

http://www.tigersandstrawberries.com...ssic-char-sui/

Carnitas and pulled pork. They came from the same pork shoulder as the Chinese roast pork and will be served as sandwiches and filling for wraps. Wuvvvv that cut of meat; it's so versatile.

Fish

Fish tacos. Home seasoned fish fillets . Will buy whole wheat pizza dough to grill in place of tortillas.
Tuna salad Niciose using canned tuna packed in olive oil.

Vegetables
Blanched frozen green beans. These work nicely as snacks w/ hummus; stir fried, added to soups, on an antipasti platter and as a side dish.
Tomatoes. Home canned quarts of whole tomatoes last summer so turned one qt into a confit and will bring 2 quarts moved into a ZipLoc bag. The 2 qts will become marinara and pizza sauce. The confit will be useful as an ingredient of the marinara sauce and the ratatouille.
Cauliflower stems; blanched and frozen. Side dish, steamed or mashed. Also good with hummus and an antipasti platter.
Ratatouille.Base for hot or rm temp side dish or served over rice; as an omelette filling.

Now on to lunch and breakfast.

As to lunch and breakfast decided to simplify my life. Most breakfasts will be cold and consist of fruit platters, yoghurt and a topping of store bought cereal, homemade granola or toaster pastries courtesy of a KA recipe mod. When everyday breakfast is hot it'll be pre made steel cut oatmeal baked w/ berries; banana pancakes and berry compote.
Since one period will include weekend and day guests numbering up to 16 peeps, I made sure to coordinate the visit with the campsite's annual pancake fundraiser. I'll make cold butter scrambled eggs, saute a log of homemade sausage patties sliced on site to serve on the side, and ensure the OJ and sparkling wine combo flows.
For a different guests expected (only 4) weekend we'll have corned beef hash and waffle ironed hash browns served w poached eggs.

Lunch will mostly be cold and hot soups and sandwiches. So far I've made green minestrone, creams of asparagus, and cauliflower; bean, and ham and bean soup. Still to make: chicken veggie noodle soup, avocado chicky and gazpacho.

Other night's meals will feature porterhouse steak, lamb steaks, pork tenderloin and maybe fried chicken but little prep is needed for them.

Camping isn't the time to try anything new, it really isn't. Think about what the family likes and make double while at home and freeze it. Open and thaw is always a easy meal.
Do you guys ever get those cooked chickens at the store Costco has them for less than $5. Try to get 2 meals from one. We usually have legs and thighs one night, sliced breast for a second night with hot gravy. Sometimes I can get enough left to dice and put over a green tossed salad.
Grilled Cheese and Tomato soup is an easy fix.
If you like chili, you can have it one night and chili dogs another or chili burgers.
Stir fries are easy, I usually use kielbasa, onion, mushrooms, peppers, and you can serve it over those rice packets of already cooked rice.
Breakfast is usually oatmeal and chopped up stuff. I've added bananas, dried fruit, diced apples and I nuke it in the microwave.
On special days I might have a fried egg and cheese sandwich, or scrambled egg and cheese burrito.
Happy travels

Bertolli makes a dried tortellini in a box that makes a great pasta salad with some of that leftover chicken, a few fresh veggies like cukes and cherry tomatoes and a zesty Italian dressing. Quick and easy and it tastes really good.

Wow NYCgrrl, you folks eat pretty fancy at the CG! Those are ambitious sounding recipes. Some of that stuff I've never had (gazpacho, ratatouille) and some I've never even heard of (Tuna salad Niciose?).

Some of the posters mention difficulty keeping bread. I've never had much trouble; seems like they put enough preservatives in most store-bought loaves to keep them pretty well for a week or more.

I camp alone, so my meals are usually simple. Making a big fancy recipe would just waste food since they're often difficult to cut down to 1-person size. Some of my breakfasts consist of 2-3 slices of raisin-nut bread with plenty of butter, and OJ. Or some cold cereal in milk. Lunch might be a hard-salami sandwich, or a can of soup, along with a fruit or yogurt cup. I tend to cook more elaborately at suppertime, though it is still uncomplicated stuff since I don't have a kitchen full of spices and ingredients with me.

One of my favorite things to prepare before leaving and take along is homemade rice pudding with raisins. I'll eat that for breakfast as well as for a late snack, for the first couple of days.