Refresher course

Excellent advice above on how to lose weight, stay healthy, and gradually wean your body off of foods that you need to cut back/remove:cool:.

Yeah I got a truly picky princess I camp with annually. She'll be 11.5 this coming trip and her partner in familial rivalry (I call them the Bickersons when the back seat antics get too loud), my grand nephew, will be 8 y/o. I make allowances for their home diets up to a point yet simultaneously stick to my regular eating habits. I'm fortunate that everyone eats veggies with no problems (unless it has a dairy based sauce which is a no no for DGD aka the Princess and the young man won't eat asparagus; howevah she WILL eat roasted beets as a pizza topping:h)

All this is to say: BTDT got the t-shirt.


These are some of the make ahead dishes and easy prep meals we eat . Not sure what kind of setup you have but we do this car camping currently and this year will give it a whirl,primitive camping:

Breakfast

Vanilla yogurt and fresh fruit. Sometimes I top it with a mini muffin crumble (one muffin for every 2 people) or layers of granola with dried fruit and nuts.


We tend to serve hot breakfasts only on weekends because I'm exceptionally lazy in the mornings. Could be made at home banana pancakes or waffles w/ your favorite breakfast meat. Just be sure to remove the wax paper between each cake. To discourage drowning them in syrup and butter I tend to serve with a fruit compote.
Or breakfast burritos. Some scrambled egss, sauteed onions and peppers, tomato salsa (store bought)and breakfast meat if you like. Roll, wrap in foil and freeze. They heat up in a nuker or by the side of the fire or pie irons. Made at home baked oatmeal with dried fruit like crasins or apricots.

Omelets made in muffin tins. They freeze nicely.


Various types of bean and/or vegetable soups are frequently served for lunch. I make them at home as mostly pureed concentrates, store in the freezer in qt sized ziploc bags; add more stock/broth on site. We eat soups that are hot or cold and gazpacho is a household fav that is served cold and tastes much like.. a chunky glass of V-8. It can be a snack or meal accompaniment.

Salads topped with sliced protein are another fav whether served at dinner or lunch such as Chef's salad, salade Nicoise. Bagged salad greens, leftover rotisserie or grilled chicken, canned or jarred tuna, poached center cut salmon, and cooked in the morning, cold boiled eggs are separately or together nice atop a salad.

Fruits, eaten out of hand or grilled make nice sides for lean meats and desserts; quinoa is a simple carb substitute that's similar to rice and can be fully cooked at home if you like.

Unsalted or lightly salted mixed nuts like pepitas, walnuts, cashews almond silvers, shelled pistachios and dried fruits are great for snacks and can be added to a breakfast of yoghurt and fruit.

For dinner we tend to eat fish twice a week; one vegetarian meal and the rest mixed up between poultry, pork cuts and lean beef cuts like flank steak(also nice on salad and of course Mexican-American dishes).

Last night it's tradition to make a nice thick Porterhouse with lobster if it's available, sauteed green beans and grape tomatoes w/ garlic. Oh and since we always camp during the Independence Day period I've had decades of watching the Macy's firework display from my windows or amongst the bustling crowds and now crave something quieter with a small town feel) that's a day of burgers and hotdogs with tons of veggie sides to "entice". Often can find fruit salsa, guacamole or avocado salad, quick pickled cuke slices, roasted corn kernels and black bean salad, sliced tomatoes and onions on the table. Sometimes I even serve home made potato salad but the amt served is very controlled. If I decide to serve bread w/ the burgers I use potato rolls as a substitute for hamburger buns.

Since we rarely drink commercially made soda I make lemonade or limeade or ice tea or berryade concentrates, freeze em and add water or club soda on site. I like that I can control the sugar content and it's easy to transport w/o taking up a lot of space.

HTH and if you want any specific recipes just ask.

kerrlakeroo wrote:
If you like it, dont take it.

Or, another way of looking at it. If you don't like it, take it.

For the kids' snacks, choose stuff they like that you don't - that will keep you from snacking.

I find for folks with different dietary needs, the best meal options are those you put together at the end, rather than before cooking. Things like tacos - easy for each person to use just what they like/fits their diet. For low carb option taco, use a bowl to hold all the ingredients and then break up part of a taco shell to eat it with.

If you like pasta, try cooking 1/3 of a serving for each person and then fill up the sauce with lots of very chunky-cut veggies.

I'm sure NYCgrrl will come forward with lots of options. She has a wonderful collection of tasty and healthy camping recipes that even picky princesses will eat.

If you like it, dont take it.

Cut all the carbs planed for the kids to eat in half...BBQ meats, salads, occasionally fresh fruit and lots of walking...