We are headed to the campground soon to try out our new (to us) pop-up camper that we recently acquired. I'm back today to share with you a fun weekend camping menu planner that you can download for FREE!
Eat Like a King!
Let's face it, camping can be hard. Unless you have a mini-house that you drive or tug along behind your truck, things that are easy at home will be ten times harder at a campsite. Things like taking a shower, washing dishes and cooking!
I admit, I'm often tempted to just throw some hamburgers and sandwich meats in the cooler and call it done, but that will get old FAST. While I don't want to slave over food the entire time that we're camping, I don't want to eat the same things every.single.meal. Bleh!
Eating well while camping doesn't have to be complicated. With a little preparation ahead of time we can eat like kings without having to slave for hours over food or cleaning up afterward!
This free printable menu planner can help you get all of your meals organized and laid out!
Here's Our Menu
Day 1
We are headed out late afternoon on our first day so I'll only need to cook dinner and dessert.
For dinner, we'll be having BBQ Chicken & Potatoes with Corn-on-the-Cob. Since this meal is cooked entirely in foil packets on the grill there will be minimal clean-up involved (yay!). I'll pre-cut our boneless, skinless chicken breasts at home and store them in the cooler until we're ready to cook. The only prep that has to be done at the campsite is cutting the potatoes and that shouldn't take long.
For dessert, we'll be having No Bake Chocolate Eclair Cake cause hubby absolutely loves this stuff. The kids think it's pretty fab too come to think of it.
This is easy to make at home in a disposable foil pan from the Dollar Tree and then store in the fridge until we're ready to eat it. Did I mention that our new pop-up has a small refrigerator? I am so tickled about that! No more trying to keep food from spoiling in a cooler for 2 days! So many new possibilities!
Day 2
This is a full day of fun and food so I want to try and keep things as simple as I can (without succumbing to cereal and sandwiches that is).
For breakfast, we'll have French Toast sticks with bananas and orange juice or milk to drink. This will be the meal that requires the most clean up as I'll the egg mixture in a container and then cook it all on the griddle, which will also need to be cleaned. It's worth it though because I need a good breakfast that will keep the kids full for our hike.
Lunch will be this to-die-for Campfire Philly Cheesesteak Sandwich along with chips or pretzels. I thought about premaking this at home but I'm a little concerned that it might get soggy so I'll just take an extra five minutes to put it all together at the campsite.
Dinner will be nachos or tacos, whichever my people want. I'll prep everything for this ahead of time so that all I have to do is pull it all out, heat up the meat, and voila! All done! This is probably my favorite camping meal because it is soooooo quick and easy.
If you're interested in how I do it:
- Brown hamburger meat at home. Mix in taco seasoning according to package directions. I usually cook up about 2-3 lbs. of this. It's nice to have extra on hand in case we're all extra hungry. When the meat is done, set aside and let cool completely. When cooled, transfer to a storage container and keep in refrigerator until time to pack it up.
- Slice black olives and put into a container.
- Transfer some sour cream into a travel size squirt bottle. Just makes it easier to handle without having to dirty up a spoon for it.
- Make homemade Peco de Gallo and store in a container, or buy some at the store.
- Make homemade Guacamole and store in a container, or buy some at the store.
- Shred some lettuce and store in a container.
- Shred some cheese and store in a container, or grab a pack or pre-shredded at the store.
- Grab a jar of pickled jalapenos, or slice some fresh ones.
- Toss in a bag of tortilla chips and taco shells.
When it's time to head out, I pack all of the containers into the cooler. When it's time to eat, I pull them all out. Heat the taco meat in a small pot on the grill or over the fire. And it's done! Put it all together on paper plates and the only dish you have to clean is the pot. Simple.
For dessert the second night we'll be trying a new variation of s'mores that I found called Fudge Striped Cookie S'mores. I'm not really a big fan of s'mores. They're messy and a pain in the patoot to keep from falling apart while trying to squish all that gooey stuff together. I don't think that they taste all that great either honestly. :-/
I do, however, like fudge striped cookies and marshmallows, so I'm hoping that this combination might be a bit less messy! Certainly looks yummy.
Day 3
We'll be heading back home on day 3 so the two meals that we have to eat at the campsite will be super quick and easy because this will be a busy and short day.
For breakfast, we'll be having Apple Muffins, which I will make at home and store in a container until we're ready to eat them. These don't even need to be warmed up because they are fabulous hot, room temperature or cold. I just hope that I can keep the kiddos out of them until we need them for breakfast! They LOVE these things!
For lunch, we'll have Hot Ham & Cheese Croissants, which I will premake at home and pack in the cooler or fridge until we're ready to eat. We'll be able to throw these on the grill to warm them up about an hour before we plan to hit the road. While they're warming we can start packing up, eat our lunch, finish packing while the grill cools down and then we're off. The only clean up with these is to throw away the foil wrapper! Doesn't get much easier than that.
Free Printable
Don't forget to grab your free printable! You can download it here or click on the photo below.
Need more camping inspiration, meals and tips? Check out these posts:
Camping Meals - Lunch & Snacks
Camping Meals - Dinner & Desserts
Our Favorite Camping Tips, Tricks & Hacks
What are your favorite camping meal planning tips and tricks?
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