“Camping For Foodies” Part 1

We’re baaaaaaaccck!  I made it through the desert heat and all I got was a meeeaaan neck tan.  How was your Labor Day weekend?  If you had told me a few years ago that I’d be peeing in a bush and sleeping next to ants on Labor Day weekend… and liking it… I’d call you Nancy Grace (read: crazy). But, the verdict is in and I really had a great time.  We camped in Joshua Tree for two nights and while I can get over the idea of going out into the middle of nowhere to set-up a makeshift version of what you already have at home (i.e. bedroom, kitchen, living room), I CANNOT get over eating like a college faternity boy for three days.  So, I made it my mission to put together a Camping For Foodies guide that will make you forget you’re anywhere near coyote poop.

The key to Camping for Foodie success is preparation.  I prepped the night before for about an hour and I was able to put together meals all weekend quickly and super easily.  To make this easier to digest, I’m going to separate this into two posts.  Today, I’ll run down the night before prep!

Please note this picture of Adam: He insisted I get on higher ground to take this photo of him.  We were about 200 feet up and the angle he requested makes him appear like he’s on the ground. bahahahahaha. So much for drama.

Night Before Prep:

Chop the following produce:

• 4 peppers (red, green, orange or yellow), 3 chopped and 1 sliced
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1/2 onion, skewer-sized (slice a few pieces just for the sauteed peppers and onions)
• 5 cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 green onion, chopped
• 1 avocado, cubed
• 1 mango, cubed
• 1 zucchini, thick sliced
• Cantaloupe, cubed
• strawberries, halved
•  grapes, whole

Throw last three produce items in a tupperware and store in fridge.  Grab a few for yourself to snack on while you prepare the rest.

Make this Mango Avocado Salad.  Store in tupperware in the fridge. Comes together in less than 10 minutes and keeps for up to four days!

I began boiling the water for the Best Ever Pasta Salad while I was making the Mango Salad. Once pasta is done, make pasta salad.  Store in tupperware in fridge.

Chop 1 lb. top sirloin and add to a gallon ziploc bag with 1 chopped pepper, 1 skewer-sized onion, 1 chopped zuccini and this marinade.  Lay flat in fridge overnight.

Saute the sliced pepper and onions in a little olive oil.  Once tender crisp, transfer to a small tupperware in fridge.

Bag the tomatoes and green peppers in a small ziploc bag. Store in fridge overnight.

Bag all ingredients for meals together in separate plastic shopping bags. That made it soooo much easier to just grab a plastic shopping bag out of the cooler for each meal and know all the items were in it, rather than having to dig around for an hour like it’s your Tory Burch.

Things to remember in your dry foods bag:

• Heavy Duty Tin Foil
• 4 skewers
• Paper Towels
• Anti-bacterial
• Baby Wipes
• 2 steak knives
• Paper plates, cups and utensils
• Grill utensils
• Mustard
• Lemon Pepper seasoning

Now that you’re prepped – stay tuned for all the Camping for Foodies recipes tomorrow including…

Lemon Butter Campfire Salmon with Mango Slaw

Hungryman Camping Breakfast

Healthy Hiker’s Lunch

Soy-Marinated Sirloin Skewers with Grilled Asparagus and Best Ever Pasta Salad

• And the best camping secret EVER!