Do you have to eat canned food just because you are camping?

No! If our camping trip was a day or two I could accept eating canned food just for the convenience. But if you are out for a longer time food is quite important. Some might think we eat canned ravioli or go to McDonald’s or some other delicious restaurant every day. I must admit that I have been to more fast food restaurants during the past 3 months than in the past few years. Maybe we have had fast food 5-10 times and usually only when we drive most part of the day and in the rare occasion when there is nothing else to be found (I promise, we stayed in a town in Montana where we really could not find any alternative). Most days though we cook and eat food that are very much like what we would eat at home. The only part missing is whatever we would cook in an oven.

We have spent quite a lot of time at campgrounds which is a great place for people watching and studying of food habits. Although people might eat differently while camping and at home, in many cases I don’t think it differs that much. There is a lot of barbecue-ing going on, obviously. This is the most common food for families on holiday that are probably not too far from home judging of the amount of gear they bring. There are chairs, day tents, tents for sleeping, tables, coolers, boxes of food or what ever they contain (4th of July weekend was particularly amusing with all the decoration). We are often surprised that they actually fit everything in the car, it is like the trunk has no bottom.

4th of July decorated camp site

Being outdoors a fire is absolutely necessary but usually a grill is brought along for the food part of the experience. The fire is more for the atmosphere and make everything stink of smoke (very few seem to know how to make a fire that does not smoke the neighbors out, if they care at all). To that the large (or the huge pack of smaller) chips bag is standard. The drink of choice is beer which often has its own cooler or small bottles of water. Why one can not buy a large container of water and fill small bottles or glasses we have not understood. The beer is usually consumed by the husband while the kids are playing and the wife is doing something that looks like preparing food or decorating/cleaning the camp site. I feel like the odd one here since I am usually the one with the beer and Andy is cooking. 🙂

The chair to the right is where I was having a beer while Andy was working

If barbecue is not on the menu the family would go visit a restaurant and the typical European tourist would eat a noodle soup. For the tourist, who has flown from somewhere and did not have the chance to pack up half the house,  a soup or pasta out of a can would mean least trouble for the cheapest food. I bet many of them have stolen salt and pepper at McDonald’s to save the couple of dollars it would cost in the store.

As for the Asians I think they are the best off. We have seen rice cookers and absolutely delicious looking and smelling food. They usually stay true to their type of food. Which I can really understand because Asian food is so much better than North American food.

It is not like we are in the wilderness for weeks at a time. Usually we pass by a store every other day and have the possibility to get fresh groceries. The same day as we shop we normally pick up some meat or chicken that will not spoil until cooked. We have a cool box where we put ice and the things we need to keep cold. This works very well. We just have to make sure everything is well sealed since ice do melt and we end up with a lot of water in the bottom of the box.

So let me show you our mobile kitchen. The left most image is the cool box where we store the important cheese, chocolate and beer. The mid image is the seasoning box featuring soy sauce, olive oil, bouillon and other spices. To the right the utensils box with cutlery, glasses, cups and knives.

  

This is what it can look like while having breakfast.

Here are some examples of what we eat.

Rice noodles with beef

Asparagus and mushroom risotto with smoked ham

Chicken quesadillas