Hello,

I'm going on a 5 day fishing trip next week. I was told by the person in charge that we would do things slighly different this year : everyone buys and brings his food for breakfasts and lunches, as well as all his drinks (water, wine, beer, etc.). We're going to be 9 people so it makes a huge grocery shopping list hard to manage.

Sounds to me like this might be a little complicated because the fridge that's in the camp is pretty small. The camp will be full or people running around the tables and counters so i'm actually planning to be pretty autonomous. It's the first time i'm actually planning this out so if anyone has some recommendations, i'd appreciate them. It looks similar to planning a backpacking expedition.

I'll bring my own ustensils.

Things i've thought of bringing :

-8 liters of water
-10-12 fresh bagels
-peanut butter
-a dozen CLIF bars
-some ready-to-drink breakfast replacements (Carnation make some)
-Soupworks pouches by Lipton (just add boiling water)



Any other interesting ideas?

If you have cash Mountain House Freeze Dried dinners taste pretty good. Cous Cous is a good side dish - just add boiling water. If you add some lemon (they have packets of lemon powder) and some chicken (comes in a pouch to keep down the weight) it makes a good meal. The same type of meal using Idahoan instant mashed potatos makes for a good meal. For Breakfast - I love oatmeal or pancakes - the pancakes that are "add water". Lipton noodle dinners are pretty good too. Zatarain's has "complete meals" now - the meat is in the pouch - you just heat them. If you were careful you could probably boil the pouch - or you could just put it in a pan/pot with a LITTLE water or butter and heat it on a stove or carefully on the fire. Jerky for a snack. Peanuts or other nuts for a snack. It's a long list.

Bee:
Go to www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/yago104.html That might give you some help. You can add or take away things that you don't like or need to carry. Have a fun SAFE trip and don't forget your PSK.

is your water (8 litres) enough?

is your water for cooking too?

does the camp provide water?

if not, you may want to double - or more - the amount you need to bring.

Hey Bee,

Spam, pockets of chicken and single servings pockets of mayo are great addition to any boring meal routine. Mayo mixed with mustard makes a decent dressing. Also canned soup or noodle soups are good. I also find bringing a lot of spices can change how meal tastes. I always find room for small can of jalapeno and tabasco. My typical pack list if I don't have to carry it includes canned potatoes and corn. It's all in just getting creative. I like the dyhydrated meals that backpacking shops have to offer but they are lil expensive but worth it if weight is an issue.

I would grab some more water unless you are not doing salt water trip and will have access to a tap.

I'm assuming that dinners are fish so I would spare you the typical tuna can packing.

Hmmm -- execllent question

bring a big cooler for yourself -- lots of water, juice, gatorade, etc.

they now make tuna in foil pouches ( add some condiment sized mayo packs and instant tuna salad!) and chili in little boxes-- both are sealed and need no fridge

beef jerky, hard salami, candy bars, etc

instant oatmeal packets and those mini-cold cereals with powerded milk...

bring extra to trade...

tro

If you wanted you could pre-pack single serving meals in ziplock bags using instant rice and dehydrated vegetables. In camp you just add boiling water, vegetable oil, and canned chicken/tuna and let it sit in the freezerbag for 5 minutes of so. You can also do the same thing for breakfast by packing oatmeal, rasins, nuts, etc. into a ziplock, and adding powdered milk and boiling water. Here's a good site mentioned here before that has great ziplock bag recipies.

http://www.freezerbagcooking.com/


And here's another site that has really good packages of dehydrated food thats great for camping.

http://www.harmonyhousefoods.com/mainhome.html

How about eating some of the fish you catch? Fresh fish...yummy!

Bee,

Sounds like a fun trip coming up. Due to the limited kitchen space and cold storage I might suggest a site .

freezerbagcooking.com

Sara and Kirk have been around for more than a few years and have perfected this technique. It's great for backpacking, camping, BOBs or just for pre-prepared meals. They have several menus available for each meal with plenty of variety. Quick, easy and best of all "no clean up!" I think this will help you if you have time to plan.

kmat

I'm glad someone mentioned the Lipton pouch meals. They now have a large variety of meals, every one I have tried was very good. Of course you will need access to a stove for 15 minutes or so...

OBG,
Thanks for mentioning a stove. Maybe a camp stove or single burner pack stove to heat your water outside the kitchen area. For the freezerbag cooking you need a source to boil water to make these meals. I agree the Lipton meals are very good and will provide adequate nutrition.
kmat

+1 on the Idahoans, particularly the cheese and loaded varieties. About -1 zillon on the Betty Crocker potato pouches, taste like saw dust.

The Lipton rice sides are very good- add about 3/4 the amount of boiling water specified to a container and cover for ten minutes. The pasta sides come out pastey (texture and flavor) if you try that, but work fine if you are actively cooking.

Bee, my concern is your water supply. 8 quarts isn't very much, are you on fresh water? If so, bring your filter.

Wow, I enjoyed reading all your replies. It's true that there are many options. I like the tuna in foil pouches idea, along with some crackers perhaps.

So, for breakfast : plain room-temperature bagels + peanut butter, oatmeal (boiling water).

...and for lunches : CLIF bars, tuna+crackers, Lipton soups and assorted freeze dried meals (boiling water). Going to sample a few of those!

I will have access to the camp's propane stove, however I might take my MSR Windpro just for kicks, again doing my cooking whenever I want to.

Drinking water won't be available. Two options then : either I take 4 x 4 liters of water and some Gatorade powder. Or I could succumb to the Katadyn Vario water filter i've been eyeing for a while. It would be my first filter and I must say that on paper, the specs look very good. Slightly pricey, but I presume it's a quality unit. I will be on fresh water indeed, fishing on large lakes. I know that those filters come with tubing so that the tip sinks in the water, to a depth adjustable by the user. Would that be enough to avoid getting engine fuel/oil in the filter? Does it appears to be worth getting this filter in order to avoid bringing 12+ extra liters of water? Hmmmm...

I only need to play 5 breakfasts and 5 lunches, so it's not such a big deal at the end of the day.


Thanks!


Bee

A carbon equipped filter helps with petrochems, so does a long tube. Or more water, but 16L isn't much for five days between drinking and cooking, not if you're also going to get sunburned.

Never saw someone on their first fishing or camping trip of the year who didn't.

BEE try www.minimus.biz for pack sized condiments and other such things I shop there two weeks before a campout and product arrives in plenty of time before hand

Mike

Eureka! What a great store. Thanks Mike!

+1 on freezer bag cooking!

-Blast

Some of those packets of Kraft instant Mac & Cheese ain't bad. A little boiled water and some tuna and viola!

If you can keep em at least cool, a couple tins of pilsbury biscuits or breadsticks or crescent rolls come in awful handy. They can be draped around a clean stick and roasted/baked over a fire and eaten as monkey bread. You'd be surprised at how easy they are to keep and prepare, and how good they taste at camp.

For that matter, you could just take some bisquik or other "just add water" quickbread mix and make your own monkey bread. It can get a bit messy I suppose, but camp is like that anyways.

Since it doesn't sound like you have to pack anything, canned goods are pretty darned suitable. Also, them pudding packs make nice quick snacks.

Minute rice stretches everything, including breakfast.

On a side note, in my quest to find individual butter packets that do not require refrigeration I came across real canned butter made by a company from New Zealand. I don't like margarin, butter substitute, and don't care for ghee, so this looks like a winner. Finally the real thing in a can.

http://www.mredepot.com/servlet/the-90/red-feather-canned-butter/Detail

There used to be a butterlike product, in little packets like McD's ketchup, made in the good ole USofA; Visalia, CA if I recall correctly. I think it was called Backpackers Butter, but I can't find it using Mr. Google. You might check backpacking stores to see if it is still available...