by Rainier70 » Wed Mar 06, 2013 11:25 am
I usually camp alone most of the time, and I seldom cook a large full meal. I like to keep things simple.
I may take some things for the first day or two that are frozen or need to be kept cool. The other cool items, I usually keep are things like cheese, eggs, lettuce, carrots, fruit, and cooked meats like ham, bacon, or sausage. I eat the things that would spoil first. If I run out of ice, it gets cold enough in the mountains that I can open the cooler at night and even put out a couple of gallons of water to get cold, then in the morning I pack them back in. I also add insulation by putting the cooler under blankets or my sleeping bag. Cheese etc can keep a long time if kept reasonably cool.
Most of what I keep packed and ready to go are things that don't need refrigeration, as I am out mostly in the high mountains away from power or stores. A couple of boxes of cereal and crackers, canned meat to put on the crackers such as chicken and tuna, canned soups, chili, beans, and stuff like ravioli. Some other staples such as bagels, rice, pasta, mixes etc. The real majority of my meals are dehydrated dinners that I make throughout the year. Most things can be made into dehydrated meals from soup to lasagna. Just NOT eggs... they are nasty!
Another area of the super market you might look for meal ideas is in the sauces and quick cooking rice or dried mashed potato aisles. You can make a lot of different meals by adding dried sauce or soup packets to rice etc. Also little condiment or salad dressing packets can help with the camp kitchen supplies.
One trick in my lazy cooking is that I will park my truck so that the windshield faces the sun. Then I put up the sunshades, but I will put a can of soup or add water to a dehydrated meal and then set it in between the windshield and the sunshade. I go fishing for a couple of hours and come back to a nice hot lunch already made.
