If you have to spend the summer month in nature, you can organize meals and prepare in advance inexpensive, light vegetarian camping foods.
Fire-roasted marshmallows are a great camping treat. But if you’re looking for more nutritious and less expensive alternatives for your next hike on a budget of less than $5 per person per day, the following grocery list will come in handy.
Oatmeal. Buying instant oatmeal in bulk saves money. Try adding peanut butter, cinnamon, brown sugar, and dried fruit.
Soy milk. Because soy milk needs to be refrigerated after the carton has been opened, two or three people should be able to drink it before it goes bad. You can also try using soy milk powder, but it tastes grainy and watery when you just add water to it.
Bread. If you have the time and a small oven, you can make your own bread, which is a fun way to save money. You can use a simple yeast bread recipe – just mix yeast, sugar, water, flour and salt, as well as cinnamon and raisins. Of course, store-bought bread is an easier option.
A mix of nuts, dried fruit, chocolate and whatever else you’d like to add.
Fruits and vegetables. Some foods, such as apples, citrus fruits, onions, potatoes, and carrots, keep better than others. For the first days, you can take blueberries, cherries, watermelon, celery, broccoli, corn and sweet peppers with you. Canned and dried fruits and vegetables are great too.
Peanut butter. Peanut butter is a staple on any camping trip because you can make sandwiches out of it, and of course add it to apples, tortillas, hot or cold cereals, celery, carrots, chocolate, pasta…
Gado-Gado. Gado-gado is one of my favorite dinners. To make this dish, cook vermicelli in the same pot with vegetables (onions, carrots, broccoli and peppers). Combine peanut butter, soy sauce, brown sugar and add to the pot, you can also add tofu.
Burrito. When you’re camping, just about anything that’s healthy can be used as a tortilla topping, but I recommend rice, beans, salsa, and roasted vegetables like onions, carrots, corn, canned tomatoes, and bell peppers.
One of the main problems of cooking in a campground is the lack of a refrigerator. In my experience, some foods I keep in the fridge at home can stay fresh for days or more at room temperature. However, if you are in doubt about the safety of a food, do not eat it.
Sarah Alper