One of our favorite family camping activities is hiking, particularly in the mountains where the elevation provides a welcome relief from the valley heat. Whether we are hiking one mile or five, we never leave camp without the backcountry essentials, including trail snacks for everybody. The kids all have their favorite trail snacks and we bring a variety of different types with us, to help keep the kids (okay, parents, too!) motivated. Have you ever wondered how the various trail snacks compare, from a nutritional standpoint?

Snack Bars

Snack bars, like Nature Valley® Sweet & Salty Bars and Granola Bars, are one of our staples on shorter hikes and even for the kids, on longer hikes. These bars taste great and are more substantial than lighter snacks.

Serving size (grams):	42	35
Calories:	190	170
Calories from Fat:	60	80
Saturated Fat (grams):	0.5	2.5
Sodium (milligrams):	160	150
Carbohydrates (grams):	29	19
Sugars (grams):	12	11
Protein (grams):	4	4

Energy Bars

In cold weather and on longer hikes, I like the extra substance of an energy bar. These hearty bars, like Clif®, Luna® and PowerBar® Performance® are a bit much for kids, but sometimes I will share a bite, or two.

Serving size (grams):	68	48	65
Calories:	250	180	240
Calories from Fat:	50	50	40
Saturated Fat (grams):	2	2	1
Sodium (milligrams):	200	160	200
Carbohydrates (grams):	42	26	44
Sugars (grams):	20	11	25
Protein (grams):	11	9	9

Trail Mix

Trail mix is a popular trail snack for the kids, although we have to keep an eagle-eye on them, or they will pick out all of the M&Ms. Of course, trail mix doesn’t have to have M&Ms. Dried fruit also mixes well with the traditional peanuts, raisins, almonds and cashews.

Serving size (grams):	40	40
Calories:	213	187
Calories from Fat:	120	66
Saturated Fat (grams):	2.7	1.3
Sodium (milligrams):	53	60
Carbohydrates (grams):	16	24
Sugars (grams):	12	19
Protein (grams):	6.7	2.7

Dried Fruit

Dried fruit is tasty and really easy to pack, so it’s no wonder that it is one of the most popular trail snacks, for many people. From tart cranberries to super-sweet mangoes, there are dried fruits to suit every taste.

Serving size (grams):	40	40	40	40
Calories:	130	173	100	130
Calories from Fat:	0	60	0	0
Saturated Fat (grams):	0	5.3	0	0
Sodium (milligrams):	10	27	0	0
Carbohydrates (grams):	31	28	26	33
Sugars (grams):	12	25	22	27
Protein (grams):	1	1.3	1	0

Fresh Fruit

It may not pack quite as easily as dried fruit, but fresh fruit is a wholesome and juicy trail snack, that is particularly welcome on warm days. Just remember to pack out the peels!

Serving size (grams):	6.4 oz.	4.6 oz.	4.2 oz.
Calories:	95	62	105
Calories from Fat:	2	0	4
Saturated Fat (grams):	0.1	0	0.1
Sodium (milligrams):	2	0	1
Carbohydrates (grams):	25	16	27
Sugars (grams):	19	12	14
Protein (grams):	0.5	1.2	1.3

Resources:
Nature Valley
Clif Bar & Company
PowerBar
Sun-Maid
CalorieKing

See also…

• The Backcountry Essentials
• Trail Mix
• Top 10 Foods for Family Camping

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We did something a little different, for veggies, on our recent family camping trip through northern California and Oregon: Shiskabobs! This proved to be a great way to prepare vegetables, along with some steaks, on our camping grill – and the kids even seemed to like them.

Marshmallow roasting forks work great for grilling vegetables

We have tried to grill shiskabobs before, but we used the regular wood shiskabob sticks and it ended-up being quite a mess. The problem with the individual, thin, sticks is that they don’t hold the vegetables very well and a lot of them fall off onto the grill and into the stove. This time, however, we tried using our marshmallow roasting forks.

We have the cheap stainless steel roasting forks and, while they are not the best for roasting marshmallows because the marshmallows can slide off the end if you are not careful, the double prongs did a great job of holding the vegetables.  The double prongs also made it much easier to flip the shiskabobs on the grill, which was really hard to do with the wooden shiskabob sticks, because the vegetables would rotate on the sticks.

Use leftover grilled vegetables for breakfast the next morning

This worked best on our Weber® Q® grill, because the lid traps the heat around the vegetables so that they cook all around and not just on the bottom. I think it would work on an open grill, or a campfire, too, but it would probably take longer to cook them – and tougher to cook them evenly. We have previously steamed vegetables in foil pouches – and that worked really well in the campfire.

Whether you grill vegetables shiskabob-style, or steam them in foil pouches, one of the big benefits is that you have leftover mushrooms, onions, tomatoes and peppers for an egg scramble the next morning. Targeting multiple meals is always a good idea, because it reduces the number of different foods that you have to pack, and it simplifies your menu.

I was planning on a marshmallow roasting fork upgrade, this summer, but since they worked so well for vegetable shiskabobs, I am rethinking that idea.

See also…

• Weber Q-220 Camping Grill
• 5 Marshmallow Sticks for Family Camping
• A Camp Breakfast Everyone will Remember

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I don’t remember getting to choose what foods I would and would not eat, when I was a kid so I’m not sure how I turned into such a pushover when it comes to what my kids will eat. Our oldest is a easy enough – she’ll happily down anything from my spicy curry to a bowl of clam chowder. The other two are a different story, however!  This means that when we are camping, we need to plan meals with everyone in mind, because we cannot bring a lot of different foods.

Tacos

Tacos are an easy camping meal and everyone can build their own (photo by Dain Sandoval)

Tacos are a great for lunch or dinner, when camping, because they are easy to hold and each one is full of meat and veggies. The downside is that those crispy shells have to be packed with care, or you will end up with a pile of crispy chips – and it’s much harder to get kids to eat taco salad, than tacos!

Grilled chicken or hamburger
Chopped lettuce
Diced tomatoes
Diced onion
Sliced avocado
Sliced olives
Shredded cheese

These ingredients can be prepared ahead of time and packed in individual bags. Leftover ingredients can be used for omelets or egg scrambles, the next morning. The easiest way to serve tacos at the campsite is to setup a taco bar on the picnic table and let everyone build their own.

Calzone

Grilled on the campfire or camp stove, calzone is a fun meal that the kids will love (photo by Scot Rumery)

All kids seem to like pizza and calzone is an easy way to serve a pizza meal at the campsite, since you can flip it over to grill both sides. The ingredients for a calzone also pack very well, making this a great meal for even long camping trips.

Pizza dough (or bread dough, like Boboli®)
Sliced pepperoni
Pasta sauce or tomato sauce
Diced onion
Sliced olives
Sliced tomato
Shredded cheese

Feel free to include, or exclude, as many ingredients as you wish – like an omelet, you can use just about any leftover vegetable on a calzone. The only challenge to making a calzone, when camping, is rolling out the dough. We pack a silicone cutting board, which works well for this – just place the dough in the center and use your hands, inside a resealable bag, to press the dough out. Add your ingredients on one half of the dough, then fold the other half over the top and seal the edges together. Use a griddle over the campfire, or your camp stove, to cook each side.

See also…

• Camping Meal menu from Bon Appétit
• Camp Cooking Strategy
• A Camp Breakfast Everyone will Remember

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Campfire cooking seems to be getting a bit of a bad rap from some camping aficionados lately, which is a real shame. Most of the arguments that I have seen against campfire cooking revolve around its difficulty, compared to cooking on a camping stove. The truth is, if you are going to have a campfire anyway, then there’s no reason not to cook something on it – and it’s just a lot of fun.

Thinking back on all of our family camping trips, I can’t think of one where we cooked our entire meal over a campfire. Most of the time, though, we cook part of our meal over the campfire – both out of necessity (two burners only take you so far!) and because foods cooked over an open flame just taste so good.

Cooking a pot of chili over the campfire (photo by JimOnLight on Flickr)

Part of my attraction to family camping is experiencing a little bit of my heritage and sharing this with my children. Our ancestors didn’t always enjoy many of the things that we take for granted, and yet they persevered and overcame what we would consider to be hardships – things that they just considered to be living.

There are a lot of different foods that can easily be cooked in, or on, a campfire. Soups and stews are a natural choice. A heavy cast iron pot works best for this, because it distributes the heat so well. Other options include dutch ovens placed directly on the coals, or a pot suspended over the fire with a tripod.

I find that it is actually easier to cook soups and stews over a campfire than it is on a propane camping stove, because the stoves are so hot.  Trying to simmer chili on a camping stove can be nigh impossible, but over a campfire it’s as easy as moving the pot away from the hottest part of the fire.

Foil meals are easy to cook in a campfire (photo by szlea on Flickr)

When it comes to camp cooking, clean-up can be a major consideration – particularly when you are cooking for a family. Foil meals give you the best of all worlds; a complete serving of meat and vegetables with no pots or pans to wash, afterwards.

Foil meals taste great and there is very little work involved, other than placing each person’s individual foil meal packet onto the coals. We wrap our meals in a double-layer of standard aluminum foil, which helps to protect them against punctures. Cooking time is about 15 minutes on each side – 10 minutes for fish.

Corn on the cob is easy to cook over a campfire

The best way to ease yourself into campfire cooking is baked potatoes and corn on the cob. Baked potatoes, in particular, can be prepared just like you probably do at home. Poke a few holes in the potato, wrap it in foil, and cook for 45 minutes to an hour. We have tried coating the potatoes in butter, but it’s messy and, in our opinion, did not improve the taste.

There are a lot of different ways to cook corn over the campfire. The traditional method is with the husk on, tied with twine at the top of the ear. This is how we used to cook our corn and it worked fine, but the corn needs to be soaked in water for at least 30 minutes, to keep the husks from burning. We found that husking the corn and wrapping each ear in foil worked just as well, and did not require so much preparation. We have since changed to grilling the ears directly over the fire, without foil, because it adds a really tasty grilled flavor to the corn. Like roasting marshmallows, this is something that the kids really enjoy, since they can cook their ear of corn just the way they want it – grilled dark, or cooked light.

Campfire cooking is something that the entire family can participate in and have a good time doing it. Kids will learn the difference between a roaring “fun fire” and a low, smoldering cooking fire. In addition, everyone will appreciate the experience of cooking their own food.

See also…

• Camping Meal menu from Bon Appétit
• Camp Cooking Strategy
• Dutch Oven Buyer’s Guide

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Food safety is an often overlooked discipline when it comes to family camping in the backcountry. At least until somebody gets sick, that is. Most food poisoning is caused by bacteria, which is in the soil, air, water, and the foods we bring camping with us. In small quantities these bacteria are harmless, but when conditions are right the bacteria can rapidly increase in number to a point where they can cause illness.

When it comes to camping food safety, the big challenge is keeping perishable food at 40-degrees, or lower. Bacteria can grow rapidly at temperatures between 40 and 140 degrees and there are no tell-tale signs of dangerous bacterial growth, such as taste, smell or discoloration.

Most of us are familiar with food spoilage, which is easy to spot (or smell!) when our food gets old, but spoilage is caused by a completely different type of bacteria than the kind that causes food poisoning (called “pathogenic bacteria”). Spoilage is usually not a problem for most campers, because our camping trips are relatively short.

The best defense against an outbreak of pathogenic bacteria in camping food is a good ice chest with a lot of ice. I have tested our 70-quart Igloo® MaxCold™ ice chest, on an 80-degree summer day, to find out how much ice it takes to keep the internal temperature at 40-degrees. I initially tested with two milk jugs (I make my own block ice with 1-gallon milk jugs), which could only keep the ice chest at 45-degrees. Next, I switched to three milk jugs and this seemed to do the trick, keeping the cooler between 38 and 42 degrees throughout the afternoon.

Different types and sizes of ice chests will perform differently, however, so it pays to test your own. All you need is a way to measure the inside temperature, preferably without opening the lid. I used our weather gauge, which has remote sensor for measuring the outside temperature – I just placed this sensor on top of the food, inside the ice chest.

Another challenge we all face when camping is cleanliness. Everything that comes into contact with food should be clean. This usually means a lot of antiseptic wipes and waterless hand cleaner, unless you have ready-access to tap water in the campground.

Something that we find extremely beneficial is to prepare much of our camping food ahead of time, at home, and freeze it. It’s much easier to deal with individual frozen hamburger patties at the campsite, than several pounds of raw hamburger and the associated mess that creates. In addition, the frozen foods work with the ice to help control the temperature in our cooler.

See also…

• How to Use an Ice Chest
• 10 Tips to Better Outdoor Cooking
• Make Camping Meals at Home to Save Time and Trash

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