AIBU to wonder what you eat when camping or glamping?!

[kravestix]

Arranging a family holiday. Accommodation for 7 nights is a safari tent. Comes with a one ring portable gas hob, a BBQ and an Electric Cool Box. What are we supposed to eat for the week? There's 7 of us.

I don't fancy a BBQ every single night. Chances of rain are probably likely at some point too. We can't eat out every day. That's too expensive for 7 of us. We'll be lucky if we can eat out once during the week. So, what are sort of things can we eat? Really looking forward to the Holiday but very much panicking about the food situation and lack of fridge or oven!

If you camp or glamp what do you eat? Any suggestions?

So long as you have two pans, one ring is not a problem. For rice, cook it first: rice and cold water in a 1:2 ratio, bring to the boil, take it off the stove and put the lid on. It will then cook slowly in the water while you cook curry etc on the stove. (If it's really cold wrap in a blanket to keep the heat in but it isn't really necessary in UK in August, it should cook fine as is provided the lid is kept tightly on the pan)

For pasta, cook the sauce first, take off and cover to keep warm then cook the pasta, then add to the sauce to warm through.

Soups and casseroles are one pot so even easier

Poached eggs will also cook off the stove in a pan full of boiled water - as a bonus eggs don't need to be refrigerated so long as they're raw so you can base meals around them later in the week if you don't want to shop

We had two rings and five of us and regularly made spag bol, mince and potatoes, chicken and rice, and sometimes fajitas. The rice worked best if I boiled it for 5 minutes first thing in the morning then turned the heat off and left it to 'cook' in its own heat throughout the day. You just need to get used to chucking everything into one pot/frying pan and removing any ideas of nice looking food!

I remember camping with the Girl Guides and everything cooked on the camp fire. Even hot water for washing was had to be heated on the camp fire.

Glamping it was not !

Following with interest. I’ve added cheese toasties and soup to our rainy day contingency mix. We’re going with my parents and my dad will bbq in any weather though

@BrieAndChilli

Premake something like chilli or spag Bol for the first night then just heat up when you get there (I would buy another gas stove - about £20 from camping stores/millets etc)

Couple of BBQs.
Eat out once
Would you be able to stretch to takeaway pizza one night as well?
Fajitas are easy - cook the chicken/veg in pan and then serve with salad and sauces and some tortilla chips
Do a tinned pasta meal something like tuna pasta (pasta/tuna/tin sweetcorn/tin tomatoes and then Chuck in some grated cheese.

There will be a ship nearby to get fresh milk/bread/cheese etc

I think OP is hoping it doesn't rain that much that a ship passes by 🤣🤣🤣

Bolognaise/curry pre made and frozen for nights 1 & 2
Eggs/ packet rice/stir fry veg for night 3
BBQ night four (tinned hot dogs, marinated chicken that you’d already frozen to defrost in the electric cool box)
Eat out night 5
One pot veggie pasta recipe night 6 or pasta puttanesca because everything comes out of a tin for that
Night 7 take away pizza

Breakfasts - eggs or cereal/porridge

Lunches - sandwiches, fruit, salad etc

Favourite one pan camping recipe (not requiring a fridge) is Smoky Hot Pot:
Fry strips of onions/peppers (& any other veg you fancy eg courgette) Add tinned potatoes (cut into big chunks), chuck in some tins of baked beans and lots of good quality sweet smoked mild paprika and heat through until reduced a bit. It's quick, simple and surprisingly tasty. Also a good quick meal for the kids at home if you're short on time - mine love it.

I would buy a cadac safari chef 2 (they are discounted) with the pizza stove. I would do the following:

Pizza
Carbonara
Chicken and salad
Salmon, pesto, green beans and potatoes (one two timing is key)
Saffron risotto or maybe a paella?
Banger, peas and mash
Premade curry or spagbol
Thai green curry

Is there a shop on site with fresh bread? Cold meats, cheese, hummus carrot stikes. I would also do hotdogs if you’re close enough to transport.

How big is the electric cooler? Can you get too ups?

We’re week 4 of a van holiday so you’ve hit me up at the right time!

We have full breakfasts, one pot spag bol, fajitas, curry, sausage casserole, jacket spuds. I do a fab cheesey potato thing as well which is mega popular. It’s one pot of potatoes boil them. Then when they’ve cooled, add cream cheese, spring onions, bacon crumble, grated sharp cheddar and parmesan. Then put it all together in a pot on the lowest heat setting, with a cup of water in the middle and a lid on the pan.
Wait until it’s reduced/melted enough (it will smell super cheesy!) then take the lid off, remove the cup of water and add a ball of thinly sliced mozarella.
Lowest heat setting again, just for 5 mins and it’s all cooked/melted.
Serve it in bowls with some salted butter sliced over the top. It’s horrifically fattening, but my god is it good after a day in the rain!
We do jacket spuds wrapped in tin foil on the fire, along with mushrooms.
Sausage and beans - cook the sausages in a tin of baked beans. Right at the end add mushrooms and grated cheese, let it all melt together and it’s one pot meal!
Basically anything you can cook in one pot is great.

If you have a thermal mug or two, take those as they're great for keeping cooked things warm while you cook other things - e.g. heat beans, then keep in the thermal mug(s) while you fry sausages, put them in with the beans, fry bacon and eggs = one full cooked breakfast; heat hot dog sausages, keep warm in the mug while you fry onions or warm chilli = loaded hotdogs in buns.

@JenniferAllisonPhillipaSue

If you have a thermal mug or two, take those as they're great for keeping cooked things warm while you cook other things - e.g. heat beans, then keep in the thermal mug(s) while you fry sausages, put them in with the beans, fry bacon and eggs = one full cooked breakfast; heat hot dog sausages, keep warm in the mug while you fry onions or warm chilli = loaded hotdogs in buns.

Now this is genius !

We have an emergency meal that we take on self-catering holidays just in case we get there the first night and the shops are shot. It is not specifically camping but could be cooked on one ring.

Basically it takes a tin of oxtail soup, a tin of corned beef, a tin of potatoes and a tin of another veg (or beans). Just mix them all in one pan and heat up. Voila a beef stew

We have a caravan, with a fridge, cooker which has an oven and 3 gas hobs. We have a cool box too, and have a cadac bbq which also has a huge skillet attachment. This means we can cook for 6 people steaks, burgers, full breakfast fry up, chicken curry, chilli, paella. Or ribs, with new potatoes and veg. Spag Bol and garlic bread.

It doesn't limit or change what we eat.

Prepare Easy Coronation Chicken at home and eat cold for lunch with sandwiches for a couple of days. It is really nice and so easy to make.

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/easy-coronation-chicken

Or a couple of ready made Knorr soups in pouches (some are actually really nice) to just heat up if it’s a bit cold. Doesn’t need to be refridgerated.

Freeze meatballs (or buy the frozen Ikea ones 🙂) and fry them together with canned potatoes.

Take a heavy pan with a tight lid to cook rice. Bring it to the boil on the gas ring then after 5 mins or so (basmati) take it off to steam and it will finish cooking in the pan while you reheat a sauce or cook a quick stir fry.

If you can get hold of a thermal slow cooker then that would also help.

One ring....that's not glamming lol

Do veg on bbq ..wrap in foil.....courgettes pepper corn on cob
Wrap fish fillets with spinach cherry tomatoes in foil on bbq
Salads coleslaw

Take a chilli ...re heat in pan serve with nachos dips grated cheese

Spanish omelette.....with salad....jackets baked on bbq

Can do fruits on bbq like pineapple rings or bananas stuffed with chocolate and foil wrapped

Toast marshmallows

Couple take outs ?

For dinner we'd have stir fries, paella, ramen if we bring along stock, pasta dishes, mostly stuff we'd cook at home. We usually taken frozen meat with us in the electric cool box if we're in the same country or buy fresh if we're somewhere else.

For lunch we find a Lidl or similar and buy baguettes and a packet of something to go in them.

Tortellini
Risotto
Fajitas
Ready cooked hot chickens, boiled potatoes and salad
Kebabs with pitta bread and salad
Chilli and rice
Stir fry and noodles

Baked beans, canned
Jars of spag bol
boiled eggs (picnic) ham, salad, fruit, cheese, bread. canned tuna
Anything else you can buy ready made in a can or jar.
Supermarket quiche, apple pie, sausage rolls.
chocolate, wine, cakes, icecream.

Remember to take a good can opener, paper napkins, paper plates.

I was about to rattle off a load of advice, but I see you're cooking for seven people, which is a whole different ball game. I think I would have to take my electric pressure cooker/slowcooker to feed seven every night.

Why not ask the campsite ( in advance) for an extra "portable gas ring" one is stupid, and they must know it!

I've just done two weeks camping with a one ring hob and bbq but I also have an electric frying pan and an electric kettle and a toaster ( could manage without that to be honest)

I hope you do have more than just the one job and a bbq. I'm a seasoned camper but I'd struggle with just that!

We cook- (there's four of us) :

King Prawns and a jar of tikka masala and pilau rice and poppodoms

Bbq paprika chicken with salad and rice

Pasta and bolognese ( again using a jar of sauce)

Chilli and rice ( the Nigella express version which uses spicy tomato pasta sauce and chorizo )

Lamb koftas with pitta , Greek salad and cous cous

Pan fried salmon with broccoli and cous cous

White fish with a jar of korma sauce rice and naan bread

A one pot tomato based rice with tuna and sweet corn that is a recipe passed down from DH's parents from their camping days - simple but tasty

Breakfast was scrambled egg and bacon with bagels , or pain au chocolate or instant porridge

Every other meal was at the pub , restaurant or fish and chips on the beach.