Menu Planning
How to Plan Your Camp and Outdoor Cooking Needs
Some people feel a bit overwhelmed when planning meals for groups of people. What do we need to bring? How much food do we need? How are we preparing our meals? What type of camping are we doing? Does anyone have food allergies or special dietary needs?
Menu planning does not need to be a stressful exercise. Involve the members of your group and once these questions have been answered it is time to start developing a menu.
The first thing to determine is the number of meals to be prepared and the number of people that will be dining. Most recipes include the number of servings the recipe will provide. Use your favorite family recipes or feel free to use the recipes found on this site. Remember to incorporate variety and balance into your menu. Develop a written menu and use the menu to develop your shopping list. The form at the left can be used to help with this step. Discuss the menu with the members of your group so that everyone has input into the menu. This is a good time to ask about allergies or special dietary needs so that you know what to include, or more importantly, what ingredients to avoid. Do any members of the group have seafood or nut allergies? What about gluten? Gluten free diets are becoming more and more common. You will find several recipes on this site that are either gluten free or can be prepared with gluten free ingredients.
The next thing you need to do is determine what your food budget will be. How much do you have to work with? Food costs can vary in different parts of the country and from season to season. Planning on a budget of $4 - $5 per person per meal will allow you, in most parts of the country, to put together a pretty good menu using good quality, fresh ingredients. Once you have a budget set, stick to it, you may have to adjust your menu in order to stay within budget. Don't go over and remember, there is no prize for not using all of what you have budgeted.
Also be sure to prepare for the type of outing that you will be participating in. Dutch Ovens and heavy cook boxes simply don't work for backpacking while dehydrated foods are not necessarily desired fare for base camping. With a little bit of planning, your outing or event participants will have a great time, plenty of the right kind of foods to eat and you will be the talk of the town!