Tent camping is the worst. - uncomfortable, humid, buggy, gross porta johns, birds chirp loudly at 445am. Kinda boring to boot.

Are kids involved op?

Bring a lot of snacks that will keep and can work for lunch or breakfast
Eg
Nuts
Dried fruit
Pita chips
Fruit bars
Granola bars
Pepperoni sticks
Oatmeal in packages
Ramen

And other things that are easy
Cheese strings or babybel
Hot dogs
Hummus
Cooked bacon
Boiled eggs
Bagels

Drinks
Hot chocolate
Gatorade mix

And make sure dinner is heartier.
First night - just prepare something at home and put warm it up eg chicken fajitas with sals
Second night - make pita pizzas with mozzarella and pepperoni

Anonymous wrote:MREs

This is the way.

MREs

Anonymous wrote:What’s the purpose of the camping trip? If you’re there to experience a natural park or do an outdoor activity, then be really pared down and strategic with your planning. Prep as much as possible in advance and freeze/package it with an eye toward individual meals. Don’t just take a bunch of stuff “because I don’t know what we’ll be in the mood for.”

If you’re doing this to save money or because lodging in the area is limited, rethink your itinerary and make life easier for yourself. Find a cheaper hotel and/or one farther out, or go to a different place completely before the next stop in your trip.

We plan on hiking in the park (it’s a state park campground) and just “camping”; having bonfires, being in nature, sleeping in the tent, etc.

What’s the purpose of the camping trip? If you’re there to experience a natural park or do an outdoor activity, then be really pared down and strategic with your planning. Prep as much as possible in advance and freeze/package it with an eye toward individual meals. Don’t just take a bunch of stuff “because I don’t know what we’ll be in the mood for.”

If you’re doing this to save money or because lodging in the area is limited, rethink your itinerary and make life easier for yourself. Find a cheaper hotel and/or one farther out, or go to a different place completely before the next stop in your trip.

Anonymous wrote:We did lots of camping vacations when our kids were young and always just did hot dogs on a stick and some sides (chips, fresh fruit and veggies, etc.) for dinners. We'd do that a few times and then go out to dinner for the other nights. Breakfast was just shelf stable stuff like boxed donuts/cereal bars and fruit.
I had no desire to fry bacon over an open fire.

I do a lot of camping and like this approach assuming you're cooking over a campfire. My family likes the precooked sausages better than hot dogs. You can also do foil wrapped quesadillas on a campfire really easily. Pregrated cheese and refried beans from a pouch or a can and shelf stable salsa.

I understand what you mean about "defeating the purpose" to go into town but it's nice if you need a backup option. Alternatively if you have a way to boil water (camp stove or chimney is helpful) and remember to bring a pot you can have Cup of Noodles or REI style backpacker meals for dinner and instant oatmeal for breakfast. Instant coffee. Those things can stay in your car as a backup.

We did lots of camping vacations when our kids were young and always just did hot dogs on a stick and some sides (chips, fresh fruit and veggies, etc.) for dinners. We'd do that a few times and then go out to dinner for the other nights. Breakfast was just shelf stable stuff like boxed donuts/cereal bars and fruit.
I had no desire to fry bacon over an open fire.

Grab dinner on the way in. Hot dogs or ramen for lunch and dinner the next day. Granola bars or instant oatmeal cups for breakfast. Whole fruit and veggie sticks to round it out. Mustard and ketchup packets for the dogs. S’mores for dessert. A jar of PB & jelly and a loaf of bread for snacks.

Buy groceries & ice in the cute town. Have a cooler. Keep it simple.

Hot dogs, Italian sausage, buns, onion & peppers. Cook in one pan on fire.

Fish or chicken. Diced potatoes with onions & peppers from previous night. Cook in one pan on fire

Sandwich meat or store bought egg salad or such sandwiches & chips.

Breakfast, egg sandwiches on store bought rolls. Maybe bacon or sausage . Cook in one pan on fire

Buy a pizza one meal.

Stuff for s'mores.

If you want to do campfire cooking do some fully cooked sausages or hot dogs or veggies you can do on a stick, stuff that's fine to eat raw so you don't get sick. Think about food storage too (so don't bring milk if you don't have a place to put it). Don't try to jump in to complex camp cooking on your first trip.

Go out for dinner, then come back and have the “campfire” experience making sweet hobo pies for dessert. Done.

You are really overthinking this, OP! Bring PB&J for lunch - and some chips and fruit - and then go out for dinner. Don't make this harder than it has to be.

"maybe defeats the purpose?"

Just do what is right for you! You don't want to be hungry. You don't want to waste food. You don't want condiments. Getting it JUST right will not be easy. Nothing wrong with going to a restaurant.

We are headed on a road trip to a specific destination but want to stop for two nights before to tent camp. Immediately after camping, we will be parking our car and taking a ferry to the final destination. I need help or advice for figuring out how to handle food. I don’t want to pack too much since we have to throw it out before we park our car. At the same time, I don’t want to pack too little and find ourselves hungry. I’m also trying to avoid needing a ton of condiments or extra ingredients since we will have no way to keep them once the car is parked.

Camp check in is at 2pm so it’s fair to assume we will have lunch covered that day. So, two dinners, two breakfasts, and a lunch. There is a cute town about a 20 minute drive away with a fun 50s diner, plus a pizza place, and we aren’t opposed to driving there for dinner, but it maybe defeats the purpose?

I’d love your advice!