5 Easy Camping Meals
Just because you are camping there’s no need to compromise on cooking tasty and healthy meals, although we totally get it’s lovely to break the home routine and to go for the quick options.
Our tip when camping or self catering is to take a good stock of basic herbs, spices, stock cubes and tinned ingredients like tomatoes with you. Then with a bit of planning and a trip to the local supermarket or farm shop you can rustle up something to be proud of.
We’ve asked some camping friends of Andrewshayes for their favourite easy camping meals and have got some great recipes here for you to try.
Relaxing and eating outdoors in the summer is a real treat, so let’s try to take the stress out of meal planning for you. We hope you will enjoy trying out some of the following recipes.
Claire – Tin Box Traveller
This summer the Tin Box Family will be camping in the South West of England with their VW T5 camper van.
Food is never far from Claire’s thoughts but when she’s camping, quick and easy is her preference. That’s why her favourite meal is a stir fry which only needs one gas ring.
Quick and Easy Stir Fry Recipe.
Prep time: 5 minutes, Cooking time: 10 minutes
Ingredients: Oil or Cooking spray
300g sliced chicken, King prawns or tofu
Stir fry veg such as Mini sweetcorn (sliced in half), Mangetout
sliced red pepper, Bean sprouts, tinned water chestnuts
410g fresh noodles (or dried noodle, follow packet instructions)
175ml stir fry sauce.
Spray your wok with cooking spray and add your choice of meat or tofu. Fry until cooked through.
Add the red pepper, sweetcorn and mangetout. Stir until the veg starts to soften. Cook for less time if you like your veg crisp. Add the bean sprouts and water chestnuts. Cook for another minute.
Add the fresh noodles and stir fry sauce. Cook for two minutes.
Serve with prawn crackers.
Claire Hall is the award-winning blogger behind the family travel websites Tin Box Traveller and Devon With Kids.
Jenny – Travelynn Family
Jenny and her family love travelling to off the beaten track destinations, dispelling the myth that adventure needs to wait until the kids are older.
More recently they have taken on the van life with their beloved Mazda Bongo, touring the UK and using it for days out. Jenny has admitted that for a long time they’ve been a hotdogs or pasta family when it comes to cooking in their Mazda Bongo camper. She says food needs to be easy and quick.
So with their love of Asian foods they have been using recipes from a friend and fellow travel blogger Ting (who was on Masterchef last year!)
One of their favourites is Thai pad see ew. This is a super quick stir fry recipe traditionally made with strips of beef, Chinese broccoli and flat white rice noodles and sauce made with soy sauce and oyster sauce. Like most stir fry recipes any meat, prawns or tofu are also great to use, or whichever vegetables you prefer.
Head to Cook Simply for the full recipe. This is a perfect choice for vegetarians and ideally served with a cold Chang larger.
Jenny is a professional travel blogger and writer who has travelled the world extensively and blogs about her epic travels with her two young boys at TraveLynn Family.
Pippa – The Slimming Foodie – Chicken Satay
“Chicken satay is one of my all-time favourite foods! I wanted to create something that was both a healthy option for a picnic, and also a treat! I’m a big fan of powdered peanut butter, particularly for cooking with as it’s a low-fat great way to get that peanutty taste, and it mixes in so well with sauces and marinades”. says blogger and author Pippa
Using powdered peanut butter needs a bit of pre-holiday planning, although Pippa assures me that normal peanut butter works just as well.
We’ve included this recipe as it sounds very versatile. Use it as part of a BBQ meal, serve with rice and veg or just in wraps with some salad leaves or cold for a picnic.
Ingredients (serves 4)
500 g chicken mini fillets raw
3 tbsp powdered peanut butter or regular peanut butter
3 tbsp 0% fat Greek Yoghurt
juice 1/2 lemon
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
salt and pepper
Spray oil
Instructions
Mix together the peanut butter powder, yoghurt, soy sauce, lemon juice and salt and pepper
Add in the chicken, mix well to coat, and leave to marinade for at least 30 minutes (you can prepare the night before if you wish).
Cook in a frying pan on a medium heat with a little oil or on the BBQ (10 – 15 mins)
In an oven preheat to 180c. Spread out on greaseproof paper on a baking tray, and spray with Frylight. Cook at top of oven for 15-20 minutes, until cooked through and a little browned on top. Perfect served hot or cold.
Try adding in some dry chilli flakes, chopped fresh chilli, or sweet chilli sauce. I like some fresh lime squeezed over the top when serving. Link to recipe and lots more at The Slimming Foodie
Pip has been developing tasty healthy recipes for her family for some time and this year has published her own recipe book called The Slimming Foodie is available online in major bookshops, Sainsburys and Amazon.
Karen – Mini Travellers
Karen founded Mini Travellers in 2014 while doing what she loves most…going on holiday!
Mini Travellers favourite campsite meal is camping Paella. What a great idea. What we Iove about this recipe is once again it’s so versatile. It’s very easy to make vegetarian. Your basic ingredients are risotto rice or paella rice, onions. peppers and of course garlic.
Get the full recipe at Mini Travellers – please note it serves 12 so remember to reduce the quantities for your family size!
Mini Travellers is for parents looking for holiday ideas, destination reviews, days out and things to do with the kids. They have family travel tips, activity ideas and all other things family holiday related. Karen has also written a children’s travel adventure book set in France.
Katy – Otis and Us – No bake Rocky Road
Otis and Us is a family travel blog sharing travel tips, family travel and van life with kids. Katy and her family have spent the last few years converting Otis, a VW T5 van into a gorgeous campervan and have travelled all over the UK and Europe with it.
They have opted for a sweet dessert that’s a family favourite a no bake Rocky Road. All you need to do is melt some chocolate with a bit of butter and honey or golden syrup and add in whatever biscuits, marshmallows or other delights you fancy. Chill however you can.
Check out Otis and Us blog and the Rocky Road Recipe here.
5 easy camping meals
A big thank you to the great travel bloggers who have shared their favourite recipes with us. Trying to keep cooking easy and stress free is certainly an important part of a family holiday what ever your plans are.
Here at Andrewshayes we are happy for you to have a BBQ, we just ask that you use a slab on the ground to protect the grass or decking. The smell of a BBQ is one of the things that make the park feel alive in the summer.
Of course there are lots local pubs and places to eat out nearby including our onsite Pub and Restaurant that also serves takeaways. Plus while you are on holiday and you can’t beat a bag of chips on the beach – just guard them from the seagulls!