How to buy and prep healthy food for camping
You have to rough it when you camp.
Chipmunk, at your service. These guys where all over our camp spot in NM. If you weren’t careful with stowing your food, they’d sneakily steal your food before you had a chance to yell out “heyyyyyy!”
I don’t know about you, but I’ve been told this most of my life. Let me start with this – you can rough it camping. You definitely rough it when you go backpacking. You may go without a shower, soap to wash your hands, comfortable sleeping arrangements, and clean clothing. That’s part of the adventure! While you may rough it lifestyle-wise, you don’t have to rough it with your meals. Well, at least not anymore. Do I have your attention now? Sweet beans, you’re in for a treat.
For so many years, camping and backpacking meant dehydrated food that may or may not taste good. Some were winners, tasting like the real deal, while others had the consistency (and flavor) of cardboard. Not to mention, they were all filled with preservatives, industrial seed oils, and artificial flavorings and colors. Yuck.
We’ve come a long way since then. Spending time in nature now includes filling meals that burst with flavor and REAL ingredients. You have to do your research, but it can be found. And let me tell you, it’s worth it.
When Vance and I were preparing for our backpacking trip, we knew one of the most important parts was food prep. Most people dread that part, but I relish in it. Call me a health nut. Call me a food hippie. I like to refer to myself as a real food, nutrient-dense lover that will do all the research needed to provide my family the best foods for our bodies, knowing we rather thrive than survive in the woods. Another motivating factor – avoiding stomach aches and awful bowel movements that will send you over the river and through the woods (and then some) to get as far away from the company you travel with to take care of business in as much privacy as possible because you know the aftermath is going to be BAD. Check, please.
High-tailing it.
Give me a minute more – it doesn't have to be that way! I’m sure I’ve got you itching to backpack now haha. It’s a good thing that there are never too many camping jokes (and they’re all so in-tents!). Backpacking is awesome.
After a few weeks of research, Vance and I narrowed it down to two companies - Patagonia Provisions and Wild Zora. A couple of others we came across were clean dehydrated meals but sold out at the time. Those were Heather’s Choice and Good To-go. As with trying any new product, we were a little nervous if the meals were going to hold up to our appetite and taste, but we knew we didn’t have much choice unless we wanted to eat meat bars and trail mix our entire trip. It doesn’t sound bad but trust me, it gets old.
What we gathered and prepped:
Wild Zora soups Tuscan chicken with tomato, spinach, & sweet potato
Patagonia Provisions lentil chili
Cooked lentils and quinoa
Cooked brown rice
Dry oats with chia seeds and flax seeds
Two kinds of raw mixed nuts (one sprouted and one roasted)
*sprouted is better for digestion and absorption of nutrients because the nut's protective layer is broken down.
Epic meat bars, Lara bars, Thunderbird bars, and Bearded Brothers bars
Safe catch tuna
Avocados
Chopped carrots and bell peppers
Mary’s Gone Crackers
Justin’s nut butter packets
Pack of Alter Eco Crisp Mint Chocolate (yes, I have chocolate on me even in the woods)
Coffee and a myriad of herbal teas
Nuuns and sea salt for electrolytes
Gin Gin’s ginger chews (for nausea/ upset stomach)
We gathered our food from REI, Thrive Market (healthy foods and environment-friendly distributor) , and Natural Grocers. To find the deals, you have to shop around!
*If you use my Thrive Market referral link – http://thrv.me/1P9Aqp – you’ll receive 25% off your first order. It’s definitely worth checking out – pun intended.
Benefits of real food:
High in nutrient-density.
Long-lasting in energy.
Satisfies hunger and cravings.
Aids the body’s functions, working with and not against the body.
Properly absorbed and used throughout the body since the body recognizes the nutrients consumed.
Free of chemicals, toxins, and preservatives (aka man-made food).
Provides fuel for the mind and body, giving you the strength you need to hike longer and harder.
Most mornings we had oatmeal and mixed in a nut butter packet and a small handful of nuts. Lunch was tuna and avocado with Mary’s Gone crackers or carrots and peppers to scoop it into our pie holes. Dinner was either a Wild Zora soup with brown rice or lentils/ quinoa or a Patagonia chili. We snacked mostly on the days we hiked in and out since we weren’t making camp. We felt satisfied after each meal and energized because we were fueling ourselves with real food. That’s a win in our book!
The key to feeling full and satisfied after each meal, aside from staying hydrated, was making sure we were getting in enough protein, carbs, and fats. On days where we were more active, we ate more to replenish nutrients. Occasionally we would split a bar or snack on a handful of mixed nuts if we were still hungry after a meal, which typically meant we were burning more than we were replenishing.
Hopefully, you can see it doesn’t take much more effort to gather real, sustainable food for camping or hiking or backpacking. It does, however, take intentionality with your preparation. We plan to eventually dehydrate most of our meals, but until then we will continue to choose high-quality foods to bring camping. They taste just as good, if not better, than processed dehydrated meals and they leave you happy and, erm, issue free.
Happy campers.
Tips for buying healthy dehydrated foods:
Check the ingredients, even if you know the brand. Avoid industrial seed oils like canola and sunflower seed oil, hydrogenated oils, artificial flavorings and colors, added sugars, etc.
To give you an example of what not to buy, here’s an example of a dehydrated breakfast skillet that is, sadly, a popular one:
Ingredients: Precooked egg mix (whole egg [stabilized, glucose removed], nonfat milk, egg yolk [stabilized, glucose removed], tapioca starch, sunflower oil, less than 2% of: salt, smoke flavor [sunflower oil, smoke flavor], yeast extract, xanthan gum), potatoes (potato, sodium acid pyrophosphate), pork sausage crumble (pork, sea salt, less than 2% of: cane sugar, spices, rosemary extract, chili pepper), onion potato starch, natural fried flavor (maltodextrin, yeast extract, sea salt, natural flavor [contains canola oil]), bell pepper, less than 2% of: garlic powder, white pepper.
Yikes. It doesn’t take a scientist to tell us what’s real food and what’s not in that skillet. Again, you want to know what’s in your food, friends.
Know the serving amount. If it’s one serving, you’ll need another to feed two people and so on.
Know the protein amount. You may need to add in complex carbs like quinoa or beans (like we did) or healthy fats like avocado or ghee for added protein and sustainment.
Choose sustainable, real food snacks, like Epic meat bars, Lara bars, nuts, homemade granola, etc. Avoid sugary, empty calorie snacks like processed granola bars, gummy bears, chips, etc.
Ultimately, create your own when you can. Making dehydrated meals ensures you have control of what goes into your food and it gives you the freedom to tailor your meals to your liking!
Adventuring doesn't need to come at a cost when it comes to your health. You may not be able to eat completely clean. Don't stress. I didn't but I knew I was doing the best I could with what I had. That's part of the adventure too!