I’m planning on going camping (“lame” style-cars, air matresses, showers, ect) next weekend and this is my first time going since I was dx’ed. The last time I went, we ate lots of fluffernutters and random high carb stuff. I don’t do low carb, but I try to keep it under 50 a meal. I need some ideas for things that don’t need refridgeration and are not just made of sugar and other crap. Veggies (besides carrots) that will hold up to a summer weekend outside. We will have at least a fire, maybe a camp stove, so cooking is not an issue.
hi Jackie, I was remembering when I used to go backpacking, and one thing I did was make some stew or chili ahead of time and freeze it. then it would thaw all day, and we could heat it up on the portable stove. you are going to want a stove to heat up water for coffee, and cooking over a campfire can be very messy. aren’t you going to bring a cooler?
hard salamis and hard cheeses, like cheddar will keep - of course all canned foods. one thing I always did was make a list of every meal we were having and all the ingredients. you can also get freeze dried meals at outdoorsman stores and big sports stores.
HI. You’re probably planning on taking an ice chest-- handy for insulin, for instance. And shish-ka-bobs, which we really like for camping. You can make up your own or buy them some places–chunks of chicken, beef, peppers, mushrooms, etc. Energy bars and drinks like Boost’s Glucose Control travel well for snacks. You’ll probably need a few extra calories for hiking and hauling stuff around…
Yeah, a weekend really isn’t that long. You can take an ice chest and it will work for anything you want to keep cold. My guess is that if you are going to a foo-foo campsite, you’re probably near enough to a town where you can skip out to for necessary supplies like ice.
I don’t mean that in a derogatory way either. I just came back from a 3 day WW rafting trip in 100 degree weather and we “camped” at a site with full bathrooms and showers, a mile from a town with a fully loaded liquor store. We brought two large coolers which worked fine for enough food and alcohol for 12 people. My biggest suggestion would be to get yourself a nice sturdy waterproof camara bag to keep your supplies in if you are going to keep them in a cooler with everything else. I kept mine in a basic ziploc bag, which worked fine until my friends came back from town and dumped 10 lbs of ice into the cooler on top of my supplies. I didn’t notice until much later when it was too late and everything was soaked.
As far as food goes, I probably eat more than 50g of carbs a meal and actually finding enough suitable low glycemic index carbs is always a problem. People bring plenty of meat (hot dogs, hamburgers for grilling) and plenty of chips and stuff for making s’mores, but nobody thinks to bring multigrain buns or steel cut oatmeal for breakfast.The interesting thing about this last trip was that half the people who went were vegetarians. It made for the widest selection of camp food I have ever seen as most people ended up bringing enough suitable food for themselves…
Get some almonds from Costco. The smoke salted ones are ok if it is going to be hot.
We’ll have a cooler or two, I just don’t have confidence in it being cool after 3 days. I suppose we can always get some ice if we need more. I have a frio, so I’m going to use that for my insulin.
Didn’t even think much about nuts, but I love them, so I’ll bring plenty of those.
Instant oatmeal will work too. I’m pretty sure that the glycemic index is high on that, but a few days of it won’t hurt me too much.
Hi. I sent a message that seems to have been lost. I suggested that you use block ice in your ice chest(s). Block ice melts much more slowly than ice cubes, and the leftover water is cold.
Ditto that!
I like to take an empty plastic milk jug (1/2 gallon or gallon, depending on space requirements), give it a good rinsing and fill it nearly full with water. Leave enough room so the expanding ice doesn’t leak out of the top. Once it’s frozen, you can recap it, put it in the cooler and off you go. Block ice lasts tons longer than ice cubes. And in a jug, the melting water won’t leak all over your cooler contents.
Cheers and have fun!
Mike
I hate this combo at home but when in the woods for some reason it tastes like heaven -water packed canned tuna/ seedless grapes/walnuts/bits of minced apple and onion and mayo packets mixed together and served on high fiber bread. Make it mostly Tuna. Pack lots of different nuts for munchies. Avacado if you like them, and most fresh veggies will not need much refridgeration if it’s just a weekend. I think I want to camp with Marie B…the chilli suggestion was awesome.
I have a group of women I go camping with for a weekend once a year and everyone is expected to provide the ingredients and cook for one of the meals so I always know ahead of time which meals might be problematic. Also that way nobody gets stuck with all the cooking and cleaning…pretty much why we leave the men and kids at home in the first place!
I recently went camping for the first time since my daughter’s dx. We had bacon and egg type breakfasts, nuts, veggies, sausage, cheese - all the foods everyone else has mentioned. Even though we went on a really long hike one day, her insulin needs really didn’t vary. Car camping is practically like being at home; that was my finding. A s’more made with one square of chocolate, one graham cracker, and one marshmallow has 25 carbs. Stay away from the flutternutter. ; )
I find myself glucose levels actually lower when I am camping because you are moving around more. Foil Packet dinners, walking salads, bacon n eggs, one pot stews or soups, jerky, the list is endless. Just stay away from the S’mores (roasted marshmallow, chocolate and graham cracker sandwiches.)
The only problem I have had is when it is really cold outside the meter sometimes is not accurate.