What to eat while truck camping

[Gorp2007]

Anything I want.

View attachment 300211

That picture just cost me the price of a Coleman coffee maker. Happy Father's Day to me!

 

[Fordguy]

Instant oatmeal for breakfast, I dont like to spend time in camp in the morning so fast is good. Take jerky, granola, trail mix with some fruit and chocolate chips for a lunch and snack. Back at camp after dark, tortillas- they don't take up much space and you can put anything in a tortilla. Same rationale for precooked pasta and rice with your precooked or raw meat selection for dinner. They work with most anything flr a quick meal. Instant potatoes can also be decent, but they do need a little help. Pack seasonings and spices according to your preference.
My grandpa's idea of camp food was a case of the cheapest pork and beans known to mankind. Lol. Not a pleasant camp in the evenings for the ears or the nose.

 

[eddielasvegas]

Instant oatmeal for breakfast, I dont like to spend time in camp in the morning so fast is good. Take jerky, granola, trail mix with some fruit and chocolate chips for a lunch and snack. Back at camp after dark, tortillas- they don't take up much space and you can put anything in a tortilla. Same rationale for precooked pasta and rice with your precooked or raw meat selection for dinner. They work with most anything flr a quick meal. Instant potatoes can also be decent, but they do need a little help. Pack seasonings and spices according to your preference.
My grandpa's idea of camp food was a case of the cheapest pork and beans known to mankind. Lol. Not a pleasant camp in the evenings for the ears or the nose.

 

[Newtosavage]

Curious what everyone likes to eat while hunting 4-6 nights camping near the truck. I have had issues with Mt.House causing constipation like dont go for days issues. Make fun but any help is appreciated. I have tried a few different meal brands, I assume elevation is part of it. And salty preservatives is the other.

I eat canned stew/soup/chowder every night at my elk base camp. Never had an issue. I am wary these days of Mountain House meals however, for the very reason you stated. Darn shame since I like them and they are so convenient and trouble free.

But if I have the truck nearby, it's canned meals for me. Warm them up and eat them right out of the pot. That way I only have the pot and a spoon to clean each night before bedtime.

For breakfast - it's the same every day - 2 pkgs of instant oatmeal with raisins and walnuts thrown in. That gets me to about 10:00 a.m. or so then I'll throw down a granola bar to take me to lunch.

Lunch on the mountain is the same every day. Spam single on flatbread, a piece of fruit and some peanut M&M's. Then I may eat another granola bar or jerky in the afternoon on my way to camp.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. This has worked great for me for 5 straight years for up to 12 straight days, usually around 9k feet.

 

[Burnt Reynolds]

I do a lot of truck camping year-round. In fact, son and I are leaving tomorrow for 5 days with my buddies and their boys. Single burner stove, and a cast iron pan is key. I'll cook anything that doesn't require silverware or multiple pans. Small pizza's, burgers, breakfast anything, burritos, sausage, bacon wrapped chicken thighs, T-bones, on and on.

I do a lot of prep at home and that helps quite a bit. I bought 45qt & 65qt RTIC coolers and it's remarkable how excellent they are. Not only keeping ice, but organization just makes life easy.

That said, when in elk camp I'm usually in a hurry to get going in the morning and will grab a granola bar, maybe quickly fry an egg with bacon bits. Hunt all day, usually just make a big ass sammich in the evening. Though, particularly if celebrating success, I'll cook up a feast.

I save the mtn house for when I'm spiking out away from the truck. It's easy to eat well, and do so in a simple manner when you're truck camping.

 

[Newtosavage]

Tortallini requires no refridgeration and goes with any meat/veggie combo.
I usually have it for 3 meals, moose italian sausage first night, smoked salmon second night,
leftover veggies/meat third night.

That looks pretty good. I don't like to mess with coolers on any trips anymore. That looks like something I'd try though.

 

[Red Letters]

I went on a camping trip awhile back and stuck a few pieces of dry ice in my yeti, when I got to where I was going everything was frozen solid. So thats a way to keep food a little longer. The youtube links are about the easiest options for real food.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=tinfoil+camping+meals

 

[Hill Difficulty]

Can cover the gamut (fish, meat, veggies) with one of these $25 Char Broil grills + a roll of tinfoil, oil, salt, pepper, and a fork. Some memorable food experiences will happen around these things.

 

[Fatcamp]

This weekend we had BLT's with avacado. That is living friends.

 

[SpringTom]

Pre-make meals such as chicken noodle soup, spaghetti, stir fry, etc. and freeze them in vacuum bags. Boil them at camp to warm them up and you have a quick easy meal.

Bring a grill and live large! Freeze dried and dehydrated meals should never be consumed within eyesight of the truck.

I definitely agree with both of these posts.

I'm kinda kooky and love to cook big meals when I'm near the rig. This is also dependent on if I'm in heavy bear country as I'm solo most hunts. Time also plays a factor, obviously. But a nice steak is welcomed any night (or day).

I'm actually planning on baking some sourdough bread in my dutch at some point.

 

[Where's Bruce?]

Truck camping cuisine is only as limited as you choose it to be. Bring enough stuff and you can cook anything for everyone.

 

[Dos Perros]

I pre-cook carnitas and freeze it and wrap in aluminum foil if it's going to cook on the Seek Outside stove. Same with pulled pork or smoked chicken. Throw in some tortillas and avocados and Cholula. (I need a morale patch that says: No Cholula, No Peace). One time we chopped up tamales and cooked it (re-heated) in a skillet direct with some carnitas and damn that was good. PB&J sammies are good.

Morale patch complete.

 

[Laramie]

Morale patch complete.

I prefer the green variety. We go through at least 2 bottles a week year round.

 

[Dos Perros]

I’m a green guy myself.

Last year on an elk hunt a buddy was going to town to buy gas, hour drive. I had forgotten the Cholula even though I remembered the Carnitas and the tamales and the tortillas. I begged pleaded prodded commanded that he get some when he was in town. He got back and said he forgot, which inspired the morale patch.

 

[bracer40]

Pre-make meals such as chicken noodle soup, spaghetti, stir fry, etc. and freeze them in vacuum bags. Boil them at camp to warm them up and you have a quick easy meal.

Strongly recommend this same approach!
We leave camp before dark and return after dark. Between drying wet gear, recharging electronics and refilling packs, there’s barely enough time to get a decent amount of sleep. Cooking (which I enjoy doing on camping trips) and cleaning takes too much valuable time.
Plus, I get to eat my favorite meals that I’ve made and frozen ahead of time. Virtually no cleanup!
When an animal goes down, we cook meat and go to town for bagged salads.
We don’t do campfires either until an animal goes down...

 

[corey006]

Pre-make meals such as chicken noodle soup, spaghetti, stir fry, etc. and freeze them in vacuum bags. Boil them at camp to warm them up and you have a quick easy meal.

This is exactly what I do.

Elk or Moose Stew, Chilli, or Hamburger soups.

Frozen in ziploc bags.

Good for Breakfeast , lunch or dinner.

In archery Elk season our days starts at 4 am. usually get back to camp at 9-9:30.
Not much time to cook and clean.

Other meals I pack are mushrooms, peppers, onions, eggs, bacon, cheeze, some Elk or Moose steak, or Beef steak and pork chops.

In a good cooler frozen meals will last 6-7 days easily.

So convenient!

 

[Missahba]

Truck camp breakfast.

 

[Pony Soldier]

Reading this tends to cause me concern. I'm afraid I couldn't camp with a lot of you. I lived out of a camp for months at a time. Breakfast never varied from what you would normally cook. I'm prone to ham, eggs and taters. Sausage or bacon can work into that for variety. All this on a two burner gas stove.

For evening meals - pot roast, roast something, soups, stews and whatever you desired. Most of my camps were from 4- 10 people. Since the evening meals were prepared in a dutch oven in the morning before you left - dinner was ready when you got back at night. After dinner you washed up the dutch oven and usually baked a cake or a cobbler or whatever you had the makens for.

There is no reason to suffer in camp. People have been living in camps for generations. Often with better food than you could buy.

Most of my camps were for 10 days but in southeast Ak we usually went for a month without moving or going to town. They were helicopter or float plane camps. Some days we went down on the beach and dug clams after work or plucked salmon out of the creek after work.

Again there is just no reason to suffer in a remote camp.

 

[Grip_tony]

I do normal every day stuff. Usually have a steak and fried potatoes as a treat one night. I also throw a couple of the frozen, all in one bag meals in too. Like chicken/pasta kind of things. Cook it up and eat it right out of the skillet. A small bonus is that they are one more frozen thing in the cooler keeping my bevs cold.

 

[Zappaman]

The correct answer is tacos.

We elk hunt in NM and make up red, green, and chili relleno burritos before the hunt. They make excellent pack lunches when out hunting too! I can't remember NOT eating a burrito on elk hunts in NM in the last 20 years (I of course hunt with dudes who live in Las Cruces and "put up" 40 lbs of green chili each year

We also do the "steak night" (that's my gig... 24oz ribeyes or strips), and many pre-cooked bags of stuff- in regular zip locks. Just drop them in the camp "microwave" (pot of water over the fire) and the zip lock bags are good as long as you don't get the water boiling. Spagetti, beef stew, green chili stew, gumbo-- all cooked and bagged before the hunt. We have a dutch oven (we use for the microwave) I'll also sometimes use for bread (canned biscuits dropped in, coals on top for 12 minutes). I've made some stews in the "dutch microwave" topped with the same canned biscuits... dumplings over stew- good sh!t).

We should all weigh 300 lbs (with the beer also consumed nightly), but we burn off what we eat hunting and so it's like cooking at home really. Maybe better.