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Summer Vacation Destination
These are not good times for the economy. The price of everything – especially gas – seems to be rising every single day and salaries aren’t going anywhere. In fact, there are jobs being lost every day. Yet families need to take vacations. Here are 5 tips for planning a cheap summer vacation.
1. Eat in
The cost of the vacation isn’t simply doing things, seeing things, and staying overnight places. Often the majority of the money you spend is spent at restaurants. So you can dramatically cut your costs by making your own food. It can be as simple as buying a loaf of bread along with peanut butter and jelly and a bag of chips. Every meal you make yourself will save you a lot of money.
2. Go to built-in fun
Another great tip for planning a summer vacation destination is to go to places where you don’t have to pay to have fun. Go to the mountains where you can hike, camp, and swim. Go to the ocean where you can spend your days on the beach and swimming. This will save you lots of money.
3. Explore close to home
With the price of gas, this is a really great tip. Before you drive or fly across the country, explore the great things that are closer to home. If you do a little research on the Internet you’ll be surprised by the great things you find. Try to keep your travel to under 250 miles if at all possible.
4. Go at non-peak
Everything is more expensive at peak times. So places that are built for tourists will jack their prices up when they know they’ll be packed with guests. But that doesn’t mean the summer vacation spots aren’t fun at non-peak times. In fact, they can be even more fun. So try to plan your trip when it’s cheapest.
5. Look into rentals
Instead of spending a lot of money to stay at a hotel or motel look into renting a place for a week. You may be able to find a nice little cabin. Or you could rent a huge house and take a vacation with friends and family members. You will save a lot of money in the long run.
The family that plays together stays together. Therefore, it’s important to take a family vacation. However, it can be very expensive. 5 tips for planning a cheap family vacation are to eat in, go to built-in fun, explore close to home, go at non-peak, and look into rentals.
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Your Best Guide with Info About What To Eat While Camping
What To Eat While Camping
One of the most fun times you can have while camping is cooking for the group. Cooking is generally done over a fire or on a grill. You should bring foods that are easy to store and keep fresh. You should include snacks for the trail as well as foods to prepare for each meal. Perishable items should be stored in a refrigerator or in a cooler on ice.
Breakfast
Start your day off right with a breakfast that will get you ready for a day of hiking or exploring. Slice up some mushrooms, onions, bacon and potatoes and grill in a skillet over the fire until done. Mix eggs with a little milk and pour over the mixture to heat until the eggs are fully cooked. This is a great skillet meal that is easy to prepare and clean up. Another easy meal to prepare is a breakfast taco. Cook some eggs and place inside a tortilla with cheese and picante sauce. If you feel a bit more adventurous, try a breakfast pizza using pre made crusts and eggs. You can cook the eggs any way you like them and add bacon, potatoes or sausage. Heat the pizza crusts over the fire and top with your egg mixture and cheese.
Lunch
Sandwiches are a great lunchtime treat using easy to store and prepare foods. Sliced lunch meats with vegetables on bread make the perfect pick me up. For a hot side dish to accompany the sandwiches take some frozen French fries, chili and cheese sauce; combine them in foil, wrapping it tightly. Throw the package on the fire and cook until the fries are cooked through and then enjoy your gooey chili cheese fries.
Dinner
Dinner consisting of a hearty stew is a great option. Using canned vegetables, mix equal parts of your favorites in a heavy pot. These can include corn, peas and beans. Also add a can of chunk chicken and pre made barbecue pork. Add two cans of tomato sauce and two cans of chopped tomatoes and simmer slowly over an open fire for a filling stew. If you went fishing and were lucky enough to make a catch, fry it for dinner. After cleaning the fish, cut it into fillets. Combine one can of beer with two eggs until thoroughly mixed. To that add twelve ounces of flour, two teaspoons of baking powder and salt and pepper to taste. Dip the fish in cornstarch then the batter. Place it in hot oil and fry until the batter puffs. This is a great way to enjoy the efforts put forth after a day of fishing.
Trail Snacks
No camping trip is complete without snacks to prepare and bring while you are out on a nature hike. Walking and hiking is hard work so you should bring some foods that will help boost your energy. Popcorn popped over an open flame is a fun way to prepare the next day’s snack. Trail mix is a traditional option and is limited to only your imagination. Use a combination of hearty ingredients with sweets. Combine granola, raisins, chocolate chips, M & M’s, cereal, dried fruits and nuts. Use whatever combinations you like.
My favorite camping meals though, are made with pudgie pie makers (also called pie irons). They are made of cast iron or metal and have long handles. Our family uses pudgie pie makers to meal delicious treats for lunch and dinner. Bread is the staple ingredient in making a pudgie pie. My favorite is grilled cheese. To make one, butter two slices of bread. Place the buttered side down in the pudgie pie maker. This will prevent the bread from sticking. Place a cheese slice on top of each slice of bread. Close the pudgie pie maker. Place in the coals of your campfire. It will only take a few minutes for the pie to cook. Turn the pie maker after about a minute. Watch your sandwich closely. Depending on how hot your fire is, the sandwich will cook very quickly. Ham and tomato are also very good additions to your cheese sandwich.
Pizza pudgie pies are popular with our family too. Again, butter two slices of bread and place the buttered side down in the pudgie pie maker. Add your favorite pizza toppings. Close the pudgie pie maker and place in the coals of your campfire to cook. Be careful when removing pudgie pies from your pudgie pie maker. Both the pudgie pie maker and your sandwich will be very hot.
Another favorite type of pudgie pie that our family enjoys are dessert ones. Butter your two slices of bread and place the buttered sides down in the pudgie pie maker. Spoon in some of your favorite prepared pie filling (cherry or apple are our favorites). Cook in the fire and enjoy.
And of course, no camping trip is complete without making smores. They’re also very easy to make. Start by roasting a marshmallow over your fire. Once your marshmallow is warm and gooey, stick it on top of a graham cracker and a piece of a chocolate bar, and then top with another graham cracker.
Cooking while camping can really be a lot of fun. Preparing foods should be easy and require little clean up and use few pots and pans. At the end of the night, though, no camping trip would be complete without toasting marshmallows. Cut some branches and skewer large marshmallows. Hold each stick over the flame until brown and toasty. It makes a great, gooey dessert and an ideal end to your day.
Read more about camping food and camping recipes.
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Discover the Tips of Choosing Best Camping Recipe
Today we will be talking about meal planning. Meals are one of the most memorable aspects of any camping trip and if one meal is a disaster you will never hear the end of it. I will show you how to avoid spending half the day in the kitchen and still deliver a meal that will knock their socks off. Pre planning and pre prep are a great way to buy more time for doing what you came for “Camping”. Later I will share a recipe that includes a great way to pre cook pasta. There are two methods for meal planning, the ration method and the recipe method. Today I will focus on the recipe method. I will go into depth on the ration method in a later issue. A small group in a camp setting will find the recipe method much easier to implement. If you have a very large group or need to be mobile the ration method is desirable.
Choosing your best camping recipe.
An efficient and fun way to plan your menu is to gather up all your favorite recipes and make a daily menu centered around your planned activities not worrying about space or supply restrictions. For example if you are planning some hiking, sandwiches will do the trick. If you plan to stay close to the site you can afford some more elaborate meals.
Once you have your menu, figure out what supplies you will need, then depending on your space and weight requirements adjust your menu and/or your equipment accordingly. Otherwise just creating the menu can be a real challenge. Our goal here is to have fun. This method for meal planning is an easy way to figure out what supplies you will need without a lot of size and weight calculations. There are plenty of complicated formulas you can use for meal planning and in some circumstance like backpacking or extended trips these are essential, but for the average campsite certainty not necessary. If you forget or overlook something, most campgrounds either have a store on site or within a short driving distance. You might kick yourself for having to spend twice what something is worth but you won’t starve.
When planning your menu include plenty of fresh water, high-energy snacks and trail foods like fresh fruit, beef jerky and granola. Stay away from things like chips, soda and cookies unless you plan on sitting around the campsite wishing you had a TV to watch.
Outdoor activities require a lot of energy and burn a lot of calories. The best way to plan healthy meals is to use the USDA’s Food Guide Pyramid. Keep in mind appetites will be up so plan accordingly. Click on the link above to visit the USDA’s site. Do as much pre planning and pre prep as possible. (Say that 5 times fast) I use a lot of zip lock bags, cutting up and cooking as much as I can before I get to the site. Use a cooler to keep your perishables like milk, condiments and fresh vegetables. I use powdered milk in all my camp recipes because it is convenient to carry and easy to convert your recipe to fresh milk if you have it. I usually use fresh milk for the first few days then go to the powdered milk after we have run out. At least that is the plan. My daughter loves to drink milk and always throws a fit whenever we run out of fresh. I often find myself reentering society in exchange for a little peace and quiet.
The nice thing about the recipe menu planning method is most home recipes can be converted to outdoor recipes with very little effort. This next recipe is a perfect example of something that is equally delicious at home or out on the campsite. Note the pre planning tips that make this a quick fix without compromising on taste.
Campsite Pasta Italiano
7 to 8 oz pasta 4 Tbsp olive or peanut oil 1 lb Italian sausage cut into ½ inch pieces 1 28 oz can Italian Style crushed tomatoes (do not substitute with regular crushed tomatoes) 1 tsp garlic powder Salt and pepper Parmesan cheese
Do Ahead Tip: Cut sausage before hand and store in a zip lock bag.
Do Ahead Tip: Cook the pasta at home as directed on package. Drain and rinse with cold water. In a large bowl add pasta and 2 Tbsp oil. Toss until evenly coated, seal in a zip lock bag and store in cooler until needed.
Do Ahead Tip: Plan several pasta dishes and cook all the pasta at once. Store each portion in a separate bag. Use a permanent marker to write the name of the recipe each bag is intended for.
Before you prepare your meal remove the appropriate pasta bag from the cooler and let it reach room temperature.
Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large skillet on medium high. Add sausage and brown evenly until cooked through. Drain grease; add crushed tomatoes and garlic powder. Stirring constantly bring to a boil and reduce heat to medium. Simmer until thickened about 5 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat and add pasta. Mix well. If your skillet is too small to add the pasta you can mix all the ingredients in a large bowl. The heat of the sauce will reheat the pasta.
Whala! A simple delicious meal whipped up in a flash. Guaranteed to stick to the ribs after a hard days play. Don’t forget to leave some room for the S’mores. I am an avid camper with a passion for the simple life. Growing up in Rural America meant camping and fishing from a young age. As the owner and operator of Camping & Cooking Supplies I strive to provide a tremendous resource for the camping enthusiast. So come and visit us at Camping & Cooking Supplies. See you on the trails.
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