MEAL PLANNING ADVICE

Watch the time

Not every meal has to be cooked over the fire during a campout. In the spirit of outdoor skill progression, begin by planning just one campfire meal and build your experience, one meal at a time. There’s nothing wrong with keeping the rest of the trip’s meals very simple with cold sandwiches, cereal and snacks with fresh fruit and veggies.

While campfire cooking times are usually equivalent to kitchen cook times, more time is needed to build up the fire, maintain it and properly extinguish it. Plan your meals to complement your day’s outdoor activities and energy levels.

Picky eaters, allergies and diets

Multiple picky eaters, food allergies, and diet choices (gluten intolerance, vegetarian, etc.) can make meal planning a challenge in a large group. Stick cooking and foil packets can help by giving girls control over what they include in their individual serving. For example, vegetarians don’t add ground beef to their foil packet meal, or girls may choose white bread over wheat bread for their pie iron grilled sandwiches. Offer two or three food options for each meal; girls who won’t eat a noodle soup can still have a sandwich and raw veggies. The truth is, girls are more likely to eat when they are involved in the meal planning and choose the menu items.

Balanced meals

Many students already learn about healthy food choices in school, including the Choose My Plate model. Help girls plan the menu by filling in options for each food category: grains, proteins, fruits, vegetables, and dairy. Visit choosemyplate.gov for free resource sheets and advice on building balanced meals.

About raw proteins

Make choices about using raw or cooked proteins based on your cooking location, available amenities, and the ages and skill levels of the girls you are guiding in outdoor cooking skills. Will you have access to refrigerators or ice to restock coolers? Will girls be expected to handle raw meat to prepare individual meals? Have the girls been taught the risks and responsibilities of handling raw proteins and have they demonstrated the self-control to follow directions? Consider cooking raw proteins ahead of time and packing them in coolers to add to camp meals on site, using proteins in a can (like chunk chicken for soups), having only adult volunteers handle raw proteins, or leaving them off the menu altogether.

Questions about food safety? Find the GSNWGL Food Safety Guidelines on the Volunteer Collective website. The Outdoor Cooking section in the Safety Activity Checkpoints has good advice. We also recommend finding answers to your questions at www.foodsafety.gov/