How I Learned About this Camping Menu
Recently, I went on a backpacking trip with a few dear girl friends from college. Our first night of the trip, Friday, we camped at the trailhead and Dani Francis spearheaded THE best camp dinner i've ever had! I was so blown away I decided, that from here and forever out, this would be my GO TO camp dinner meal for all occasions! And, low and behold... the next week Rich and I went camping and by George we made the same exact meal! Rich loved it, too!! (Especially considering we typically just have canned soup).
So, first off, I need to tell you how this master piece of a meal came to be. Dani Francis and I have become good good friends over the past year. Although our personalities are VERY different, we enjoy the same hobbies and lifestyle of clean eating, alternative health and wellness, and backpacking! Here is the thing about Dani that I LOVE. For her backpacking trips she keeps a list on her phone of everything she ate, anything she disliked, and any ideas or tweaks for improving certain aspects of the trip. When she gets home, she logs everything in her spreadsheet so she can tweak it for the next trip! By the time I came along to enjoy this delicious camp dinner I'm basically cheating by enjoying trips worth of fine tuning and tweaking by Dani on this meal! Which, now you'll be, too!
Meet the mastermind herself, Dani Francis
“Every time I go backpacking and camping I have a list on my phone of how I can make it better the next time. I tweak it like crazy! I learn, oh that didn’t work! Some of my favorite snacks at home I take out on the trail and I HATE it out there for different reasons! So, the whole menu is what i’ve learned works and what doesn’t.”
The Camping Menu
So, this may sound overly simple... but let me tell you. It's just the perfect easy combo (and BONUS it's Whole30 if you make a few tweaks. Accidental Whole30 meals are my favorite kind of meals). Every thing about the menu is satisfying, energizing, and delicious! You can also save any leftovers to eat for breakfast!
- Bratwurst roasted over a fire
- Tostones prepared ahead of time
- Green beans prepared ahead of time with a balsamic vinegar and salty seasoning
- Store-made or home-made guacomole
- Fresh berries (personal favorite that keep well, strawberries and blueberries)
How to prepare the meal
- Bratwurst - just pick up some ahead of time and throw them in your cooler
- Tostones - follow this recipe and prepare them ahead of time. Throw them in your cooler!
- PS - I use kerrygold butter instead of oil. SO delicious. Use ghee if you're on Whole30
- Green beans - boil them about 5 minutes. You don't want them too soft because that CRUNCH is just what you need out there in the wild. After boiling them put them in a ziploc baggie and add balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper.
- Guacomole - to be honest, i just picked up some from New Seasons and threw it in the cooler. Made prep way easier and you don't have to worry about your guac turning brown. Dani did the same but I believe she got hers from WholeFoods.
- Pick up some berries and throw them in the cooler!
Once you're at the campsite
Build your fire and begin roasting the brats. Wash the berries off and you can even throw the tostones in foil to heat up if you prefer them that way. We didn't. Once the brats are finished fix your plate full of goodness and ENJOY! Whatever leftovers you have pack back up in your cooler because it makes a GREAT breakfast loaded with nutrients for the start of your backpacking trip.
