I used to spend an entire day buying and packing food before each one of my camping trips. My motto was “I’m not going to run out of food” and I certainly didn’t. I usually had so much stuff left that we could have taken another trip and still had enough to eat! On top of that, I usually had a lot of waste because things would get wet in the cooler and fruits and veggies would freeze in the camper refrigerator. Plus, we spent a lot of money on ice keeping the stuff cold.

The worst thing was we would usually make at least one excursion to explore the area and almost always came across some great looking foods that I wanted to buy but that we didn’t need. I would buy the stuff anyway and then we would have even more to eat. Then there would be days where I didn’t feel like cooking and we would go out to eat.

I finally got sick of all the waste and prep work and started to take only half as much food as I thought we needed. It was still too much.

Now, I only take along basics like spices, condiments, vegetable and olive oil, cereal or eggs for breakfast, ingredients for s’mores and the makings for some pudgie pies. That’s it. We have pudgie pies the first day we arrive at the campground and have our cereal or eggs the next morning for breakfast.

We either make a food stop on the way to the campground or take a trip into the nearest town the day after we arrive. I plan ahead and look online at the stores and specialty shops in the area.

On our last trip we found a wonderful bakery that makes great buns, made a quick stop at the nearest grocery store for some italian sausages and fresh fruit and had a delicious meal. The leftovers became part of the next morning’s breakfast with the sausages getting crumbled up and going into our scrambled eggs, the buns getting slathered with some cherry/blackberry jam we had also found, and the rest of the fruit cut up and made into a fruit salad.

This time of year is a great time to buy local produce such as sweet corn, fresh tomatoes, and melons.

We’re heading out to Door County, Wisconsin this week where it’s cherry season and plan to incorporate some fresh cherries into our meals along with the fresh bakery from the Door County Bakery (their Corsica loaf is wonderful!).

On your next camping trip, check out the local food vendors and specialty stores. Check to see if there’s going to be a farmer’s market going on while you’re camping in the area. At one farmer’s market near our campground last year, we found a vendor selling fresh trout, another selling fresh green beans, and yet another with delicious peach pies. Those things made another wonderful meal and they’re foods we don’t have everyday so it was extra special.

To check for farmer’s markets around the country (some of which are year-round) go to: http://www.ams.usda.gov/farmersmarkets/map.htm and click on a state.

To check for specialty shops and other food establishments do an online search for the chamber of commerce in the area you’ll be camping in.

And, if you’re going to be camping in a remote area, ignore everything I said and pack all the food you’ll need!

Above all, enjoy your time while camping. It’s a lot of fun.