Sidenote: these dinners are all actually freezer meals! I pre-cooked as much of them as I could, and stored them in the freezer. When we were camping they were so easy to thaw, heat, and eat…saving me a whole lot of time and clean up when I was without the conveniences of my kitchen at home. Ahh, Freezer Meals! Gotta love them!
Taco soup
- 1 lb. lean ground turkey
- Minced onion to taste
- ½ – 1 pkg taco seasoning
- 1 can corn
- 1 can Italian stewed tomatoes
- ½ cup salsa
- 1 can tomato sauce
- 1 can chili beans
At home, brown turkey and drain fat. Add taco seasoning and mix well. In large pan combine beef with remaining ingredients. Cool and freeze. When camping, thaw and heat, and serve with your favorite taco toppings. I like chopped cilantro, green onion, and avocado.
Cream Cheese Chicken
- 2 8 oz. blocks fat free cream cheese
- 2 cans healthy request cream of chicken soup
- I pkg. dry Italian salad dressing mix
- 4 chicken breasts
- 1 can chopped mushrooms, drained.
Precook at home: Mix cream cheese, soup, and salad dressing mix in crock pot. Add chicken breasts and allow to cook until completely one and chicken shreds easily. Shred chicken and mix in with sauce. Mix in mushrooms, and then freeze the entire mixture in a freezer bag, To serve, thaw and eat. Serve with egg noodles, brown rice, quinoa, or even plain. I enjoy mine over broccoli or peas.
Taco salad
- Chopped lettuce
- 1 lb. Shredded chicken or lean ground turkey
- taco seasoning
- Desired taco toppings, including chopped cilatntro, green onion, avocado, and tomato. Include small amounts of shredded cheese and baked tortilla chips, if desired.
- Low fat ranch dressing, if desired.
Pre cook meat and season with taco seasoning. Place in a freezer bag and freeze. To serve, thaw and heat meat, and create a salad with the remaining ingredients,
Tin foil dinners
- Chicken
- Cream of chicken soup
- Onion sat
- Garlic salt
- carrots
- potatoes – peeled and sliced
- onion slices
- fresh mushrooms
- broccoli, zucchini, squash, and other vegetables as desired.
At home, precook chicken, shred, and freeze. When ready to serve, thaw meat and divide evenly among sheets of tinfoil (one per person.) Divide cream of chicken soup evenly, as well as the vegetables. Wrap in two layers of tinfoil and cook in the campfire for one hour. (Hint: if you are cooking out of an RV, use the microwave and these microwave steam bags to steam your veggies before wrapping them up in the foil. With everything pre-cooked, you’ll simply be warming up your dinners. Your tin foil dinners can be ready in as little as 10 minutes.
Dutch Oven Lasagna
- 1 ½ lbs. lean ground turkey
- 40 oz. spaghetti sauce
- 6 oz. shredded mozzarella cheese
- 3 eggs
- 2 ¼ c. fat free cottage cheese
- ¼ c. grated parmesan cheese
- 1 ½ t. oregano
- 12 lasagna noodles
- ¾ c. hot water
Brown turkey at home and mix with spaghetti sauce. Freeze in freezer gallon-sized freezer bag. When ready to eat, thaw sauce mixture. Combine mozzarella, cottage, and parmesan cheeses with the eggs and oregano and mix in a gallon-sized freezer bag. Layer as follows on the bottom of your Dutch Oven: ¼ of meat sauce, 4 lasagna noodles (break them up to fit as needed,) and ½ of cheese mixture. Repeat layers (1/4 of meat sauce, 4 more lasagna noodles, and cheese mixture.) End with remaining meat sauce, and sprinkle with a little additional cheese, if desired. Pour hot water around edges, then cover up with tinfoil to prevent melting cheese to stick to the lid of the Dutch Oven. Place 12 charcoals on the lid and 12 under the Dutch Oven. Lasagna will be ready in approximately 1 hour. (Note: I realize that calling this recipe “healthy” is a stretch. The best I could do was limit the amount of mozzarella I used and make sure I am using lean ground turkey instead of beef, and fat free cottage cheese instead of regular. Some recipes are hard to healthy up when you’re camping, so give yourself and enjoy this one…just watch your portions.)
A few other ideas for healthy eating…
When I started eating healthy, picnics became a challenge (and you can’t seem to avoid packing a lunch when you go camping.) I want to share two products that have been lifesavers when it comes to lunch time.
These sandwich thins are a great way to wrap a sandwich, saving you lots of carbs and calories. I like to load my turkey sandwiches with lots of veggies (lettuce, onion, tomato, cucumber, sprouts, avocado), top it off with some mustard, and I have a great sandwich that is my friend.I have a lot of other ideas using these buns that I will share in my upcoming Happy Gal cookbook!
The second product was a POW a few weeks ago, and it is a must-have:
This salad container makes eating healthy a cinch, and by now I hope you’ve learned how to throw together a quick salad. If not, see my posts Can’t Wait for Lunch and The Skinny on Carbs for some ideas. I always take bagged lettuce, some kind of fruit or vegetable, some nuts and maybe a little blue cheese with a good homemade dressing (like the pink dressing from my Chicken Craisin Salad recipe.) Before you can snap your fingers, I have a gourmet salad out in the woods. It honestly takes less effort than a peanut butter sandwich!
Be sure to take some good protein bars, like Zone Bars, so you can get your healthy snacks in. These also double as a great dessert, so you can indulge in a s’mores-like treat without all of the calories
