Q: I am the co-leader of a Girl Scout troop of junior high-aged girls. One of our new scouts is gluten-free and we would LOVE some tips for what to cook on a campout! We plan to take a week long camping trip this summer and any ideas for fun, camp-friendly, and cheap food that everyone can enjoy would be great!
Usually we would make such "healthy" options as pie-iron pizzas (white bread with pizza sauce and cheese in the middle), hobo pies (white bread with pie filling in the middle), ramen, smores, and lots of sandwiches — all of which are gluten heavy! Besides just buying some expensive "gluten-free" bread, what are some options?
Sent by Suzy
Editor: Suzy, how about swapping out pizzas and bread for some stew? You can make big batches cheaply and heat them up over the campfire. (Just don't thicken it with flour; try potato starch instead.)
Bring a lot of fruit, and perhaps just one loaf of gluten-free bread or some gluten-free wraps for lunches on the go.
And for dessert, you don't have to forego S'Mores (such a tradition!) — most marshmallows are gluten-free (although you should doublecheck to be sure), and instead of graham crackers you can bring a batch of these extremely chewy chocolate cookies. Honestly, they're better with marshmallows than those crunchy crackers anyway!
Here are a couple more discussions on campfire cooking.
• Best Campfire Foods: What Do You Eat While Camping?
• Good Question: Best Meals to Cook On Camping Trips?
Readers, what would you suggest?
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I would suggest chili (just don't use pre-spiced chili beans or spice packets with weird ingredients!), beans and rice (again, made from scratch), quesadillas made with pure corn tortillas... and why not get some gf bread? Rudi's brand is good.
How about gluten free sausages and baked potatoes? Both can easily be cooked in the fire wrapped in foil, and my memories of Girl Guide camping trips revolve heavily round dubious sausages - which were delicious just because we'd cooked them ourselves!
Hobo packets! We made those when we went camping - slice up potatoes, onions, carrots, cabbage, whatever veggies the girls want, drizzle with olive oil and a little salt, then fold up the aluminum foil into a packet. Put on the fire over some coals (having a grate or grill helps) and check in about 15-20 minutes (maybe? I forget) to see if done. You have to be careful about steam burns, and tongs are helpful, but it's WAY healthier than pie iron "pizzas".
If you can find gluten-free cornmeal (not all of it is gluten-free, apparently) you could mix it into little cakes you could fry over the fire (making cornbread in a skillet over an open fire is difficult and requires a very practiced hand at open-hearth cooking). Ditto pre-cooked rice held together with egg and cheese and fried in a skillet. Double ditto mashed potatoes with green onions thrown in.
There are lots of good freeze-dried soup mixes out there, too. Ditto rice-and-beans-type mixes.
Bob's Red Mill has gluten-free rolled oats, which means you could be having oatmeal for breakfast, instead of hobo pies. :) Even non-instant oatmeal only needs some boiling water, a good stir, and a little patience. Throw in some dried fruit and a little brown sugar and call it good.
Are you hiking or camping with the aid of a car and cooler? If the latter, I would also suggest bringing various room-temp-friendly veggies like zucchini and summer squash, fresh tomatoes, green beans, cabbage, etc. that can be thrown together and pan-fried quickly and served over rice or with potatoes. A little sausage or chicken would round out the meal for meat-eaters. A few heads of lettuce in the cooler and some oil and vinegar with some other veggies would also make a great salad. Plus, I'm sure the girls wouldn't mind helping to chop up veggies and cook something somewhat healthy.
Anyway, I hope some of these suggestions are helpful. You could always ask your new scout if she has any ideas, too. Good luck!
quesadillas made with corn tortillas are easy to make while camping and something everyone loves. Pb&j sandwhiches on gf bread are a great, filling thing to have on hand for hikes or even a quick breakfast. I pack salami and cheese, gf crackers and fruit for snacks... dried fruit is great too! I do a lot of backpacking and these are some of my staples.
Tacos would be great and super easy. Make sure you have (gluten-free) soft shell and hard shell corn tortillas and a variety of naturally gluten-free ingredients and toppings. Super easy meal and you wont need anything special for gluten-free scout. There are tons of great recipes online for gluten-free trail mix and breakfast bars that would be great for snacks. Also popcorn would be a fun thing to make over the fire, and naturally gluten-free.
If you had a pasta night, you can buy great gluten-free pasta that isn't very expensive and it would be an easy substitution.
You could also do baked potatoes on the grill or fire with a variety of different toppings: cheese, broccoli, bacon, etc
You could also get a whole chicken and some chicken wings and make grilled bbq chicken.
Salads are great - quinoa salads with veggies would be good for everyone.
- hobo packs are a girl scout must
- baked potatoes are classic at a campfire
- quesadillas with corn tortillas would be easy and child-pleasing
- try grilling some fruit for a healthy dessert (and roasted marshmallows are tasty on their own, too)
- any kind of vegetable saute would be simple and tasty
- popcorn made the old fashioned way for snacks
- experiment with different kinds of beans in a home made chili or on their own
- socca (featured here before) seems like it could easily be adapted to a griddle or a cast iron pan over the fire.
this would be a really good opportunity to teach the girls about eating simply and making things from scratch. involve them in the research and preparation-- kids are quite web savvy and the internet is full of gluten free options. steer them towards 'naturally' gluten free foods that aren't imitations filled with ingredient substitutions.
Indian Sodas ( oranges or lemons with a pepermint sticked in them that you suck until the pepermint stick becomes a straw all write telling ghost stories or at least this was classic girl scouts for me)
Popcorn over a fire is awesome
hot dogs on a stick
Since anything can become cross contaminated with gluten by surrounding foods and cooking surfaces, it is better to play it safe and eliminate glutenous foods from the trip. As someone living gluten-free, here is what I would serve the kids:
-Pie-iron pizzas with soft corn tortillas rubbed with oil instead of the white bread.
-Corn on the Cob (with lots of butter!)
-Gazpacho (great for the summer) served with a side of instant rice, which can easily be made for a camping trip.
-Lettuce wrap sandwiches (just make sure the sandwich meat doesnt have any gluten)
-Yogurts, fresh fruits, and nuts for breakfasts and snacks.
-Roasted marshmallows and Smores made with home-made rice crispy treats (they are gluten free) instead of graham crackers.
I'd like to add homemade larabars as a snack -- there's a lot of recipes floating around the web, but basically you combine pitted dates and some sort of nut in the food processor with whatever spices you like (I add cinnamon and ground ginger) and pulse until the mixture turns into a giant ball. You then spread the mixture out and slice it into squares or bars. I chill it completely so it slices easier. They don't have to be refrigerated and they're much more filling than you'd think.
Also, don't forget the easy things! Yogurt, cheese, trail mix, veggies and dip (hummus, Ranch dressing), apples and peanut butter, gluten-free hot dogs/sausages, homemade hamburgers (just mix the meat with seasoning!) served with lettuce leaves or gluten-free bread/buns, bean salads (a mix of beans with veggies and vinaigrette), rice and beans, and other suggestions mentioned above.
Trail mix is great and can easily be an on-the-go lunch. I've done a lot of camping and we usually have trail mix and cheese and crackers for lunch--maybe try some corn or sesame crackers? I'm sure there are gluten-free ones around.
I think this trip is a really good chance for you to talk to all your girls about gluten allergies and healthy cooking. There may even be a cooking or other badge in it if they don't already have it! Along with the good point about cross contamination I think it's a good chance for you to help your gluten free girl feel included not just by the leaders but by the troop. For once she won't have to eat something different and the leaders can help her answer all the questions she would normally get about a gluten free diet.
Talk to her parents about meals they like to cook for her and ask her what she would like her friends to know about gluten-free eating or any foods she would like to share with them.
On another note, at GS camp we made "banana boats". Slice a banana lengthwise, scoop and eat a little out of the middle on both sides, stuff with marshmallows and chocolate chips, push back together, wrap in tinfoil and cook on the campfire. It's an old classic - just use gluten free marshmallows :)
Wow! Thank you everyone for your suggestions! This trip is going to be way easier and way tastier than I imagined!!!
THANK YOU!
Along with the baked potato idea, one of my favorite campfire treats was baked apple treats.
You just cut a hole in the apple through the stem, stuff it with butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon, and then put the plug of the apple stem back on to hold the tasty stuff inside. Wrap it in tin foil and put it in the coals until nice and tender. When they're done it's like eating hot apple pie from the oven.
Awesome treat, easy to do, and definitely gluten free.
I once made a big container of quiona to take with me camping - gave us lots of energy!
i just helped take a batch of middle schoolers camping (12 for a week, then another 12 for a second week!). we enjoyed a bunch of gluten-free meals/ snacks, on accident: cheesy rice and bean burritos on corn tortillas, pork fried rice, apple cinnamon/ peaches and cream oatmeal, hobo dinners, chilli over baked potatoes, breakfast burritos on corn tortillas, apples with peanut butter, trail mix, string cheese. the hobo dinner idea has a million permutations, don't be afraid to mix it up!
we didn't try these but i think they would work great: polenta with marinara (or just butter and maple syrup for breakfast), rice and raisin pudding, or frito pie.
good luck!