Campers, what do you eat?

[Brandane]

I have done cycle camping, but previously relied on eating out. I now want to tackle some self catering. I plan to buy a basic one ring camping stove and to keep weight down will probably just carry a single pot, or one of those where the lid doubles as a frying pan.
Obviously this restricts menu options somewhat! Also having no fridge will mean tins or buying just enough food for one meal at a time. I am thinking stir fries or pasta dishes, eaten straight from the pot. Tins of sausages and beans would get very boring, very quickly.
What do the rest of you do for non boring food?!

 

[0lonerider]

you can alsorts of meals in tins! even a 3 course xmas dinner. try
pkts of dried paster + sauce, or soups,noodles,ect

 

[welsh dragon]

Omlettes are always good and you can throw anything you have to hand into it. Tasty, quick and nourishing.

 

[Crankarm]

Dominoes Pizzas? Those scooters can get anywhere.

Trangia running on gas plus another small light stove. One stove is too restrictive imho.

You can cook lots of stuff, ok probably not as much as you could at home with access to your kitchen, but you won't starve, certainly not in the UK as towns supermarkets and shops are never far away.

 

[Teuchter]

I've cooked almost every meal imaginable on my Trangia, from porridge and fry-ups to an elaborate chilli con carne. This was reindeer, tatties and onions while on motorbike tour in Finland...

If weight is an issue (walking or cycling), I take dried pasta or rice packets. Come in a variety of flavours and you don't need to carry extra water to cook them... as long as you're camping by a clean looking source of water I'd trust it to cook with as boiling it up in the course of the cooking will kill anything in it (at least I've never caught anything!). This makes dried food a lot lighter than canned food where you're carrying the weight of the liquid with them. I tend to carry a few packets with me and then I'm sorted if I find myself somewhere where I can't buy something different locally.

 

[raleighnut]

Take a 2 pan set, rice or pasta will continue to cook if you take it off the heat (when boiling) and put the pan on some folded up newspaper (insulating) you can then cook some sauce or a curry/stirfry in the other pan, or warm up meatballs etc.
Its a good idea to practice some meal ideas at home because nothing beats a good meal eaten outdoors and touring/camping should not prove an obstacle to this.

 

[rich p]

Cous cous, lardons, tuna, sadines, diced chicken, onion, tinned sauces, small pasta, salad, beer, red wine, bread.
I've done steaks when I fancy a bit of red meat.
Just think imaginatively and there are lots of possibilties. Ready made kebabs from butchers and supermarkets taken off the skewer are good.

 

[raleighnut]

Beans, more beans and rice pudding.

One man tent?

 

[yello]

It's not gourmet, I'd be the first to admit. Invariably pasta/rice with possibly a tinned sauce of some kind. Perhaps some salad, if I can find a smallish bag of mixed leaves or somesuch. It can get more exotic on odd occasions but not as a rule.

I try not to carry a lot of food so I'm somewhat at the mercy of the local store. One has to be creative sometimes!

There's always somewhere to eat during the day if necessary.

 

[snorri]

while on motorbike tour in Finland...

Hey! That's cheating, you can carry a lot more cooking kit on a motor bike, different ball game altogether..

 

[Crankarm]

One man tent?

which inflates to make a balloon ……………….

 

[Dave Davenport]

As per Yello, we carry some rice, pasta, jar of pasta sauce stuff or pesto and some stock cubes. Means you're never going to go hungry and you can chuck in what ever you can get locally, bit of bread & cheese and a couple of bottlers of wine and you're sorted.
In Spain last year we ate out most of the time as it was pretty cheap (three courses with wine for £10'ish) but in France this year we'll probably do our own thing most of the time as it tends to be a lot dearer.

 

[steveindenmark]

I used to take all the cooking gear and food but in the end I thought sod this for a game of soldiers. 12 years of eating in the Woods while I was in the army put me off it.
Unless you are in third World country there is food almost everywhere. In Europe supermarkets can provide you with enough cold food to keep you well fed. Fast food places, cafes, restaurants. There is food everywhere.

I stopped on the Way home for 10 minutes to eat cherries growing wild. I do take a flask of hot water and coffee with me though.

Steve

 

[snorri]

Wot steveindenmark said^^^.
The only place I've had to cook over the camp stove was Iceland where there were few facilities for eating out and menus seemed to be restricted to pizza or fried chicken.
It's not just the food, it is the use of a proper chair for the hour or so it takes to eat and drink that makes eating out one of the pleasures of a tour for me.

 

[Ticktockmy]

If you have a stove, and a cooking pot you can knock some really nice meals, depending where in the world you are, as different peeps have different tastes it very hard to recommend what suits you. For myself I am happy to eat bland food day after day which make life that much easier. When I am touring or Backpacking, I tend to visit Poundland, as they often have some handy Boil in the bag meals similar to the British Army boil in the bag, I would say work out some menus, then practise making them up and cooking them at home using your one ring stove, must better than learning in a wet tent when thee wind and rain is blowing a storm.