Nutrition Tips for Your Camping Trip

Looking for a summer family activity you haven’t tried before? Try camping! Getting outdoors and exploring nature can make for many wonderful memories. It also provides great health benefits and helps to relieve tension from a stressful week and allows you to leave the pressures of your job behind.

Camping encourages physical activity, creativity, new learning experiences, and good old fashion fun for all! It is important to ensure you pack an adequate provision of food to keep you and your family fueled. Don’t forget to fill your cooler up with not only meals but snacks too for all the hiking you are sure to do. A great summertime snack is fruit!

Camping 101

Fueling your body in a healthy way can help make your camping trip a positive experience. Below are some tips to help you plan for a healthy camping trip.

Plan: Planning your menu ahead will help to ensure healthy choices at every meal and avoid spending unnecessarily on convenience foods. Include plenty of fruits and vegetables, lean protein, and whole grains at each meal.

Fruits and Veggies: Make sure to include fruits and vegetables with all your meals while camping. Fruits like apples, oranges, bananas, and melons travel well and make for great snacks. Pack frozen bagged vegetables as an easy way to get in your veggies.

Pack whole grains: Whole grain bread, crackers, and muffins will help fuel your body and don’t require refrigeration or any prep work.

Make your own “TV Dinners”: Have leftovers from the weeks prior to leaving for your camping trip? Perfect! Store your leftovers in your freezer until you are ready to pack for your camping experience.  Place your frozen entrees in your cooler and enjoy your very own TV dinners in the middle of nature.

Hydrate with water: Stocking up on cold water bottles before your camping trip is a great way to ensure cold, purified, refreshing water. Make sure to keep yourself hydrated by drinking at least 8 glasses of water a day.

Cookware and Utensils: Packing healthy foods is always important but ensuring you can prepare and make these foods is essential! Make sure to bring a sharp knife to cut your fresh produce. Also, include a hot plate and saucepan to boil water and a skillet to cook vegetables like sweet potato and squash.

The Sweet Nutrition Power of Summer Fruits

There are so many delicious fruits that just make you think of summer and nature, which means they are a perfect addition to any camping trip. The refreshing, juicy flavors of peaches, plums, nectarines, and melons sweeten up the hot days of summer. Look for these fruits at the height of their season starting from June to August and you won’t be disappointed.

Peaches: There are two different kinds of peaches, the clingstone (where the fleshy part sticks to the stone) and the freestone (where it does not stick to the pit). Peaches are rich in vitamins A, C, and minerals like potassium and iron. When choosing a peach look for ones that are rich in color, and slightly soft to the touch.

Plums: Plums come in 200 varieties and are categorized by Japanese, American, Damson, Ornamental, Wild, or European-Garden. Plums are a great source of vitamin C, vitamin A and vitamin B2, potassium, and fiber. Choose plums that are slightly soft to the touch and store them in the refrigerator until ready to eat.

Nectarines: Although nectarines and peaches are part of the same family, they are two different fruits. Like peaches, nectarines come in clingstone and freestone. Choose a nectarine that is soft to the touch but avoid those that have bruise marks and brown spots. Nectarines are a good source of vitamin C and vitamin A.

Honeydew Melon: Honeydew melon is slightly green in color and slightly oval. Look for honeydews that are free from scars and maintain their spherical shape. Store unripe honeydews for a couple of days at room temperature and once ripe a honeydew can be stored for up to 5 days. Honeydews contain potassium, folate, and vitamin C.

Cantaloupe: Cantaloupe, also known as “netted melon” because of its skin, has an orange, sweet flesh that is part of the same family as squash, pumpkin, cucumber, and gourd. Cantaloupe is an excellent source of vitamin A and beta-carotene, both of which are important for vision. Cantaloupe also contains vitamin C, potassium, B6, folate, fiber, and niacin. Choose a cantaloupe that is heavy and free of bruises.  You may store a cantaloupe at room temperature until ripe however it is important that once the cantaloupe is cut, store it in the refrigerator as there is a risk of salmonella if the melon is left out in a temperature danger zone of 41-135 Fahrenheit.

Now that the cooler is full, and the car is packed, enjoy the great outdoors with your family.

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