We are going on a family fishing trip in Aug. of 2009. I am trying to designate what everyone brings for meals etc. Right now I am trying to figure out how many pounds of potatoes to take with us. We don't want to carry too much extra with us but we don't want to buy to much extra while we are there.
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If you plan on doing baked potatoes in the camp fire then one per person should be enough per meal. If you plan to make potatoes any other way I would add a few more.
If you will google "Dayle's Growlies" you can click on a website that gives a lot of information on cooking in larger quantities.
What each person brings depends on how many people are going to be there. You need to determine the person count first. Good luck, and have fun.
How many people are going to be camping? What are you planning for meals? How long are you going to be camping? Those are the first things you need to figure and then go from there. Also, how many children will be going?
Do as much of your prep work at home as you can, if you are going to be truly camping, (as with tent and no running water.) Such as making up the hamburger patties and seasoning all the meats. I love camping on the river, while it sounds so relaxing and is to some extent. It is also a whole lot of hard work! lol Especially, if you are the only woman in the bunch.
When we go camping, I take 2 potatoes per person, to wrap in foil and bake on the fire...I also take instant mashed potatoes and a box of instant scalloped potatoes as well as mac and cheese and flavoured instant rice mixes....these boxes are all light and won't go bad sitting outside in the heat of summer....
It definitely saves money to make your own food rather than pay to go out to eat for every member in your group. My family tries to stay in condos while on vacation--it tends to not be much more than renting a hotel room, and timeshare rentals are fully equipped w/ everything you might need to cook. In Hawaii, we even had a cooler bag, toaster, cookie sheets, and storage containers for leftovers! And you can pack less because there is the magical *washer and dryer*, so needed for kids around water or sand or snow.
On a family reunion trip to Orlando (4 families w/ kids), each family did one dinner at night. Our very successful dinner was soft tacos--incredibly easy w/ tortillas, ground beef and taco mix, shredded cheese, heated refried beans, lettuce/tomato/salsa. We had Spanish rice and corn for sides, and everyone ate as much as they cold hold. We've repeated this camping, and I even pre-cooked the shredded chicken taco meat, put it into freezer bag, and reheated it by putting the bag in boiling water! Easy and no mess! You can buy instant dehydrated refried beans, instant brown (healthy!) rice, and just cut the lettuce and tomatoes. I just bring the salsa(bottled), shredded cheese and sour cream and guacamole. The leftovers made terrific breakfast burritos the next morning, just add some scrambled eggs. Picky eaters got quesadillas (shredded cheese in a tortilla, cooked in a frying pan until melted and crispy) and we supplemented by making a fruit salad.
I've also made stew or white chili, froze it, and used it as ice for our cooler until thawed and we were ready to heat and eat w/ sandwiches or other bread/rice. I've never done it myself, but if it's a road trip, some people bring their crock pot to the vacation rental and throw things in the morning, only to have a meal ready and hot after a long day vacationing. I've always wanted to try this!
As for the potatoes, as people have said, it's hard to know w/out knowing how many people for your fishing trip are going, and for how long. I would say bring a lot, as you can eat them baked, fried, hashed, in soup, omelettes, or salad.
I've brought a 96 oz frozen lasagna (Stouffers on sale $10) that could feed a crowd, some salad and bread, and made that in a condo. Or I've marinated teriyaki drums (or even pre-cooked them) and cooked them at our rental. Sometimes we've gone into Canada or Hawaii(where you can't really bring much in), bought some staples like cereal, bread, milk, eggs, juice, fruit, and peanut butter and lunch meat, and ate that and supplemented w/ cooked takeout food from local restaurants/delis. Going to different 'exotic' grocery stores away from home is a bunch of cheap fun--except perhaps the $6 loaves of 'cheap' wheat bread in Hawaii--(Yow). You can try different cereals and juices and fruit. Did you know that so-called 'exotic' fruity chews in Mexico include blackberries, strawberries, raspberries and blueberries?? Or that apple soda tastes incredible? My kids think it's a gas, and it makes cheap souvenirs for friends at home.
We went to 12 different states en route to the Grand Canyon. It was a wonderful trip. The best thing we did was take a 12volt cooler. It kept drinks, water, soda etc,
You are worried about the weight of the potatoes, slice and dry them first. Reconstitute at camp site.
I can't tell you about fresh potatoes, but a good brand of instant potatoes to supplement them won't harm you at all. They are light-weight, quick, not bad for either a supplement to fresh mashed or a potato soup, or are a good carbohydrate if it's a long day and you want something hot, fast.
Hey Linda! Is that Hartley, Delaware that you from?
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