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Camping Menu + Camp in Photos 2017

    Natasha, her husband, and daughter in a green canoe in a body of water

    This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy.

    The annual camping post! YAAASSS!! If you aren’t into camping, feel free to skip this post and look through the 800+ recipes we have on our blog instead. But, if you are into roughing it in the woods, read on for camping menu ideas and some fun photos.

    Two photos one of a girl eating and one of a plate with pancakes and blueberries

    We have an annual church camp and we love going. It’s an amazing break from every day life and we always appreciate the little things a whole lot more after a dirty week in the woods. lol. The kids love camping – staying up late, marshmallows nightly, hiking, swimming, fishing, glow sticks with friends in the dark – it’s kind of a dream world for kiddos.

    The kids just thrive when they get out in the woods without needing phones or ipads because guess what?? There’s no internet! This also means that we adults aren’t stuck to our phones checking and rechecking and surfing and swiping just because it has become a reflex for my right thumb.

    Natasha riding a bike and with a bicycle trailer attached

    A little girl riding her bike down the street

    Three photos of boys eating watermelon

    Natasha hugging her son and smiling at the camera

    Waking up in a tent is just the best experience (although the falling asleep part is always rough for me). We don’t set any alarm clocks and I pry my eyes open to natural light to see my little ones curled up in their sleeping bags still dreaming sweetly with their disheveled hair. I love to just stare at them, soaking in their sweetness. The big grins they have for me when they wake up and realize that Mom and Dad are there when they open their eyes are priceless! It’s a beautiful way to start the day. P.S. Read more about our new tent here and see the clever way we keep it warm!

    Two photos one of pancakes being cooked and on of Natasha standing at a grill

    A close up of a pancake on a spatula

    A plate with eggs, pancakes, and strawberries and a little girl

    Two photos of Natasha making silly faces at her daughter while holding a plate

    Camping Menu:

    Let’s talk about the food!! Here is the Menu we created for our weekend at Camp (I’ll have links just below the chart to recipes on my blog). Our goal was to make it easy, quick and as much make-ahead as possible.

    A food menu

    RECIPE LINKS: 

    1. Fish Tacos
    2. Mom’s Meatball Soup
    3. 15-minute Corn on the Cob
    4. Classic Cucumber and Tomato Salad
    5. BBQ Chicken (marinate and freeze days ahead!)

    For more ideas, check out our camping posts from:

    Camping 2013, Camping 2014, Camping with Baby 2015, Camping Menu 2016. 

    Fish Tacos were on the menu the first night and these are an absolute family favorite. My brother-in-law, Slavik came up with the recipe and we have all adopted it, made it countless times and crave it like crazy. I will never get tired of these tacos! Lucky for you, I recently posted the recipe (FINALLY!).

    Two photos one a close up of a grill and one of a man grilling

    These fish tacos were the BEST Camping food ever! So fresh and delicious!

    Two photos one of tacos and one of the taco ingredients in separate plates

    The camp chef flat cooktop was amazing. Everyone loved using it and we were able to cook much more efficiently to feed our crowd of 8 adults + 6 children. I’m completely smitten with this cooktop and I highly recommend it! p.s. this is not a paid promotion, we just seriously love this grill! We have 2 of them – one for home and one for camp. Restaurants use these flat grills and once you try it, you will be hooked! Here the Camp Chef cooktop (Amazon affiliate link) we have.

    Two photos one of a woman at a flat top and one of her holding a plate of bacon

    Two photos one of a flat top with bread and one of a sandwich and blueberries

    Camping is hard when you go with little ones. The challenges of packing the entire “farm,” setting up the campsite, cooking, constantly corralling a toddler, 20,000 kisses for scraped knees,.. and the mountains of laundry and dirty shoes at the end of the weekend. But we still go, every year, like clockwork because there is beauty in the outdoors and being away from never ending work, requests, demands and to-do lists.

    Two photos one of Natasha and her daughter smiling and one of a girl playing in the water

    Fun at the lake!

    Natasha, her daughter, and husband canoeing

    A couple hugging and smiling

    My parents 🙂

    A single charge on my phone lasts all weekend because it is off! Yes, camping is worth it, and even soley for the joy it brings our children and the memories they’ll keep forever. But you know what, we’ll keep those memories forever also and these pictures are how we hold on to those memories. I hope this post made you smile – thanks for sharing in our joy.

    A full moon

    A group of people standing around a fire

    Natasha and her family posing for the camera

    Two photos one of Natasha and her husband and one of her two children

    Do you enjoy camping? Or maybe glamping is more of your thing? (Read about our glamping experience here). How do you pull away from the demands of every day life?

    Natasha Kravchuk

    Welcome to my kitchen! I am Natasha, the blogger behind Natasha's Kitchen (since 2009). My husband and I run this blog together and share only our best, family approved and tested recipes with YOU. Thanks for stopping by! We are so happy you're here.

    Read more posts by Natasha

    Leave a Comment

    Comments

    • Linda
      May 25, 2022

      I noticed a lot of cucumbers on your camping menu. Is that a family preference, or a tradition, or is there a reason for it?

      Reply

      • Natashas Kitchen
        May 25, 2022

        Hi Linda, I’d say its prefernce, but also our garden cucumbers are so fresh, refreshing and delicious! Perfect for warm weather camping.

        Reply

    • Liliya
      November 8, 2018

      I wanted to thank you for including that chart of the menu in the post. So helpful!

      Reply

      • Natashas Kitchen
        November 8, 2018

        You’re welcome! I’m so happy that helped!

        Reply

    • Katie B-Lem
      January 5, 2018

      Natasha, thank you for the great tips. Fish tacos sounds interesting. We’ll give it a try. Our staple dish for camping each year is sloppy joes. I make it at home and freeze it in the zip lock bag. The only thing you need to do it make the salad and warm up the buns and meat. It is delicious and smell so good that you might attract other campers 😉

      Reply

      • Natasha's Kitchen
        January 6, 2018

        You’re welcome Katie! Thanks for sharing your great suggestion with other readers!

        Reply

    • Ralph
      November 16, 2017

      Thanks for the great recipes on your other articles. Gonna try some of them before i incorporate them into my blog.

      Thanks for sharing

      Reply

      • Natasha's Kitchen
        November 16, 2017

        My pleasure Ralph! Thanks for following and please let me know what you think of the recipes!

        Reply

    • Lena
      September 19, 2017

      Hi, what kind of sausages do you buy for the camp fire?

      Reply

      • Natasha
        natashaskitchen
        September 19, 2017

        Hi Lena, it varies with every camping trip it feels like :). I try to get whatever (more natural) sausage is available at Costco. This last camping trip, we bought the chicken apple sausages and everyone seemed to enjoy them.

        Reply

        • Lena
          September 20, 2017

          Thank you:)

          Reply

    • Zina
      September 14, 2017

      Dear Natasha
      I’m from Belgium and I’m so glad I discovered your site.
      I was lucky enough to have a Russian mom. Unfortunately my dearest mother died last year.
      Your site reminds me of the many delicious Russian dishes she prepared for us.
      I’m in love with Russia and its delicious cuisine!
      Thank you for sharing!!

      Reply

      • Natasha's Kitchen
        September 14, 2017

        My pleasure Zina! I’m sorry for your loss. I’m glad you found my site and hope you continue to enjoy my site! Thanks for following and sharing your encouraging comments!

        Reply

    • Lee Thayer
      August 29, 2017

      Wonderful photos and a great menu line, I really hope you are making hash browns from potatoes and not store bought has browns 😉

      Reply

      • Natasha
        natashaskitchen
        August 30, 2017

        Ha ha, I’ll spill the beans right now – when you’re cooking at camp for 8 adults and 6 kids, no one is willing to shred that much potatoes so we usually opt for store-bought at camp because it’s 100 times easier to feed a large crowd quickly with minimal prep and cleanup. 🙂

        Reply

        • Lee Thayer
          August 30, 2017

          Ok, fair enough 🙂 But 6 kids, sounds like your letting that free labor go to waste 😉

          Reply

          • Natasha
            natashaskitchen
            August 30, 2017

            Maybe in a few years when they aren’t so little. The little ones in our group can’t be trusted with the potato grater yet! lol.

            Reply

    • Iulia
      August 29, 2017

      You are a very beautiful and harmonious family!

      Reply

      • Natasha
        natashaskitchen
        August 29, 2017

        Thank you so much for your sweet comment. I am so thankful for them 🙂

        Reply

    • Olya
      August 28, 2017

      It looks like you guys had a lot of fun! You read my mind, I was just thinking the other day when I saw your new video on youtube, you stopped doing personal posts…. and here it is! Visiting Idaho is actually on our list! 🙂

      Reply

      • Natasha
        natashaskitchen
        August 28, 2017

        Hi Olya, yes, it’s true, the past year and a half have been somewhat of a whirlwind and I feel like I have let the busy work overrun the personal and fun aspect of blogging. It’s my goal to get back into that because I truly enjoy sharing the personal side with my readers, family and friends and I love looking at those posts the most – seeing my kids grow and change – I could scroll for hours 🙂

        Reply

    • zouhair fiorino najjar
      August 28, 2017

      i always admire your recipes and upload them to my social media accounts ..To day i wish to say that your children are awesome especially your daughter..May God bless and protect you all as very friendly Family>>>

      Reply

      • Natasha's Kitchen
        August 28, 2017

        Thank you for following and sharing your encouraging, thoughtful comments!

        Reply

    • Leny kam
      August 26, 2017

      Hi Natasha,
      Coming from the Far East almost fifty years ago I must say that I’ve never experienced camping as I see in these pictures of you and your family. I really enjoyed it, everyone looks so happy and healthy. It’s great that your good looking parents were also there, how fun.
      I became one of your cooking blog followers since yesterday and I’m glad I did, so many healthy and delicious recipes coming from you. Thank you, Natasha.

      Reply

      • Natasha
        natashaskitchen
        August 26, 2017

        Hi Leny! Welcome to my blog! I’m so glad you’re here :). Thank you so much for your thoughtful comment 🙂

        Reply

    • Marta
      August 25, 2017

      What a great Post! We are heading to the Catskills tomorrow for a week. We do it every year and it’s a time where we can relax and enjoy nature. Was looking for some other recipes so these maybe added on one of the days! 😊 As always thanks for sharing.

      Reply

      • Natasha's Kitchen
        August 25, 2017

        My pleasure Marta! I glad you found this post helpful for your trip tomorrow! Have a blast! 🙂

        Reply

    • Paul Hampel
      August 25, 2017

      Thank you for the post. I’m glad you enjoyed a great family trip. Special thanks for the picture of your parents. Having read so many of the recipes, It’s nice to see your Mom’s face since she has been such a great influence on your cooking (and now mine too).

      The Camp Chef looks great. It does seem light years ahead of my Coleman youth. 🙂 But I’m looking for a day pack cooking method. A stove to pack for overnight hikes. Is there another way besides the usual minimal hiker propane burner that you could suggest? I like to keep minimal camping gear because it always builds up over time. So my goal is to get as much day pack gear as I can and use it to substitute for the bigger campsite stuff. I have found the day pack stuff stays in use for more years so I make it my priority.

      Reply

      • Natasha
        natashaskitchen
        August 25, 2017

        My husband is figuring out those same questions right now planning for a hiking trip with friends. We haven’t come up with anything else for cooking except over a real fire.

        Reply

        • Paul Hampel
          August 27, 2017

          Through hiker and outdoor pages I see several product suggestions. But I thought I would ask a reliable foodie before I consider a cooking product from a rawist hiker. 🙂 Thank you for the quick reply Natasha.

          Reply

          • Natasha's Kitchen
            August 28, 2017

            My pleasure Paul, anytime!

            Reply

    • Natalya
      August 24, 2017

      We just got back from camping ourselves with little ones!! We love cooking dinner over the fire, but have a little camping stove too. I have a camping macncheese recipe that family loves and looks forward to! No reception or internet is the best!

      Reply

      • Natasha
        natashaskitchen
        August 24, 2017

        Oooh my goodness tell me more about your camping macncheese!!! And what do you cook over the fire? I love the sound of that!

        Reply

    • Jenny from jennyisbaking.com
      August 24, 2017

      Since I am a rather new follower, I didn’t know that you do these posts, how very nice! I agree that it always helps to get away from regular life with all its demands once in a while. It is like a recharge!
      May I know who this cute couple is you took a picture of (picture below the canoe)?

      Reply

      • Natasha
        natashaskitchen
        August 24, 2017

        Welcome to the site Jenny, I’m glad you like the post 😬. Those are my parents in the picture.

        Reply

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