Category: camping lunches

Light Camping Lunch: Arugula Cucumber Salad Recipe

Salads when camping seem weird to a lot of people but they are actually really easy if you plan for it! They make for nice light lunches when you aren’t super hungry and also combat a meals calories so you can indulge more in brownies and Monkey Bread.

So my key way of working with any salads during camping are a few key things –

– Bring pre-bagged greens of your choice – PRE WASHED

– Buy produce ahead of time and cut, wash, dry and put in baggies before going

– Use anything and everything you have leftover from previous meals! Veggies, meats, dressings, sides. The key to these salads is to use leftovers when available to take less home

– Make a dressing before the trip that is versatile (lemon vinegerette, ranch). I love my lemon thyme dressing for this reason alone

So given all that, I want to share one of my favorite go to salads with favorite on hand items!

Easy Arugula Cucumber Salad

Ingredients –

  • 2 cups arugula
  • 1/2 Cucumber
  • 1/2 Avocado
  • Sliced Red Onion
  • Shaved Parmesan cheese
  • Roasted Pepitas
  • Lemon Thyme Dressing

Directions –

1) Roast pumpkin seeds before trip. Preheat over to 350 degrees. Put raw pumpkin seeds on cookie sheet. Roast for 8 minutes – mixing half way through

2) Put arugula in a bowl. Add cubed avocado, sliced red onions, sliced cucumbers, toasted pepitas and shaved Parmesan cheese

3) Dress with lemon thyme dressing and toss. Eat alone or serve as a side

Arugula Cucumber Avocado Salad

I would love feedback! If you have tried this recipe, please rate below and/or comment!

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Easy Lemon Thyme Dressing Recipe for Salads

So I know this is not the most exciting recipe but it is such a delicious and easy to make dressing, that you can whip up with so many options. I personally love it in any arugula and spinach salads. Also, this is a quick recipe to make before a camping trip. Just pour into a mason jar and you have dressing on the go for any camping meals you want to add it to!

Ingredients:

Ingredients for Lemon Thyme Dressing
  • 1/2 c. Olive Oil
  • 1/4 c. Champagne Vinegar
  • 2 tbsp. Shallot
  • Juice of one Lemon
  • 1 tsp. Fresh Thyme
  • 1 tbsp. Dijon Mustard
  • Splash of black pepper & salt

Directions:

  1. Wash thyme and remove from stems. Finely chop
  2. Mince small shallot – enough for at least 2 tbsp.
  3. Add olive oil, champagne vinegar, shallot, thyme, and Dijon mustard to a bowl
  4. Cut lemon in half and juice into the bowl with other ingredients
  5. Whisk together until combined
  6. Add salt and pepper to taste
  7. Use immediately or pour into a mason jar and refrigerate.

** One note on this dressing – when refrigerated, it will harden. Before use, let the dressing sit out at room temperature for a bit to loosen back up. Or run mason jar under warm water. Once it loosens up, just give the mason jar a good shake to combine!

Lemon Thyme Champagne Vinaigrette

I would love feedback! If you have tried this recipe, please rate below and/or comment!

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Easy Summer Salad with Kale and Avocado

Happy Summer Solstice! The longest day of the year and one of my favorite days. I love summer even though it is a little different this year. I miss baseball, barbecues, hanging by the pool and of course camping. At least I have my family. One thing my family loves is salads. We are usually trying to find new ones especially when we are starting to get tired of some of our favorites. So in honor of summer solstice, I thought I would share one of my favorites. In my family kale and almonds is a hit especially with my mom and sister but I prefer fruit/citrus in my salads. So combining the kale and almonds with some fruit was the inspiration for this one. Also, making your own dressing is so quick and easy once you find one you love, make sure to write it down. Saves on the calories in the bottled stuff!

Strawberry & Avocado Kale & Spinach Salad

Ingredients –

Salad:

  • Kale
  • Spinach
  • Strawberries
  • Sliced Almonds (toasted optional)
  • Avocado
  • 1/4 cup feta cheese
  • Sea salt

Dressing:

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (usually 1 lemon)
  • 1 tsp. honey
  • 1/2 tsp. poppy seed
  • 1/8 tsp. salt
  • 1/8 tsp. fresh ground pepper

Directions –

  1. To make dressing, add all ingredients to a bowl and whisk until blended (or add to a mason jar and shake vigorously for about 30 seconds to a minute)
  2. In a bowl, toss half spinach and half kale with sea salt
  3. If toasting almonds, line on a baking sheet and toast at 350 degrees for about 5-8 minutes keeping a close watch
  4. Slice strawberries and and avocado and add on top of the lettuce blend
  5. Add almonds and feta cheese
  6. Toss with dressing and enjoy!

I would love feedback! If you have tried this recipe, please rate below and/or comment!

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Perfect Cheesesteak Recipe While Camping

We normally just do sandwiches and snacks for lunches since so much is put into breakfast and dinners. However if you feel like going a bit gourmet for lunch, I’ve made this sandwich recipe a thousand times and it’s easy enough to do in the wild and perfect after a long hike that works up your appetite.

Ingredients –

  • 2 Bell peppers – red, green, orange – whatever you feel like – sliced
  • 1 White onion, sliced
  • Handful of Mushrooms, sliced (optional)
  • 1 1/2 – 2 lbs. of deli roast beef, sliced
  • Italian dressing (fat free also works if you want to cut some calories)
  • 1 package of French rolls
  • Provolone cheese, sliced
  • Pepper Jack cheese, sliced

**One note, I would use a propane grill for this. We don’t normally make a fire for lunch because it’s so hot but you could essentially do these same steps over a campfire

Directions –

  1. Slice up the onion, bell peppers and mushrooms (if using)

  1. Heat a little bit of oil to a pan
  2. Add sliced onions and bell peppers and heat under tender

  1. Add mushrooms and roast beef to pan until mushrooms are tender
  2. Dress each side of bread with Italian dressing
  3. Arrange sandwiches with meat, onions, bell peppers and mushrooms
  4. Top each with a slice of provolone and a slice of pepper jack
  5. Place sandwiches on grill on low heat and close – if you were doing on a campfire, I would place them in a cast iron and cover with foil to keep the heat in
  6. Heat just a couple of minutes until cheese has melted
  7. Serve up with chips and/or salad!

I would love feedback! If you have tried this recipe, please rate below and/or comment!

Rating: 5 out of 5.