Nine Day Backcountry Menu Plan for our Family of Three

I love everything about canoe tripping, even the preparations. Finding lightweight foods safe to carry without refrigeration that fit the blue barrel and satisfy the divergent palates of the entire family poses a fun challenge. This year I've planned 8 cooked dinners, 4 cooked breakfasts, and additional breakfast and lunch items for eating on the go.







The link to a video showing the food and cook kit going into our blue food barrel for this year's trip is followed by our menu plan. The plan provides enough food for a 9 day / 8 night canoe trip for our family (2 adults and 1 child). When I pack for these trips I pack only items I've tried with success car camping or on short trips to avoid carrying the weight of leftover prepared foods nobody wants to eat. I also bring contingency items (such as extra oatmeal and granola bars) for my daughter for when she dislikes what the adults are eating.

Video showing the meals and cookware.

Our cook kit includes a reflector oven for the baked goods, a pot with a cozy, a small skillet, and a small water boiling pot for those nights the pot is occupied waiting for food to dehydrate. I made a 3 foot by 5 foot Nylon ground cloth to use as a tablecloth on the ground for emptying the contents of the food barrel, my first gear sewing project ever. I had so much fun with it, I'm thinking about making a few stuff sacks.

Baking blueberry muffin cake in the reflector oven at Copper Falls State Park, July 2017.

Instant oatmeal with freeze dried fruit and nuts in the Sylvania Wilderness, July 2017.

Hungry Jack dehydrated cheesy hashbrowns in the Sylvania Wilderness, July 2017.

Baking just add water biscuit mix in the reflector oven in the Sylvania Wilderness, July 2017.

That's all for now. Let's get outdoors and keep our wild places wild!