Harmon House Goes Camping: Meals

I planned out our meals about 2 weeks before. I'm a freak like that. Plus I like scanned Pinterest like a crazy lady trying to not have hot dogs both nights 😳 I'm all for hot dogs BUT I like my family having a little better nutrition if possible. Anyways, here's what we did. 

We left Friday after I got back from the dentist so we only needed dinner on Friday. I wanted J to have the full camping experience so Friday dinner plan was old fashioned hot dogs, chips, & s'mores! ...I may or may not have made her eat fruit right when we got there just to make myself feel better... BUT GUESS WHAT HAPPENED. There was a burn ban. Ugh! So we couldn't even do s'mores! We did cook hot dogs & have chips & fruit on the side. But sometime soon we are definitely camping in the backyard & cooking s'mores! J's too young to realize that she missed out on the BEST parts of camping: campfires & roasted marshmallows. Luckily, her spirit wasn't too damaged :) 

Saturday I knew would be a crazy filled nonstop moving day. So, definitely loaded up with proteins & carbs! For breakfast I pre-made burritos. I wrapped them in foil so we could just throw them right on the grill to warm up. THEY WERE FANTASTIC!!! & the tortillas got a little crispy (I suggest rotating the burritos while cooking, switching the ones directly over the flame- one mistake I made) but the fact that they got crispy actually made them better. Inside the burritos I put sausage, eggs, cheese, & cottage cheese. (I always put cottage cheese in scrambled eggs because it makes it fantasticccccc- TRY IT. Now. You're welcome.) also, we had pre-cut up melon :) 

For Saturdays lunch/snacks I made simple sandwiches & packed chips, apples, granola bars, & bananas. We were hiking literally all day. Or sight seeing. I think next time I might make some "lunchables" or wraps for myself. Sandwiches were fine but I like fresh sandwiches more than pre-made. But nevertheless, all tummies were happy. 

Saturday nights dinner was barbeque chicken, corn on the cob with chili butter, & we were also supposed to have beans but decided against them simply because I was too lazy to wash the pan. No shame & no regrets. I pre-seasoned the chicken & froze it so by the time we were ready to eat it would be thawed out.  Worked really well! BUT I forgot barbeque sauce! Luckily, my seasoning tastes so well it was still ok but I love sauces for my chicken so I definitely wish we had had some! I know a lot of people like grilled corn on the cob but I actually like mine softer than what the grill cooks it so I pre-boiled mine & wrapped them in foil to put on the grill to warm up. I found this AMAZING chili butter recipe (I'll have to post later, doing a quick nap post right now) that I pre-made & packaged for us to put on the corn. Again, I had happy tummies! 

We didn't pack anything for Sunday because we planned to leave first thing in the morning & stop for breakfast on the road. We ended up leaving Saturday night (will post about why in the "hardships/mistakes" post) so it actually worked perfect. 

For drinks we packed waters & gaterades.  

Overall, everything went great. I'm hoping next time we have longer to camp out because we all really enjoyed ourselves! I'm sorry I didn't get any pictures but I was very focused on not using my phone & enjoying my sweet family. I enjoy blogging but I don't live for it. So I knew I needed to take pictures for my posts but, I also knew that my babies needed some time away from this crazy fast paced world so that was more important. :) we did take our phones on the hikes so I'll have those pictures in another post! 

XOXOX, 

Harmon Housewife

Harmon House Goes Camping: Part 1

I'm really just not sure where to start or what order to post all the information that went into camping/how camping went. So, I decided breaking it up into parts is the best way to provide all info/not stress me out :) So we're going to start with the prepping/planning of our camping trip. & a few overall details of the trip. 

Wichita Wildlife Refuge

I chose this one (it's about 3 hrs away) specifically for Joe. There's plenty of closer places to camp but my husband is a fan of boulder hopping & the refuge is great for that. He's been wanting to go but since the refuge is 3 hours away, it's not ideal for him to go alone as he would be gone all day. My FIL took us there when we were first married & we actually found out later that I was pregnant at the time. Looking back now it actually makes perfect sense because 1. I was nauseous nearly the entire ride & 2. I ate an entire footlong Subway sandwich in one sitting as opposed to saving half of it for the trail. I was so hungry! & now we know why :) anyways, I chose this for him so that he could go one morning by himself for some alone time. We loved camping out here & will definitely go back again! 

We chose to tent camping because it's seriously SO cheap. It was only $10/night! And bonus: my FIL had camping gear that he let us use so no extra money spent on that! He had a huge tent, cooler, propane stove, ponchos, etc. They did a lot of camping growing up so we were super pleased he let us use the gear! All we had to buy was a few extra necessities. 

Here was our packing list: 

Food (will post our meal plan & details) 

Twin food- Plum organic packs, formula/bottles, 2 gallons of water, few jarred foods, gerber puffs, & oatmeal. 

Tent

Propane stove

Charcoal

Air mattress

Foam floor puzzle (we used this to make J's sleeping area softer)

Pack & play (twins still sleep in this together) 

Books/Activies (will post about this separately) 

Clothes/blankets

Flashlights 

Lighter fluid

Back packs (for hikes)

Few toys for twins

Bumbo's 

...I think that is nearly everything. The individual posts will go more in depth about things I think most family's want to know about when going with young kids; meals, activities, hardships, etc. 

I just wanted to give a short update & give my readers a few posts to be looking out for & to let you all know I'm working on gathering the information so that you can have a fun & stress free camping trip too! 

How many of you enjoy camping? What is something you can't live without when you go? I'd love to hear your ideas!

XOXOX, 

Harmon Housewife