Food Packing Tips

Make your mealtimes at the treehouses simpler, spend more time playing! These will work for most camping outings.

You can always take the easy way out and eat ramen noodles or with a bit of prep at home, you can eat like a queen without loading up your bags and spending a lot of time at the cabins cooking.

Prepping your meals and snacks before coming will save you time, garbage & cleanup at the cabins, as well as less weight and space in your cooler. You can brig your own cooler, but remember each treehouse also has a big cooler.
Packaging, freezing:
Remove all packaging from food (including jars) and place in ziploc freezer bags; canned items or boxed dry goods will travel just as well in a ziplock.
Pre-make your sauces, prep your meats & vegies and double bag in ziplock freezer bags. You can freeze almost anything except what you will need for arrival day meals and the next morning’s breakfast (milk cannot freeze).Juices – Can be frozen in their cartons or plastic jugs, or better yet –bring frozen concentrated juices and add water, avoid the extra weight and bottles to bring back. We provide 15L containers for drinking water and a juice jug.

Place ziplocked food bags in your cooler – they will act as ice packs – most of these food items will be thawed by the time you need to use them. This system is more useful than freezer packs that don’t last more than 24hrs and end up being bulky useless items to carry back.
Your foods should not share the same space as your raw meats, keep them in a separate cooler or bag to avoid the possibility of cooler water seeping into your food and contaminating it. Drain your cooler often to avoid water build up at bottomof cooler. A few plastic containers to act as trays can help keep food separated and safe.
Food safety – cooler should be at 40 °F or below.
Pack food by placing each meal into a grocery bag – it will reduce the frequency of opening the food cooler, therefore keeping it cooler. Breakfast bag, lunch bag, dinner bag & snack bag, etc…
Plan to eat more perishable items (like meat) early in the trip and save the dry goods (like spaghetti) for the end. Extend the life of perishable items by freezing what you can ahead of time. Pack food in a few collapsible coolers. The cabins have a large 60L cooler that you can place your cooler bags into or place your food packages into.
You can always pickup ice at the reception.
Camping recipes and tips – see us on PINTEREST !
Eggs: Crack your eggs into a plastic bottle (add vegies and cheese for an omelet) – easy transport
Bacon: Buy pre-cooked bacon – it is the way to go !!!! Way less time for cleanup, no grease!
Milk: Tetra packs
Breads: Tortilla, flat breads, bagels, pita – they don’t get squished. Prepare your own flat bread (bannock) mix and cook at cabin in fry pan, wrap around a stick or wrap in tinfoil and cook over the fire.
Wraps: Anything wrapped up in a tortilla or pita is delicious, better yet wrap them in tin foil and heat over the grill or fire – really yummy- breakfast, lunch or dinner!
Meats: Burgers -mix ingredients & prep patties in advance. Chop, dice, marinate meats in a ziplock & freeze. Pre-boil sausages – ready to heat on fire pit or grill in a snap, no worries wondering if it is cooked or charred trying to cook it.
Pancakes: Buy pre-mixed or prepare it yourself (add liquids at cabin).
Juice: Bring frozen concentrate, add water.
Lunches: Hard cheeses, dry meats – travel well and less fragile at room temperature.
Fruits & veg: Choose hearty fruits and veggies that hold up to travel and won’t spoil quickly: oranges, apples, melons, carrots, celery, root vegetables, onions etc. Potatoes – per-bake at home, add all sorts of stuffing’s & seasoning, wrap in foil and heat over camp fire.
Snacks: Nuts, granola, trail mix, bars, energy balls, vegies & dip.
S’mores: Rollo’s stuffed into cooked marshmallows over the fire or buy already covered chocolate cookies and sandwich a cooked marshmallow in between. Adult version: place cheese curds on a stick, warm over the fire, place on a cracker or baguette!
Spices: Bring a camp kit of your favorite spices (onion, garlic powder, basil, oregano, Montreal steak spice). Cabins have S&P.
Wine: Wine in a box or tetra packs, no bottles to bring back.