My family is headed to Wisconsin in a couple weeks for a nice little family get away. It’s been a long time since we’ve taken a proper family vacation so we’re all quite excited. We’ll be staying in a cabin on a lake for 5 days, getting our fill of fishing, swimming, kayaking and general sunbathing. Generally when we go camping my mom and I plan out meal ideas but this year that’s a little harder since my mom and dad will be coming up from Iowa and my brother, his girlfriend April and I will be leaving from the Cities. “The kids” have also decided that we’ll be in charge of dinner one night, so I took to Pinterest to find some good camping-appropriate recipe ideas.

1. Banana Oat Breakfast Cookies - I’ve never been a big breakfast eater, in fact most days if I do eat breakfast it’s nothing more than a granola bar or a piece of fruit. So I’m thinking something like these breakfast cookies would be perfect to bring along! I’m sure they’d also make a great afternoon snack as well.

Lunch is usually pretty simple with us, sandwichs, hot dogs, etc. So I was determined to find some fun sides to go with them instead of the usual bags of chips and veggie tray.

2. Pool-Side Snack Dip - This looks so good! I can’t wait to try it, even if it doesn’t make the camping trip cut.

3. Greek Pasta Salad - I love a good pasta salad and this one looks especially delicious. I wanted a recipe without mayonaise so it would hold up better across all 5 days.

Dinner is always a fun affair. We try to do new a fun things, but if you ask me, it hasn’t been a camping trip if you haven’t cooked something in foil. The Food Network has compiled this great list of 50 Things to Grill in Foil, below are 3 of the recipes that I deem perfect for a good camping trip.

4. Jerk Chicken Wings

5. Garlic Shrimp

6. Zucchini and Tomatos. (I really love grilled vegetables so I would probably also throw in some red potatoes, corn, bell peppers, onions and any other delicious veggie I could get my hands on. :)

7. Lemonade Cupcakes with Fresh Raspberry Frosting - Now I can guarantee there will be smores involved, but I’ve been DYING to try this cupcakes recipe so I may just be using this vacation as an excuse to finally make them.

6. Frozen Raspberry Lemonade - As you can probably tell from my dessert choice, I love Raspberry and Lemonade for a summer combo. If I may be so bold as to say so, I think it’s the perfect flavor for summer, and who doesn’t love a nice frozen drink by the lake?

What are your favorite summertime camping staples?

Happy Camping,
Jennifer