Toddler Mealtime: the Camping Edition

If your toddler is anything like ours, her preferences and pickiness for certain foods have increased with age. When she was one years old she ate just about anything we gave her. Now we have to strategically plan what, when, and how we can get her to eat enough food with sustinence (as she would gladly eat cheese all day).  This provides a challenge while camping, especially in the backcountry as bringing fresh food and refrigerated food is difficult.  Luckily on our canoe trips we are able to bring a large (60L) canoe barrel that has our food and cooking gear in it (frying pan, dragonfly stove, 2L and 1.5L nesting pots). We also recently bought a cooler bag that fits inside our barrel and helps to keep food cold for a few days longer. In this cooler bag is where we pack our butter, cheese and meat for the trip. We also usually have room in the barrel to pack some fresh veggies and fruit for the first couple days (our toddler is a fruit monster and especially loves her oranges). Along with fresh fruit, we have started to dehydrate fruit slices to bring as a snack or filler in meals such as pancakes and oatmeal. Some of our toddlers favourites are peach slices, strawberries, and dried apricots.

Another tip we have realized is that finger food is so much easier and cleaner in the backcountry then getting our toddler to use utensils. This makes for simpler meal times as we are usually busy setting things up, gathering water, starting a fire etc. It also maintains better backcountry safety as it decreases the chance of food getting all over her clothes and attracting animals to our tent. That being said, we do pack a small plastic (easy to clean) bib that she can wear and remove after meals which is stored with our food. A few of her favourite finger food meals are grilled cheese wraps, quesadillas with sandwich meat and cheese, mini chocolate chip pancakes, and bannock. We make these same toddler-friendly meals in the front country as well, but with the luxury of adding extra ingredients such as peppers, avocados, and salsa to our quesadillas.

While front country camping we are more keen to do a variety of meals in which our toddler either uses utensils or we help feed her. Some of our favourites are shepherd’s pie (using dehydrated veggies, meat, and mashed potatoes) and different variations of ramen. KD and hotdogs are also a huge family favourite!

Another tip we quickly realized is that having an abundance of snacks is necessary to keep our toddler satisfied while we set up camp or do activities. We like to choose snacks that are relatively healthy and mess free. Some of her favourites are Nature’s Bakery fig bars, fruit source bars, babybels, and fruit pouches.

We’re excited to see how our mealtimes change as our kids develop a more sophisticated palette. But then again, it’s pretty hard to beat KD and smokies!