Camping/Picnic ideas (no fridge or cooking)

happydenial

My eldest did his DofE recently and he took a couple of the John West To Go tuna pasta salads (there’s lots of different flavours) for lunch - they don’t take up much room and won’t spoil. A lot of his friends took those survival meals which you can eat cold from the packet but they are so expensive! 

bouicca21

Greek salad, hm pasta salad.

ArbitraryRandom

Brie said:

get some pints of milk and freeze them.  That's then your cold bit sorted.  Add some cooked chicken (whole/half one from Asda? or chicken chunks from Aldi?)  a couple of baguettes. 

Can you take a portable/disposable bbq?  I know those are not loved by many but that's a nice way to cook a steak or heat something.  And is fairly lightweight. 

Overnight oats is good - even with milk/yoghurt will work if you add frozen fruit (Lidl raspberries work well).  I tend to pack a lot of museli bars as I like those.  Surely there will be others with more kit that will take pity on someone who doesn't have a lot as long as you have something to offer to their feast?  a couple of packs of shortbreads would get you a long way in my camp!!!

I'm not on a campsite, It's a strip of privately owned woodland in the middle of a large patch of national forestry land. 

The owner doesn't want any fires on the site. 

glennevis

Dinner ideas:
Think 'cold salad for tea', you don't need a three course cooked meal every night on a short backpacking trip.

Peperami or similar or those tins of tuna 'meals' as advised above. Even a tin of Pek or other cold meat (if you want to carry a can opener). A little gem lettuce and a couple of spring onions for example would do for a short trip as you can discard the outer leaves if they get bruised.

Some space saving ideas I have used:

If you don't like drinking plain water there is super-concentrate squirty (small bottle). One squirt makes a pint, there is an apple and blackberry flavour.

I take a sealable box, the ones with 4 fold down wings. In it goes:
Dried seni-skimmed milk, in a plastic bag with a bag tie.

Sachets of coffee, Kenco do a hot/cold coffee which is ok with cold water.
Sachets of red/brown sauce, salt, pepper.
Either a knife/fork/spoon set or plastic cutlery plus my trusty Victorinox penknife.. I cut the top off a set of plastic cutlery so it would fit in my box.

Don't forget a small folding shovel if you're truly off grid. 

DE_612183

cold baked beans out of a can are delicious

Actually lots of stuff out of a tin can be eaten cold

ArbitraryRandom

glennevis said:

Don't forget a small folding shovel if you're truly off grid. 

Thankfully there's a compost toilet near the gate, but if I hike down to the coast then I've got my shovel

oystercatcher

Peanut butter is a good standby that keeps at room temperature to go on bread or crackers. The microwavable rice packs are also OK at room temperature or can be warmed up in hot water if you are making some. I like to mix tinned fish with the rice .

C_J

How about baking a couple of potatoes before you go, to eat cold in the evening? That would be okay with baked beans and sausages eaten cold from the tin, if all you need is sustenance rather than something gourmet.

If you have a good food thermos flask, you could take a portion of something hot (stew, curry etc) for the first night. I have a Stanley food thermos which is brilliant, keeps food warm for 8-10 hours.

If it were me, I’d be making space in my rucksack for one of those little camping gaz stoves. You can do so much more if you have a heat source.

Toonie

Most of the Wayfayrer camping foods can be eaten cold, so you could always grab a couple of those for evening meals to give yourself a change. Alternatively look at the flameless ration heaters for warming up the food. Lightweight, easy to dispose of, and discreet.

theoretica

ArbitraryRandom said:

and pasta or rice at room temp for a couple of days seems like a bad idea.

The precooked microwave bags of rice (also other grains) can be eaten cold and don't need refrigerating.