Today I am hosting the Gluten Free Menu Swap.  Woo-hoo!  I picked picnic and camping foods for this week’s theme.  What portable treats do you like to take with you when camping or for a picnic at the park?  I have some camping recipes on the site, because we do LOVE camping.  In fact, my first week of this blog was talking about how we adapted the menu to go to Girl Scout camp while eating gluten free and dairy free.  🙂  Gotta love those S’mores!

Our menu this week is not how we usually eat, but as the girls and I will be at Girl Scout Day Camp this week, I need plenty of easy meals for the nights we will be home and LOTS of treats for camp.  As we are heading off to camp this morning, so if you send me your link after 7 a.m. central time, I will also be hooking it up to the swap then.  🙂

My older daughter is part of the group of girls that will be helping run the camp, so she is staying over night most of the nights and so brought food for those nights (and treats, can’t forget those!) and her breakfasts.  Getting ready for camp for us always means packing our food.  We usually go to volunteer run day camp, so you never know who will be leading it or their knowledge of allergies.  I have found for the most part that when you check ahead, ask for the menu and inform them you will take care of bringing your own things, the leaders are pretty open to it.  The leaders have a lot to get ready, so taking care of your own food helps take one thing off their plate.  It also keeps you and your child safe (don’t have to worry about cross contamination) and it is a good lesson in planning for your child.  I usually get the menu as soon as I can, then go over it with my kids.  We decide what we can make ahead of time and freeze, what needs to be purchased closer to the time of camp, and what we can consolidate to make less work for us.  Brownies and cupcakes both on the menu?  Make a recipe of chocolate cupcakes or bake the cake in a pan and use it for both meals.  On this menu we had krispy bars and chocolate creatures, which are basically haystacks (made with chow main noodles, marshmallows and chocolate coating).  My girls and I decided to pack crispy bars for the chocolate creatures instead, as we already had to make a pan anyway.  A crispy bar will also be used for the Girl Scout cookie snack day as I don’t have any homemade gluten and dairy free Girl Scout cookies made right now.  Give yourself a break, you don’t have to make everything on a camp menu, but be sure to make the things that are important for your camper and have something available for each snack and dessert even if they don’t perfectly match up.  The big thing my kids don’t want to miss out on at camp are s’mores, so I always am sure to pack s’more kits for them.  I’ll have more on s’more kits Wednesday.  🙂

Need more camping recipes?  Keep an eye out this week for Grilled Pizza and our S’more shortcut and s’more kits on Wednesday.  It is part of the Camping Gluten Free series Becca of Going Free and I are doing this summer.  Last week she shared a great post on using pie irons.  Yum!

Monday:  Girl Scout Day Camp

lunch:  homemade gluten free wrap with turkey and ham, chips, carrots, pickles and s’mores

camp snack:  Gluten and dairy free chocolate sandwich cookies (instead of ore0s)

dinner for older girl staying overnight at camp:  Baked potato bar night – baked potato topped with ham, broccoli and “cheesy” sauce, mixed veggies, gluten & dairy free chocolate cupcake

dinner at home:  leftovers from my camp prep and from the weekend with salad

 

Tuesday:  Girl Scout Day Camp

lunch:  Bags of gold (tomato soup with cheese filled biscuits cooked in it like dumplings) – we are having pizza muffins instead.  Ants on a log and chocolate creature (haystacks) – we are having a gluten & dairy free crispy bar instead. 

camp snack:  Gold fish – we are having gluten and dairy free Annie’s chocolate and vanilla bunnies

dinner at home (everyone goes home from camp tonight):  Balsamic chicken stir fry over quinoa (I am prepping this the night before or on Tuesday morning so it is an easy fix when we get home from camp)

 

Wednesday:  Girl Scout Day Camp

lunch:  hotdogs, chips, carrots, snicker salad, gluten free rice crispy bars

camp snack:  Girl Scout cookies – we are having crispy bars instead

dinner for older daughter staying overnight at camp:  Pasta bar night – GF pasta with meat sauce and mixed veggies, GF French bread

dinner at home:  Veggie Frittata and a big mixed salad with diary free ranch dressing

 

Thursday:  Girl Scout day camp/It is the night of the overnight!!  Yay!

lunch:  ham, potato and “cheesy” sauce foil packets, gluten free chocolate cupcakes (instead of box oven brownies), apples

snack:  fruit snacks

dinner for everyone at the overnight (daddy and the big boy fend for themselves tonight):  Girl Scout gumbo, salad, watermelon, cupcakes

 

Friday:  Girl Scout Day Camp ends at noon

Pulled Chicken Thighs (instead of pork) in the slow cooker  and a BIG salad

 

What is on everyone else’s plate this week?

Cheryl of Gluten Free Goodness shares her delicious chickpea crackers for picnics.  Yum!   On her menu this week is turkey cutlets with kale pas to (I have to try that), salmon and baby greens, beef stew, and white beans and sautéed mache.  Sounds so good!  Keep an eye out for the 2nd annual July Self-Care Retreat on her blog.

Heather of Celiac Family is on the road today, but she took the time to recommend her awesome trail mix made with a variety of gluten free snacks for traveling that you can customize for your own family’s tastes and allergies.  Thanks, Heather!  This week she is  going out to eat while traveling, then having baked teriyaki chicken tenders, grilling steaks, rotisserie chicken, egg and hash brown casserole with a berry salad and pizza with spinach salad.  If you would like to host the GF Menu Swap, drop Heather a note and let her know.  She would love to hear from you!  🙂

 

  This menu is also linked up to Organized Junkie for Menu Plan Monday.