What to cook

We ate very well during our last trip to Catalina. Because you are kayaking instead of backpacking, the weight of food as much of an issue and therefore you can bring fresh, bulkier foods than you otherwise would bring while camping. I’ve listed below what we ate for meals, but before that, a few comments.

There’s a few things to think about when it comes to meals for kayak camping on Catalina island. First, there are no open fires, so anything that you eat must either be ready to eat or cooked on a camp stove. Second, it is difficult to fit a large insulated cooler on a kayak, so anything you bring should either be dry/packaged or frozen. We found that by planning out our meals and what days we would eat the fresh food allowed us to freeze certain items that would keep everything cold and thaw over the weekend until we were ready to eat it (more on that later). Third, remember that you have to haul out all of your waste, so anything that you can prepare ahead of time and use reusable containers will help cut back on waste. Fourth, you’re expending a lot of energy kayaking, so pick foods that will help to refuel you. Lastly, don’t forget to bring plenty of snacks (trail mix, dried fruit, jerky, etc.).

We tried to utilize food items across many different meals. For example, ground beef was used for tacos one night and pasta sauce the second night. This helped us purchase in bulk (cheaper) and it was easier to store and prepare. We prepped the ground beef (for tacos and pasta sauce) beforehand, meaning we mixed all of the ingredients for each, cooked the beef, and then froze it. This was advantageous for multiple reasons: frozen beef kept the rest of the items cold, like ice; by adding all ingredients beforehand we reduced the number of items we had to pack in (like taco seasoning, tomato sauce, onions, etc.); finally, instead of “cooking” at the campsite with raw meat, all we were doing was heating it up.

What we ate

Day 1 – Kayaking to the campsite

BREAKFAST – we bought breakfast burritos in Avalon while waiting for the kayak rentals

LUNCH – Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches. Great way to refuel after hours of kayaking

DINNER – Taco Salad! We kept the taco meat unfrozen, so it was ready for the first night. All we had to do was heat it up in a pan on our camp stove. We had pre chopped lettuce, tomatoes, and shredded cheese. Instead of taco shells, we brought a big bag of dorritos and crushed those all over our taco salad. Absolutely delicious.

Day 2

BREAKFAST – Omelettes! We prescrambled the eggs, put them in a ziploc bag, and froze them before our trip. This way, helped keep other items cold, kept the eggs fresh, and thawed out by the time we needed them. We added tomatoes, onions, cheese, etc. Don’t forget the coffee!

LUNCH – Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches. Easy to bring with us as we kayaked to other sites. Lots of snacks!

DINNER – Spaghetti and meat sauce – we had prepared the meat sauce ahead of time and froze it in a ziploc bag. By dinner the second night, it was still cold/somewhat frozen and all we had to do was boil the spaghetti and reheat the sauce. Also, the girls brought a loaf of garlic bread which we tossed on the campstove. SO GOOD, and a great way to help clean off that pasta sauce from your camping bowls 🙂

Day 3 – Heading back to Avalon

BREAKFAST – Oatmeal and coffee. Easy, filling, energy boosting, and don’t need to worry about keeping cold

LUNCH – We were back in Avalon for a late lunch. Recommend getting burgers and “buffalo milk” at Luau Larry’s!