A Week Away At Girl Scout Camp!

[buffettbride]

Last week my daughter was away at a 6 day overnight Girl Scout camp. From everything I had read, I wanted to send most of her food and just have them warm her meals instead of them cooking anything from scratch for her.

I have nothing but good things to say about her experience!

This is what I did:

1. Called the camp in advance to make them aware of the condition and get menu for the week.
   
2. Reviewed the menu and planned her alternative meals for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks
   
3. Typed up a spreadsheet with their offered meal and my alternative meals highlighted
   
4. Prepared her food in advance and portioned into meal-sizes and labeled each one according to day and meal
   
5. Met with the kitchen staff when I dropped her off at camp
   

The kitchen staff was very thankful and easy to work with. Two campers the previous week were also gluten-free but parents only provided food for them to prepare. I could tell the kitchen staff was thankful I did the extra legwork for them.

When I picked up my daughter, there was hardly even a mention of food because it was such a non issue (except other campers who were jealous that my food was yummier than camps!). She did get to have one camp-made meal on baked potato night which she said was really great too. The only tummy ache she said she had was after lunch one day when she was 2nd in line (I told the staff it would help minimize the risk if she ate/got her food first) and the girl ahead of her handled a bun and then reached into a bag of shared chips--even then she said her reaction was very minor.

It was a lot of work getting the meals ready and typing up the packet of information about gluten-free, but now I can reuse that for any future trips when she's away from me and feel much more confident about her eating away from home.

I hope this helps someone who worries about sending their child to camp that is not specifically gluten-free (although I'd like to try one of those, too!).

[buffettbride]

Duh! I should probably add some of the meals I prepared for her.

Spaghetti ala Tinkyada (one day with gluten-free marinara and another day with just butter and parmesan)

Penne ala Tinkyada (mixed with Kroger NiceNEasy cheese into Mac N cheese)

Ground steak made into taco meat

Taco shells

All condiments (sauces, butters, cheeses)

Pamela's pancake mix with gluten-free chocolate chips added

Puffins Honey Rice Puffs cereal

Envirokids cereal bars

Lara bars

gluten-free potato chips and corn chips (can't remember brand)

Glutino Pretzel snack packs

KnickKnick cinnamon rolls (she says she wishes they had more frosting, but were delicious nonetheless)

I have to say Tinkyada is like, the best pasta ever. It just cooks like regular pasta and the whole family loves it!

[laurabelle]

It is really wonderful to hear a positive camp experience. My 13 yr. old son is headed off to 2 camps this summer. The first is Boy Scout camp and Dad is going with him. Then he is off to boating, church camp. I called them and they seem to be receptive. I think I'm most worried that I won't send enough or they won't cook enough. My son is already 6 ft. tall and is very skinny but very muscular. He can literally eat one box of cereal for one breakfast along with fruit and milk. Being very active at camp will probably only increase his huge appetite. It was probably a good idea to send most of her meals already to go, I think I will do the same. We really all like that brand of pasta as well, most people never even know it's not wheat pasta. Pasta is very filling I think I will be sending alot of pasta for him to camp.

[Guest lorlyn]

My 10 year old daughter just got back from 5 nights and days at girl scout camp. We made her a dry box for ceral and chips etc..., one box for the fridge hot dogs, ketchup, mayo etc... and one box for the freezer with pre-cooked frozen daily portion of noodle dishes, gluten-free waffels, single size serving of frozen fries etc...We made her a daily menu on a spreadsheet and she fixed all of her meals by herself. Everything went perfect and the staff was impressed that she took care of all of it by herslf.

[blueeyedmanda]

Glad to hear it was a great week at camp. Your daughters are both very lucky to have such caring moms who go the extra mile.

[wolfie]

Sounds like a wonderful expreience!

[Centime]

Does anyone have recent experience with the GS sleep away camps?  The camp assures me they have all the Gluten free substitutes and I don't need to send her with anything.  In conversations with the camp director, she clearly understands cross contamination and says there will be more than one gluten-free kid at camp.  But at the same time, I want to make sure my daughter eats.

[africanqueen99]

My oldest had a couple of summers at GS camps pre-dx. Now I refuse to send her. They tell me they can keep her safe, but I question that - and it's not worth the hassle when I can find alternatives.

Last summer she went to a gluten-free camp in Georgia. She loved not having to thing about food, but the camp wasn't what her dad and I envision as "camp." She's currently at a ymca camp outside Indianapolis that is having a gluten-free week - not all kids, but they tried to pull the gluten-free ones together. This will be her first year, but they seem to have a great department to focus on dietary needs.

I really want to just start my own darn camp!

[gmorton]

On 6/27/2007 at 2:40 PM, buffettbride said:

Last week my daughter was away at a 6 day overnight Girl Scout camp. From everything I had read, I wanted to send most of her food and just have them warm her meals instead of them cooking anything from scratch for her.

 

I have nothing but good things to say about her experience!

 

This is what I did:

 

1. Called the camp in advance to make them aware of the condition and get menu for the week.
2. Reviewed the menu and planned her alternative meals for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks
3. Typed up a spreadsheet with their offered meal and my alternative meals highlighted
4. Prepared her food in advance and portioned into meal-sizes and labeled each one according to day and meal
5. Met with the kitchen staff when I dropped her off at camp

 

The kitchen staff was very thankful and easy to work with. Two campers the previous week were also gluten-free but parents only provided food for them to prepare. I could tell the kitchen staff was thankful I did the extra legwork for them.

 

When I picked up my daughter, there was hardly even a mention of food because it was such a non issue (except other campers who were jealous that my food was yummier than camps!). She did get to have one camp-made meal on baked potato night which she said was really great too. The only tummy ache she said she had was after lunch one day when she was 2nd in line (I told the staff it would help minimize the risk if she ate/got her food first) and the girl ahead of her handled a bun and then reached into a bag of shared chips--even then she said her reaction was very minor.

 

It was a lot of work getting the meals ready and typing up the packet of information about gluten-free, but now I can reuse that for any future trips when she's away from me and feel much more confident about her eating away from home.

 

I hope this helps someone who worries about sending their child to camp that is not specifically gluten-free (although I'd like to try one of those, too!).

Thanks for sharing! My 9 year old son was just diagnosed with Celiac's last weekend and my first thought was about the overnight summer camp he goes to that he loves. I'm glad to hear about the things you did and that it went really well. It makes me feel really hopeful.