Help! How Do We Deal With Camp?!

[Angie M]

I have 2 kids going to week-long summer camp in 2 weeks. My daughter is almost 12 & recently diagnosed w/ Celiac. My son is 9 & recently diagnosed as gluten intolerant but is at risk for the disease. I contacted the camp for the meal schedule. There's not a whole lot of options for them from what I'm seeing -- mostly fresh fruit, milk, 100% juice, salad, etc. Any suggestions?! I also have Celiac -- recently diagnosed as well -- we've been gluten-free for only 1 month!

[Poppi]

Oh that is a tough one. My first plan would be to call the camp director and talk about options.

I'm guessing you might just have to send food if the camp will allow you some freezer and storage space.

[domesticactivist]

My daughter is going to sleep away camp for a week this summer at the same camp I take the kids for weekends with their Camp Fire Club. We had a lot of drama about bringing food at our last club weekend, but it turned out great.

For summer camp, I have arranged with the camp to allow us to send all her own food. They seemed very aware of how to accommodate allergies already, and took me at my word with no dr note or anything that eliminating cross contamination matters, and she needs her own food. They have promised to send me a list of all the meals and snacks they'll provide to the other kids so I can send similar things. She will have access to a microwave, and when they cook out of course she can use sticks or foil of her own. Her councelor is going to be informed of the situation and will help her, but she's 12 years old and given access to her food she'll be able to fix it herself.

[domesticactivist]

Oh, and I would not trust ANYTHING the camp provides to be safe. If your kids are going to eat the fruit, they should wash it (and their hands) thoroughly immediately before eating it.

[Poppi]

Do you need ideas on what you could pack?

[Mizzo]

Oh, and I would not trust ANYTHING the camp provides to be safe. If your kids are going to eat the fruit, they should wash it (and their hands) thoroughly immediately before eating it.

I have to agree here, I sent 1 thing in for the camp coordinators to do for my DD(gluten-free smores) and somehow they cross contaminated it. I never trusted them with meal prep again. If someone on staff has caliac in the family, MAYBE, I would, but otherwise I would plan on supplying all the food except for maybe the fruit,( if its whole) and drinks .

We did 2 weeks camp last year and have 3 weeks planned this summer and I am doing the same thing.

Do you need meal idea's?

[Angie M]

Thank you all for your help!! Yes -- I would LOVE some ideas for packing! I'm shooting off an email to the camp director to see if this would be okay. In a way, I'm glad that both kids are going the same week so that I can send food for both of them at the same time! I think all of this gluten-free adjustment is going to be easier on the kids than me.......

[Mizzo]

I find my girls eats and drinks a lot more at camp because of all the hiking and swimming so I am generous with the servings.

I freeze reusable containers overnight and plop cold foods in them in the am to keep them cold for a few hours. it works

yogurts

Applesauce

Fruit salad

cottage cheese

I might add some crackers or pretzels to have with them

sandwiches on bread or rolls (Udi's has hamburg and hot dog rolls out now and they are good) the hot dog rolls make an ample sandwich and are cheaper.

I often send chicken and rice, it doesn't need to be heated up as it stay room temp which is warm in summer

rice with beans is also good add some tortilla chips for scooping

dinner leftovers are always welcome

Lettuce wraps with lunch meat or tuna

we have a favorite gluten-free pizza takeout and she loves cold pizza (yuck) for lunch the next day

I have not had good luck with pasta salad but others have, you could add ham and cheese cubes, beans , or veggies, I love pepperoni in mine

Salad with chicken, tuna or turkey

hard boiled eggs with meat rollups or cheese sticks

veggies sticks with dip as a side

snacks for aftenoon

Rice cakes ( I will take two and sandwich pbutter or nutella between them and wrap in Saran wrap)

tortilla chips with salsa or guacamole ( if needed Lunchables has a gluten-free snack pack of tortilla chips salsa and cheese if you need a throw in the bag kinda item)

Popcorn

chips or potato sticks

cookies

pretzels with PButter or Nutella

homemade muffins

good luck

[Mizzo]

Thank you all for your help!! Yes -- I would LOVE some ideas for packing! I'm shooting off an email to the camp director to see if this would be okay. In a way, I'm glad that both kids are going the same week so that I can send food for both of them at the same time! I think all of this gluten-free adjustment is going to be easier on the kids than me.......

Its always easier when you have someone doing the work for you hahahahaha

This summer I am teaching my daughter to read labels, She is almost 8 and 1 yr gluten-free. I want her to understand everything better, so when I am not around she can advocate for herself.

Just the basics for now.

[Noomers]

This isn't helpful for right now, but did you know that there are celiac camps for kids? My state alone, which isn't huge, has 2 of them!

[Poppi]

For breakfast I would assume they have milk, juice and fruit. I would ask that their fruit be left whole and washed or that it be cut separately from the rest of the campers' fruit on a clean counter or plate with a non-serrated knife.

Then you can send in boxes of gluten free cereal. My kids love Koala Crisp (it;s like cocoa krispies), Gorilla Munch (like corn pops) and The Maple Mesa Sunrise. A few loaves of Udi's bread to keep in the freezer, toaster bags so they can use the contaminated toaster safely and their own personal jars of peanut butter, nutella, jelly, honey, butter etc.

For lunch and dinner it would probably be safest to prepare a few big batches of gluten free mac & cheese, spaghetti, lasagna, stew, BBQ chicken, rice, mashed potatoes and gravy, veggies etc. Then freeze in individual containers that you don't care about getting back like the ziploc containers.

gluten-free ham, cheese pre-sliced and ready to go for sandwiches.

For treats, a bag of marshmallows, a box or two of Kinnikinnick gluten-free Graham Cracker and some Hershey bars should be set aside so your kids can make smores with the rest of the kids on campfire nights.

Udi's or Kinnikinnick hot dog buns and gluten-free hot dogs. Send down your own condiments as well just to be safe, kids will drag the top of the ketchup bottle right across their bun and contaminate it.

Bake some brownies and cookies and other desserts and package those up in single servings as well. A few packages of Lays Stacks for snacks if they are allowed things like chips.

See if you can get a copy of a menu and match it whenever possible. Then make up your own menu so that the camp staff knows exactly which foods to thaw out and heat up for your kids on each day.

I would also go into the camp kitchens and see where the food will be stored and give the kitchen staff a quick crash course on cc. Gush over how awesome they are and thank them profusely for being the kind of wonderful and caring people who are willing to do extra work to ensure your daughter's safety and happiness. Make them love you!! Take a bunch of flowers and a batch of gluten-free brownies in as a gift... you need their cooperation more than anything else. They will have your daughters' safety in their hands.

[Mizzo]

is this a sleepover camp?

[Angie M]

@ Noomers -- where do you live? We're in Nebraska -- can't seem to find anything anywhere near here..... That would be awesome!

@ Mizzo -- Yes, they'll be at a sleepover camp for the week.

@ Poppi & Mizzo -- Thank you for the ideas!!! I emailed the director of the camp, & she said there's freezer & frig. space we can use & the cook will prepare everything we bring for the kids!! Yeah! They are being SO helpful! Do either of you have a good mac n cheese recipe you like? That sounds yummy! I'm thinking I will make big batches of things like you suggested, Poppi, & send personal meal sizes in aluminum mini loaf pans.

Thank you all again for your help & support!!!!

[domesticactivist]

I'm glad the camp is willing to cooperate. However, I would want to meet with the cook a few days before my child's camp session to educate them/give them a refresher on avoiding cross-contamination.

[Mizzo]

@ Noomers -- where do you live? We're in Nebraska -- can't seem to find anything anywhere near here..... That would be awesome!

@ Mizzo -- Yes, they'll be at a sleepover camp for the week.

@ Poppi & Mizzo -- Thank you for the ideas!!! I emailed the director of the camp, & she said there's freezer & frig. space we can use & the cook will prepare everything we bring for the kids!! Yeah! They are being SO helpful! Do either of you have a good mac n cheese recipe you like? That sounds yummy! I'm thinking I will make big batches of things like you suggested, Poppi, & send personal meal sizes in aluminum mini loaf pans.

Thank you all again for your help & support!!!!

WOW a sleepover camp , I can't even fathom that right now.

I would send in a pot , a pan and cookie sheet labeled for gluten-free use only that way you have some assurance of limited cross contamination. If you are sending in pasta send in a colander also.

I use Annies gluten-free mac and cheese, target sells it the cheapest around me.

Also Rice is easy and hard to contaminate as is baked potatoes or Ore-Ida French fries .

Will they let you send in individual frozen servings of pre-marinaded meat that they just have to cook (note to cook everything in foil to be safe) I do this for camping and it works great

If I think of anything else I will post

[Mizzo]

WOW a sleepover camp , I can't even fathom that right now.

I would send in a pot , a pan and cookie sheet labeled for gluten-free use only that way you have some assurance of limited cross contamination. If you are sending in pasta send in a colander also.

I use Annies gluten-free mac and cheese, target sells it the cheapest around me.

Also Rice is easy and hard to contaminate as is baked potatoes or Ore-Ida French fries .

Will they let you send in individual frozen servings of pre-marinaded meat that they just have to cook (note to cook everything in foil to be safe) I do this for camping and it works great

If I think of anything else I will post

OOPs looks like Poppi covered most things. I agree with the flowers and brownies and praise, If someone did that for me I would remember it every time I saw their child.

[My3B's]

We are super lucky. My daughter goes to a sleep away camp where the food services director is also a Celiac. They were great last year. He sent us the meal plan and I sent up a box of supplies for the week. He was knowledgeable about cross contamination and had things set aside for just preparing her meals, all either new or cleaned special. He emptied one of the fryers, cleaned it thoroughly and put new oil in and it was designated the gluten free fryer for the week for her fries, hash browns etc. Most of the time he handled her meals directly himself but also designated 1 person who was trained on avoiding cross contamination to handle her meals in case he was not available.

I was worried since this was the first time since being diagnosed she went to something like that. She is slightly sensitive to cross contamination and she had an incident free week. We can also usually tell if she is getting low levels of cross contamination because her keratosis pillaris flares up and we did not see any of that when she returned. We were so pleased both the celiac kids are going this year. We have already finalized the meal plan and I am hopeful it will be another great week.

I hope you are also able to come up with a plan that will work for you.