HOW TO's - Meals

Many tours include picnic lunches, here are some tips. We get a lot of complaints that 2 weeks is too long for picnics, so please get creative with the food to avoid complaints.

Lunches

Trail Lunches:
Many tours include trail lunches. If you provide trail lunches, it is imperative that the presentation is CLEAN, FRESH, DIVERSE AND INVITING. There are roll tables in the back of the trailer. You can choose to have pax make their own lunches in the parking lot next to the trailer, or take food on the trail and have a picnic spread. In both cases it is advisable to have a picnic blanket. If you carry a picnic, divide the food between pax. In this case, make sure pax make themselves 1-2 snacks per day. The snack is typically nuts, pretzels, dried fruit, (try to get salty snacks to compensate for mineral loss due to heat), cookies, trail mix, plus one piece of fruit per person. The snack food is best bought at Costco. YOU MUST HAVE A HAND WASH CLEANING STATION at the picnic table, soap and water, so everyone can wash their hands before touching the food. NEVER put out all the food over and over, but diversify the lunches by offering ham one day, turkey the next, and smoked salmon the third day. IF YOU ARE TO PROVIDE LUNCH FOODS ON TOUR YOU NEED: ✓One roll table to put food on
✓1-2 large cutting boards (or paper plates)
✓plastic knives
✓large kitchen / pocket knife
✓some storage boxes for food storage
✓ziplock bags
✓paper towels
✓some toilet paper for the group
✓some trash bags TRAIL LUNCH FOOD YOU NEED (do not buy food that bruises or crushes - like chips) ✓bread (count on 3 slices of cheese per person per day)
✓for German groups buy black bread
✓butter spread (in a plastic tub), hummus and mustard - do not use mayonnaise because it will spoil in the heat (little single-serving mayo packages are fine); another great option is avocados/guacamole on sandwiches
✓cold cuts, pre sliced at Costco (count on 3 slices of cheese per person per day)
✓cheeses, pre sliced at Costco (count on 3 slices of cheese per person per day)
✓pickles
✓veggies such as lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, bell pepper, carrots, onions
✓glass jars of pickles, olives, roasted red peppers
✓paper plates
✓plastic forks
✓napkins/paper towels
✓saran wrap
✓zip lock bags SNACK FOOD FOR HIKES:
In addition to a sandwich we also provide 2 snacks per day. The snacks are self packed in zip lock bags. Buy large bags of nuts and trail mix at Costco. Pax can help themselves by filling their zip lock bags every morning with their preferred snack. Having snack around prevents people from crashing as well as keeps the atmosphere up as a hungry camper is a mean camper. ✓roasted, salted almonds
✓pretzels
✓trail mix
✓dried fruit
✓chocolate
✓nuts
✓cookies
✓salty crackers
✓1 piece of fruit per person per day: banana, apple, orange Gatorade:
Buy a large tub of gatorade for pax to mix with their bottled water (Costco). Pax should fill their water bottles from the tap at the hotel. Suggest using 1/3 or 1/2 the amount of gatorade described to make the drink less sweet and to cover the taste of chlorine. Gatorade also provides essential salts to prevent hyponatremia and dehydration. Misc.:
Also get toilet paper and large zip locks for people while on hiking tours. Some TDs carry a small stove and an espresso maker / or pot for tea (British groups) for their clients. This is your choice. We do not supply these items. Alcohol Beverages / Soda Pop:
We have one additional cooler in the trailer. This trailer is for personal drinks. Make clear to the group that the TD is not responsible to monitor who drinks what, but that you will provide the ice for the cooler. Pax can put wine, beer, soda pop in this cooler. It does not work to provide drinks or buy soda pop from group food money, unless the group decides to pitch in money. Generally there are always some heavy drinkers who will consume more than others, which over time can be grating on the group. Camp Food:
If your tour is a camping tour you will either have
✓All meals included, including restaurant meals (typical for French tours)
✓All camp meals included
✓Or you will have a food kitty, meaning no food included, pax pay into a food kitty at the time of arrival If all meals are included while camping, it is your responsibility to buy the group food in advance of the group’s arrival at Costco. Therefore you must plan your menus in advance. Please consider the taste of the Europeans. Most French tours include all meals. If you are on a French tour, there is a chance that some meals are in restaurants while camping. Check your tour director itinerary carefully. Also, while camping at Zion Ponderosa Ranch Resort, many groups will eat at the restaurant, as they offer an inexpensive food option for groups. If no meals are included, start a food kitty. Everyone needs to put money into the food kitty, everyone pays the same amount. Collect the money from pax, maybe $50 each to start. DO NOT BUY ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES OR SODA POP from this money. Put all receipts of purchases in the same envelope. Leave the envelope in the glove box so everyone has a chance to check the receipts whenever they want to see what is going on. It is important that you as the tour director pay into the food kitty just like anyone else. Make sure the group sees you paying into the food kitty. Ideally you will have bought the group food prior to the group’s arrival. If your group is a private/family group, check with the office to see if buying food in advance is a good idea. Often when families are involved its best to wait for the parents to see what the kids like to eat.



Suggestions for Havasupai meals

The following are suggestions for trips such as Havasupai, to help with meal planning: BREAKFAST: ✓ Fresh fruit that does not bruise, such as oranges and apples
✓ Oatmeal (instant packs) and raisins to add
✓ Granola
✓ Instant milk (powder)
✓ Tea
✓ Instant coffee
✓ Sugar
✓ freeze dried eggs from a back packer store LUNCH: ✓ Bread
✓ Crackers (for southern Europeans)
✓ Salami
✓ Cheese
✓ Mustard
✓ Veggies such as red bell pepper, cucumber and salt and pepper DINNER: ✓ Pasta with red sauce (in a plastic jar or wrap carefully), with parmesan cheese
✓ Quinoa with cut beans, artichoke hearts with canned white chicken and white sauce or canned tuna
✓ Instant rice with canned peas, canned corn, fresh onion, fresh red bell pepper, canned tuna and spices
✓ Burritos: instant black beans, flour tortilla, with chopped fresh cilantro and salsa (these can be done as breakfast burritos also if you add instant eggs), grated cheese DESSERTS/SNACKS: ✓ Cookies / vacuum packed cakes
✓ Salted mixed nuts
✓ Dried fruit
✓ Apple sauce



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