Troop 494 Weekend Camp-out Food Buying Guide

The average cost per scout should be $10 - $15 for the entire weekend. If the patrols are small (5 – 6 scouts or less) the cost shall not exceed $15 per scout. Larger patrols (7 – 10 scouts) will cost closer to $10 per scout. This same budget holds true for adult meal planning.

The weekend food costs include:

• Ice for cooler

• Friday night snack (cracker barrel)

• Saturday breakfast

• Saturday lunch plus light dessert (cookies)

• Saturday dinner plus dessert

• Sunday breakfast (usually a cold breakfast)

The patrols put the menu together, but as a parent helping buy the food, please review the menu for balance. The senior patrol leaders will try to review before the menus go home, but this does not always happen due to time constraints.

Sometimes the patrols will request expensive items such as pre-cooked bacon, shrimp, multiple meats for tinfoil dinners, etc. Use discretion when purchasing these items. One or two on a camp out may be all right, as long as they have chosen less expensive items for other meals. It is very important that you stay within budget.

For beverages; drink mixes and milk are typically purchased.

• Drink mixes (such as kool-aid or gator-aid) are not required. If the kids go for elaborate meals, this may need to be eliminated to help stay within budget.

• Milk should be available at all meals. I would estimate no more than 1 cup per meal per scout. This scenario typically results in left-over milk. Use discretion and consider the meals they have planned, as well as other drinks they may have requested. If they are planning for a drink mix for lunch or orange juice for breakfast, buy a little less milk. One gallon of milk has 16 - 1 cup servings.

Other buying tips:

• For tin foil dinners or other meals with hamburger, sausage or some other meat - a good estimate is 4 to 5 servings per 1 pound.

• Noodles - a one pound box will serve 5 or 6 people.

• Eggs - plan for 2 per person.

• Bacon or Sausage - plan for 3-4 pieces per person. Due to the grease (ie - mess) generated by bacon, bacon must be pre-cooked.

• Sandwich meat - about 8 sandwiches can be made with a pound of deli meat.

• For most camp-outs, individual servings of items is not required. Large bags of chips or containers of kool-aid, for example, will be cheaper than individual servings. An exception to might be for backpacking trips or other trips where the scouts may be hauling their own food.

  Always consider the age of the scouts in the patrol. Also, it is important to understand whether the item is a main dish or a side dish. The quantities above would be for consideration as a main dish.

Chef's Secret: This is a popular request that many patrols make. This, along with a few other common spices; such as salt and pepper, will be bought for the troop food box. Please check with the Camp Coordinator before making this purchase.

At the scout meeting preceding the camp-out, each scout buying food for the weekend will need to take a cooler and blue food bin home for food storage.

Following a weekend camp out; please bring your receipts to the next troop or committee meeting. You can turn them in to the Treasurer, but please give the total to the Camp Coordinator for tracking purposes. We estimate the camp costs based on the food budget, so it is the responsibility of the scout buying the food to stay within budget. The scout may need help from an adult to make sure this occurs.