Cold Meals

My families favorite cold meal is a pasta salad I make. I use Garden Rotini or Bowtie Pasta, I chop up enough (very small) carrots, bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, onion, and spinach to fill about 2 to 3 cups. Then I mix a half cup of Balsamic, water, 1/4 cup of honey, garlic salt to taste, and a couple Tblsp of Olive Oil. I throw everything together in a large bowl then add fresh grated parmasan to taste (we like a lot) and you are done. If I have it, I put ham in it too. It sometimes will lose it umph a bit because the pasta sucks up all the flavor so I just squirt a little Italian Dressing in there and mix it up if need be. The whole family loves it and it lasts for 4 to 5 days.

Long time camper here answers your question. Precook vegetables, all different kinds like broccali, carrots, red peppers, beets, whatever your family eats. Bring salad ingredients and dressing. The cooked vegetables go into the salad. Bring a few different cheeses and some bread. Put out the cheese, the bread and dinner is served.
I have camped on three continents and always take vegetarian food with me. When backpacking I never bring cheese or anything that would interest a bear or a raccoon.
Do not take pork as it is a bear's favorite food and believe it or not their claws can go right through your windshield and everything else in the car to get to the cooler for the pork.

How about Taco Salad? We use ground turkey, cut up lettuce, tomaotes and onion and crunch up tostitos to mix in. Shredded cheese can be added too. I serve with salsa or ranch dressing. We eat this in the summer for dinner when it's too hot to cook.

You can't go wrong with fried chicken. Salad of any kind.
Melons, fruit. Cole slaw. Boil some artichokes ahead of time.
Fortunately, my kids eat anything and everything so planning meals wasn't hard.
I hope you get some great suggestions and have a wonderful time!!!

Pasta salad, Chicken salad, Tuna salad, cold pizza, casseroles...

our favorite is a tuna salad. for our family of 5 we mix 8 oz of small shell pasta, 2 cans of tuna, 2 ribs of celery chopped, the juice of half a lemon (about 1 TBS), 8 oz cheddar cheese cubed, mayonnaise, salt, and pepper to taste. you could take little packets of mayo like you would find at a restaurant to add just before serving if you are nervous about keeping it at the right temperature during traveling. same with the cheese-- cube it ahead of time and store it in a ziploc bag, then mix in before serving so that it is a little more fresh.

Steak or chicken salad: pre-cook the meat and bring the vegetables and toppings. One topping that is so so yummy on steak or chicken salad - fried onion rings (you know the kind you use on green bean casserole at thanksgiving?) yumm

Un-fried chicken: you know, crusted but baked ahead of time so it's like fried chicken, but a tad healthier

I like cold pasta, so just the typical spaghetti and sauce would be good

Caprese Pasta salad: boil noodles, and toss with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, sundried tomatoes, fresh tomatoes, chopped fresh basil, mozzarella, roasted red peppers, olives, salt, and pepper.

Cold soups like gazpacho

If you think there's any possibility of finding a microwave (even at a 7-eleven/gas station) you can pre-make breakfast burritos and wrap them in sandwich paper (you can get it at Smart & Final) and then heat them up. They might even be good cold with some salsa.

Corn salad. I can't think off the top of my head how to make it, but it's really yummy and if you google it, I'm sure you'll find the recipe

I know you said sandwiches already, but here are some ideas for sandwiches:
chicken salad sandwich on croissants (just to be a little different): before you leave grind your chicken in a food processor with cashews, mayo and celery, add salt and pepper to taste & put in a tupperware (make sure it stays really cold in the cooler) then you can just spread it on the croissants.

Do like the English and make simple tomato & cheese sandwiches to eat with your cold gazpacho soup. They actually spread butter on the bread, then add a few slices of tomato and cheese - it's simple but good.

Make lasagna ahead of time. cold lasagna and a salad with bread is yummy.

Pizza.

Will you have access to a campfire? You can make Hobo Stew ahead of time and then just drop it into the fire to cook. Easy peasy:
get a big square of aluminum foil, in it place:
raw ground beef
raw cut up potatoes
corn
onions
garlic
other seasoning that sound good to you (I use worcesterhsire sauce and a little soy sauce and grill mate seasoning)
top with shredded cheese
seal aluminum by picking up corners and pinching together. Use a second piece of aluminum just to be sure. Put in freezer. When ready, toss the whole thing in the fire pit near the coals (make sure you have something to dig them out with) and leave them there for about 30 minutes. Remove carefully from fire, let them cool a bit, open aluminum, top with sour cream (optional but good) and eat directly out of the foil. This is our go to camping meal.

Chili and cornbread. and/or Frito boats.

That should get you started;)

Have fun!
Best,
S.

This is one of my family's all-time favorites & can be served cold. Add some chicken to it if you're looking for an all-in-one dish:

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/cabbage-tomato-pasta-toss/de...

I can't remember the whole recipe but my friend does a pasta salad sort of like the one mentioned below and then adds a can of tuna to it so you have some protein in it as well. There is also probably a market near Bryce Canyon where you can pick up food when you get there. Have fun!

I would recommend investing in a camp stove so you can cook. I bring one with me anytime I'm camping. They work just like a real stove only they use propane instead of gas or electric. You can get them at Walmart for $40 - $60. If that's not an option check out the boy scout website. They have some really good hot and cold camp type foods that are easy to prepare. Have fun.

My favorite cold meal is fried chicken and potato salad. I also like Cobb salad. It's cut up cold cuts, cheese, hard boiled eggs, tomato wedges on a bed of lettuce. I like Thousand Island Dressing on it but you can use any kind you like.

Google pasta salad and you'll find more recipes than you could ever use.