What are your favourite camping meals? It is camping season again and I may want to try something new. I'm looking for easy meals that can be cooked on the fire, on the camp stove or no cook meals.
I often do tacos and it never even occurred to me to precook the meat. It is a pain in the butt trying to drain the grease off without a sink!
I don't think I would precook the bacon. I love the smell of frying bacon when I am camping!
I always do hot dogs cooked over the fire for supper on the day we arrive and set up. Easy meal and no dishes.
On the morning we pack up to leave I always have something that we don't cook, like cinnamon buns or donuts so I don't have to wash dishes before we leave.
I always do big breakfasts the rest of the time, like pancakes, French toast, or eggs with bacon or sausage. I pre-make my pancake batter and bring it in a margarine container.
We generally just do sandwiches or cheese and crackers for lunch.
I often bring a pasta salad in a vinaigrette, but my kids don't like pasta salad.
I don't bring food that has to be kept cool. When I camp, I bring a bag of apples, a bag of oranges, a bunch of bananas, a jar of peanut butter, Clif bars, a loaf of bread, water, coffee, and my French press.
If there is a lake or pond nearby, I bring my fishing pole.
I like making some meals in advance, one of my favorites is biscuits and gravy. This one I use the first morning we are there and there is something about waking up and having biscuits and gravy when Im camping. Its the best
I am a camping junkie - I just love camping! It's all about food, drinks and hanging with my friends and family. I am a planner so I like to prep as much as possible before hand.
We just went camping in Yosemite a couple of weeks ago and I tried a new camping recipe. It was walking tacos/tacos in a bag. Everyone went nuts for it! You can google it, but basically it's a taco in a single serving bag of chips (Doritos or Fritos). Everything can be pre cooked and chopped up in advance and stored in ziplock bags. We had the kids reheat the taco meat in a pan so all I had to do was pull all the fixin's out of the cooler. And the only clean up is the forks. It's my new favorite dish!
Sometimes I make crock pot stew the weekend before and freeze it. I store it in a big freezer bag and just reheat in a pot on the camp stove. Otherwise we do the usual, marinated chicken on skewers or burgers, which, IMO, are a pain in the butt because of all the condiments and toppings.
Once a year we campout with about 5 other families and a few singles/couples adding up to about 50 people. I always make Breakfast Burritos. I scramble the eggs using condensed (canned) milk, salt and pepper, Jimmy Dean Regular sausage, cooked and crumbled, and fresh grated sharp Cheddar cheese. I get them all lined up in an assembly line and make them and wrap them individually in foil. I freeze them a day in advance (or longer) and take them to the camp out frozen. The next morning just throw them on the campfire grates or whatever (we've even done them directly on warm coals). They warm up perfectly.
My daughter likes hers with syrup and grated Parmesan cheese, so sometimes I'll make her two or 3 and mark them with a permanent marker. :)
Everyone raves about them and it's a hearty way to start the day!
Some of our go-tos for camping:
Smoked salmon
Tabbouleh made with quinoa instead of bulgar-- very light, the salad can be made ahead. Just leave out the cucumbers or tomato until right before serving, drizzle with olive oil and toss for a crisp taste.
Roasted rosemary and lemon veggie salad (potato salad with a twist-has mayo so should be kept cold or just make the dressing for it at the campsite and leave the roasted veg naked until ready to eat--I'm really cautious about mayo/food poisoning) Link to my recipe here:
http://skyteahouse.blogspot.com/2014/06/fresh-lemon-and-r...
Box couscous-- the Middle East varieties are great and easy to cook on a small stove. If you can boil water, you've got this.
Frozen marinated fish for first night--- Trader Joe's often has this available in their freezer section; this can defrost during the day.
Granola
Hard boiled eggs-- quick protein for the kids
Cheese
Vegetarian dolmas (stuffed grape leaves-- delish and keep well)
Mac and cheese (made ahead, kid favorite)
Wash/prep all fruits and veggies as much as possible.
I guess most of these aren't meals, but items. My concerns are always freshness and keeping cold foods cold enough. Letting tomatoes sit in some salads can also shorten their 'life' so that's why I add those sorts of foods in right before serving-- it also tastes better.
I like to pre-cook Chili and bring it in a big plastic bag in the cooler. Just heat and add fritos and shredded cheese.
Foil dinners- I would look up how to make these because mine never come out flavorful enough but you put a chicken breast or chicken tenders on top of foil, add veggies, potatoes, herbs, a little chicken broth poured on, wrap it up, then put the foil packets on the camp grill to cook.
You can make pizzas over a camp grill
Make a morning fire- wrap pilsbury buscuits or crescent rolls around the end of a wooden dowel or clean broomstick, cook over fire. fill the hole with jelly, butter, cinnamon, or a sausage you cooked over the fire too.
My other fun breakfast fave= boil in a bag individual omelettes. Have a large pot of boiling water on the camp stove. Crack an egg into a heavier plastic sandwich bag and squish it around to scramble it. Add cheese, ham, whatever pre-chopped omelette add-ins you want to have available. Then you hold your bag in the boiling water with tongs until it is cooked in there and slide it out onto your plate. Just don't let the plastic bag touch the sides of the hot pot or it can melt the bag.
The key is always prep- try to bring everything chopped and bagged and ready to go :) We do extended camping (like a week plus) with our in-laws and my MIL sets up a whole kitchen and we all eat as good if not better than the rest of the year. But when it's just me and hubs we go for simple and advanced prep.
Some of the regular meals we do on camping trips:
-Sloppy Joes, along with a pasta salad someone has made ahead of time (this is our easy meal since all we have to do is cook up the meat)
-Barbecue beef sandwiches- we cook the meat ahead of time and just break out the buns, cheese, and some chips and grapes or watermelon
- Pizza. You can buy round aluminum tins that fit right in your cast iron cooker. We bought frozen bread dough and used it for the pizza crust. Just grease the tins, put the crust in, cover with sauce, cheese and toppings. We had these little domes that you place over the cast iron cookers to keeo the heat in. The pizzas were soooooo good.
-Tacos
-Foil dinners
-Hamburgers and hot dogs
I am big a camper because I grew up doing if and hated it.
However... One thing I did like were the Hobo packs where there was a blob of hamburger meat, then you went through a buffet if sorts with veggies to add to it ( carrots, onions, potatoes,) season your pack to taste, seal in foil and cook in the fire. I've done this at home on the grill with my daughter!!
We also made the instant pudding and served it in ice cream cones. We also add homemade ice cream.
You dam certainly precook beef, sausage and bacon and reheat!
Kabobs? Friends of ours makes extra of meals (like stir fry) before a camping trip, puts them in freezer bags and then just takes them along in a cooler. They just need to be reheated for meals.
We do:
-burgers & hot dogs
-chicken breasts w/bbq sauce
-tacos (I make the taco meat at home before we go so we only have to
heat it up)
-grilled steak, baked potatoes & baked beans
-spaghetti. garlic bread & salad
I will assume you are tent camping and not RV camping, yes?
Foil meals!! Put a chicken breast, sliced bell peppers, BBQ sauce (or your preferred sauce) and other veggies - wrap it up - store it in a Ziploc bag and keep it in your cooler on ice... pull it out and put it on the fire... leave it for 20 minutes and eat out of the foil..
Burritos... cook the meat before you leave and put it in a plastic storage container or even a Ziploc bag.... have the tortillas and cheese separate... put in foil to heat up on campfire.... done..
Pasta salad... had one this week that would keep well...EVO, garlic, vinegar...chopped bell peppers, cucumbers, celery...rotini pasta... yum
Chili - store in a plastic bag. Cheese too...
Sloppy Joes... precooked... bring the buns and heat...
Tent camping for me is pre-cooked meals in easy storage bags or containers... since we usually only camp for two nights, we don't have to worry about food going bad...
We have our tent set up and have the screened gazebo too...I know... not really roughing it...I love camping with my dad!!! RV!! YAHOO!!! LOL!! That's REALLY roughing it!!!
I made blueberry muffins before I left to have for breakfast the day we were leaving. It was great not to have to pack up camp and clean up breakfast dishes at the same time.
As much precooking you can do the better! We just went a couple weekends ago and had so much fun. Have a great time!
I liked Dinty Moore Beef Stew and biscuits! Easy peasy.
baked potatoes, wrapped in tin foil and cooked in the embers. mmmmmm.
hot dogs on a stick, of course!
khairete
S.
Grilled Corn on the cob. Soak them with the husks still on, put over the embers and eat when cooked through. I like salt, cayene and parmesan on mine.
Guac and chips.
grilled veg sandwiches/ salad. slice zuchini, yellow squash, eggplant, bell pepper lengthwise, and in 1/2 so each piece is about 1/2 inch thick and 4" long. char on the grill (it won't take a second). marinade with EVO, garlic, salt, pepper and a bit of balsamic vinegar. makes for great sandwiches, or a salad. For a bit of protein, you can add a can of chickpeas or two.
best,
F. B.
PS- just remembered, a friend used to do a cast iron apple brown betty sort of thing. apples, cinamon, sugar and butter in the bottom, then biscuits or bisquick over top.
If you are on Pinterest, they have some great pins on this. If not, here is a link to something I just pinned this morning. Have fun!
http://survivallife.com/2014/06/12/easy-campfire-recipes/
