We’re going camping this coming weekend for three days. I’m looking for some easy camping recipes to try. I’ve done a couple internet searches, but all the recipes seem to require a dutch oven or have ingredients that require refrigeration (including a recipe for banana splits?!? Who brings ice cream camping??!!)
Anyway, do you all have any recipes for me? We have a small camp stove, will probably build a fire, and we prefer not to lug a cooler with us. We usually bring a couple boxes of mac and cheese, but I’m looking for something a little more creative.
Poke a hole in the top of a can of “Dinty Moore” or as I prefer, some kind of chili. Put the can in the fire for a little while (or on the engine of the car, or if you are hoity-toity, a stove). Grab the can with a glove, rip the top off and use crackers as spoons to eat the contents. Nothing to wash, just throw the can in a proper disposal area and sleep the sleep of contented Angels.
Next week: Tail-pipe Seafood Stew!
I know! Get Mikey. He won’t eat it, he hates everything!
If you have some sort of pan to stick in the fire, might I suggest leftover burgers Fry chopped up bacon (or sausage or whatever) in the pan, fry some corn too, fry some onions if you like, its about whatever you happen to have. Boil up some water in the pan and add one sachet of instant-mashed-potato powder. Stir the various bits and pieces into the mashed potato, adding some grated cheese and an egg makes it even “foodier” and helps hold it all together, but is not essential. Form your mix into burgers, or if you prefer balls or sausagey shapes or whatever you fancy and then fry in the pan so they get browned on the outside.
Two of them and you are full for a week If you are brining a cooler you could have the mix all made up before you leave home, and then just make the burgers on the spot. If you want to do it really camping style, add a bit more egg (for cohesiveness) and form your burgers around a stick which you then hold over the fire No washing up at all!
We do this one on a gas grill, but it’s derived from an old scout camp dish. For each serving:
Two smallish Yukon Gold potatoes, unpeeled, cut in half-inch cubes
One or two garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
One third of a green bell pepper, diced
Slice of onion, chopped
Black pepper, salt, Mrs. Dash, rosemary, and such, to taste
(Banana pepper and sliced carrots are options)
Twenty minutes on a medium grill, turning once.
About the same on the rocks around a campfire.
When I go car-camping, I like to spend lots of time cooking delicious things. But I usually decide after I get there. Once I cooked spaghetti and I had to buy oregano, basil, bay leaf, etc., when I already had it at home.
Here’s a cool thing I just ran across:
holds spices, oils, etc. http://www.spicestogo.com/
Next trip, I’m set.
With no cooler whatsoever your options are limited, But if you bring a box of rice, a bag or can of beans,a small can of (or bag of dried) peppers or tomatoes, a bag of seasoning, and tortillas you can make some pretty filling wraps easily without much extra weight. It’s much better with pieces of fresh caught trout, but that depends on if you bring a pole or not.
When I was 19 and living on a beach in the south of France with a bunch of German hippies,* we depended on couscous as a major part of our diet, for one obvious reason…
Rice: bring water to boil, add rice, simmer for 20 minutes.
Couscous: Bring water to boil, add couscous, take pot off fire, ready in five minutes.
Zone Perfect Nutrition meals are tasty, only take a few minutes to heat up, and don’t require refridgeration. I’m not really advocating ZPN - I’m sure there’s other companies that make similar foodstuffs - but you can find them at most grocery stores, as well as CVS, Walgreens, Etc.
On another note - if you’re not bringing a cooler, how will you keep the beer cold?!?
Hey, don’t forget yer SPAM. SPAM omelettes, spam-fritters, spam-iches, you name it, ya can SPAM it!! (SPAM, a registered trademark and Boy Scout primary food source…)
Red wine nothing! Beer is too heavy for camping. Figure a couple fifths of bourbon ought to do it.
As far as food, I mostly bring ramen noodles and Zatarain’s rice mixes. They are great and never require anything more than water or butter/oil. Bacon is good and keeps for a couple of days in cool weather without refrigeration. Just make sure you string it up pretty high at night.
I also tend to bring out some frozen meat for the first night and let it thaw on the hike out. On my last trip it was seasoned frenched rack of lamb from Trader Joes. Hot Damn!
We go easy when we camp - Johnsonville brats and baked potatoes. Scrub the potatoes, poke, wrap with aluminum (aluminium?) foil, bury in hot coals. Take out 45 minutes later - the outside is crispy, the inside is yummy. Slather with sour cream, salt, and pepper. Honest, the best baked potatoes I’ve ever had I’ve had camping.
Take a look at the Reynold’s Wrap website (if there is such a beast) - they might have ideas for foodstuffs you can wrap in foil and cook in the fire.
Snicks
Maybe my fires are hotter than yours, but I find potatoes bake in about 35 minutes.
I also like to slice up onions, carrots, bell peppers, and potatoes and wrap them in heavy foil with a slab of beef. Season with some pepper. Cook on the hot coals for a nice stew.
I went to the grocery store last night. We’re going to do the sausage/potato/onion foil wraps for the first day (I’ll freeze the sausages overnight so they thaw out during our drive). On the second night, I’m going to just do some pasta with sauce. We’re going to an oysterfest on Saturday during the day, so that will do for lunch…mmmmmmm. Muffins and fruit for breakfast.
We’ll probably be too cold to eat anyway…it’s going to be freeeeeezing!!
Can someone tell me how much syrup that is in cups, teaspoons or non-metric jargon? [sup]and is a chocolate button the same thing as a chocolate chip?[/sup]
I cannot believe that no one has mentioned Frito Chili Pie. I think that there’s a law that all campers must consume at least one meal of this stuff per trip.
Fritos (and ONLY Fritos will do) corn chips
Chili (canned or homemade)
Diced onions
Grated cheddar cheese
Layer ingredients in baking dish in order given. Heat until the cheese melts.
Yeah, it SOUNDS horrible, but it’s delicious when you’re camping. It has only a few ingredients, it’s filling (and when camping, you NEED those calories) and only the cheese needs to be kept cool. I think that this makes a good last dinner at camp.
Fry chopped up bacon (or sausage or whatever) in the pan, fry some corn too, fry some onions if you like, its about whatever you happen to have. Boil up some water in the pan and add one sachet of instant-mashed-potato powder. Stir the various bits and pieces into the mashed potato, adding some grated cheese and an egg makes it even “foodier” and helps hold it all together, but is not essential. Form your mix into burgers, or if you prefer balls or sausagey shapes or whatever you fancy and then fry in the pan so they get browned on the outside.
[sup]and is a chocolate button the same thing as a chocolate chip?[/sup]