Calling All Camping Cooks!

[LuluLovesDisney]

I need some great recipes that can be prepared ahead and kept in a cooler or else prepared while camping - things that can be cooked over an open fire. I am not an experienced camper and I'd love some recipes for more than s'mores and plain hot dogs which is what we had last time!

Thank you!!!

 

[redshoes]

Here is one that I have used (I'm not a camper but we have used it during cookouts), I will say that this is not a super healthy recipe but it's pretty easy and fun:
Campout Taco Salad:
Snack Packs of Frito corn chips (one for each member of your party)
shredded lettuce
shredded cheese
olives
chili with beans (heated up on a camp stove)
salsa
Ranch dressing if preferred.

For each salad- open one package of chips, add any or all the other salad fixings, shake carefully- the bag of chips acts as the container and it makes for easy cleanup.

 

[MyManGoofy!]

You can make boil in a bag breakfast burritos.

You will need good working ziplock bags -sandwich size, and all the stuff to make whatever kind of omelet you prefer. (We go a little TexMex with ours)
put the eggs, cheese, onions, whatever, etc... in the ziplock bag. Seal!! Make sure ingredients are well mixed. Drop bag into pot of boiling water. Pot should be large enough to submerge the bag.
Boil until eggs are cooked. Simply roll finished product into a tortilla and there ya go.

Very tasty and not much in the away of dishes either!

 

[RunDanceSkate]

My kids love pasta, it really seems to fill them up after a long day of hiking. Your fav pasta sauce (we use ground beef cooked up and 4 cheese sauce from a jar) Cook it up ahead of time and freeze in a ziplock.

At the site, boil up a pot of water, put the sauce in, still in the bag, when it is hot, boil the pasta for 10 min in the same pot.

We also do baked potatoes. Just set some large potatoes wrapped in foil, in the coals. When cooked we each load them (and I mean load them) with our fav topping, canned chili that was heated up, cheese, etc. Then we finish up with apples cooked like the potatoes but we core them and fill the space with cinnimon and sugar before putting them in the coals.

We also do boil in a bag. In the weeks before camp everyone claims their fav leftovers (mines pot roast, which I cube up and add vegetables and gravy to make it stew like) and fills an empty clear milk bag (that was well washed) with a single serving. Make a loop in the bag at the top, add a long piece of twine and mark the bag with the person's name. Freeze it and at camp you get a pot of water going and drop them in. We eat right out of the bag. A real taste of home.

 

[RangerPooh]

There are some good recipies over on the camping board in a sticky thread. HTH.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

I've gone camping and prepared a lot of food ahead of time, and then froze it. Freezing meant that it lasted longer in the cooler, and also that I had to have less ice to keep things cold (I also freeze bottled water to keep the cooler cold, and to minimize ice melting & soaking everything.

I made spaghetti & meatballs & put it in a freezer bag - all I had to do at the campsite was heat it up - delicious.

Made taquitos at home, and wrapped them up, just having to heat them up on the 1st/2nd day we were there - kids loved them.

Made & froze rice - worked out great.

sloppy joes - made at home, froze, & just heated up at the campsite - worked well

boiled potatoes at home, then cut them up & used them to cook with eggs, etc.

 

[tw1nsmom]

Do you have a campstove, or are you just tallking about open fire cooking? If you don't have a campstove (coleman is the most common brand), I would highly recommend that you get one. You can basicly cook anything on them that you would cook on a stovetop at home.

If you really only want to cook on the campfire, I would still get a grill that rests over the fire. You could then cook burgers, steaks, grilled corn...

Other ideas are:

-loaded baked potatoes...wrap them in foil and bake them in the embers of the fire. Precook bacon and bring it from home along with shredded cheese, butter, sour cream.

-foil dinners of any kind. put meat, veggies and a little liquid in a quadruple wrapped foil pouch...again cook in embers

-pita pizzas....use same technique as foil dinners

-shish kabobs (on super long skewers)...you can cook these over the fire like you would hot dogs. I would stick to items that don't need to be cooked long. Shrimp and steak would work better than poultry. You might get tired of holding/turning the kabobs in the time it takes to cook chicken. I would also avoid raw onion...it takes forever.


-you can also get pie irons at Walmart or other camping supplies stores. You can make melted sandwiches with these, or you can take two pieces of buttered bread and put canned pie filling in the middle. When you close them and cook them over (not on) the fire you end up with a little indiviual pie (or at least a fascimile).



Look at the camping boards and different camping websited for more ideas.

 

[shirleyb]

Oh man, we eat better camping than we do at home!

Check out rv.net. There is a camping cooking message board there with lots of recipes and ideas.

 

[FayeW]

My kids love pasta, it really seems to fill them up after a long day of hiking. Your fav pasta sauce (we use ground beef cooked up and 4 cheese sauce from a jar) Cook it up ahead of time and freeze in a ziplock.

At the site, boil up a pot of water, put the sauce in, still in the bag, when it is hot, boil the pasta for 10 min in the same pot.

We also do baked potatoes. Just set some large potatoes wrapped in foil, in the coals. When cooked we each load them (and I mean load them) with our fav topping, canned chili that was heated up, cheese, etc. Then we finish up with apples cooked like the potatoes but we core them and fill the space with cinnimon and sugar before putting them in the coals.

We also do boil in a bag. In the weeks before camp everyone claims their fav leftovers (mines pot roast, which I cube up and add vegetables and gravy to make it stew like) and fills an empty clear milk bag (that was well washed) with a single serving. Make a loop in the bag at the top, add a long piece of twine and mark the bag with the person's name. Freeze it and at camp you get a pot of water going and drop them in. We eat right out of the bag. A real taste of home.

Now those are some great ideas!

OT: Where do you like to camp? When we were tent camping we used to go to some of the provincial parks, but now that we have a camper we go to the private campgrounds. (Rideau Acres in Kingston, Moonlight Bay, Waterways, etc). Our favourite is Cedar Cove on White Lake in Pakenham. We just got a seasonal site there this year so we will be able to go every weekend without having to load up and pull the trailer. REALLY looking forward to that!

 

[AprilShowers]

I second the suggestion to check out RV.net. The "Camp Cooks & Connoisseurs" board has tons of great recipes and ideas.

 

[TurboKitty]

Roasted garlic is easy and a great way to spice up pasta, steaks or even bread.

Just cut the papery tip off the garlic bulb, pour a little olive oil (or any cooking oil) on the cut part, wrap in foil and set it on the embers left from your fire for about an hour.

 

[tiggr33]

Oh man, we eat better camping than we do at home!

Ain't that the truth!! At home I just whip something together, when camping we have to plan ahead.

Roasted garlic is easy and a great way to spice up pasta, steaks or even bread.

Just cut the papery tip off the garlic bulb, pour a little olive oil (or any cooking oil) on the cut part, wrap in foil and set it on the embers left from your fire for about an hour.

Roasted garlic always tastes better from a camp fire. I toast some bread and then rub the roasted garlic on it. Yum!!!

What we pack and what we eat is dependant on whether we are car camping or wilderness camping. In other words if we are using wet or dry ice. And if we are in bear country or not.

One of my favorites is slice potaoes and onions about 1/3" thick. Mix them up with some dill and put them in foil packets with a bit of butter. I set them coals for ? time until done. (? becuase it depends on the temp. of the fire and wind etc.)

Another easy recipe (which I got off the DIS years ago) and is from all canned and package items.
Taco Soup
2 cans corn (not creamed)
2 cans diced tomatos
2 cans Kidney/Pinto beans
1-2 packets of Taco Seasoning.
Mix everything together in a pot/kettle, place over fire or or campstove. Once it is at serving temparature it's done.

I have also put a layer of cornbread (I have also used Biscuit mix) ontop, and baked it in a cast iron dutch oven placed in the fire.

 

[korbbec]

Tin foil is my best friend. I cut up veggies, add some salt, and Salt-free garlic and herb spice and butter (or whatever flavor you like). Then put the pack on the grill. Shake it around every once in a while. It takes a while to cook, so plan ahead. You can make your veggie/potato packs ahead of time to take with you. Then grill the meat. For corn on the cob we soak the ears (whole ear in husks) in water for about an hour and then throw them in the hot coals. They cook up in about 20 minutes perfectly. Another good thing to have is a large flat griddle- Pancakes, homefries, eggs, stir-fry- we get lots of use from ours and they are easy to clean. Oh- boil in bag rice is good to bring too.

 

[minkydog]

my kids always want my chili when we go camping. It's easy and not too spicy(you can add more chili powder if you like.)
1 can Hormel chili w/beans
1 16-ozcan diced tomatoes
1 8-oz can tomato sauce
1 16-0z can light red beans or kidney beans
1 lb ground beef,browned

put all the ingredients together and simmer in a pot for 20 min. Or put in the crockpot. serve with torilla chips and shredded cheese.

 

[kimmikayb]

I love foil dinners when camping!!

A dessert idea is peach packets....put halfed peaches (heavy syrup is better) in foil and put a marshmellow in the hollow of the peach, sprinkle with brown sugar, seal up and put over coals for awhile...heck I don't know....long enough for the marshmellow to melt! Yummy!

Another is banana boats. Again with foil....half a banana and put chocolate chips over it and mini marshmellows. Onto the coals again.

Both of these, my kids love!

 

[ZipaDeeDooDah]

One of our favorite camping recipes is Beer Can Chicken:

Beer Can Chicken

1 cup butter
2 tablespoons garlic salt
2 tablespoons paprika
salt and pepper to taste
1 (12 fluid ounce) can beer
1 (4 pound) whole chicken

Preheat an outdoor grill for low heat, and lightly oil grate. In a small skillet, melt 1/2 cup butter. Mix in 1 tablespoon garlic salt, 1 tablespoon paprika, salt and pepper.

Discard 1/2 the beer, leaving the remainder in the can. Add remaining butter, garlic salt, paprika and desired amount of salt and pepper to beer can.

Place can on a disposable baking sheet. Set chicken upright onto can, inserting can into the cavity of the chicken. Baste chicken with the melted, seasoned butter.

Place baking sheet with beer and chicken on the prepared grill. Cook over low heat for about 3 hours, or until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear.

 

[tiggr33]

The post above about bananas reminded me of this one. Foil is my best friend when camping..

Cut into pieces or halve a banana. Put into foil with a pat of butter and some maple syrup. Cook until.....well you'll know when it's done by the aroma. I've done this in the fire, and on a gas grill.

I'm craving a pocket pie!!!!