Camping food

[BonitaApplebum]

Since it's just about camping season, anybody want to talk about outdoor cooking?

I think my all time crowd pleaser is burritos. They are flexible enough that kids and picky eaters will enjoy them, and they work for carnivores and veggies.

I usually have a camp stove, a grill (either hibachi or weber), and a campfire, but you can usually make this work with some combo of the above.

I will grill up a protein (generally pre-marinated chicken, sometimes beef). While that's happening I'll make minute rice or one of those rice pilaf in a box mixes on the stove. I also heat up some canned refried beans and/or black beans on the stove. You can make all this stuff as seasoned or as plain as your crowd likes.

I put out shredded cheese, salsa, guacamole, hot sauce, sour cream, along with all of the above when it's ready. Plus the big size flour tortillas.

Holler for the crowd. Everyone gets to build their own burrito as they like. Wrap in foil and heat on the coals. I put out shredded lettuce and chopped tomatoes to add after the fact.

It's a bit of prep up front but the beauty of this meal is everyone makes their own and once you've done the prep your work is finished. Great for a crowd or for people that aren't eating all at once.

[seattlegirl]

Yummm...

Last summer we enjoyed sweet potatoes wrapped in foil baked on the coals. 

[diablita]

That sounds good BA!  What else do you like to make?  What do you make for breakfast?

I suppose I need to buy a good cooler for car camping this summer.  We've not done much so I have a tiny one (mostly for beer) but if I'm going to bring several days' worth of protein, I'll need bigger.

[BonitaApplebum]

We make all the breakfast foods! Last summer when cooking for a crowd DH made omelettes to order, but he's the omelette king. I like doing French toast. I almost always try to do something you can do on the camp stove for breakfast, because nobody wants to mess around with the grill or a fire in the morning. But if you don't mind starting coals of some sort, breakfast casseroles in a Dutch oven are good, and super easy. I also always have cereal and yogurt on hand for early risers (aka kids) that can't wait for the chef. And, of course, coffee!!!

[BonitaApplebum]

Last summer my friend did meatball subs for dinner -- so easy. She prepped the meatballs and sauce at home so she just had to heat them up onsite. She had crusty rolls and sliced provolone and toasted the sandwiches a bit on the grill, served with a salad.

[seattlegirl]

We fry bacon on the campstove, then cook eggs or pancakes in the grease.  Pancakes are usually from a just add water mix.

(I realize this won't help Diablita...)

[seattlegirl]

Speaking of coolers, who has a recommendation?  We'd like to upgrade.  And any tips for keeping things their coldest?

[BonitaApplebum]

Here's what I do with my coolers:

1) Open them as few times as possible. Have a dedicated cooler for drinks, because that will get opened and closed a lot more. You should only be opening your food cooler when you are prepping or putting away food. We have a cooler strictly assigned to the kids because they are horrible about opening it, rummaging around, and leaving it open!

2) For multi day trips, I freeze things and let them serve as ice. For example, a half gallon of orange juice -- I get the kind in the carton with the screw top. I freeze it at home and then by second day breakfast it's thawed enough to drink. I also do this with things like Newman's lemonade.

3) I also freeze a big thing of iced coffee (you can recycle a half gallon carton or use a tupperware pitcher type thing). This is the BEST when you get up and your tent is hot and you need coffee so badly you can't even find the french press. Icy cold coffee FTW!

4) Everything gets double or even triple sealed in my coolers. This isn't a keeping cold thing so much as keeping dry -- after the time all of our fancypants cheeses got drenched in cooler water, I learned my lesson. I typically use multiple ziplock bags for everything. This helps with organization, too -- butter/cheese in one set of bags, cold cuts in another, etc. Things like pasta salads that I made at home go into double zips as well.

5) Instead of (or in addition to) cubed ice, use blocks of ice -- they last longer. Freeze them at home and then line the bottom of the cooler with them (you can freeze in ziplocks or tupperware or whatever makes blocks that fit into the bottom). Then another layer on top of everything.

6) When it's hot you need to keep maintaining your coolers -- you can't set it and forget it. Drain water periodically and replace with more ice several times a day if you can.

7) Keep the cooler out of the sun. You can insulate it more by throwing a towel or blanket over it.

But seriously, the number one rule is -- DON'T OPEN THE COOLER unless you really need to, and then be quick about it!

[seattlegirl]

Thanks.  Iced coffee is a brilliant idea!   

[BonitaApplebum]

It's a game changer! The first time we did it we were like, this is the greatest thing EVER!

[caribougrrl]

I am obsessed with "baking cakes" on coals inside of citrus peel.  Oranges are a good starter fruit because they are easy to hollow out.  Cut one end off, scoop out the flesh (careful not to tear the peel... reserve any juice you can squeeze out of the flesh (press through a sieve or just get your hands dirty and squeeze in your fists over a bowl).  Bring pre-measured and pre-mixed dry ingredients for the cake in a large ziploc... add the appropriate number of eggs and use the citrus juice for all or part of your liquid... mix right in the ziploc.  When it's well combined snip a corner off the bag and use it like an icing bag to fill the hollowed citrus 2/3 full.  Put the end back on the peel and wrap in 2 layers of foil by gathering foil from the bottom to the top then twisting a handle on top... make sure it's nice and tight to keep the citrus lid on.  Cake takes about  25 minutes to cook on the fire... after about 10 you can roll it around to heat all sides without worrying about too much spillage.

Chocolate cake in oranges is fantastic.  Also poppy seed in lemons.  Grapefruit cakes take longer to cook and are easier to burn.  I want to try doing a ginger cake of some sort in limes but haven't fully thought it out.

Also, you can make whipped cream in a mason jar by shaking heavy cream like you would to make butter, except stop before it becomes butter...

[BonitaApplebum]

Omg I am totally doing that!! Great idea!

[nadra24]

Spaghetti is a good meal that doesn't need refrigeration, just a big pot and a camp stove. We tend to plan that for the last day.

If you have time to sit around the fire and wait for it, I really love dutch oven potatoes. I don't have a recipe offhand, but it's basically bacon, onions, thinly sliced potatoes, shredded cheddar, and maybe some cream of chicken soup depending on the recipe you use. Takes a long time to cook but oh so scrumptious.

[diablita]

lots of great ideas here, thanks!  For the cooler, since we'll be alongside a creek that's always cool during our July group camp trip, I wonder if we could set it in the creek (tied down well) during the hotter part of the day to keep it cool.

[BonitaApplebum]

Spaghetti is a good meal that doesn't need refrigeration, just a big pot and a camp stove. We tend to plan that for the last day.

If you have time to sit around the fire and wait for it, I really love dutch oven potatoes. I don't have a recipe offhand, but it's basically bacon, onions, thinly sliced potatoes, shredded cheddar, and maybe some cream of chicken soup depending on the recipe you use. Takes a long time to cook but oh so scrumptious.

You can also do thinly sliced potatoes plus all of the extras in foil packets on the fire. Yum!!

[Knoxious]

Diab - if you get a good cooler (Yeti) it'll hold ice for days.  And it'll last forever.

Dutch oven - the two best things I've ever made were a crawfish etouffee and a Brunswick stew.   I made a dry roux in advance and then tossed in the stock, veggies, seasoning and crawfish.  Boil-in-a-bag rice.  I made the Brunswick stew base at home and froze it (used as ice).  The chicken was cooked in advance, seasoned and shredded and added to the base on site.    I like stew and such because they're easier to clean up and you can almost always get away with one big pot.

I gave up making a hot breakfast years ago - it's so much labor so early in the morning.  And it can take forever - look up and it's 10:30...   We're usually eating granola bars, poptarts, fruit, bagels, cream cheese, etc for breakfast.

We also make the spaghetti in advance - just leave it in a ziplock and heat the sauce separately.

[Cool Foot Luke]

I gave up making a hot breakfast years ago - it's so much labor so early in the morning.  And it can take forever - look up and it's 10:30...   We're usually eating granola bars, poptarts, fruit, bagels, cream cheese, etc for breakfast.

I throw instant oatmeal in plastic bags and add brown sugar, pumpkin seeds, cinnamon, powdered milk, and dried cranberries. Then all that is needed is to boil water and add to bowls. This is good for car camping or backpacking.

For car camping dinners, my recent go-to has been to chop a bunch of veggies and toss in a bowl with olive oil, salt, and pepper. I keep the bowl and some precooked sausage or veggie sausage in the cooler, then for dinner, wrap the veggies with the sausage in foil, then put on the grill. For starch, I wrap potatoes with butter in foil and those can go right into the fire (or on the grill)

[BonitaApplebum]

Diab - if you get a good cooler (Yeti) it'll hold ice for days.  And it'll last forever.

Dutch oven - the two best things I've ever made were a crawfish etouffee and a Brunswick stew.   I made a dry roux in advance and then tossed in the stock, veggies, seasoning and crawfish.  Boil-in-a-bag rice.  I made the Brunswick stew base at home and froze it (used as ice).  The chicken was cooked in advance, seasoned and shredded and added to the base on site.    I like stew and such because they're easier to clean up and you can almost always get away with one big pot.

I gave up making a hot breakfast years ago - it's so much labor so early in the morning.  And it can take forever - look up and it's 10:30...   We're usually eating granola bars, poptarts, fruit, bagels, cream cheese, etc for breakfast.

We also make the spaghetti in advance - just leave it in a ziplock and heat the sauce separately.

Premade stuff from home that you just add onsite is the secret to awesome camping food!

And I know what you mean about breakfast -- it often feels like too much work.

But, we do a thing where we go camping with a few other families, and everybody volunteers to make one breakfast and one dinner. When it's not your family's turn to cook, you just sit on your ass and show up when the food is ready (and wash your own dishes afterward). That way you are only on the hook for two meals the whole time, and you don't get annoyed by the fact that you are spending all your time in camp cooking and cleaning up, because you don't.

This system was conceived out of wanting to cook a lot of fun outdoor meals, but not wanting certain parties to bear all the hard work of ass-sitting for every meal -- we wanted to spread that task out a bit. Works great with my friends, but funnily enough it was a massive fail with my extended family at our yearly summer campout/reunion -- a few too many dedicated ass-sitters in that crowd!

[Run Amok]

CFL-- I'm really interested to hear what you like to bring for backpacking food esp worn you're veggie bf!

[Cool Foot Luke]

CFL-- I'm really interested to hear what you like to bring for backpacking food esp worn you're veggie bf!

Dinner - couscous (usually the pre-seasoned stuff that Casbah makes),with stuff, usually sun-dried tomatoes or walnuts. That just requires boiling water. Also, I've been taking dried soup - split pea or lentil, which does need to cook for 4-5 minutes. Dark chocolate for dessert.

Lunch - if you can find a good instant hummus (good luck), that can be good with tortillas and cheese. PB&J also keeps well. I used to take dry sausage but those days are gone!

It's a simple menu, but it works. This generally means that 2 people can eat for a 3-day trip out of one bear canister with additional room for stuff like sunscreen and toothpaste.