Camping Food Ideas

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riabia

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We are going camping in a few weeks, and I need some ideas for tasty, but not difficult or time consuming meals other than hot dogs (although I’m sure we will have some of those, too :D). We will not have a grill with us, so we will be relying on a campfire (I think they might have cooking grates) and a camp stove.

We will be camping with another family, and in all, there will be 4 adults and 9 children ages 7 & under, so all food must be kid friendly!

One idea that I have is to take chicken breasts and season them, then somehow wrap them in foil and freeze them, so they will stay good longer in the cooler. Then just pulling them out and putting them on the fire grate (in the foil) and cooking them just like that. But I don’t know how this would work out in real life!
 
Kabobs! Cut up your meat and veggies, toss them in a big Ziploc bag with a marinade, and toss the whole thing in the ice chest until dinner time. Then thread them on skewers and toss them on the cooking grate.

Sausage and peppers: cook brats or italian sausages on the grate, along with a foil packet containing sliced onions and bell peppers (cook these until soft, at least 10 min). Serve sausages on buns topped with veggies. For the kids, just cook hot dogs if they’re picky.

If you’ve got a stove, you can always bring canned soup for the kids (and for the kids at heart). I admit: last time we went camping, my husband and I had canned tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches from the Coleman stove for dinner one night.

Have fun!
 
riabia said:
One idea that I have is to take chicken breasts and season them, then somehow wrap them in foil and freeze them, so they will stay good longer in the cooler. Then just pulling them out and putting them on the fire grate (in the foil) and cooking them just like that. But I don’t know how this would work out in real life!
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The only thing I would do is add some sliced carrots and sliced potatoes, season like you would normally, maybe add a smidge (1 teasp.) of oil then freeze the entire packet and throw on the fire when you are ready to cook them! You can add onions and other vegetables, let everyone fix their own before you freeze them in the packets and mark with a sharpie.

Another thing is to foil wrap a bunch of potatoes, throw them in the fire and let cook for a long time - then have a baked potato bar - have shredded cheese, butter, sour cream, bacon bits (turkey or real) and some salad greens on the side - mmmm, mmmm good!

What about making a big batch of tuna noodle salad? I make this with tuna (or turkey), frozen peas, macaroni (elbow or for fun bow tie) salad dressing of choice. Add onions or olives (green or black, sliced), sliced celery and diced cucumbers - whatever is the lowest common denominator here. Make it all up in advance and add the frozen peas right before you put it in the cooler - this will keep the salad cold longer but make it one of the first meals there.

Bring lots of fruit that doesn’t need refrigeration like apples - you can even make a baked apple with a fire - foil wrap the prepared apple, you know, cored with a strip of skin removed from the middle (to prevent the apple from bursting), fill the hole with brown sugar, butter, cinnamon and raisins, wrap in foil and throw in the fire!

And for those who are too fussy for any of these great suggestions, there is always peanut butter and jelly sandwiches!

Remember that your mustard and ketchup don’t need to be kept cold, just not overheated so don’t load them in the cooler, save the space for things that have to be cold.

Oh, and I always froze milk in quart size containers to be consumed as they thawed out. This became part of my ice in my cooler. Quart size containers so they could be dispersed through out the cooler to maximize their cooling effectiveness.

Brenda V.
 
Lorrie said:
I have one word for you…S’MORES!!
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I’m sure there will be PLENTY or these served up over the weekend, lol. I have to admit, though, the last time I ate a S’more, I was pregnant, and I ended up puking it up a short while later:eek:. So I will personally be skipping the marshmallow and just going straight for the CHOCOLATE!!!
 
SeekerJen said:
Kabobs! Cut up your meat and veggies, toss them in a big Ziploc bag with a marinade, and toss the whole thing in the ice chest until dinner time. Then thread them on skewers and toss them on the cooking grate.
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I love this idea! I would have never thought of it, but I think we even have skewers in the kitchen (somewhere:rolleyes:).
 
Silver Turtles is always an easy meal to fix on a campout. Take a hamburger size patty of ground beef. Wrap it in foil with an onion and other vegetables. put it on the coals for about 15-20 minutes and then enjoy.
 
Here is a camp favorite. Take a 5 pound bag of white potatoes, a 1 or 2 lb bag of carrots (depending on how many you like) and one or two onions. Take the heavy duty aluminum foil and cut off a rectangle that is about 2 times longer than the wrap is wide. For a 5 pound bag I would make four or five of these rectangles.

Cut up the potatoes (with the skins on) into 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch size cubes. Then cut the carrots into about 3/4 inch to 1 inch size depending on how fat the carrots are. Next cut the onions into quarters or eighths. Divide the vegetables evenly onto the sheets of aluminum foil, making sure you have enough room to fold them and seal them tightly. Add a couple of tablespoons of butter or margarine to each pile, then fold the aluminum foil carefully.
(Keep it as wrinkle free as possible so that you get a good seal.) Join the two long sides together and begin folding them together about a 1/3 inch at a time. Fold again and again until you cannot fold it any more. Flatten agains the packet and then turn the packet to fold both sides the same way. Make sure you don’t poke any holes in the foil. When you have a hot fire of coals, whether wood or charcoal, place the packets directly over them and cook about 15 to 20 minutes per side. The packets will swell up if you have sealed them properly and they will steam the potatoes inside. (If you have a grate you will probably need to cook them for 20 minutes per side. If you place them directly on the coals, 15 minutes per side will probably be better.

Once done you can serve them from the packets (just bust them open and serve with a spoon. But be careful that the steam doesn’t burn you when you first open them!) Afterwards, you just throw the foil away and your done cleaning up.

Please be careful as they are very hot. Please cool before the kids get a hold of them.

If the kids don’t like onions (mine don’t) you can easily make them a packet without the onions.

My husband usually makes this with steaks for the adults and burgers or hotdogs for the kids.
 
pieta05 said:
ScoutORama Has some great easy Camping Recipes.
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Awesome website. I will have to dig through it more later, but it looks great.

The funny thing is, my dh is actually an Eagle Scout that worked at a Boyscout Camp 2 summers. But he is not terribly interested in helping me plan a menu for camping. He just keeps saying (in his most dejected voice) “We’re just going to have hotdogs at every meal” Because I said that I wanted meals that weren’t going to be too fussy. :doh2:
 
Nechasin said:
Silver Turtles is always an easy meal to fix on a campout. Take a hamburger size patty of ground beef. Wrap it in foil with an onion and other vegetables. put it on the coals for about 15-20 minutes and then enjoy.
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Do you eat the hamburger on a bun,or with a fork?
 
Brenda_V said:
Bring lots of fruit that doesn’t need refrigeration like apples - you can even make a baked apple with a fire - foil wrap the prepared apple, you know, cored with a strip of skin removed from the middle (to prevent the apple from bursting), fill the hole with brown sugar, butter, cinnamon and raisins, wrap in foil and throw in the fire!

Brenda V.
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MMMMmmmmm this made my mouth water!
 
ELDEN_S_WIFE said:
Here is a camp favorite. Take a 5 pound bag of white potatoes, a 1 or 2 lb bag of carrots (depending on how many you like) and one or two onions. Take the heavy duty aluminum foil and cut off a rectangle that is about 2 times longer than the wrap is wide. For a 5 pound bag I would make four or five of these rectangles.

Cut up the potatoes (with the skins on) into 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch size cubes. Then cut the carrots into about 3/4 inch to 1 inch size depending on how fat the carrots are. Next cut the onions into quarters or eighths. Divide the vegetables evenly onto the sheets of aluminum foil, making sure you have enough room to fold them and seal them tightly. Add a couple of tablespoons of butter or margarine to each pile, then fold the aluminum foil carefully.
(Keep it as wrinkle free as possible so that you get a good seal.) Join the two long sides together and begin folding them together about a 1/3 inch at a time. Fold again and again until you cannot fold it any more. Flatten agains the packet and then turn the packet to fold both sides the same way. Make sure you don’t poke any holes in the foil. When you have a hot fire of coals, whether wood or charcoal, place the packets directly over them and cook about 15 to 20 minutes per side. The packets will swell up if you have sealed them properly and they will steam the potatoes inside. (If you have a grate you will probably need to cook them for 20 minutes per side. If you place them directly on the coals, 15 minutes per side will probably be better.

Once done you can serve them from the packets (just bust them open and serve with a spoon. But be careful that the steam doesn’t burn you when you first open them!) Afterwards, you just throw the foil away and your done cleaning up.

Please be careful as they are very hot. Please cool before the kids get a hold of them.

If the kids don’t like onions (mine don’t) you can easily make them a packet without the onions.

My husband usually makes this with steaks for the adults and burgers or hotdogs for the kids.
Click to expand...
I have done this with just potatoes on the grill before. For some reason I thought that cooking over a fire would be different. (Why?- I don’t know)
 
riabia said:
Awesome website. I will have to dig through it more later, but it looks great.

The funny thing is, my dh is actually an Eagle Scout that worked at a Boyscout Camp 2 summers. But he is not terribly interested in helping me plan a menu for camping. He just keeps saying (in his most dejected voice) “We’re just going to have hotdogs at every meal” Because I said that I wanted meals that weren’t going to be too fussy. :doh2:
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:rotfl: Obviously, he must have got his merit badges in another camping area of expertize. 😃

Won’t he be surprised.👍
 
Everyone loves spagetti and it’s soooo easy, even when camping!

One pot for water one for sauce!

My family always loved our camping “Italian nights”!!!

You can even do the sausages if you are so inclined!
 
Taco in a bag

Pre-cook and season sufficient taco meat in advance and ziploc bag it. (heat in skillet on camp stove)

Shredded lettuce
Diced tomatoes
Shredded Cheddar (in ziplocs)
Bottle of taco sauce in the desired heat range
options: Onions, Jalapenos, olives, sour cream or ?

Slice open single-serving bags of tortilla chips. Spoon on hot taco meat. Allow children to dump fixin’s on top. Eat out of bag with a fork. Easy clean up.
 
For camping baked potatoes I use a foil oven.

Get one of those heavy foil chafing pans (turkey roasters work ok but they usually don’t come with form-fitting lids, so you have to top with regular foil.) Sam’s club or party supply places shoud have them.

Wash and, if desired, foil wrap the spuds, then put them in the “oven” less mess and they cook more evenly. Nice with a steak for the adults.

You can cook those frozen foil-wrapped chicken breasts in there too. Don’t use an acidic marinade on those chickens if you are going to cook 'em in foil though.

You can also make meals at home and bring them frozen in big ziploc bags to heat on the camp stove. Chili, beef stew, etc. Bring a loaf of italian bread and one of those “Caesar salad in a bag” things from the supermarket, and you have a feast.
 
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