Skip to main content

Cook's Notes: Camping Edition

Planning meals to be cooked in the woods for a family of four was the thing that was stressing me out the most about getting ready for our inaugural camping trip last weekend. I am pretty adventurous about trying new things that are food-related, but cooking over an open fire was definitely outside of my comfort zone. We talked about getting a Hibachi-style grill for our trip, but in the end we didn't find one that we really wanted. Instead, we went armed with a camp stove, a roll of heavy duty aluminum foil, some cooking spray, and a few random ideas.

For breakfast we went with special treat cereal for the kids, and eggs on english muffins for us. Derek toasted the english muffins in a dry skillet on the camp stove. After the muffins were toasted he prepared the pan with olive oil cooking spray and fried the eggs over easy.


Coffee was also made on the camp stove using an old percolator.


Lunch was super simple - pb&j for the kids, and turkey and swiss sandwiches for us. Before we left I prepped a large tupperware of cut-up raw veggies to eat with lunch; Derek also made these for a delicious snack.

No-Bake Energy Bites
1 cup (dry) oatmeal
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter
1/2 cup ground flaxseed
1/3 cup honey
1 tsp. vanilla

Mix ingredients together in a large bowl. Roll into bite size balls and refrigerate.

For dinner we planned simple, 3-component meals that we cooked in foil packets on the open fire. On Saturday night we did spinach and feta chicken sausages, diced potatoes, and baby carrots. Each component went on the fire in its own packet so that we could control the cook times for each ingredient separately. I used a double layer of foil for the packets, as well as a generous coating of cooking spray. I topped off the potatoes and carrots with a few pats of Smart Balance and salt and pepper.


Everything was cooked perfectly and tasted delicious!


On Sunday night we did broccoli which I had cut up before we left. For the main course we did spice-crusted salmon with lemon. We had planned on cooking couscous on the camp stove, but decided to cook potatoes again because they were so yummy the night before. 


Wowza, what a feast!


And what camping trip would be complete with marshmallows,


And s'mores!


Cooking over an open fire (with no grates!) was a challenge, but after two successful meals I'm excited to see what other foil packet meals I can come up with for our next trip!

What are your go-to camping foods?

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Silas' Blog

Well it's been a busy 3 years since I last posted! Stay tuned as we may have more posts coming now that it looks like I have a new contributor... Silas recently read a book called "Starting Your Own Blog", and now he is bound and determined for us to let him start his own blog! We convinced him that he should start out by drafting content and a posting calendar. We made templates this morning and he wrote his first "post" today!

Food Prep

We recently bought a house and moved about 20 miles outside of Boston. One of the changes that came along with a new commute and work schedule is that I have started making dinner for the kids every night, instead of just Friday-Sunday (Julia, our wonderful long-time nanny, historically fed them dinner Monday-Thursday). Derek and I still have opposite work schedules, which means that I have the kids without him 5-6 nights/week. In order to make healthy meals AND pack lunches while flying solo, at a minimum I need to have a well-stocked fridge and basic menu plan for the week. Even better is when I can get some cooking and/or food prep done on Sunday. Before I go to the gym on Sunday mornings I usually peruse some recipes in search of culinary inspiration. Today I came across a recipe that caught my eye on Budget Bytes . I was planning on hitting Trader Joe's after the gym, so I picked up the frozen roasted corn that is the cornerstone of this recipe. The first part of my foo...

Today

Today I went to a yoga class for the first time in far too many years. It felt wonderful and pushed me out of my comfort zone. I can't wait to go back! Today Derek gave Silas his traditional mid-summer haircut. Today the weather was perfect and we enjoyed bike rides (them) / a walk (me) in the park after lunch. Today Zoe chased the cats until they succumbed to her love and adoration. Today I put the garbage on the curb for weekly pickup and realized that we didn't have any! We recycle and compost far more than we throw away. I am grateful to be able to teach Zoe & Silas these habits. Empty trash barrel Countertop compost bin  Backyard compost bin that we bought at Town Hall Food compost, including the hair from Silas' haircut today! Today I checked on the rooftop vegetable patio garden - it's doing great! Today we went school supply shopping so that I can enjoy the last month of summer without worrying abou...