Food for camping/coolers?

[treestarfae]

Can you help me with ideas on food to bring for hungry campers? Especially lunch and dinner food. Thanks!!

[Ann@thebeach]

Will you be cooking over a grill or fire? If so hotdogs are easy and pack well. Add in grapes, chips, carrot sticks, etc and you are set for one meal.

 

Other easy things:

cold meat/cheese sandwiches/subs

crackers and cheese/meat

pasta salad

cut up fruit or veggies and dip

cheese sticks (a must for our kids)

cookies

trail mix

 

walking tacos is a hit here too:

taco meat (precooked so we just warm it up over grill)

individual sized corn chip/doritos bags

lettuce

cheese

tomatoes/onions

You put all the ingredients IN the bag and eat out of the bag-a little weird but the kids love it.

 

hamburgers/turkey burgers are easy too but the raw meat thing makes me nervous if it's really hot

Edited April 29, 2011 by Ann in IA

[MamaAkins]

Will you have a propane camp stove? fire pit? grill?

 

On our last camping trip, we did:

 

"hobo" packets - aka foil dinners (kielbasa, chicken, corn on the cob, diced new potatoes, and a splash of worcestshire sauce....all double wrapped in foil and cooked over hot charcoal coals.

 

tacos...cooked the meat in the cast iron skillet on the propane camp stove, served in flour tortillas with sour cream, pico de gallo, and a side of cut up veggies (peppers, cucumbers, carrots)

 

grilled cheese for lunch with fruits & veggies or a can of soup, if you wanted

[gardening momma]

Hobo dinners:

 

You need:

aluminum foil

pats of butter

salt & pepper

ground beef, browned & drained (do it in advance before you leave home)

chopped carrots (no bigger than 1/2" slices or chunks)

chopped potatoes (same size as carrots)

diced onions

 

Each person gets a square of aluminum foil (about 12"x12"). They choose which combination of ingredients to put in their hobo dinner. Put a pat or two of butter on top, add salt & pepper, then fold the foil closed. Take a second square of foil and wrap the dinner a second time (turn the foil package face down on the second foil square and fold closed). Put the dinners in the coals of the fire to cook. Cook for a few minutes on each side. (I don't remember how long)

[WiseOwlKnits]

For our last campout (we did a family campout with 5 other families), we made burritos for dinner. We pre-cooked the meat with beans and onion so it just needed to be reheated. Then we brought all the sides (cheese, avocado, tomato, etc) and they were a HUGE hit.

 

Lunches are usually simple things like sandwiches, fruit and veggies, and chips.

[AK_Mom4]

For absolutely amazing, to-die-for delicious camping food, check out these recipes:

 

http://papadutch.home.comcast.net/~papadutch/dutch-oven-recipes.htm

 

Dutch oven cooking is amazingly easy, works even in a rain or snow storm, and makes for simple clean up. DH cooks this stuff when winter camping at 20 below.

 

I always recommend his Coca Cola Chicken. Also good is the Pineapple-Apricot chicken, though we use Apple Jelly as I have never found Pineapple-Apricot anything in our grocery store. You can also use marmalade.

[treestarfae]

Thank you, these are great ideas!

[Pippen]

For our last campout (we did a family campout with 5 other families), we made burritos for dinner. We pre-cooked the meat with beans and onion so it just needed to be reheated. Then we brought all the sides (cheese, avocado, tomato, etc) and they were a HUGE hit.

 

.

 

We do this with the families we camp with and it always goes over well. Last time I made a big pot of black beans (canned, which I drained and doctored up).

 

I always like to have at least one dinner precooked that will heat up easily in my cooler. Pulled pork, spaghetti noodles and sauce, Italian sandwiches, etc. Crockpot chicken and beans is also great--serve on tortillas and add a fruit/veggie and it's a complete meal.

 

Crockpot chicken and beans:

http://www.food.com/recipe/crock-pot-chicken-w-black-beans-and-cream-cheese-yum-89204

 

Also I will mention if you're using a cooler, you really want to pack foods so water doesn't leak into them. I have the best results using plastic peanut butter jars with a few wraps of duct tape around the lids to seal it. If you're not into doing messy dishes when you're camping, you can toss them out.

 

I try and precook meats such as ground beef or shredded chicken at home because raw meat in a cooler can be a pain to deal with.

 

Hearty Italian Sandwiches

1 pound lean ground beef, browned & drained

1 pound bulk mild Italian sausage, browned and drained

1 sweet onion , chopped (to taste)

2 large yellow peppers, chopped

1 large red peppers, chopped

¾ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon pepper

8 Monterey Jack cheese slices

Dill pickle chips (optional)

8 sandwich rolls

Place one third onions and peppers in slow cooker. Top with half of the meat mixture. Repeat layers. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cover and cook on low 6 hours or until vegetables are tender. Can also do in a covered casserole dish in a low oven.

With a slotted spoon, serve about 1 cup mixture on each roll. Top with cheese and dill pickle slices.