Amazing Camping Food?

[Snowflea]

Usually I'm too tired to get very creative so go for the "boil water, let soak" category of outdoor cookery ... but I still need to take care of and nourish my body with good, preferably whole/organic foods. The best I've found is Mary Jane's Farm products. I like to add tuna or salmon packets for protein, also dehydrated mushrooms and/or greens (done at home on my dehydrator).

You can save $$$ by buying in bulk. (FWIW, I find that two MJ servings equal one Stinkyfeet serving.)

You might find some ideas on MJ's
message board.

Happy Trails!
Sue

 

[charlos]

bring a small(6 to 8 inch) bamboo or otherwise steamer......and veggies....etc

 

[hikrgrl]

one of my favorite things to take on an overnighter is mac & cheese (Annie's!). I usually don't touch it at home - but one box fits pretty nicely in my 1 qt pot, and is the perfect size post-long-hike meal. I use NF dried milk. (not terribly inspired or exotic, but yummy!)

I have been having fun with borrowing a dehydrator. I've made some cool recipes this winter out of "High Trail Cookery" - I love how their lasagna recipe, made in a 9X13 pan "serves 4" I can't wait to see how much THAT makes after a long trail day!

 

[chinooktrail]

Dutch Oven?

Has anyone used a Dutch Oven while car camping?

They look very interesting to me, and like it would be fun to use it in a traditional way, in the coals with coals on top of the lid also.

It may be nice for this trip to Umbagog, cut up and toss the food into it, get it good and buried in coals, go for a little paddle around the lake, come back to a cooked dinner. Hum, something to consider. (Of course someone would have to stay around and watch the campfire. )

So, any Dutch Oven enthusiaists out there willing to share some tips and recipies?

 

[John H Swanson]

It all depends on the situation at hand. Like supply and demand. A few of my fond food memories:

From the backwoods of Yellowstone, in the rain -grilled cheese with bologna and mustard - pan fried with butter

Also from Yellowstone - an above average one pot noodle meal because in combined salmon and lemon-chicken soup mix.

quesadillas in Baxter on the stove with spicy salsa - amazingly easy by wrapping in foil.

From Duck hole - beef stoganoff with portabella mushrooms and cream - amazing how a half cup of cream will save anything.

From Shenendoah - Jello instant cheesecake with graham cracker crust, sliced stawberries (you only need 3 or 4) and fresh whipped cream (the hard part is keeping it from becoming butter)

From NOLS in the North Cascades - gooyee brownie mix - essentially pan fried brownie mix that never really gets cooked completely but resembles that lava cake dessert you can find at Ruby Tuesdays.

Having eatten my share of one pot noodle meals, I think the key is to add a small quantity of "fresh" stuff to the mix.

 

[sapblatt]

My cousin and I split a pound of steak tips we pan fried (not my preferred method) at Carter Notch - the Ramen Noodle crowd was drooling!

I really like my backpacking staple (not that I backpack all that much) - basically I get 1 to 1 1/2 cups of Minute Rice, a super hot home made spice mixture (read: no salt - lots of pepper, garlic powder and cayenne pepper), some olive oil (EMS sells olive oil in single serving foil packs) and a foil pack of chicken or fish - boil the water on an alcohol stove - throw all the ingredients in, remove from heat and cover for 5-10 minutes. Takes less than an ounce of fuel, tastes great (read: not bland) and fills you up.

 

[giggy]

if car camping - the weber Q comes along and my wife and I cook everything on that steaks, salmon, swordfish, veggies, potatoes, etc.. we usually have pasta salad, etc...

if backpacking - ramen, mtn house, meat, I am very sloppy and added nonsense on backpacks doesn't work for me

 

[skiguy]

1. Raw Spam sliced and thrown ontop of White Wonder Bread. Also known as a "Spamwich"

2. Lightly cooked Spam with Brown sugar and pineapple

3. Spam boiled in Tang Juice. Be sure to drain off tang before eating.

4. Spam

 

[LittleBear]

I'm not a Dutch Oven user, but my daughter loves them! When she was a white water rafting guide, they used dutch ovens all the time on their overnight trips. Now she uses them all the time when car camping. She makes amazing meals in them, and also has a recipe for a Dutch Oven cake (I will see if I can get it and post it here).

I am always trying to find recipes for when I go backpacking. I have started using the freezer bag cooking method and find it is great for backpacking. I made a backpacker's turkey dinner the last time I was out. It was great!

Little Bear

 

[MarshallM]

Dutch Ovens and Bannock

Chinooktrail, Dutch Ovens are not only great for car camping, but also allow you to eliminate the gas stove on longer canoe or kayak trips through country were fires are permitted and wood is readily available.

I own what is called a Banks Fry-Bake Oven which is a modern version of a Dutch Oven. The 10 1/2 inch model that i own is significantly lighter, at 28.5 oz, than either a cast-iron or even a cast-aluminum version. See Link.

While there are many possibilities, one favorite of mine is Bannock, which you may be familiar with but is a dense bread and has been called the bread of the north. The simple recipe below will fill up the oven and is best to bake with a twiggy fire on top for about 15-20 minutes then over a small cooking fire or coals for about 5-10 minutes.

4 cups flower (serves 8)
4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
dash sugar
1/3 cup oil
enough water to make a stiff dough

Of course, you could also make a much smaller batch with 1-2 cups of flower and use the oven as a frying pan and flip the bread after baking the bottom for about 5 minutes. Add some butter and/or raspberry jam and eat it like the northern travelers of the past!

marshall

 

[Bob Kittredge]

Bisquik Coils

As a kid I car-camped with my family in Connecticut state parks. Dad would bring along a box of bisquik and a jar of jam. We'd go off into the woods and find some green sticks an inch or so in diameter and peel the bark back six inches from the end. The bisquik would be worked into a thick sticky dough, formed into ropes and coiled around the sticks. We'd then hold them over the campfire till they were cooked. Slip off the cooked bisquik, fill the hole with jam, and eat. Yummers!

 

[woodstrider]

camp grub

I once made a mean mac 'n cheese with ham and peas. From scratch. Used two pots- one to cook the mac and one to make the white sauce. I made it as a typical rou (sp?)- butter add floue and cook until starting to turn a golden colour. Add 1/1 and 1/2 and cook a short time until it begins to thicken. Add diced ham and fresh frozen peas. add to pasta.You have to work quickly. I used no measuring devices.

 

[sapblatt]

I once made a mean mac 'n cheese with ham and peas. From scratch. Used two pots- one to cook the mac and one to make the white sauce. I made it as a typical rou (sp?)- butter add floue and cook until starting to turn a golden colour. Add 1/1 and 1/2 and cook a short time until it begins to thicken. Add diced ham and fresh frozen peas. add to pasta.You have to work quickly. I used no measuring devices.

Roux!
...and I am very impressed by anyone who would make a roux on a camping trip!!!

 

[chinooktrail]

Yeah, 'real-ish' mac and cheese would be fun to make. The kids love it, it just won't be baked at the end like I make at home.

I make it so much for my friends kids I just do it on auto pilot now, no measuring or recipe.

Bob, that sounds like a great memory!

My dad used to entertain us on car camping trips by finding just the right rock, and heating it up and cooking eggs and bacon on it. Ah, back in the days of a HUGE canvas Army Surplus tent with no floor, and dad digging a trench around it for the inevetible rain showers we always seemed to get. Yes, people would do things like that and it was ok then...

 

[John H Swanson]

Off subject

..... Ah, back in the days of a HUGE canvas Army Surplus tent with no floor, and dad digging a trench around it for the inevetible rain showers we always seemed to get. Yes, people would do things like that and it was ok then...

When I took my NY State Guide License test about 7yrs ago, there was a not-too-easy question on tent trenching. It stopped me in my tracks. It seemed out of place in time. I racked my brain to no avail. I'm not sure if I knew the answer or if it was just buried under 20 yrs of LNT info. Maybe that question was a "gimme" one thrown in for the old timers.

 

[woodstrider]

camp grub

About baking the mac-n-cheese-hoe about just not baking it- it tastes great without that step- or.... you could probably bake it in two pots- one small enough to fit inside of the other with some room. Put peebles on the bottom of the larger pot so as to create an air-space between the two pots, put on both lids. I read somewhere that this makes a pretty good oven. I've never tried it-- but I'm wondering if anyone out there has?

Another recipe that was successful was my wicked hot puttanesca sauce. All the ingredients can be carried in in small bottles or cans- unless there is some "purist" out there who wants to catch their own anchovies and haul in fresh tomatoes.

Suffice it to say that any pasta dish is great, and made in the camp it's only better. I guess I just eat alot of pasta when I'm out (or even when I am "in''). I eat alot of the same stuff in the woods as I do at home- some of my favorite recipes are very camp-friendly.

Home made jerky is also great.

Omlettes are surprising easy and yummy- I just pack the eggs- carefully- inside this great MSR pot (the lid locks onto it)

AND-When I have to travel some distance to get to where I want- even if by plane- I always bring my grub along. This saves time on having to go shopping and on pack-bulk by having repacked the food stuff ahead of time. I know I am not alone when I say that I have a place in the kitchen where I store "camp-foods"- I am basically in a state of readiness to go on a trip. Just add food to the pack and I'm good to go.


But- my food experience is not all that important- getting out is the main point of the exercise and I am content with a liptons noodle side dish (or any equivalent) and a hot drink for dinner.

 

[skiguy]

.


But- my food experience is not all that important- getting out is the main point of the exercise and I am content with a liptons noodle side dish (or any equivalent) and a hot drink for dinner.

That's why I always carry and eat Spam

 

[chinooktrail]

Yeah, omlettes are good, but I usually end up making breakfast burritos.

Scramble up a bunch of eggs, add whatever veggies or cheeses you want. (sometimes we even add whatever leftover meat there was from the previous nights dinner, this is car camping ONLY)

Plop a scoop of eggs onto a warmed up tortilla, add more cheese and salsa and roll it up. The kids can walk around camp while eating them, saves on breakfast dishes, and they are pretty yummy.

Has anyone out there made pizza over a campfire?

I may try experimenting with this idea, I have until July to perfect it...

 

[chinooktrail]

What actually is IN SPAM?

 

[NewHampshire]

What actually is IN SPAM?

A lot of water.....the rest your probably better off not knowing .

Brian