(I apologize if this post shows up in your feed twice – I had some post scheduling issues, but we’re all set now. Do you subscribe to All That Is Good via email or an RSS feed like Google Reader? It’s a great way to make sure you don’t miss content from your favorite blogs. I highly recommend it for streamlining your online time. Want more tips for balancing social media and the addicting nature of the internet? Read my post on Passionate Homemaking this week!)
I made my own pancake mix for our camping trips this summer. I really enjoyed the convenience of only having to add milk and eggs in the morning. That being said, pancakes are not the easiest, quickest meal to serve on a camping trip, unless you’re serving adults who can all doctor and cut and eat their pancakes without assistance. ☺ Oh, and this recipe doesn’t lend itself to soaking, so I am planning to make it with sprouted wheat flour next time.
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| Pancakes over hot coals |
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| Happy Campers! |
Here’s a list of other camp food we have enjoyed this summer – from on the bus at Creation Fest, to roughing it at my friend Claire’s place when we went to help work on their house-in-progress. (The stove and water quit on the bus and I had to cook over an open fire – whoo-hoo! Brought back great memories of tipi days!)
Breakfasts
Oatmeal – what could be easier and more satisfying?
Egg-in-a-Hole – Break an egg into a hole cut out of a slice of bread frying in a little butter in a fry pan. Flip to toast on both sides. An quick, balanced breakfast.
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| Playing with Fire! ☺ |
Lunch
Chili – make ahead and freeze it – will help keep your cooler cold, and heats up without having to worry about scalding or scorching.
Sloppy Joes – make this and the rolls ahead of time, freeze both. Freezing the rolls will keep them from getting crushed on the trip!
PBJ’s – We don’t do these all the time – not easy on the digestion, and to carb heavy to provide a balanced meal. My friend Claire recommends spreading the bread with butter first, then peanutbutter, so you’re giving your body plenty of the fats that it needs to digest this tricky nut. The soaked sandwich bread in my book is ideal for a memorable Peanut Butter Sandwich.
Wraps – make tortillas and use them to wrap up thinly sliced veggies, leftover meat from dinner, a little cheese and homemade mayo – delish!
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| The guys grilling steaks |
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| Leftover steak and veggies stir fried for tortilla filling |
Dinner
Marinaded Meat!!! I’m all about marinading and freezing meat ahead of time. Steak, Chicken – you name it, it’s easy and delicious over an open fire. Choose cuts that have a shorter cooking time (like thin steaks or drumsticks) unless you really love broiling your face in front of hot coals for an hour. Serve with salt potatoes, grilled corn on the cob, sauteed seasonal veggies – anything you can boil or fry over those coals.
Hamburgers – season, shape and freeze ahead (do I sound like a broken record yet? Freeze ahead, freeze ahead!)
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| grilled corn on the cob – easier than boiling water! |
Dessert
Cobbler – I’m perfecting the art of fruit cobbler in a dutch oven. The secret is lots of butter and an even bed of coals. More insights in a future post. ☺ If you already have some experience cooking in a dutch oven, here’s the recipe I used.
Ice cream in a bag – actually works! Put heavy cream and some sweetener in a quart sized ziploc bag. Place it inside a gallon ziploc with several handfuls of ice and a tsp. or two of salt. Shake. Shake. Shake some more. Hand it to someone else. Shake. Shake. Play toss with it.Shake. Shake. Rub your hands vigorously together to restore warmth. Shake some more, then declare it done. Pour delicious, soft-serve ice cream into cups to enjoy. Be sure to wipe the salty water off the bag before pouring. Oh, so surprisingly delicious.
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| My friend Traci serving up homemade ice cream at Creation Fest |
Have you got any more camping trips planned this summer? We leave toward the end of this month for two weeks on the road in the bus (we’re going all the way to Dallas, TX – Yehaw!) I’d love if you shared your favorite camping or traveling foods as I plan my menu!
Some on-the-go & camping foods we like to eat…
Breakfast: bagels, homemade granola with milk or yogurt, rice cakes topped with some type of nut butter & raisins, hearty granola bars, fresh fruit & fruit leathers of all kinds
Lunch/Dinner: tomato sandwiches, veggie subs (the longer they sit, the soggier & yummier they become), taco salad, tortilla wraps (filled with veggies & a fantastic Thai peanut sauce), lemon artichoke salad (I could eat a trough of this!), burritos, stew, foil packets (your choice of meat and/or veggies, topped with condiments and/or seasonings, wrapped in foil & cooked in fireplace coals), hot dogs or sausages & baked beans, kebabs, fresh corn, kraut skillet (apples, onions, peppers, sauerkraut & sausage, cooked over an open fire or on the camp stove), fire pizza pies (made with individual fire pie irons)
Dessert: cookies, brownies, pudding, baked bananas (unpeeled bananas slit open; stuffed with chocolate chips, nuts, maple syrup or honey; wrapped in foil & baked in fireplace coals), baked apples (cored, but unpeeled; filled with maple syrup or honey, & cinnamon; wrapped in foil & baked in fireplace coals)
I always make my own pancake mix with whole wheat flour and add the eggs, oil, and water when I get out to the campsite. My husbands family is all into the food part of camping and tend to make elaborate recipes, so I usually just let them take care of that part of it when we go camping. 🙂 When it is just him and me I keep it simple with stuff like steaks, grilled veggies, and salad for main meals and eggs, fried potaoes, or pancakes for breakfast and snack foods inbetween.
(I shared this post with Rene on facebook–he will be green with envy when he sees your rectangular cast iron pan in use over a campfire!)
You can also do freezer cinnamon rolls. I've made them with wheat flour before and added all sorts of goodies to the filling. Don't remember my recipe, but google should turn something up for you. Just remember that when baking you need very few (very few) coals underneath. I got a nice 1/4in char on my last batch by not attending more carefully to that.
I've also done flapjacks before (this works great while backpacking). It's basically the same recipe as your bisquick except that I add powdered milk to the mix so that when I get up in the morning all I have to do is mix in a little water (biscuit consistency) and drop them onto a buttered pan. Some dehydrated blueberries (from Trader Joes) make these into a real treat.
For dessert you can also pull out some pie in a jar. We love, love these. I think you might have linked that concept a while back? If not you basically make your pies in little wide mouth half pint jars. Apple I'll freeze before cooking, but with other pies (like pumpkin) I'll cook them just barely done and then freeze. They heat up heavenly in a dutch oven and are even better for a little cream on top.
I have to say, though, that I wish I could eat they way y'all do while camping. We're usually driving/hiking/photographing until sunset at least and tend to eat lots of salads and sandwiches.