ISO "roughing it" camping tips.

[Angie]

We love to "primative" camp...no electricity, no gas grill (ours, RIP, is no longer with us.)

We are planning on a one day/night trip with our tents, dogs and two girls (ages 9 & 11)

So we will prbably just have cereal for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch with cottage cheese and raw fuits and veggies.

Any other suggestions???

 

[Andy M.]

No cooking at all??

I don't know where you are camping, but as a Boy Scout, we would gather firewood in the woods surrounding the camping area and use that to make a fire for cooking our meals.

 

[fliggie]

Some sort of home made bread--pumpkin, zucchini, etc? Maybe with some homemade jam?

I second the campfire and some weiners on a stick!

 

[KitchenSally]

Okay, seriously.....primitive camping means you MUST have a campfire.

That being said, so many things are easy to do on an open fire with a simple grate. Think hot dogs, bratwurst, corn on the cob. Marinated steaks that you packed frozen and are perfect to cook that night. Potatoes wrapped in foil and put straight on coals. Tin foil packets of peppers and mushrooms.

I really think there are a lot of options for you.

 

[AllenOK]

Forget the grill. Foil packet dinners, cooked straight in the coals.

Also, mosey on over to the Dutch Oven sub-board, and check out those recipes. There's some real pro's over there that know there stuff.

 

[Angie]

Sorry, I should have clarified a big YES to the fire. My husband is a camping pyro!!

I'll have to check around for some long tongs to grab the hot stuff from the fire. My sister makes hobo packets (burger, tators, veggies) and throws them in the fire. Last time she did this with me there, they went on the grill...

 

[Constance]

While you're cutting sticks for the hot dogs, cut some more for marshmallows, and make S'mores.

 

[fliggie]

The foil packets are great...you can put anything in them, just add lots of butter so the contents don't stick to the foil. I made them a few weeks ago with peppers, eggplant, mushrooms, some new potatoes...one of my favorite summer treats!

 

[m00nwater]

While you're cutting sticks for the hot dogs, cut some more for marshmallows, and make S'mores.

I know this reply is late, but I wanted to add some great info for making S'mores. I have found THIS is the best method for making s'mores:

You need: tinfoil, marshmallow stick, Caramilk bar (personal preference, but you can use plain old chocolate), graham crackers, marshmallows.

1. Place a piece of tinfoil, shiny side up, on the flattest rock surrounding the campfire (or improvise to get the tinfoil as flat as possible and a s close to the fire as possible.

2. Spread enough graham crackers on the tinfoil for each s'more bottom.

3. Place 1-2 squares of chocolate on each cracker.

4. Pull the coals from the fire as close to the tinfoil as reasonably possible to allow for maximum heat on the chocolate. Allow chocolate to melt

5. Meanwhile, roast your mashmallows so they are nice and gooey.

6. Place a marshmallows on the melted chocloate, and add your top graham cracker. YUM!

Oh, and it sort of wrecks the fire when you pull the coals out, but a seasoned camper will easily get it re-assembled and up and blazing again soon!

 

[Jeff G.]

Heck do a full grown meal. I do!!

take a roast (pork or beef) season it the way you like it. surround with potatoes, carrots, onions. Pour a little something over for moisture wrap tightly in heavy aluminum foil and toss on the coals. After an hour turn it over, let it cook.. When the carrots are tender, it's done.

My favorite is pork loin and use a jar of Packo's red pepper relish over everything in the packet.. Yummy...and you can throw away the pan(foil) when your done...

 

[BreezyCooking]

I have to say that while I ADORE tent camping, & give major kudos to those who enjoy or at least make do with just a campfire, that I still must give votes to at least a little one or two burner gas stove.

Nothing warms my heart more than being able to make a quick cup of instant coffee while planning a wonderful breakfast of eggs (with bacon, ham, or sausage) that are cooked over that same gas grill or over a newly started fire in a cast-iron pan.

And if, as so often happens, the weather turns, that little gas stove enables me to make a good hot meal for both lunch & dinner if we can't safely tarp the campfire. I consider them indispensable for camping - even if they're just used for emergencies. And they're so cheap as well.

Husband & I once did a 3-week camping trip with just our little 2-man tent, our little one-burner propane stove, & 2 coolers throughout upper NY state. We had a fabulous time, but it definitely wouldn't have been without that little stove - lol!!!

 

[GotGarlic]

A friend of mine likes to make penne with sausage, onions and peppers on camping trips. He packs pre-cooked pasta in a plastic bag in the cooler and brings a skillet to cook chopped sausage, onions and peppers. Then add the penne, pour on some olive oil, sprinkle with freshly ground Italian seasoning and salt to taste, and dig in

 

[daylo314]

This is my first post--but I had to get in on this subject. We(my boyfriend and I camp alot in the Winter in Florida)always take an Iron skillet and cook pretty much everything we eat during our trip in it. You can cook right over your campfire. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

 

[dilligaf2u2]

Aluminum foil!

I take the breakfast bars out with me. Lunch is usually hot bread for my PB&J.

Dinner. To save washing pots I take aluminum foil and line my pots. Saves clean up and precious water. Rice and pepperoni with a hand full of dehydrated mixed veggies. Roman with pepperoni and a hand full of veggies.

For a day outing, I take a frozen chicken breast, double wrapped, in foil. Put a sweat shirt around it to help keep it cold. By dinner time it is ready for the fire. I toss (cover) it in with coals. In no time at all you have hot chicken that is cooked in its own juices. Some chicken Roman noodles with a hand full of mixed veggies (Drain most of the water before adding the packet) with cheese (cut into very small pieces, added when you put the packet in) Mix well and it is time to eat!

Don

 

[Shani]

My kids love to make their own 'dessert' for after dinner on camping trips.
you make up a damper dough and divide it into portions (just sort of guess), you twine each portion around a stick and 'bake' it over the coals, when done you pull the bread off the stick and pour honey or syrup through the middle mmmmmmm

Here's a page on damper with both types of recipe, it's even got the damper on a stick idea on it: Australian Damper - info and recipe

 

[AMSeccia]

Around here I'm told it's salt pork on the open fire. Oh, and a coworker says they melt butter and imitation crab (flake style) with salt and pepper over the fire and serve with crusty bread. I am not much on the fake seafood, personally, but I think the open fire adds to the flavor (and it definitely has its place among those with shellfish allergies).

We boat (marina life), not camp, but I would be lost without my butane burner on rainy days where the grills would be no fun to man. We don't have the big yacht with a full cabin/kitchen area, so we use the burner and our micro/convection combo for everything and there's not much we haven't figured out how to do.

Planning is everything. I try make up salads and dips ahead of time and pack the cooler so we can grab and eat without too much prep. A favorite is my tweaked version of an old PC recipe called Chocolate Chip Cannoli Dip. Just take ricotta cheese, a bit of powdered sugar, cinnamon and vanilla to taste, and mini chocolate chips. Vanilla sugar is even better in it. Mix well and smooth out with a bit of whipped topping (not too much, it's not supposed to be overly sweet or fluffy). We dip all sorts of fresh fruits (apples, pears, bananas, berries, grapes) and even graham cracker sticks in it. It's high protein and *can be* low fat, so a nice healthy snack for the hoodlums!

 

[kitchenelf]

Take a grate and four stakes. Dig a fire pit and hang the grate over it. Bring a nice pork butt and slow roast it on the grate for a couple hours (height establishes temperature). A couple pans will allow for sides like maybe some fresh asparagus with garlic and butter.

Actually, she went camping about a year ago but that is a lovely hunk of meat!

 

[Katie H]

Buck and I used to tent camp all the time. Usually ate pretty well. One thing we did, when it came to clean-up, was to save our egg shells. We cooked using cast iron usually, so we used crushed egg shells to "scour" the cast iron pans or our other pans. Easily got rid of the goop and we ended up with pretty clean pan(s).

 

[Katie H]

Year ago? I see now. lol For clean-up we drag along a big pot and boil up some river water. Soap and a scrubbrush just like home.

Where we camped there was no river, just the water we brought along. Had to make do with what we had. We camped in VERY remote areas.

Years ago? About the late '70s thru the '80s.

 

[kitchenelf]

Years ago? About the late '70s thru the '80s.

I meant the original post was made in July of 07 - Angie, the original poster with the question, went camping a year ago