Campfire Foil Packs – Camping Cooking Recipes – One Dish

Here are some great foil recipes for camping that anyone can make. All you need is some aluminum foil, the time to prepare the foil pack, and a campfire or grill, whatever you prefer to use. Most of the camping foil recipes can be made ahead of time so that all you have to do is build your fire and wait for the coals to get hot enough to cook with before placing your foil packet dinner carefully in them.

Most of the foil recipes for camping have different cooking times depending on the ingredients you put inside them. Be sure to check each one before heading out on your camping trip so there is no guessing when it comes to done-ness. Nobody wants to eat undercooked foods.

Main Course Foil Recipes for Camping

Jo-Jo’s – Hobo’s – or whatever you want to call them, it’s a meal fit for even the hungriest of campers.  Each foil packets gets a half pound of hamburger so there is no fear of someone being left hungry after this campfire meal.

1/2 pound of hamburger- per serving

sliced onions -to suit your likings

1 potato

seasonings of your choice – ex. salt, pepper, Mrs. Dash, all-purpose meat seasoning

Flatten each half pound of hamburger into a patty on the piece of foil you plan to cook it in.

Add the onion slices.

Season with whatever spices you personally like.  I use an all purpose meat seasoning and pepper, always pepper.  Some people keep it simple with just salt and pepper.

Slice your potato right on top of the hamburger and onions.

Now you can just wrap it up, making sure it is sealed tightly and that you have left some room for steam to develop inside the foil pack so the potatoes will get thoroughly cooked.  You can wrap a second piece of foil around it to be on the safe side if you have aluminum foil to spare.

Add the foil pack to your hot campfire coals and don’t even think about it again for at least 30 minutes. Or just sit it on the grate of your gas grill, if using a charcoal grill, put it right on the hot coals just as you would in a campfire. You will probably be able to smell it’s wonderful aromas coming from the smoke of the campfire when it’s time to test it for being done.  A good judge is if the potatoes are done.  If they can have a fork pushed them fairly easy, go ahead and cut open the meat and take a peek to see if it is done.  Some people prefer their meat a little less done than others.  Just ask around the campfire to see who would like their campfire foil packet left to cook for a few more minutes.

If you want to add more ingredients to this campfire foil pack you can.  It just depends on your individual tastes.  This recipe should just serve as a cooking guide to getting started with a good basic foil recipe for camping.

Ideas to add -  bacon…mmmm carrots or any kind of vegetables you like, peppers, mushrooms, Worcestershire sauce, A1, BBQ sauce – You can also make this with a variation of turkey burger if you need to but I would recommend adding a spoon of butter or bacon grease to add flavor and keep it moist while cooking on the open fire.

You can really make this recipe your own by what you decide to add to it.  As long as you have the mainstays of hamburger onion and potato, you have a meal good enough to serve to anyone even if that’s all you put in it.

This next foil recipe for camping might be a little trickier to prepare ahead of time because it gets a can of soup added to it.  That may make it hard to travel with.  It’s a foil recipe that is well worth trying as it is oh-so-good when outside camping, especially if you have already had several of the normal camping meals people tend to prepare.

Campfire Chicken Casserole each recipe is for one person so plan accordingly as to how many people are camping with you.

1 boneless chicken breast

1/2 can cream of chicken soup

1/4 cup instant rice

1/2 cup fresh or frozen broccoli

shredded cheddar cheese to taste- some like a pinch some like a handful

seasonings as you please

Pounding the chicken breast flat will help it to cook faster and more evenly.

Mix the soup, rice, cheese and broccoli together and place the flattened and seasoned chicken breast into the mixture inside of the foil pack you are going to cook it in.  You can leave a little room in your foil pack for steam to build up in so that all the flavors of this recipe blend together nicely.

Add the foil packet to the coals of your campfire or your charcoal grill and sit back for at least 25 minutes before testing the chicken for being well cooked. If you didn’t pound it out flat it will always take longer to cook than the 25 minutes mentioned here.

So if you are tired of the old boring stand by camping meals, try one of these main dish foil recipes for camping and you are sure to be pleased.  You might even find yourself wanting to make these dishes at home in your oven.

November 10th, 2011 | Tags: , , , | Category: Camping Cooking Recipes, Foil Recipes for Camping | Comments are closed

Camping Recipes | Camping Cooking

I found this article about camping cooking by Charlene Davis. It looks like she knows her stuff so I thought I would share this with you. Her website is linked at the bottom so check out her site to find more great recipes.

Get out your camp cooking equipment and get ready to make some of the best meals you have ever had! (Camping or Not). Use this as an all around camping cooking guide for the next time you are out camping and want a great meal.

Recipes for Campfire Cooking by Charlene Davis

Our family loves camping, and I mean in the traditional way with tents, sleeping bags, and sans electricity. No sissy RV trailers for us! This is a real shocker for anyone who knows me because I’ve always joked that my idea of roughing it is the Holiday Inn with no TV. Last year my husband and son invited me to go with them on their annual Halloween Cub Scout campout (they needed a cook) and I decided to take them up on it. Everyone – and I mean everyone – couldn’t wait to see how I did roughing it in the great outdoors. Well, I had a blast and the guys said they had a lot of fun with me there; thus, a new wilderness mom has been born.

Naturally I embraced my new passion with enthusiasm and have been collecting a number of camping recipes and tips. Since this is time of year when families are making vacation plans and some of our subscribers will be going camping, I wanted to share some of my newly gleaned information with you.

Pita Bread Pizza

1 package (6) Pita rounds

1 14 oz. jar prepared pizza sauce

1 8 oz. package shredded mozzarella cheese

Any other toppings you like

Place pita bread on hot grill and toast to desired doneness. Turn over, add pizza sauce, cheese and any other toppings you desire. Grill till cheese melts.

Source: Camping Recipes.com

Campfire Stew

1 pound hamburger

1 medium onion [optional]

2 cans mixed vegetables [don't drain]

1 bottle ketchup

In Dutch oven, brown hamburger with onions and then drain the fat. Return to fire/burner and add the remaining ingredients. Also, rinse your ketchup bottle with about 1/2 cup water and add. Let simmer for at least 30 minutes; but it is best to simmer for about an hour. If stew starts to become dry, just add a little water or more ketchup diluted with a little water for you ketchup lovers! Serve hot with warm bread or crackers. For added flavor, pour into your serving a little ketchup, steak sauce, Worcestershire, etc.

Source: Camping.About.Com

Cast Iron German Potato Salad

4 slices bacon

1 medium red onion, diced

1 pound red potatoes, precooked and cut in half

3 tbsp. white vinegar

Salt and pepper, to taste

Fry the slices of bacon in a cast iron skillet. When done, remove bacon with a slotted spoon and add onion to bacon drippings, cooking and stirring until onion is clear. Add potatoes and sear for 1 minute, cut side down, until brown and crisp. Remove from heat and pour the contents into a large mixing bowl, setting the skillet aside. Crumble the bacon and add to potatoes, along with the vinegar, salt and pepper, mixing thoroughly. Chill and serve.

Foil Pocket Dinner

A friend of mine told me about this type of campfire/grill foil cooking which I thought was really cool. In addition the following simple recipe, I found hundreds more at ChuckwagonDiner.com:

Hamburger or Chicken

Potatoes, sliced

Carrots, sliced

Worcestershire Sauce

Foil Bag

Hamburger shaped into a patty or piece of chicken, sliced potatoes, and carrots. Place in a foil bag and add Worcestershire sauce. Cook on coals or grill until tender. Serve with green salad and/or fresh fruit.

Ziplock Omelets

One serving:

2 eggs

1 ziploc bag

Extra ingredients: cheese, mushrooms, ham, onion, green peppers, tomatoes, etc.

First have each individual write their name on a quart-size ziploc freezer bag. Crack 2 eggs into the bag (not more than 2) and shake to combine them. Add whatever extra ingredients that person wants in their omelet and mix contents together well. Be sure to squeeze extra air out of the Ziploc bag. Place the bags into rolling, boiling water for exactly 13 minutes. You can cook 6-8 omelets in a large pot. Open the bags and the omelet will roll out easily. Be prepared for everyone to be amazed! Also makes a great conversation piece:)

For more great recipes and cooking articles for today’s busy women, visit the Busy Moms Recipes blog.

About the Author

Charlene Davis is an internationally published writer specializing in business, e-commerce, spirituality, parenting, and food. For more great recipes and cooking articles for today’s busy women, visit her blog at Busy Moms Recipes.

October 31st, 2011 | Tags: , , , | Category: Camping Cooking Recipes | Leave a comment

Camp Cooking Favorites

Sometimes you don’t have the convenience of the Butterfield General Store while camping, so here are some quick and easy suggestions for a weekend menu.

Camp Cooking Tips
Before we launch into our menu suggestions, lets talk a little bit about your cooking options. There is a vast range of cooking possibilities available to you, depending on how you are camping and what you bring with you. In an RV, you’ll often have a refrigerator, stove and microwave. If you’re tent camping, you may have a propane stove, or just a campfire pit, and a cooler. So, depending on what you are bringing with you, you will need to plan your meals accordingly. Have you ever tried to cook pancakes over a campfire? I guarantee you, it’s not a rewarding experience.

So for this article, we are going to stick with the least of these circumstances, a fire pit and a cooler. Even with a cooler, you have to worry about foods that spoil easily, so no milk and no raw meat (unless you plan on eating them right away).

Preparing for Campfire Cooking
When you are cooking all your foods over an open flame a few items will help you a lot in the process. First of all, you will need to have a grate to place over the fire to cook food on. A lot of camp grounds will have them built into their fire pits, but not all of them, so check before you go. If they don’t have one, you can purchase one made specifically for fire pits for about $30 (or you can bring the rack out of your oven and four old coffee cans to hold it up). You’ll also need to make sure you bring grilling tools (long handled ones — that fire gets hot!), a ladle, pot holders, matches, a large pot for boiling water, a heavy skillet, heavy duty aluminum foil and cooking spray.

If you have some time for prep work, try cooking some of your meats in advance and freezing them, allowing them to keep longer (and help keep other food cold). Also, fill empty milk cartons with water and freeze them as a great substitute for purchasing ice on the road (it also helps prevent the mess from melting water).

Breakfast
As I said, unless you have a stove, pancakes are absolutely out. If you’re going for a fast meal, instant oatmeal is great because all you’ve got to do is get that water boiling and you can use it for your instant coffee too (and hot cocoa for the kids). Whenever you are boiling water for a meal, make sure that the pot of water is the first thing you put on the fire as it will take a little while to boil. After it’s boiling, you can just move it to the side, and use a ladle to pull out the water as you need it. As long as you keep it near the fire, it will stay warm. In fact, use the same pot of water for the hole weekend, just keep it in the fire pit and reheat it when it gets close to meal time.

If you have a little more time for breakfast, eggs are a great because they will cook pretty fast in a skillet over the flame, or you can make a zip-lock omelet. Just place whipped eggs, shredded cheese, precooked bacon or sausage, and chopped veggies into a plastic baggy, drop it in boiling water for 5-10 minutes and serve right out of the bag (remember to leave some room in the bag for the food to expand). It is quick and easy, and you don’t have a lot of dishes to clean up (just make sure you use a separate pot from the water you’re using in your cooking).

If you’re up for the leisured meal, you can bake coffee cake or biscuits in a cast-iron dutch oven by placing it right in the fire (really, bury it underneath the wood or coals). Make sure to spray the pan with cooking spray first so it doesn’t stick too much, and I like to put a layer of foil in between the lid and the pan so you don’t get ashes in the food. Dutch ovens are great for desserts as well, cakes and tarts cook up great.

If you just want something fast, then cereal, granola, or protein bars can make for a quick and simple breakfast. This is not the heartiest of meals though, so make sure to bring something else with you too.

Lunch
I don’t always want to cook my lunches, since I’m usually busy midday with other activities. Tuna fish is great for this (make sure you have a can opener), and you can get ketchup, mustard, mayo & relish packets that will stay for an extended period. Add a few slices of bread and you have a quick sandwich. You can also use the bread for other sandwiches, but just remember than sliced deli meat won’t stay good for long. Fruits and veggies will usually keep for at least a few days and make a great addition to lunch. Bring a tomato, lettuce, and a few pork rinds and you can have a makeshift BLT.

For a hot meal, soups are great because you can just heat them up right in the can (make sure to open the top to vent steam). Cups of dried noodles, and noodle packets are also good for this. Hot dogs and hamburgers are a great favorite for camping because they are easy to cook right on the grate and you can freeze them to last longer. You can also cook your hot dogs using a long fork or campfire skewer right in the open flame. You can always make a makeshift skewer out of a stick fallen from a nearby tree, just cover the end in tin foil. This can double as a marshmallow stick for s’mores later on.

Dinner
Perhaps one of my favorite campfire meals is foil or “hobo” dinners. Make packets out of tin foil and spray the inside with cooking spray. Inside place your favorite precooked meats, chopped veggies, shredded cheese and sauces (I like cream of mushroom soup), then fold it up tight. Throw it directly in the fire for 5-10 minutes till everything’s heated up and the veggies are lightly steamed. It’s just like making stir-fry, but with about half the work. If you’d like rice to go with, get instant rice and use chicken broth instead of water for extra flavor.

Tacos or burritos are another quick and great campfire meal. Precooked and seasoned ground beef can be heated up quickly in a skillet. Refried beans can be heated up right over the fire and still in the can (just make sure to cut the top off and stir carefully from time to time). Then just add your taco shells or tortillas, lettuce, tomatoes and cheese.

If you are planning a long camping trip camping stores sell ‘astronaut food’ that is sealed and meant to last for a long time. Most of these freeze-dried meals just need hot water added to them – sometimes they also need flavor added, so be sure to bring a few extra seasonings (Hot sauce, anyone?).

Planning Meals
Remember to pack enough food for everyone to get you through the trip. If you are heading out on Friday evening and coming back Sunday night, you’ll need two dinners (Friday and Saturday), Two Breakfasts (Saturday and Sunday), and two or three lunches (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday).
Here are a few more tips to remember:
Pack extra snacks (one to two per day) if three meals in a day won’t be enough.
It is always better to bring more food than you need than to bring too little.
Plan the meals at the beginning of the trip to include the foods that will spoil faster. And the meals at the end of the trip to be foods that don’t spoil or are frozen.

Happy camping!

About the Author

 

Butterfield Ranch Resort is an RV Campground in Anza Borrego Desert, CA.
San Diego Camping
San Diego Places to Hike
San Diego RV Parks Reservations

October 25th, 2011 | Category: Camping Cooking Tips | Leave a comment
 
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