Camping (ish) food ideas

[cricketwife]

We are camping at a Jellystone Park in a few weeks.  We are soooooo not campers but we are doing this because it’s a step up from actual camping and because out boys will love it. I have no idea about what to bring for food.  We will have a small sink, 2 stove top burners, and a mini refrigerator.  There is actually not a fire pit where we are but thee is a charcoal grill.  We are going for two days. I know this should be easy but the camping thing has me thinking everything is hard.  What should I do for meals?

[macmars45]

Growing up we camped yearly in a tent trailer (with 2 burners, a sink and I think a small fridge) we did tacos, spaghetti, hot dogs, hamburgers and plenty of sandwiches. Fruits, veggies, cheese sticks. My mom pre-made the meat with taco seasoning before we left.

[nicolewi]

I posted this last year on a similar post. We don't camp, but DD brought this recipe for "campfire pizzas" home from Girl Scout camp and the kids loved it. It's tasty, fun for kids to make their own, and really easy. You take a big piece of foil and spray it with non-stick spray. Put a flour tortilla on it. Spoon some pizza sauce on half and spread it around. Add pre-cooked toppings (we just used pepperoni and some canned mushrooms, but you could get anything that's pre-cooked) & cheese. Fold it over. Wrap in foil. Write the name on it with a Sharpie if desired. Grill for...not sure how long, but it didn't take long at all. Just a few minutes, I think. Check one b/c they can burn quickly.

We have a cottage and we try to keep things super easy while we are there, so if you just want to go EASY, I'd recommend just doing burgers or hot dogs the other night. You can heat up baked beans if you want to mess with that, or just chips, fruit, and S'mores. Corn on the cob is great on the grill, too.

I don't have any fun breakfast ideas. I think you can do sausages on a stick wrapped in dough or something???

[loira]

I prep a ton of food for camping. Our favourite meals are veggie quesadillas (I make the filling beforehand), hot dogs if there's no fire ban, and spaghetti with a simple sauce. For breakfast, we do eggs and toast (we have a fun toaster for the propane stove, porridge, and pancakes (you can buy a mix or make your own). Other stuff I prep: veggie sticks, sliced fruit, sandwiches that can be easily assembled, and trail mix. Have fun!

[shauni27]

I despise camping, but when I was at summer camp and we would go camping tacos were always a hit. Pizza is easy too. Hotdogs and burgers are always easy.

For breakfast and lunch do simple--cereals, sandwiches, etc.

Don't forget stuff for s'mores!

[jeaniebueller]

My advice is to do simple meals, sandwiches for lunch, something easy like burgers or hot dogs for dinners. I sometimes make breakfast burritos in advance and freeze them, put them in the cooler and by the time we eat them, they are thawed and you just have to throw them on the grill to heat them. And like others said, prep everything ahead of time--from pattying burgers to cutting veggies. Another thing I make is veggie packs, Slice up red pepper, zucchini, squash or whatever veggie you want, wrap them in heavy duty foil with butter and spieces. Throw them on the grill to cook, voila.

[humpforfree]

I often bring a box of velveeta shells to have with hot dogs/burgers- just need to boil water for the pasta & don’t need to pack or pre extra ingredients.

[hamster]

What kind of meals do you eat at home? We generally eat the same thing while camping.

That said,
- try and combine ingredients. So, if you want breakfast tacos, plan on regular tacos too.
- prep ahead of time. We will make sauces, cut veggies, etc. at home and pack those to reduce camping cooking time.
- keep it simple. Pasta is always easy, or any kind of bbqd meat and simple side.

As another note, we always have terrible cooking equipment in cabin rentals. Pans are often warped, and there are basically no cooking utensils.

[mbcdefg]

pandce.proboards.com/thread/596860/camping-kids

I'd make sure to pack some food that doesn't need to be cooked or refrigerated, like PB&J or tuna. Sometimes it rains or the cooking equipment doesn't work or the food gets burned, so it's nice to have a backup. When we camped it was always in parks with a town nearby, so when all else failed we'd find a diner and eat there. 

[CrazyLucky]

Tacos are easy. I always try to do as much advance prep at home as I can. Cook the ground beef, cut up the tomatoes, etc.
We like to do foil packs. Lay out heavy duty foil, about 18" or so long. One for each person. You can make these up in advance too. We put in different things. Chicken, peppers, mushrooms, squash, sweet potatoes or regular potatoes, and then some kind of sauce, usually italian dressing. Seal them up good. If you make them in advance, place them in a ziplock or something just in case they leak. We cook them in the fire, but a charcoal grill will work just as well.
When we go camping, we always bring pie cookers. They are a huge hit with people who are not into camping. We usually use them for fruit pies and pizza, but you can make tons of stuff. One time we made barbecue chicken cheese sandwiches, which were DS's favorite. If you do that, be sure to bring some kind of margarine to spread on the bread. Otherwise, you will never get it out!
www.homedepot.com/p/Camp-Chef-Dual-Square-Cooking-Iron-DSPI/203576254?cm_mmc=Shopping%7CG%7CBase%7CD28I%7C28-22_BBQ+GRILL%7CNA%7CPLA%7CGeneral%7CFixed%7c71700000041074675%7c58700004918395918%7c92700042616596774&gclid=Cj0KCQjwt_nmBRD0ARIsAJYs6o156z_9yKVne59dHylIE4KcZBzHGivG5OUHX8q5w7t-RCOZDF7KdzQaAj5_EALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

[bbdoll]

Keep it simple. We have a large electric griddle. I make bacon/sausage and pre-formed hash brown patties on it. When those are done cooking, I wipe the grease off (somewhat) and then scramble some eggs. Not hard at all. Lunch is almost always lunch meat sandwiches and chips. Supper is usually something like hot dogs and boxed mac & cheese. I also make a smoked sausage/hashbrown skillet that only requires one pan. I bring some rolls along to have with it. And, plenty of snacks. The kids always seem to be hungry!

[gastro]

I try and prep a lot...

Cut up veggies and skewer them.
Cut up chicken, beef or sausage cubes and skewer them and put in marinade bags.
Foil packets are great - prep at home: thinly sliced potatoes with butter and shredded cheese, salmon and veggies, just veggies
Bring soup cups and oatmeal cups where you just need hot water.

For breakfast : shake and pour pancakes, sometimes I will skewer bacon and grill, or cut up cubes of bread and skewer - pack separately egg, milk, cinnamon and toss in a large ziplock. Put skewers of bread in ziploc just before throwing the French toast bites on low grill.

Hot dogs/ sausages on a stick/skewer

S’mores! Don’t forget the s’mores!

Edit: we also do banana boats for dessert - slice open a banana leaving the peel on. Fill in chocolate chips or a little bit of butter with cinnamon sugar, wrap in foil and grill.

Tip: use the very heavy duty foil and bring lots of metal skewers.

[mbcdefg]

May 17, 2019 11:22:36 GMT -5 gastro said:

I try and prep a lot...

I was going to suggest this as well (and it's in the thread I linked to), but maybe OP will have a better experience being in a cabin (I guess there's a cabin, anyway)? Food prep is definitely a huge PITA when you're in a tent with just a fire and grill, but a sink and fridge sound a lot easier. 

We took raw whole potatoes the first time we went camping and it took FOR.EV.ER for them to cook on the fire, and even then they weren't quite done. After that experience we did all the cleaning, chopping and even par-boiling at home to speed things up the next times we went camping.

[campermom]

Will you have electric? Are you in a camper, tent or cabin?

We have a travel trailer and do a lot in the crockpot. With liners for easy cleanup. I like crockpot lasagna and garlic bread, bagged salad.

Or we make up spaghetti meat sauce ahead of time.

Foil packets are good too. Hamburger meat, slice of onion, sliced potato and carrots with some garlic salt.

We had a recipe with chicken, bacon, stuffing mix, broccoli and ranch that was good too for the foil packet.

There’s an amazing foil packet recipe with chicken, kielbasa, shrimp, chicken broth, red potatoes and Cajun seasoning. The chicken can be done ahead of time.

Lunches are easy: sandwiches and chips and fruit.

Breakfast we always have one morning of sandwiches but often do cereal to make it easy.

For us the most special moments are dessert. Of course s’mores, but variations with PB cups or even cookies. Another is ice cream cones, mini marshmallows, berries and mini PB cups, wrapped up in foil. You could cook them over the grill.

We bough pudgy pie irons and there’s a ton of recipes for them too.