We like home made beef stew for the first-night arrival's heat n' eat simplicity. Other meals are generally marinated and frozen ahead of time and then simply fried, sauteed or grilled. I am fortunate to be married to a gourmet cook, but what we take camping is much more simplified than what we eat at home. All our entres and salads are from scratch with select meats and fresh cheeses. The entrees are better than anything I have ever had in restaurants, and since everything tastes good outdoors, it is heaven. Here is the menu from our upcoming Yosemite trip. Currently we are marinating 7 lbs. of beef jerky to start drying on Tuesday night.

Dinner Menu
1. Korean BBQ Beef with jasmine rice and garden salad, dressing

2. Chinese BBQ Chicken with macaroni & cheese and spinach

3. Rubbed Rib eye Steak with mashed potatoes and cob corn

4. Thai Shrimp Kebabs with potato salad and macaroni salad

5. All-American Sirloin Burgers, fully dressed on sesame seed buns with French fries

6. Vietnamese BBQ Pork Chops with jasmine rice and garden salad

7. ¼ pound Polish Sausage with sauerkraut, potato salad and macaroni salad

8. Spicy Hot Wings with broccoli & celery

Breakfast List Breads
2 dozen eggs bacon 2 loafs wheat bread
pancake mix sausage 1 pkg. seeded H-dog buns
cereal 1 pkg. seeded H-burger buns
1 pkg.croissant rolls
Beverages
milk juice water Fruit
soda beer tequila watermelon
oranges
Super Sides apples
instant mashed potatoes
5 lbs. potato salad Misc.
5 lbs. macaroni salad margarine
3 days of rice / 7 people olive oil
3 lbs. garden salad burger sauce
14 cobs corn hot sauce
mayonnaise
lunchmeat
head lettuce
tomatoes

Snacks
Pistaschios,beef jerky
Chips & salsa, cookies
Yogurt,Candy (chocolate)

WOW!! Where do I sign up for the trip???

Mike /////\/\\/\/////

My favorite meal is Breakfast. I usually make breakfast burritos. I cook the sausages and peppers adding a little taco seasoning in before we go and freeze them in a ziploc container, I take grated cheese and milk and eggs. In the morning all I have to do is reheat the sausages and cook the eggs. I really like these because they are hot, I only have to use one pan and they are so filling. After the mixture is cooked fill the soft tortilla shell with the filling, add sour cream, salsa, and enjoy. This is our favorite breakfast meal.

Something else we really enjoy is corn on the cob, marinated steak, grilled cheese for the kids, and regular tacos in the evening. No one ever said you could only make hamburger and hotdogs when your camping.

Have to get the hubby to answer that one. He's the camp cook and an awesome one at that. He too is a chef by trade so we eat pretty good.
Where in PA are you Lisa?
Gettysburg/Hanover area here.

Wow muffinbaker. So you're both chefs? Makes the working hours pretty compatible, doesn't it?

Muffinbaker-I'm about 40 min. NW of Phila.

You are lucky to have the hubby cook for you! :)

Lisa

During the seasonal use of my little popup camper, I keep some "rations" aboard so that in case a notion comes over me to take off to some favorite fishing hole, a few meals can be prepared without having to stop off and buy "something". Now if I'm going for a short stay, like a long weekend, will take some already prepared dishes along with bread, milk, eggs, some fresh vegies, ect. - plus the stored on board food stuffs can be used if necessary. Try to keep this stored on board food items to a minimum and I'm constantly searching for items (and recipes) that take up little space and weight.

A food item I came across this camping season is the fully cooked ground beef that comes in a foil pouch, and of course, requires no refrigeration until after it is opened. The brand name is "Jack Link's". To my surprise this ground beef is pretty tasty and a lot of dishes can be made, from spaghetti to chili, and my favorite quick meal with ground beef for the weary, tired fisherman - shepard's pie. I think the shelf life for this product is something like two years.

Dale

Dale, Where do you find the precooked ground beef? I have not noticed it in the grocery stores. Sounds good and I am sure it is very versatile too. It would be great to take backpacking.

Also, how do you prepare your shepard's pie? Thanks in advance.

Jo

I have spotted the pre-cooked ground beef at Wal-Mart. It even comes in different flavors!!!

Our favorite meal is simple. I mix ground beef with onion soup mix, bread crumbs, eggs, and some steak sauce. Form into patties, freeze. At the campsite, slice potatoes, onions and green peppers into the bottom of a large piece of foil, sprayed with non-stick cooking spray or coated with a little canola or olive oil. Place patty on top, seal tightly, place on hot coals. Cook. We eat right out of the foil "plate" so there is no mess. We have also placed them on a grill, it just takes a little longer.

Enjoy!

Jo ~ that's where I get mine, at our local Wal-Mart Super Store. It's where they have the canned meats. At lot of tuna is going this foil pouch route as well as breast of chicken. All this pouch stuff stores real well in the camper. The ground beef comes in regular flavor, Italian (great for spaghetti) and Mexican (great for tacos) - I prefer the regular as you can spice it to do the spaghette & tacos anyway, plus it contains a little less sodium.

Shepard's Pie was my favorite hot meal in the field when I was in the military. Being a grunt, "c-rations" were a way of life and after awhile you were up to here with "C-Rats" and a regular hot meal was heaven on this earth. But when you ate hot meals in the field you ate out of your "mess kit", which meant that whatever you were being served it was just piled, one on top of the other, in that mess kit. This dish, "shepard's pie", lends itself well to being all mixed together, even in a fish camp. Essenially here are the ingredients:

1 lb fresh ground beef - throughly cooked (or one pack of this foil pouched ground beef). Add a couple cloves of garlic, using a garlic press to the meat (important).

Mashed potatoes - either fresh or instant, enough for a serving of four.

(2) 15oz cans of LESUEUR early peas. When serving, make sure they are drained (and heated, of course).

(2) 12oz cans of beef gravy (or equal amount of packaged or homemade), and, again, heated.

Here's how it's served ...

Onto a tin camp dish (or mess kit if you still have one), plop a scoop of mashed potatoes, then right in the middle of the potatoes spoon in a helping of ground beef; next, an equal amount of peas and then ladle a good portion of gravy over the whole mess ... good eating for some hungry campers, fisherman or grunts!

Dale

Jo and Dale where have you been???

My favorite things to make are more along the lines of desserts. We do apple crisp, strawberry shortcake, cinnamon rolls, and things like that with a dutch oven. There is nothing like a good homemade dessert still warm from the fire when you are camping!

That pre-cooked beef sounds like a good idea-what section in Walmart did you find it-camping or otherwise? It sounds like just the thing when you are away from coolers-it certainly sounds better than freeze-dried foods!

Lisa

Lisa, Dale said that it is where the canned meats are located. I'm going to get some of it for sure.

Hamburger Helper has come out with a new soft taco bake. You just add browned hamburger and layer it and bake. The hamburger pouch will be so much easier to make it in camp. Just slam it together and bake! Kraft used to make the soft taco bake but I can't find it any longer. It was delicious and I would put a dollop of sour cream on top.

I'm sure this dish could be made in a dutch oven and it does not take very long to cook.

Jen, I've been right here checking in on for the forum every time I'm on line, but there just hasn't been much activity here lately. A couple of more months and you'll be in Maine, huh?

Dale, thanks for the shepard's pie recipe. Sounds good and I will try it.

Jo

I'll try your recipes too! Thanks

you all ought to spice up your fare with wild edibles...They are really quite good.They do not require transportation(except from the ground to your camp kitchen)...Some of them quite resemble things we are used to like asparagus..I have read your gourmet recipes in posts that preceeded mine..think you need more 'healthful fare'!!' grin ?..Atkins would not mind the addition of some cattail spikes to your meal,or a few cooked greens,now would he?or some wild strawberries,or blueberries.
cheers!
alice
(wild food advocate)

We've been precooking alot of stuff this year and it has woked out well. I will grill a bunch of chicken breasts and steaks at home and then use them in salads and wraps when we get to camp. I also reheat them to use in other recipes like fajitas and tacos. We shoot for easy and quick since we have little kids to supervise at the same time. Pasta and rice salads work well too. I will make a basic pasta salad at home (whole wheat penne, lowfat italian dressing, peppers, olives) and add tuna, chicken or steak to it for meals at camp. Same with rice salad (brown rice, sesame oil, rice vinegar, dried cranberries) and it is great cold.

Brandy

an oldie but goodie of ours is still the basic hotdog over a fire put into a warm bicuit cooked over the fire. It is a variation from the hotdog bun and taste so much better.
We also make some pepper steak with onions and peppers over rice. SOme fresh italian bread, a bag of salad.
THe kids always loved cooking things in their pie irons, there are so many things to experiment with.
Lynda

These all sound so yummy! My kids liked the basic stick over fire stuff. So we had to get creative with that. Found bacon was fun, dripping grease on flames was fun, and then we had bacon for our salads, and biscuts wrapped around a stick slow roasted over the fire had to be watched really carefully then dipped in honey or butter and cinnamon and sugar. It helped if I had a bottle of really good wine and a good pre-made green salad for myself when they where busy 'cooking' their food 'stuff'. They got older they tried stuff like hanging a steak on a stick ...good way to ruin a good steak. I always kept things like hot dogs and good suasages just in case their stick stuff does not work out. We have planked out some salmon once it was very good. I was very happy to see that on the end of the fishing line!!!!

An easy one is bean and cheese quesadillas, just spread refried beans and shredded cheddar on a tortilla, fold it over and heat on the grill. Another favorite this time was stew - I'd planned for beef cubes with onion and carrots, but then added in a can of tomatoes, can of black beans, can of baked beans and leftover sausage and pork chops. Extra baked potatoes from the night before made great hash browns when sauteed with onion the next morning and topped with shredded cheese.

weber little smokie grill cooks anyting you want and at a small cost. better than those coleman cookers anyday and much cheaper to use and own. use you own imagination as to how to cook and what to cook, but can't beat it for versatility.

How about some good old fashioned stew, you can make it in advance at home and just warm it up if you want. Or some chili, always a hit with my family. Pour over some rice and enjoy. I guess with fall coming it has me thinking this way.
Lynda

We like eggs and bacon for breakfast with bagels or toast.

Lunch and Dinner is normally a one pot meal - either rice with veggies and meat or beefaroni with veggies. Also sometimes do hotdogs or hamburgers. Also roasted potatoes in foil dome on campfire. Also soak corn in the husks in a bucket of water for 15 and then cook in husks on campfire YUM.

I like a breakfast dish a resturant here does called loaded potatos. It's diced potatos (can add onions and/or peppers if you like them), fried or baked in foil, then add ham and chopped tomatos and top with cheese. Let warm until cheese is melted. I've also just put everything in a double or triple layer of heavy duty coals and stuck it in the coals until the potatos were done. Good for breakfast or dinner. Can be made with raw or left over potatoes. There's also a veggie version that adds onions and peppers and skips the ham.

Some excellent ideas posted here. Hubby and I have been accustomed to primitive camping, so it takes some adjustment to convert meals to popup camping with electricity and all that. We have 2 young kids of the microwave generation, and we want to make sure they appreciate camp cookery in its primitive glory - so no microwaves in our popup. Most of our food still gets cooked on the fire.

The main difference is what you can bring with you. Hubby and I used to camp miles from the car, and had to backpack everything in and out. Lordy, we can bring anything in the popup. Not much of a challenge, really. We can cook just about anything there we can cook at home, with the exception maybe of a pizza or baked goods. Pre-cooking at home and sealing in ziplock bags makes it a snap. Our favorite camp meal is tacos. Heck, that's our favorite home meal. ;-)

I'll never forget, though, our last primitive trip. Hubby is a trained chef too, though he doesn't work as one now. In the middle of Red River Gorge State Park, at the bottom of a huge cliff, we dined on hot wings, spanish rice, and quesadillas with sauteed onions, peppers, and portabello mushrooms.

pkock, I do the same all summer-- cook mostly on the fire and no microwave. I do give in to some modern appliances and have a small coffeemaker.

I do bake on the fire in the dutch oven. We've lugged it out to our wilderness site (accessible by boat only) and baked a cake out there! What an amazing treat! It tastes so incredibly good in that surrounding! You would probably enjoy that kind of cooking-- or hubby would! You can do those pizzas, cakes, casseroles, anything baked basically! Nothing like homemade baked macaroni and cheese when camping!

Jen,

I cook in dutch ovens too...belong to the So. Calif. D.O. Society. You can cook just about anything in these great pots. Stews, soups, and chili are especially easy and good. I haven't tried bread yet but I plan to soon.

coronabarb

Anybody try "eggs in a bag"? Our girl scout troop used to love this and it works so well we use it at home. Boil water in your largest pot(s). For each person you need a quart size freezer ziploc bag (must be freezer type). In each bag you put a teaspoon of butter, 2 eggs, and any omelet ingredients you have precooked and brought with you (peppers, onions, sausage, etc.).
Carefully drop the bags upright into the boiling water, do not overcrowd them and be sure the tops of the bags don't hang over the rim of the pot.
Every couple of minutes use tongs to squeeze the bag contents which moves the uncooked egg to the surface. Eggs are done when no more egg 'squirts' when you squeeze the bag (about 5 minutes in a large pot with 5-6 bags).
To serve, you simply 'slide' the eggs out of the bag onto your plate and sprinkle with grated cheese.
Tastes great, no pan to clean, and you already have your hot water for washing the plates!

Hi, my husband & I may be doing a side trip to Yosemite Park, CA, this summer while visitng for a Wedding,in San Jose. My husband suggested we do a couple of nights of camping while there. 'Problem is, we'll be living out of suitcases. I haven't been camping in sometime, but sure did enjoy food that was cooked outdoors, especially breakfast! Any suggestions? (besides eating at the lodge on site!!!) Thanks!

I love doing the one pot meals

Rice and meat and veggies

pasta and tuna and veggies

another must have is corn on the campfire - soak the corn in husks for 15min in a bucket of water and then put on fire the husks burn the the corn inside is yummy plain or with butter

Eggs and bacon and toast is a msut for breakie

My favorite dinner camping is salmon, baked potato, and a veggie all cooked on the fire wrapped in foil. It's soooo delish and no dishes to wash! I love one-pot meals too. pasta and sauce, burritos, rice and beans. I eat better camping than I do at home :)

if you will boil or bake some potatoes, chill, slice and ziplock it- great for hash browns, fritattas, etc.
grill up some chicken breasts and pork chops on your grill at home or your george foreman, freeze and ziplock- the possibilities are endless. make sandwiches on toasted hoagie rolls, shred for wraps, add to eggs and cheese for omelets.
another thing that is easy and great- cook a roast beef or pork butt, shred, freeze and take along. add some of the roast beef and some provolone cheese on a buttered hoagie roll, grill or heat ( can even press like a cuban sandwich) and serve.
i still love the hot dogs, marshmallows and smores over a campfire, tho

Well, unfortunately, I'm no Becky-Home-Ecky, so I get excited about Nathan's hotdogs when camping! I am kind of fussy about the fat content of my diet, but when I camp, I don't care. Nathan's hotdogs are a nostalgic piece of heaven for me, reminding me of my growing up years in New York City (think Coney Island, which put Nathan's on the map out there!). Plus, they truly are the best tasting hotdogs I have ever eaten.

I did a dance in the aisle of the grocery store here in Cleveland when I saw those hotdogs!!!

mozy

There are few of life's pleasures that surpass a dutch oven full of my wife's Chicken & Dumplins' simmered for the better part of the day, on the woodstove, when were campin'. Don't ask me how she does it, I'm not sure she knows, shes not much on recipes. I do know there is a basic concept but it varies with available vegetables. Best consumed on a chilly evening.

I bought hubby 2 "sandwich makers" that you heat over your fire and we will be making pizzas with these. What an amazing smell that comes from your campsite. You can just imagine what people are saying when they walk by and smell frestly cooked pizza. I spread margarine on 2 pieces of bread , put 1 piece of bread in the sandwich maker, add sauce, cheese, pepperoni, mushrooms, more sauce on that and the 2nd piece of bread. YUM!! YUM!! We also enjoy making "spider dogs" over the fire as well. Take a hot dog and slice it the length of the dog to about 1 inch from the end then turn over and slice again so it looks like there's 4 small pieces. Use a hot dog stick and place over fire and the small pices start to curl and look like spider legs. That's a favorite of our kids.