Oven roasted potatoes....I do both white and sweets....chunk them up, season to taste...I use salt and pepper...perhaps garlic powder and dried parsley....drizzle with olive oil and bake for at least 45 minutes at 375....and can go for an hour and a half....turn the oven down if you will be delayed.
Also brussel sprouts work thes ame way....or do what I did the other night....sweet and sour red cabbage. I cut up a small head of red cabbage and a red onion...added about 1/2 cup of brown sugar and about 2/3 cup of vinegar...I used some red wine vinegar and some cider vinegar. Then I simmered fir about 45 minutes.....and longer is OK...with a lid on. You could put it into a Dutch oven and put it into the oven with the potatoes.
Linda C

Hi Sherry - can you still get corn on the cob? There's nothing better than roasted corn. Just soak the ears - complete with husks and silk, in water for a couple of hours - then nestle into the hot coals. When you can start to see the outline of the kernels through the husks, they're ready...they'll be good and black on the outside. You'll just need some good mitts and long tongs for turning. Even easier would be to husk it and lay it on your grill - less mess with the black husks.

What about foil pouches? You could cut up some potatoes, onions and peppers in one - just leave out the meat - and only have a "side dish" foil dinner...

Or am I being too rustic?

No, No! Rustic is what I want, Stacy3! Thanks.

Linda, I make oven-roasted veggies all the time - love 'em. I'm considering them for Saturday, but, frankly, they are my backup side. Well, actually, they are my go-to side every time I need a LOT of something. My hub has a bet with a son that we'll have them Saturday (that's what they want.) We'll see.

Sherry

How about skewers of different fall veggies cooked on your "grill"? You could do a few of brussels sprouts, a few of cubed butternut squash, some broccoli and cauliflower, potatoes - or fingerlings - and sweet potatoes combined (and maybe partially precooked)...

can you tell I'm cleaning closets and looking for an "out"? - LOL.

How about "banana boats?"

From Wikipedia:
It can also be a type of dessert cooked in a campfire. It is made by peeling back one side of a banana and slicing down the middle. Then M&M's, peanut butter chips, chocolate chips (or pieces of Hershey bars) or marshmallows are added inside of the banana. It is then wrapped in foil and is cooked in hot coals for ten minutes or until the chocolate inside is melted.

baked beans come to mind- you can cook in the kitchen and then sit on the grill to keep hot.
We make "Silver turtles" which are foil packets ofground beef, chopped green peppers potatoes and onions with seasonings. 2 layers of foil for the packets. Put into coals. We've never timed them so I dont really know how long they take. My son always makes them when he goes camping - they are his favorite.

Can you do baked beans in a Dutch oven?

I love corn in the husks shoved into the coals. Heaven.

Here is a link that might be useful: Ideas.

Are you talking about campfire meals? Like simple meals wrapped in foil and cooked on hot coals? How about wrapping individual potatoes (white and sweet) in foil and lay in coals until a knife goes through smoothly. Also, kielbasa or other sausage in foil or on the grill over hot coals. You can parboil them in bbq sauce earlier in the day or the night before and then reheat on the grill. For vegetables we love whole green beans drizzled with soy sauce and then placed in foil pockets either in the coals or on the grill. For dessert there is always baked apples: core and pare apples, place one apple on a square of foil, in the middle of the apple (where the core was removed) add butter, brown sugar & cinnamon, close up the foil tightly and set in hot coals until a knife goes through easily. We used to make these when we camped eons ago, but I'm sure they would work the same now. For other ideas google "campfire meals" or "campfire cooking"

These work well grilled on an open fire and are a wee bit different. You do have to keep them to the edge not over a roaring flame!

Country Style BBQ Onions (Steve Raichelen)

8 medium Vidalias
1 Can Bush country style baked beans
1/4 Cup dark brown sugar
1/2 Cup BBQ sauce
H/2 Stick(4 TBSP) butter cup in 8 pieces, room temp
2 strips cooked bacon cut into 8 pieces of 2" each
fresh ground black pepper

Peel the onions. Carefully hollow out the onions leaving the base in tact. Chop the onion pieces you hollowed out and mix with the baked beans, brown sugar and BBQ sauce. Spoon mixture into the onions and top with the butter and bacon. Sprinkle with pepper. Grill onions on the grill using indirect heat and medium heat (350 degrees) for 40-60 minutes or until golden brown and tender.

Notes: I use my own cheater BBQ baked bean recipe. I often add some chipoltes in adobo sauce to the beans instead of BBQ sauce. Super served with pork tenderloin, ribs or chops.

My Cheater Baked Beans

1 Can kidney beans drained
1 Can lima beans drained
2 Cans Brown Beans (pork and beans)
1 1/2 Cup of chili sauce
2 Tbl brown sugar
1 Tbl Dijon mustard
1 Tbl Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbl molasses
3 Slice bacon cut in half

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. In a medium baking dish, mix kidney beans,lima beans, brown beanas, chili sauce, brown sugar, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce and molasses. Top with bacon. Bake 1 hour in the preheated oven, until thick and bubbly.

I like sweet onions, like Vidalia. Cut the tops into 8th, but not through the root end, and fan out the pieces. Place on foil, drizzle with olive oil and a bit of balsamic and cook over the fire until done.

Yum, I love them, but kids aren't so excited about them, the tinfoil packets might be a good option for children.

Annie

Throw everything in a big ol' pot for an old fashioned clam (or sausage) bake (Why do they call it a clam "bake" when everything is boiled?). Corn on the cob, potatoes, clams or anduille (sp) sausage, onions, garlic and seasonings.

Back in the day, a "weenie roast" was where everyone, including kids, had their own long stick, cut from a tree, on which they impaled a weiner and cooked it to their liking over the fire. This was the entertainment as well as the food, especially for the kids. Kids loved it. Nobody worried if a kid cooked a hot dog unevenly or got some soot or dirt on it. No harm done.

Afterward the sticks were used to toast marshmallows. It was a challenge to get the marshmallow melty all the way through before it burned up.

Jim

Jim, we still do that, and it's just about like that too, except my girls LIKE their marshmallows burned up.

Another thing we've done is hollow out orange halves, put muffin batter into the empty shells, wrap in foil and bake over the fire. I like corn muffins this way and they get a nice orange-y flavor, or you could just use yellow cake batter and have dessert.

Annie

"...my girls LIKE their marshmallows burned up."

Ah yes, there was that too. Marshmallows flambe. But I liked to get mine all melty before igniting them. :-)

Jim

The challenge was to get them 'perfectly' toasted and melted WITHOUT burning!!

Deanna (who was sometimes a patient child, something to do with the competition I think)

P.S. I can't stand marshmellows now, I don't know why. I'd eat it if served, but not something I eat otherwise.

Oh, yeah, suggestions!!! LOL

Baked beans in a dutch oven was the first thing I thought of too!

You could do saurkraut and weenies.
Corn is a must!
Hollow out a pumpkin and fill with soup.
Biscuits on a stick (same idea as marshmellows...LOL)
Apple crisp in the dutch oven
Warm spiced cider!

Deanna

Wow! Thanks for all the great suggestions! I had to leave the house just after I posted and couldn't return until this minute; it drove me NUTS all day, wondering.....

I'm going to have fun this morning mulling these ideas, shopping this afternoon. Thanks again!

Sherry

I would have fun easy things to do over the fire...and prepared food from the kitchen that takes more time and effort but is fun to eat around the fire. Soups and stews are perfect and I like the hearty ones like beef stew, potato soup, Mexican hamburger, etc. I would also have hot apple crisp and some great bread like beer bread and corn bread.
And hot chocolate and hot cider. You'll have more fun if lots of the food is made ahead and you can just hang out and cook marshemellows and hotdogs.