I am not one to indulge in fancy camping food, but I will say that camping food should not be boring. Camping food is doubly challenging in that while it should be delicious, it should also be easy and quick. The two are not necessarily always the same thing. Not sure if others have the same problem, but my teenagers are not thrilled to go camping, so the only card I have up my sleeve is the food one. At times, their stomach is the only reason they feel it is even bearable to go camping. I know family outings will give them some great memories, even if those feelings won't manifest until they are grown up and moved out.
A great way to make sure you have great food and easy prep at camping (after all who wants to be chopping vegetables on a rickety table?) is to prep everything that is practical and possible at home.
One of the meals we had this trip was a Creamy Summer Chowder. It has a little almond milk, but the bulk of the creaminess is derived from blended corn and the cooked potatoes releasing some starch into the dish. Prepping this meal involved cutting all the vegetables in your nice clean kitchen. Separating the onion, pepper, celery and tomatoes allows the cook to saute them before adding the content of the second prepped bag - blended corn, potatoes and seasonings. After cooking the chowder over the fire for about 20 minutes, the dish is ready. It is a sweet-tasting summer-flavored smoky soup that involves very little prep time at camp and an abundance of flavor.
We served the chowder with grilled sandwiches. Anyone remember Pie Irons? Loads of fun and easy to use. The kids loved it and they cooked great sandwiches.. as well as pies.
oh my gosh! what a cool pie iron! SO.COOL.
ReplyDeleteI came across a pie iron recently. Almost bought it but I thought it would be a waste since we don't camp more than twice a year.
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of a pie iron! How interesting!
ReplyDeleteThanks Gluten Free Happy Tummy.
ReplyDeleteCan't blame you Tender B. Space is precious.
Lauren, Amazon has them for $15 each. We bought 2 of them and they work well in rotation as long as no one is dying of hunger; they take a bit of time to cook, especially while the iron is heating up.