Camping Information/ccdinner

You can also eat all the backpacking meals!

The Classics

Pasta- you can always add chicken, meatballs, or even beef jerky for protein. You can also add veggies, olives, cheese, etc. They make little packets to make pesto sauce.

Mac and Cheese- Even adding your own shredded cheese really bumps up the meal. But you can also add proteins, broccoli, or turn it into a chili mac.

Classic hot dogs

Difficulty: super easy

Equipment: fire and sticks

Ingredients:

Precooked hot dogs

Buns

Condiments of choice

At camp:

Find good roasting sticks, spear the dogs and roast them on the fire. Add buns and condiments

Baked Potato packs

Difficulty: super easy (easy cleanup too!)

Equipment: fire, tin foil

Ingredients:

Potatoes

Olive oil

onion (optional)

Bacon or bacon bits

Shredded Cheese

Salt and pepper

Sour cream

Canned chili (adds complexity)

At home: Cut potatoes into 1 inch cubes and dice onion (could be at camp)

At Camp:

If using chili, heat it up on the stove. Toss potatoes and onion with oil, salt and pepper and portion into individual foil “packets” and add bacon. Place in fire for about 25 minutes, or until potatoes are tender. Serve with sour cream, cheese, and chili as desired.

Walking Tacos or Frito Pie

Difficulty: easy

Equipment: pan and stove

Ingredients:

Ground beef or turkey (even impossible meat)

Onion

Taco seasoning

1 bag fritos per person

Toppings of choice (like cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream, etc.)

At camp:

In a pan, brown beef or turkey over medium heat and drain the fat. Dice the onion and to the meat and sauté for a couple of minutes until soft. Add the taco seasoning along with 1/2 cup of water and simmer until water is absorbed. Crush your chips with your hands and open your bag. Add your beef mixture and whatever toppings you desire.

Vegetarian Chili

Difficulty: easy

Equipment: pot and stove, can opener

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 small yellow onion, chopped

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 (14-ounce) can diced tomatoes

1 (14-ounce) can red beans, drained and rinsed

1 (14-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed Note: you can use whatever beans you like

1 cup water or broth

1 cup corn kernels, fresh or frozen

Salt and pepper and any spices you like

Cheese and sour cream (optional)

At home: dice veggies (can be done at camp)

At camp:

Heat the oil in a pot over medium heat. Add the onion, a few pinches of salt and pepper, and stir. Cook until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes, then add the red pepper. Stir and cook until soft, 5 to 8 minutes, turning the heat down as needed. Add the tomatoes, beans, and water. Cover, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the chili has thickened. Serve with cheese and/or sour cream if desired.

Shepherd's pie

Difficulty: medium

Equipment: pan and pot

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef or turkey (or precooked hamburger patties)

½ cup chicken broth or water

Instant gravy mix

Instant potato mix

Frozen veggie mix

Butter (optional, but recommended)

At camp: in a pot, prepare mashed potatoes to package directions, add butter if desired. In pan, cook ground meat or reheat the burger patties, breaking into small chunks. Add gravy mix, broth/water, and veggie mix. Serve the potatoes on top of the meat mixture.

Stir fry

Difficulty: medium

Equipment: stove, pan, pot

Ingredients:

Stir fry veggie mix (or chop up onions, peppers, broccoli, carrots, etc.)

Pre-made Stir fry sauce (if you can’t find, there are plenty of recipes online)

Minute rice

Precooked chicken

Sesame or olive oil

At camp: prepare minute rice according to package. Heat up oil in pan and add in veggie mix. Stir often and cook until they soften, roughly 5 mins. Add in chicken and sauce, depending on how “wet” you want it. When chicken is hot and veggies tender, serve on the rice.

Gnocchi Chicken and Dumplings

Difficulty: Medium

Equipment: stove and pot

Ingredients:

Frozen veggie mix (pre-diced)

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 cups chicken broth (can use water, would not be as good)

1 (10.5-ounce) can Cream of chicken soup

can or pouches of chicken

1 pound shelf-stable potato gnocchi

Salt and pepper (technically optional)

At home: Measure out olive oil and chicken broth (and even soup) and put in smaller containers At camp: Stir together chicken broth and soup in a pot and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and let simmer for about 5 mins. Add in chicken, veggies, and gnocchi, and cook for another 3-4 minutes, until gnocchi is tender

Beef Stroganoff

Difficulty: medium

Equipment: pot and stove

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 small yellow onion, diced

½ pound ground beef/impossible meat (or precooked hamburger patties)

2 cups sliced baby mushrooms

Salt and pepper

1 can (10 ounces) cream of mushroom soup, or cream of chicken soup

1 cup sour cream

4 cups cooked egg noodles

At home:

cook your noodles (saves a lot of time at camp) At camp: Heat olive oil in pot set over medium heat. To the hot oil, add the onions and cook for 1 minute. Stir in the ground beef and cook for 2 minutes. Add the mushrooms and garlic. Season mixture with salt and pepper and continue to cook until meat is browned and mushrooms have started to soften; about 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in the cream of soup; cook for 3 minutes. Reduce heat to medium low and stir in the sour cream; continue to stir until smooth and heated through, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and taste for salt and pepper; adjust to taste. Stir in the cooked noodles.

One Pot Chili Mac

Difficulty: medium

Equipment: pot and stove

Ingredients:

1 pound 90-93% lean ground beef

1/2 cup chopped onion

4 cups beef broth

15 ounce can petite diced tomatoes

15 ounce can tomato sauce

Taco seasoning

8 ounces uncooked elbow macaroni about 2 cups

For serving: shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream, etc.

At camp:

Add the ground beef and onion to a large soup pot and place it over medium-high heat. Break the beef apart with a wooden spoon. Cook for 6-7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the beef is browned and the onions are soft. Add the broth, diced tomatoes (with their juices), tomato sauce, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, salt, sugar, and pepper to the beef. Stir well. Bring the liquid to a simmer. Add the macaroni. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the pasta is tender, about 12 minutes. Serve topped with shredded cheddar, sour cream, etc.

Dutch oven enchiladas

Difficulty: hard (but worth it!)

Equipment: dutch oven

Ingredients:

oil

1 red bell pepper, cut into strips

1 red onion, sliced into thin half-moons

14 oz can enchilada sauce

cheese

Canned black beans

flour tortillas

At camp: Prepare your coals or get your campfire going so that you'll have embers to cook with. Over medium heat, heat the oil in a Dutch oven. Add the peppers and saute for a few minutes until they are starting to soften. Add the onions and saute until the onions are soft and translucent and the peppers are soft. Remove from heat and transfer the vegetables to a plate or bowl. Add 1/2 cup enchilada sauce to coat the bottom of the Dutch oven. To build the enchiladas, place onions and peppers in a line the center of a flour tortilla. Add a few spoonfuls of black beans and top with cheese. Roll the tortilla around the fillings, then place the enchilada, seam side down, into the Dutch oven. Repeat with the remaining ingredients. This recipe will make 4-6 enchiladas depending on the size of your Dutch oven. Cover the enchiladas with the remaining sauce and cheese. Place the lid on top. Return the Dutch oven to your campfire. Place it over indirect heat (the grill grate over the campfire works great) and stack 14-16 coals on the lid. Cook about 10 minutes, until the cheese is melted.