Camping Cuisine

Pre-camp Preparation

When planning a camping trip, it's a good idea to have a variety of foods that are easy to store and keep for some time. A great way to get a good nature menu is by planning in advance. Dried fruits and trail mix can be created in advance for yummy munchies on the trail.

Banana Chips

  • Bananas
  • Non-stick cooking spray
  • cookie sheet
  • zipper bags

Preheat oven to 150F. Spray cookie sheet with non-stick coating. Slice bananas into thin slices and place on the cookie sheet. Cook for 2 hours with the door slightly ajar. Flip slices with a fork. Cook for 2 more hours. Bananas should be only slightly pliable.

Trail Mix

This fun food is completely simple to make. Just create a concoction of fun and munchy treats from the following suggestions:

2 cups of dry cereal (don't use flakes, as they will crumble)

Use all other ingredients in 1 cup increments:

  • raisins
  • dried apples or apricots
  • banana chips
  • nuts
  • mini chocolate candies
  • shredded dried coconut

Fruit Strips

  • 2 cups of applesauce
  • 1 Tablespoon of honey
  • 1 teaspoon ofcinnamon
  • non-stick cooking spray
Make your own dried fruit treats!

Preheat oven to 150F. Spray the cookie sheet with non-stick coating. Mix the applesauce with the honey and cinnamon, then spread in a thin layer on the cookie sheet. Leave oven door open a bit and cook for 6 to 8 hours until dried.

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

  • Pumpkin seeds, clean and dry
  • 2 Tablespoons of cooking oil
  • salt
Place pumpkin seeds in a zipper bag and coat with oil. Spread onto a cookie sheet and salt lightly. Bake at 250F for 45 minutes. Great trail food!

Apple Dumplings

  • 3 apples
  • 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • canned biscuits, or thawed pastry crust
Cut apples into small pieces. Mix in a bowl with cinnamon and sugar. Cut the dough into small squares and put a spoon of apple filling into each. Pinch dough around apples, careful not to tear. Bake at 350F for 12 minutes.

Campfire Food

The smell of roasting veggies and toasting hotdogs wafts from a nearby campsite. Campers don't have to survive on granola! Cook tasty meals on the coals with these basic instructions.

S'Mores

  • Chocolate bar
  • Graham Crackers
  • Marshmallows
  • Campfire
  • Roasting sticks
Without a doubt, the best campfire treat in the world! Crack open a bag of marshmallows, and get ready to roast some dessert. After cooking marshmallows to a toasty brown over the open fire, smush onto a graham cracker and add some chocolate. Top off the sandwich with another cracker and squeeze together. The chocolate melts into the marshmallow, and the creamy goo makes the crackers stick together. There is simply no better way to enjoy chocolate in the wild!

Roasting Stick Cuisine

  • long green stick- longer is better
  • hamburger patties or hot dogs
  • aluminum foil
There are any number of tasty dinner treats to make on a campfire. For a hot dog or burger, the first step is to find a prime "roasting stick". The stick is the most important aspect of outdoor cooking, because a short stick causes the cook to be too close to the fire. A dry, brown stick will catch fire and cause a dinner disaster. The prime roasting stick is 3 to 4 feet long, green, and forked.

Parents can prepare the cooking utensils by stripping the bark from the last 6 inches of twig. A careful shove should get a dog firmly onto the roaster, and the fork in the twig will offer hungry campers a "double roaster".

For those who prefer burgers, the forked stick is a necessity. Campfire burger flippers start with about 2 feet of aluminum foil. Fold the foil lengthwise, then place the burger patty at one end of the strip. Set the forked stick over the foil so that there is a fork of twig on either side of the burger. Then wrap the foil around the burger and the twig and pinch around the ends to keep your dinner in the foil. Simply hold the stick near the flame, turning the handle to flip the burger.

With a campfire and a good green roasting stick, adventurers can enjoy hot food on the trail.

NOTE: Proper handling of meat is essential to health. Be sure to pack perishable food in iced containers, and cook meat thoroughly before eating.

Campfire Veggies

  • Aluminum Foil
  • Potatoes, Corn on the Cob, or Carrots
  • Campfire
The best baked potatoes in the world are created in the glowing coals of a campfire! But getting them cooked properly is a camper's greatest challenge. Don't expect camp-cooked veggies to turn out well the first time. Invariably, even seasoned campers create quite a fuss at dinner with a partially raw and somewhat burnt potato. But after a few tries, a serious cook can pull a perfect ear of corn from an ashy piece of aluminum and the effect is amazing.

After the fire has died to a proper cooking flame (hot coals and little flame) wrap clean veggies and place them about an inch or two from the hottest coals of the fire. Use your roasting stick to turn the veggies from time to time. (A good way to remember is to turn them after every camp song or story.) Depending on the campfire, your roasted veggies should be done in an hour. Test them by poking with your roasting stick- careful not to puncture the foil. If the veggie gives slightly beneath the foil, they are probably ready.

Let an adult remove the foil packages from the fire, and let cool before attempting to open. They will be HOT!

Egg in a Cup

  • Eggs (keep in a cooler with plenty of ice)
  • Wax-covered paper cups
  • Water
  • Campfire
  • Metal Tongs
You can actually boil an egg in a paper cup!

For this most amazing cooking trick, you will need fresh eggs which have been carefully stored in a cooler or insulated bag with a cold pack. You will also need waxed-covered paper cups just a bit bigger in size than the eggs, and water.

This trick only works with paper cups, so do not try to substitute with anything else! Campers place their egg in a cup and add enough water so the cup is nearly full. (Larger cups will take much longer to boil.) Then, with the help of an adult, place the cups very near the fire.

At this point, the tops of the cups may very well catch fire. Although the effect is quite spectacular, the cups are actually perfectly fine. The water keeps the rest of the cup from burning. The paper heats quickly and in turn heats the water very quickly. Within a few minutes, you'll have a boiled egg!

Removing the eggs from the fire is the trick to this adventure. We tried to push the cups from the fire with our roasting sticks, but instead ended up with eggs rolling through the coals of our campfire. Cheers to the quick camper who came to our aid with a large pair of channel lock pliers and a fast hand. We suggest preparing in advance by packing a set of metal tongs. ;)