Stumped on menu for family camping vacation

[nativepups]

The family and I are getting ready for a big camping trip.  Myself, wife, 4 kids and a puppy heading to Wyoming for Cheyenne Frontier Days and then Colorado.  When we are camping just to camp - ie just hanging out as a family at the lake and campsite we tend to cook one way with big breakfast snack lunches and steak dinners. We have a DO but aren't very good with it (newbies) .  We don't want to lug alot of cooking paraphanalia cross country and we are trying to think of some easy meals both prep and clean up :eyecrazy:.  Any and all suggesions would be greatly appreciated and reciproacted with some of our favorite recipes!!  Happy Independence Day!  :usflag:

Breakfast ideas:
Firehouse Gravy and Biscuits
Premade muffins and danishes
cereal

Lunch:
sandwiches
store bought fried chicken

Dinner ideas:
Sloppy Joes
Hobo Dinners
Charcoal Steaks
Carnitas or Carne Asada

[OC Campers]

For lunches my kids love pizza. I buy the Boboli shells and just add jarred pizza sauce and preshredded mozzarella and whatever topping they like.  Then cook on the bbz on top of foil.  Good for dinner too. Another easy lunch is cheese quessadillas.   I have also made meatball subs.  Frozen meatballs, jarred sauce and shredded mozzarella.  We also like chicken kabobs.  Marinate steak or chicken cut up and then freeze.  thread on skewers and bbq.  Quick and easy.  Taco night is fun too.  Fry up the burger and shells and shreeded lettuce and cheese.

I am all for easy.  Expecially when camping.

Jacqui

[nativepups]

OC,

Thanks for the ideas.    I really like the pizza idea and think that would be one my little campers would really like.  We bought a neat little contraption for doing kabobs so I need to put those on my list as well.  I would also LOVE to do a seafood boil when we are in the mountains in Colorado but am not exactly sure that I want all the clean up!  LOL

Breakfast ideas:
Firehouse Gravy and Biscuits
Premade muffins and danishes
cereal

Lunch:
sandwiches
store bought fried chicken
Boboli Pizzas

Dinner ideas:
Sloppy Joes (venison)
Hobo Dinners  (pork chops)
Charcoal Steaks  (beef)
Carnitas or Carne Asada  (pork)
Chicken and veggie kabobs  (Chicken)
chili

[Gracy]

So the Boboli cooks just like it would in the over on top of the BBQ with foil???  AWESOME!  I've never thought of that... my kids would totally love that!

We do mac n' cheese and DH makes a batch of home made chicken taquitos before we leave and then we fry them before serving.  Also another favorite instead of cooking actual steaks is making them into kabobs... its so much easier to cook and deal with eating and cleanup wise then a steak that needs a bunch of cutting.

I love sharing these food idea topics... sometimes I swear I'm trying to shop before a trip and I'm completely drawing a blank on what to buy! hahaha

[OC Campers]

My kids love the pizzas.  I even let them make them by themselves and then dad cooks them.

Yes, just line your bbq with foil and watch the heat.  If you it gets too hot the bottom will burn so you just have to watch them.

Another SCCamper group favorite is my "camp" donuts.  Buy the cheap biscuit dough (2 for $1.oo) and flatten a little.  Take the lid from a water bottle and cut out the whole.  Bring your oil up to 350 degrees (or till a drop of water sizzles) and fry the dough on both sides.  Then toss in cinnamon sugar or powdered sugar.  Very easy.  When we meet up at a rally, I already know what I have to make for the potluck breakfast.  The kids (young and old) are usually lined up at our campsite waitng for them to cook.

Jacqui

[Gracy]

I live the donuts idea too!!!! Adding it to my notes!!!! thanks

[OC Campers]

:clap: I live the donuts idea too!!!! Adding it to my notes!!!! :clap: thanks

Just promise me if we are ever at at SCCaamper rally together you won't make them better than me ok?  j/k

Jacqui

[Gracy]

hahahaha that can be a new competition! hahahaha

[mrsoreo57]

Chili - one pot
Cook hamburger or stew meat ahead at home, freeze
cut up onion and red and green peppers, freeze
Canned pinto/kidney beans
Defrost meat and vegs, dump in pot with alittle oil to soften onions and peppers.
Add spices, beans (juice and all) and some water.  Cook over med heat for
30-45 minutes. Serve with a crusty bread or rolls.

I serve this at rally potlucks all the time and always a favorite.

Clean-up....one pot...one spoon

[Tiffany]

I don't have any specific recipes, but here's a list of "staples" I bring on camping trips:  minute rice, instant oatmeal, granola bars, popcorn kernels, powdered milk, apples, oranges, hard boiled eggs, Crystal Light single-serving drink mix packets, precooked bacon, precooked chicken strips and beef strips, cans of veg-all, cans of cream of mushroom soup, chips & salsa, pound cake, homemade cookies, homemade Rice Krispie treats.  I like to bring stuff I can throw together to make a "one pot meal", stuff that I can cook or reheat over the campfire.  

Enjoy your family camp out!

[Gracy]

Oh yeah and lots of trips we make jerky before hand using a dehydrator... thats a fun snack

[oreo57]

Chili - one pot
Cook hamburger or stew meat ahead at home, freeze
cut up onion and red and green peppers, freeze
Canned pinto/kidney beans
Defrost meat and vegs, dump in pot with alittle oil to soften onions and peppers.
Add spices, beans (juice and all) and some water. Cook over med heat for
30-45 minutes. Serve with a crusty bread or rolls.
 
I serve this at rally potlucks all the time and always a favorite.
 
Clean-up....one pot...one spoon

And some great spices

[LACamper]

For breakfast we usually do omlets w/ ham bits and cheese. I keep trying to do canned biscuits but they just don't come out right. I'm going to have to buy one of the campstove ovens.
For dinner we've done the jambalya box mix (try Zataran's). I'll usually add either smoked sausage or andouille to it. On backpacking trips we've done this with canned chicken even so we didn't have to worry about refrigeration.
Seafood on a camping trip? That sounds like a lot of work... I've done crabs and crawfish over a wood fire before but it takes a lot of effort.

[LACamper]

Almost forgot: crabmeat pizza! Its good but not exactly heart healthy...
1 pack of the pizza dough that comes in a biscuit type can
1 pack of artificial crab meat (its really fish...)
1 pack of pizza cheese mix
mushrooms
lots of garlic and butter
 
Load it all on there and stick it in the oven until the crust browns.

[A2SuperCrew]

One of our favorite camping breakfasts is breakfast burritos.  We cook up a mixture of chorizo sausage and scrambled eggs.  Serve the mixture rolled up in a flour tortilla with salsa and sour cream.  YUM!!!!!

We cook everything on an aluminum foil covered griddle over the camper stove.  That makes cleanup a breeze.