Good foods I can bring camping?

[ToLiveToLaugh]

Over spring break, SO and I are going to death valley for a week. We'll be tent camping, and I'm bringing my propane coleman stove. What sort of foods can I whoop up that would keep in a cooler and not take up a bunch of room, but would work for camping. Keeping in mind that SO is a vegetarian, and I don't like doing sandwiches for every meal. And there aren't really any grocery stores close to where we'll be camping, so I'd like to do it all in one go. Also, we're driving there and back (duh, lol) so what works well for car type meals?

Thanks in advance!

And as for meal suggestions- I AM SO SICK OF SOUP. Lol. I made so much soup this winter, using all of the veggies that are in season. And I've been doing great eating in season, but SO HELP ME GOD is I see another bowl of soup for about 6 months (besides this batch of potato cheese that I need to finish ) I will go bonkers.

 

[dragonlaurel]

What kind of day and night temps are likely? Will stuff freeze at night or be a challenge to keep cool in the day?

 

[ToLiveToLaugh]

It depends on the elevation we get a campsite at. Our prime pick is about 1000ft above sea level. That will be above freezing at night, and probably about 50s or 60s during the day. Higher if we get lucky. But if the lower campsites are filled, we may end up at 7 or 8000 ft, in which case it can get down in the teens at night. I don't think anything will get too hot during the day, but there is the chance of freezing at night. I'm not sure if extreme elevation affects food choices either; I know my friend who lives HIGH up in AZ (like 9500 above sea level) doesn't make pasta just because it takes so long She prefers baking.

I can get a good cooler, and I'm assuming the convenience store near stovepipe will have ice, so I can replace that in the cooler a couple times I'm guessing. Worse comes to worse, I'll plan the trip so that we do the ghost towns near real towns when we need to get some ice.

Edited to add- I haven't been in YEARS, so temps I'm basing off of reading. Other people, feel free to chime in if you know the area!

 

[Ldychef2k]

Hmm, brainstorming here: Carots, onions and cubed potatoes with a pat of butter and personal preference herbs in a foil pack on the edge of a campfire. Add some kind of protein for omnivores.

Meatless burritos: Flour tortilla warmed on the stove. Rehydrate TVP with tace seasoning, mix with vegetarian refried beans and a packet of cheese sauce mix.

You can also add TVP to sloppy joe sauce.

To conserve propane, how about using small pasta, such as orzo, with a favorite sauce. Do you have a favorite couscous recipe? That takes no time at all when camping.

Want to surprise them with freshly baked cake, cornbread, or cookies? Make a cardboard box oven. The one I made is described in this post from my old blog. http://qjcp.blog.com/2010/01/19/hot-stuff-longest-post-ever-may-be-worth-it/
It's very long, scroll down to below the picture of the domed cob oven.

Have you ever seen one of these? http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=lunchbox+stove You can cook dinner while driving! Perhaps a fritatta, a casserole of some type, or even a loaf of sweet bread. They use disposable aluminum bread pans, so you can make something at home, feeze it, and then cook while you drive.

I also have used packaged noodle or rice side dishes as a main dish while camping. I add meat, but you don't have to.

Do you have access to a food dehydrator? Fruit leathers for the trip, dried fruits and veggies. Even dehydrated cooked brown rice can be reconstituted in a fraction of the time, because it has already been cooked. (Making your own Minute Rice.) You can dehydrate frozen broccoli and cook it with the rice, add a bit of garlice, some broth, and a few chopped nuts and it's a great dinner.

Don't know if SO is vegan or ovolacto, but Chipotle mashed potatoes are awesome. I use milk and butter. Basically, you can make up small batch of masked potatoes (even instant) using milk and butter, then add a small can of drained sweet potatoes and either chipotle or other chili powder and mash thoroughly together.

Don't forget biscuit mix or pancakes with fruit.

I think most of the foods you make at home can be adapted for camping. I am about to use the S word. Fair warning.

Soup. Now, this wouldn't work for a vegetarian, but we make it every time we go camping. It's just 1 can each of chili beans, tamales (unwrapped and boken apart), diced tomatoes (not drained), and whole kernel corn (drained). Awesome with corn bread made in the cardboard box oven.

Dessert can be apples or other fruit with biscuits on top, covered and cooked on top of the stove. Cinnamon and sugar are good on top.

If not Vegan, S'Mores can be made with cream cheese substituting for the marshmallows, unless you can find vegan marshmallows!

I can't think of any more right now, as it's 11:30 PM and I have been up a while !

Have a great time camping. I am going in July with my niece and her four kids and DGD. Can't wait !!!

ETA: I have this. http://www.amazon.com/Coleman-Ultim...e=UTF8&s=sporting-goods&qid=1268635015&sr=1-3 It actually kept a two gallon pitcher of solid ice frozen for five days, then it started to melt.

We take two coolers sometimes. One with frozen food and dry ice, and the Extreme. We try to bury them at least half way in the ground to keep them extra cool.

 

[ToLiveToLaugh]

Kris- that is fantastic! I'll have to wait tomorrow to go over the finer details of the post (probably after my final ) But I did want to say that I love the name of your old blog! Quart jars and chicken poop! Sounds like my life before I moved up here to The Cinderblock Basement.

And if it helps future posters, SO does eat eggs, milk, cheese, honey, etc, and he also eats fish and shellfish, seafood other than cephalopods. Basically, all the not cute stuff! But fish while camping in a dessert... *shudder*.

 

[Kim_NC]

I have to echo the box oven. I used to be very active in girl scouting. I've camped with and taught cooking to many teenagers and pre-teens. A box oven gives you so many options. Eggs in Toast Cups was always a favorite. And there are all kinds of desserts you can bake, biscuits, even pizza, if you make a box oven.

Baked apples are great for a dessert. Or cook the night before and serve as a breakfast...
Core the apple from the top, leave a bit of apple at the bottom. Stuff apple with a mixture of brown sugar & raisins. Place stuffed apple in center on foil square. Fold edges up around apple, twisting together at top. Place wrapped apple on coals of campfire until apple is soft when poked with fork. Transfer apple to plate or eat right out of foil (with a fork). Stuffing is syruppy and delicious.

Dry rice or pasta mixes are also good take alongs, easy to prepare with water, no cold storage required, light weight.

Potatoes and Veggies in Foil
Fold aluminum foil to make a pocket to hold ingredients. Chop potato in 1-inch chunks, add tablespoon of butter and cook closed over hot coals for about 10 min. Open pockets and add vegetables, ( for example mushrooms, onions). Add teaspoon butter and salt and pepper. Cook for about 5 more minutes with the foil closed back up. Be creative - for example chunks of carrots cooked with the potatoes are great. Or add green pepper, tomato with the mushrooms & onions.

For travel or hiking...

Crunchie Trail Mix

16 oz. M&M's
10 oz. Peanut Butter Chips
3 oz. Chow Mein Noodles
1 1/2 cup Raisins
1 1/4 cup Peanuts (shells removed)
Put everything in a big Ziplock (or equiv.) zipper style bag and shake until well mixed. Store in an airtight bag. Makes approx. 8 servings.

Chocolate Butterscotch Energy Bars

2 cups Graham Cracker crumbs
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup butterscotch chips
1 cup walnuts or pecans, chopped
1 can sweetened condensed milk

Mix all together, place into a greased 9x9 inch pan. Bake at 350*F, 30-35 minutes. Cool for 45 minutes. Do not let cool any longer than 45 minutes or it will stick to the pan. Cut into squares, place into plastic bag and place in refrigerate until trip time.


I know you said your SO is vegetarian, so this one won't work for you. But I'm going to post it for other campers who may read this thread:

Bake a chicken under a #10 can (large gallon size can, like a large veggie or coffee can). No kidding - the best baked chicken you will ever eat...
Use a 2 1/2 - 3 lb chicken. Start charcoal/wood on the side, burn to hot coal stage. While coals prepare, set-up chicken. Put a sheet of heavy duty foil on bare ground. Poke a heavy wire (piece of coat hanger for example) through center of foil and firmly into soil. Season chicken with salt, pepper and herbs. Slide chicken onto wire, cavity first. Slide #10 can over chicken, press can slightly into foil. Heap coals around base of can AND on top of can. Keep coals packed tightly against can sides and on top to ensure even cooking. Bakes in about 45 - 60 minutes, add coals as needed to keep cooking temperature up.

LOL...be prepared, it smells heavenly and you will make you feel "starved". I use heavy work gloves to remove hot can, then heavy rubber gloves to lift chicken.

 

[mandieg4]

http://www.recipezaar.com/Old-Widow-Walkers-Ziploc-Omelettes-132052

We use this method to make omelettes when we go camping. It is super easy to prepare ahead of time and just throw in the cooler.

We also to a lot of silver turtles. Just throw a hamburger patty on a piece of heavy duty tin foil, some veggies and a little gravy, wrap it up tight and throw it in the fire for 15 minutes or so. Good stuff!

 

[Wifezilla]

I take soups or stews and freeze them in bags. Very easy to heat them up. Chili is my favorite for cold nights and it is easy to whip up a vegetarian version.

 

[MorelCabin]

*Preboil some eggs...they are a great snack.

*You can bring a premixed pancake mix in a ziplock baggie....(add liquids later) again less prep time, less ingredients to have to carry.

*Canned beans are a camp staple for me.

*We cook all our meals over an open fire when we camp...no need for a coleman that way. Just bring a grill of some sort to hold steaks, foil wrapped potatoesand veggies and pans :>)

*Premake macaroni salad/potato salad/coleslaw...add mayo to these later if you wish

*Look into skillet meal recipes...everything in one pan...less cleanup.

*Tuna for sandwiches

*A tea biscuit recipe can be wrapped around a stick, (individual portions) cooked over the fire and stuffed with jam or butter, or anything else really, for a great breakfast

 

[Ldychef2k]

I want to second the recommendation for the omlets in a ZipLock bag. A fun, easy, creative meal that gets the kids involved, if you have any, but if you are just grown ups then we get to have all the fun.