I cannot believe Memorial Day is already upon us. While celebrating the long weekend with your family and friends do not forget Memorial Day is a chance to remember and celebrate those who served our country; both the ones who returned and those who never did. Let’s not forget all the soldiers, both past and present, which fought and served in the name of our freedom, making it possible for us to enjoy this time with our loved ones.
While today I am going to focus on our family’s first annual camping trip of the season and share the camping tips and tricks I have learned. There are also many local activities to partake in. Most being low or no cost at all. Many of your local communities have Memorial Day Parades and other festivities. Local festivities are always fun to attend and are usually free, with the exception of “extras” which typically means food and treats. To save money I suggest packing your own and heading off to the Parade. Make a day of it enjoy the parade and then head to a local park for a picnic. Check your area’s Chamber of Commerce to see what events are happening in your community.
Camping is always an inexpensive family get-a-way. Once your initial investment of camping gear is made, and you can keep the costs of this low by checking for tents and other camping gear on craigslist, or your areas freecycle websites. You can also watch for the end of season sales to find awesome deals.
I love the quiet of the outdoors and nothing beats snuggling up by the fire at night. If roughing it is not your thing there are many family friendly camp grounds with showers, pools, and tons of other activities for the whole family.
I think many people are intimidated by cooking all 3 meals in the great outdoors; here are some tips to make it easy.
Plan ahead:
1. Create a menu of the meals you plan to prepare and bring only what you need to save space.
2. Make pasta salads and sides and do any prep work you may have ahead of time at home.
3. Make your hamburger patties and wrap them in foil or plastic wrap. Prepare your other meats by marinating, etc. at home.
4. Cut up any vegetables ahead of time at home. Do not cut vegetables like potatoes in advance since they will brown.
What to bring:
1. Heavy duty aluminum foil is a must for camping you can use it for cooking and you can wrap left overs in it too. It always makes for easy clean up!
2. Quart and gallon sized Zip lock bags are good for food storage without the space of plastic containers filling up your cooler as well as some recipes (shown below).
3. Don’t forget to pack a good combination of utensils for cooking as well as some clothes to protect your hands from hot food that has just come out of the camp fire.
4. A large pot safe for cooking over the fire.
5. Bring some of the kid’s favorite cereals for quick breakfasts; use the zip lock bags for storage to save space.
6. Pack food for enjoyment as well as nutrition remember you are on vacation, so some treats now and then won’t hurt!
Tips:
1. Cook baked beans right in the can over the fire to reduce dirty dishes. Open the lid leaving part of it still attached to keep the beans covered from the ash. Remove the paper label and place on the fire. You will need to stir the beans to keep them from burning on the bottom of the can.
2. Use frozen bottles of water instead of bagged ice in the cooler. Not only will it keep your cooler clean but when the ice melts you will have cold drinking water. I do recommend a small bag of ice to use for drinks and some campfire recipes (shown below).
3. While it might be convenient to want to use paper plates and utensils, to save packing space as well as the environment I recommend investing in some non-breakable dishes and utensils that you can find at your local Dollar Store to keep with your camping gear.
4. Keep lunch simple with sandwiches, chips, and fruit. You do not need to cook every meal. Pack a picnic lunch for fishing, swimming, or hiking.
5. Always clean up after each meal, the last thing you want it to attract ants or other bugs or worse still animals. A large bucket or plastic tub is great for washing dishes. I like to bring two, one to wash and one to rinse.
6. Crack eggs ahead of time and store in a zip lock bag or plastic container.
7. Mix up pancake batter and store in an old cleaned out squeeze type ketchup bottle.
8. Old TicTac containers are the perfect size for your spices and do not take up much space.
9. Cut down on the cook time for baked potatoes by cooking them 1/2 way in the microwave then wrap the potatoes in foil and place them in cooler till ready to eat.
Easy camping recipes:
Campfire breakfast burritos (Make ahead at home)
16 Eggs
1 lb. Breakfast Sausage
1 Yellow Onion
3 Cloves Garlic, minced
6 Med. Potatoes, chopped
2 Cups Cheddar Cheese, shredded
8 or 9 Flour Tortilla Shells
Salt & Pepper to taste
Heavy Duty Aluminum Foil for wrapping
Optional: Salsa and/or hot sauce
Peel and chop potatoes and boil until soft. Crack 16 eggs and cook over low heat until you have soft, scrambled eggs. Salt and pepper to taste. Saute yellow onions and garlic in 2 T. olive oil until fragrant. Add sausage to onion mixture and cook all the way through. In large bowl combine Sausage mixture, scrambled eggs, potatoes, cheese, green onions, parsley, and Salt & Pepper. Divide ingredients into 8 or 9 tortilla shells. Roll and wrap in foil, toss into the cooler and they are ready to throw on the fire when you want them! Cook in indirect heat for about 20 minutes!
Omelets in a Bag1 lb. Breakfast Sausage
1 Yellow Onion
3 Cloves Garlic, minced
6 Med. Potatoes, chopped
2 Cups Cheddar Cheese, shredded
8 or 9 Flour Tortilla Shells
Salt & Pepper to taste
Heavy Duty Aluminum Foil for wrapping
Optional: Salsa and/or hot sauce
Peel and chop potatoes and boil until soft. Crack 16 eggs and cook over low heat until you have soft, scrambled eggs. Salt and pepper to taste. Saute yellow onions and garlic in 2 T. olive oil until fragrant. Add sausage to onion mixture and cook all the way through. In large bowl combine Sausage mixture, scrambled eggs, potatoes, cheese, green onions, parsley, and Salt & Pepper. Divide ingredients into 8 or 9 tortilla shells. Roll and wrap in foil, toss into the cooler and they are ready to throw on the fire when you want them! Cook in indirect heat for about 20 minutes!
Eggs
Milk
Cheese
Fresh veggies and seasonings of your choice
Salt and pepper
Quart size Ziploc bags
Place all of the ingredients in a Ziploc bag and seal firmly removing as much air as possible. Let the kids squeeze away until the ingredients are all well mixed. Place zip lock bag in a pot of boiling water, and cook until the eggs are set and cooked through. Viola! Omelets in a bag!! And you don't even need to dirty a plate, eat it from from the bag!
Corn on the Cob
Heavy duty aluminum foil
Corn on the cob, husked
2 ice cubes per ear of corn
Butter
Spread butter on corn. Place corn in aluminum foil and top with ice cubes. Double fold ends to seal making a foil packet while making sure to leave room for heat circulation. I found it best to do no more than two ears of corn per packet. Place packets in the campfire away from direct heat. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes; turning packet over once during cooking.
Campfire Chicken Packets
These can be made ahead at home the morning of your trip. I like to cook these our first night at camp it’s quick and easy and cleanup is a snap. Make as many or as little as you need this recipe is for 4 packets.
4 Boneless chicken breast halves
2 large onions cut into ¼ inch slices
3 large bell peppers (we prefer red, yellow, and orange bell peppers)
2 cups sliced baby bella or button mushrooms
¼ c Italian or Greek dressing
Lay out 12x12 squares of heavy duty aluminum foil. Place 1 chicken breast in the middle of each square of foil. Top with vegetables and ½ cup of dressing. Fold the fold up around the ingredients to form a packet. Place the packets in the campfire on indirect heat and grill for 30 to 40 minutes until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 170°
S’mores
There is no right way to make a s’more! Be creative try chocolate marshmallows or chocolate graham crackers add bananas or strawberries. The ideas are endless. For traditional s’mores you will need.
Graham crackers, broken into squares
Hershey's plain milk chocolate bars, broken into sizes to fit the graham cracker squares
Large marshmallows, and wood sticks or long metal skewers.
Roast your marshmallow to desired doneness and Take your toasted marshmallow (still on the stick), and lay it on the side of the graham cracker with the chocolate. Now take the other half of the graham cracker and cover the hot marshmallow, pressing down firmly enough to pull out the stick. When the S'more is fully assembled, let it sit for a few seconds. The heat will somewhat melt the chocolate and you won't burn your mouth! Now squish the S’more between your fingers and eat it. Make sure to lick the "marshmallow goo" that slides out the sides.
Ziplock Bag Homemade Ice cream
1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar (or to taste)
6 tablespoons rock salt
1 Quart size ziplock baggie
1 Gallon size ziplock baggie
Ice
Put milk, vanilla and sugar into a pint or quart-sized ziplock bag. Seal well. Fill a large, gallon-sized freezer bag with ice. Add the salt. (Don't forget to shake the vanilla bottle before measuring out 1/2 t. so that you don't pour out alcohol at the top).
Put the smaller bag into the larger bag and seal. Shake and mix until the ice cream thickens, about 10 minutes. You can also let the kids gently throw the bag back and forth to help mix the ice cream. The bag gets very cold, so you might want to use towels to hold it. When the ice cream had thickened remove the inner bag wipe it off and enjoy!
Makes 1 serving.
Flavor Options:
Flavor combinations are limitless. Chocolate syrup is a basic option, while various flavor extracts available in your grocery store's baking section can lead to more exotic variations. Try combining mint extract and add small chocolate chips (if you want that green color you could always add food coloring). Or crush 6 Oreo's or any other cookies and add to the bag. Crushed Candy bars, Health, Snickers, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, and M&M's are some of our favorites. I recommend adding roughly 3 tablespoons, but you may add as much or as little as you wish!
Note: If you are adding solid toppings to your ice cream wait to add until after the ice cream has thickened and stir your toppings in.
Wishing you all a safe and happy holiday weekend!
