Menu Plan Monday, August 16-22, 2010, Camping In A Trailer

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MENU PLAN MONDAY

Since we’re camping, I figured I’d share with you one meal per day from my trailer style camping menu for this week’s meals with you. You will notice that I use my crockpot and rice cooker. When you have electricity, both of these items come in handy to save time in the kitchen and/or space in the cooler.

In addition to some of our main meals, I use the crockpot to make desserts using fresh produce I find in the local area where we are camping. This week I have pre-measured and brought with us the dry ingredients I need for both Nutty Apple Streusel and Black and Blue Cobbler and I will decide which to make when I see which ingredients I can find most cheaply have most readily available. (To skip my ramblings about cooking in a dutch oven or over a campfire, scroll down to menu plan).

Another thing I love to do for my family is to make food in my cast iron dutch oven with charcoal briquettes. I dig a small pit (or one of my menfolk digs it for me) and put some heated briquettes on the bottom of the hole and on the lid of the dutch oven. This week I plan to use it to take advantage of fresh peaches. I will rub a cube of butter all over the inside of the pan to help prevent food from sticking too badly. Then I will throw into the pot about 12 peeled and sliced peaches, some tapioca beads, and a little cinnamon. I learned about tapioca from my aunt a few years ago, when we were having a family campout. It was the first time I attempted to make anything in a pit in my dutch oven and it turned out very juicy and wet. The tapioca helps to absorb that peachy goodness. Then I dump a (partial) box of yellow or butter cake mix on top of the peach mixture and at least an entire cube of some butter, cut into pats and evenly distributed over cake mix. I find cake mix to be very sweet, so I only add enough to cover the top, and I don’t add sugar. Cooking time varies, depending on which dutch oven I use, how many and what kind of briquettes, etc., so check it often as you are first trying it. It’s done when the peaches are tender, but not too mushy.

At the campfire, we will be roasting biscuit dough. If you buy the pre-made biscuits in the pop open tube, roast half a biscuit at a time by stretching it all around your roasting fork, pretzel style. It takes some practice but you will eventually get the hang of it. After it is roasted, we dip it in melted butter, then cinnamon and sugar. We love this tradition!

If we make S’mores, we often use Reeses instead of chocolate bars. I don’t like marshmallows, so I roast my Reeses over the fire for just a few seconds so it gets gooey and then I put it between two graham crackers.

Do you enjoy camping? Do you have any shortcuts or tricks you use to save time cooking while you are at the campground? Do you have any favorite camping or campfire recipes? I’d love to use them! I am especially interested in recipes which call for cooking on, in (foil packets, etc.) or above a campfire.

Monday: Taco Soup - I brown the beef before we leave home. Today, before we leave for the lake, I will throw all of the ingredients into my crockpot. When we come back to our little trailer, it will smell good, and dinner will just be minutes away from being served.

Tuesday: Sausage Skillet Supper – I brown the sausage before we leave home. In the morning ,when I first get up, I start the rice cooker. Once again, I throw all of the ingredients into the crockpot, and set it to low, before we leave for that day’s activities. This recipe was originally found, years ago,in one of my Taste Of Home magazines. I substituted brown rice for white and made it my own:)

Wednesday: Burritos and Taco Salad – I have already browned and seasoned the ground beef, so all I have to do is heat up the beef and refried beans then put out a whole bunch of other choices and let everyone build their own.

Thursday: Turkey Wraps – I like the pre-made jalapeno artichoke dip from Costco spread on a tortilla with turkey added, then heated. When it comes out, I add tomato and a few Kettle BBQ Chips (Kettle does not use MSG). Little kids or those who don’t like spicy food can substitute cream cheese or cheddar.

Friday: French Dips with grilled onion and mushrooms, served with melted cheese on toasted bun (we use our trailer oven for this)

Saturday: Chili Haystacks: Premade or canned chili, topped with Fritos and cheese, then melted.

Sunday: Clean out the ice box!

I hope you can squeeze in at least one more camping trip this summer. Well, unless you are like some of my friends who "don't camp" and "prefer 5 star resorts". In that case, I hope the bedbugs don't bite.

You totally know who you are.