There is nothing like coming back to the campsite after a day of hiking or biking out in the woods and smelling dinner cooking! Food cooked over or on a campfire, outside, just seems to taste better. Scouts would go camping every single weekend if they were able to. They love being in the outdoors but as fun as camping can be, it can also be a lot of work for the troop leader. So we have been searching for some different, camping meals that the kids will actually love. I have incredibly fond memories of Scout campfire dinners.
A Cheesy ham and pineapple sandwich?
How about a cheesy ham and pineapple sandwich? These are super easy to make and all the kids can help! Take a hamburger bun spread with mustard, then layer with deli ham, a pineapple ring, and cheddar cheese, it’s both simple and satisfying. We’d assemble the campfire sandwiches, wrap them completely in foil, then set them as close to the flames as we dare, until the pineapple became hot and caramelized, the cheese oozy, and the bread got warm and soft.
Campfire Potatoes
Campfire potatoes taste very good and are easy to cook on the fire. If you are a fan of seasoned potatoes loaded up with lots of garlic and onions you will really like this quick and easy campfire recipe. These potatoes would make for a great side with just about any meal. (You could add bacon if you want to try something different) Slice potatoes and onion into 1/8 – 1/4″ slices.Place on a piece of aluminum foil large enough to fold over and to be able to roll up edges. Top with garlic, butter, Worcestershire sauce and pepper. Fold packet over and roll edges to close.
Leave on medium coals for 30 minutes.
Burger Hobo Packets
What about preparing and then enjoying some burger hobo packets from your campfire? You can switch it up so many different ways, with so many different veggies for a whole new meal. Here is what you’ll need for each camper: 6oz – 8oz, hamburger per camper, 1/2 cup sliced carrots, 1/2 cup hash brown potatoes, 1/2 cup peas, some butter and 1 package of Lipton onion soup mix per pound of hamburger. Thoroughly mix 1 pkg. Lipton onion soup mix per one pound of hamburger meat, spray a little Pam (or whatever your favorite cooking spray is) in the center of your top foil sheet; add a layer of sliced carrots, then add the hamburger chunks. Add hash brown potatoes, corn, peas, and top with a couple pats of butter. Salt & pepper to taste. Seal foil pack with multiple folds and place on a medium hot bed of campfire coals for approx. 30 minutes – turning once at 15 minutes. (Packs can be slit and checked to make sure they are done)
A camping breakfast burrito
This idea requires a bit of preparation at home before taking out on the trail to finish cooking and serving to your Scouting kids. Began by frying a package of ground, Italian sausage in a large skillet. Then you add a medium diced onion, a diced green pepper and 2 tsp of minced garlic. Next, cook the mixture until the onion and the meat were well done. Then you should scramble a dozen eggs. Add about 2 Tbsp of milk to the raw egg. Salt and pepper to taste. Combine the egg and meat mixture and add 1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese and mix until it was melted.Lastly,spoon about 1/2 cup of the sausage and egg mixture into the center of a large flour tortilla and roll it up. Wrap each tortilla in Saran Wrap so that they wont stick to each other. Then place them into large Ziploc freezer bags and put into the freezer. All you need to do for the campout is heat them up in your campfire and serve to the hungry Scouts.
Camping Mac & Cheese
Since we’re cooking this on the fire, start by finding mini aluminum pie tins. Just find these at the grocery store! Spray 4 of them with nonstick cooking spray and set aside. This recipe is: cooked elbow macaroni, store bought alfredo sauce, parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheese, cheddar cheese, half & half, salt & pepper. Once the pasta is done cooking, rinse it with cool water and drain well. Then stir in all of these goodies and that’s basically it. Then we want to cool down your pasta so the cheese (that we’re going to add) doesn’t melt. Divide the mixture evenly into the pie tins you bought and top with some shredded cheese. Now, as for storage: we’re going to cover these with foil because again: foil won’t get completely destroyed in a fire pit. Be sure to spray the other side of your foil topper with more nonstick cooking spray, cause you don’t want that melted, gooey cheese to stick to the top of the foil. Once you are ready to cook these, get a fire nice and hot and let it burn down to hot coals. Place a grill over top {to prevent the bottoms from burning!!!} and heat up your mac and cheese 8-10 minutes or until hot and cheesy! YUM. Depending on how hot your fire is, this could take no time at all, or could take a little longer. The key is to not set them directly over your heat source. Burnt mac and cheese was never good. Since everything is more or less cooked, all you have to do is heat it through.
