Camping Series: Part 3- Campfire Cooking

When we go camping, we always go with a non-electric site.  This means all of our cooking is either over an open fire or on a portable charcoal grill.  Truth is, we bought the charcoal grill but have yet to use it.  Campfire cooking is both the most intimidating and the most enjoyable part of camping for me.  I like the challenge of it, but am always scared I’m going to burn everything.... that's only happened a couple times....  

Every time we go camping we try new recipes, but here are a few of our favorite campfire meals so far.

• Hash browns and Southwestern Egg Beaters- Brown shredded hash browns in a little canola oil (maybe 2 or 3 tablespoons) and the pour the Egg Beaters over top.  Stir until eggs are done.
• Waffles- Just use basic waffle mix and follow the directions on the box.  Pour into a waffle iron like this one.  You can find a link to buy this in this post.

• Chicken Fajitas- Recipe below
• Dutch Oven Ravioli- Recipe below

• Dutch Oven Chili- My super quick and simple recipe is below or just use your favorite chili recipe.
• Campfire Calzones- Press biscuit dough into a greased pie iron.  Put in any toppings you like and seal the edges of the biscuit dough to cover toppings.  Cook over campfire until the dough is cooked through.
• Grilled Cheese- Easy idea for the pie iron.
• S’mores- You gotta have these!!

I try to keep the recipes as simple as possible to make things easier.

Here are a few tips for campfire cooking.

• Instead of bringing eggs, bring Egg Beaters.  They have flavored ones that add a lot to a meal and you don’t have to worry about the eggs breaking in your cooler.
• Don’t forget the non-stick cooking spray!
• Cooking over an open fire takes longer than cooking at home.  Start dinner earlier than usual.
• Watch food closely.  It quickly goes from done to burnt.
• Do as much prep work at home as possible.  Chop up veggies and meats then freeze them in gallon baggies.  They’ll thaw in the cooler and then all you have to do is dump it in your skillet or dutch oven.  I even cooked the ground beef for my chili at home and brought it in a baggie.

   Here are the recipes as promised!

Chicken Fajitas

1-2 boneless skinless chicken breasts (cut into strips)

Cut peppers and onions (as many as you like)

1-2 Tbsp canola oil

Lemon pepper seasoning (to taste)

4 Large flour tortillas

Toppings-

Cheddar cheese

Fresh diced tomato

Shredded lettuce

Sour cream

Sauté chicken peppers and onions in oil in a cast iron skillet over the open fire.  Sprinkle lemon pepper seasoning over chicken and peppers while cooking.  Once chicken is no longer pink, put on tortillas and top with whatever toppings you like!

Campfire Ravioli

1 bag frozen cheese ravioli

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1 jar spaghetti sauce

Dump ravioli and sauce in dutch oven, top with cheese.  Put the lid on and let her cook.  Cook time varies depending on your fire.  Just keep checking.  Once the cheese is bubbly on top, the ravioli should be heated through.

Chili

1 lb. hamburger (pre-cooked at home)

2 cans kidney beans

2 cans diced tomatoes

1 packet chili seasoning

Put it all in your dutch oven and cook until heated through.  Serve with cornbread, shredded cheese and crackers.

-Brooke