Hungry Kids Campfire Cookbook
So .. a
camping trip makes great memories! Many will center around food, as both
familiar and novel meals are produced like magic, without even a kitchen stove!
Kids will be amazed at what they can make, and what adults pull together for
them to enjoy. Simple foods can be good and fancy. There is no reason to
sacrifice nutrition for good taste! Sure, kids will enjoy hot dogs and
marshmallows while camping, but how about some Chicken Stir Fry or Really Fast
Bean Burritos, too?
The recipes
in here are kid-friendly, but adults will find new favorites, too. Garlicky
Shrimp with Asparagus Rafts and Fruit Kebabs are fancy enough to serve for
company, not just as camp! Enjoy reading through this book, as inspiration
strikes you.
New cooking
methods will make delicious memories, including breakfast in a zip-type bag,
muffins in orange peels, fish in newspaper, and blueberry pie in foil. Did you
notice that list included no pans to wash?! This book includes simple recipes
and some fancy ones, all designed for good nutrition and great memories. Above
all, make sure camp food is fun and plentiful---camping makes everybody hungry!
Snacks for
those on-the-go days are here, along with a good helping of desserts. Rice
Pudding, Pineapple Upside Down Cake, Grilled Peaches... is your mouth watering
yet?
I’m a mom,
and a grandmother. I was a Girl Scout and leader for ten years, including four
summers leading at a Girl Scout day camp. I also served a couple of three year
stints as a Cub Scout den mother, and several years at Cub Scout Day Camp. On
top of that, I live in the pacific Northwest, where rainy days –no, weeks! --
are the norm. Our motto is “if we stay home until the weather is ideal, we may
not get outdoors for month, so let’s GO!”
Camping and
nature requires energy and fuel for busy young –and old--bodies. I was on a
week-long camping trip, obviously planned by someone else, who was on a
weight-loss plan. Every breakfast was melon, just melon, and every single lunch
and dinner was bagged green salad with low-fat dressing. That’s it---no
protein, no grains or carbs, no variety. There was widespread grumbling on Day
One. By Day Two, hunger was an issue! Day Three brought a mutiny, and a trip to
town to buy real food. A campout is not the time to enforce weight loss! You
may avoid donuts at home, but at camp, they’re fun!
Of course,
enlisting the kids in the cooking process is great---it’s part of the fun, and
they feel like they’re needed (which they are!), as well as making their
appetites surge. Even timid eaters can’t resist food they helped make!
Cooking
with children also teaches them life skills. I actually met a ten year old on a
scout camping trip who didn’t know how to cut a tomato... at home, her Mom did
all the cooking. This girl was most enthusiastic, once I showed her how to hold
a common kitchen knife. You’ll enjoy seeing the pride in a camper’s eyes when
they announce “I helped make this!”
Kids are
not the only ones making memories; the adults need time to play and explore,
too! This is not the time for three-hour meal prep. Really delicious food can
be made in a short time, with a little planning.
You can cut
down on prep time at camp by doing some of it at home. For example, you can cut
meat at home, then freeze it with its marinade ingredients in a zip-type bag.
Take it to camp like that; in the cooler, it’ll help keep other foods cold, and
as it thaws, it’s ready to cook. You may want to do some slicing at home, if
your stir-fry requires several vegetables. Having them at hand in a bag ready
to toss in the pot makes for quick cooking at camp.
Don’t turn
up your nose at prepared or convenience foods in the grocery store as you plan
your outing. Bags of frozen vegetable mixes are tasty (and fast), as are frozen
hash browns. The produce aisle has bagged cole slaw that is nice in Oriental
recipes, and a lot faster to use than whacking up cabbage, onions, carrots, and
all. You can even buy pre-cut fruit and vegetables. Minute Rice makes a tasty
brown rice that takes a short time to prepare, your local bulk food section has
dehydrated vegetables and beans, and you might even pick up some dinner ideas
while wandering the frozen food aisle. What’s wrong with warming thawed egg
roll on a stick over a camp fire while the stir-fry cooks?
The main
thing is, make food fun, be creative, and get outdoors!
