Camp Cook

We are back from our camping trip at Itasca State Park and we had a blast! If you’ve never been there before you should know that they have some of the best bike trails and hiking trails for a state park. Perfect for a family or a group of friends (note that quiet time is at 10 pm! That took a little getting used to.) Now I know that camping isn’t for everybody, it can be a huge hassle and turn out to be not so fun at all. I LOVE camping and it’s probably because that was what our family vacations consisted of growing up. We didn’t go to Disneyland or Wisconsin Dells. We would go camping in Grand Marais, Father Hennepin State Park, you name it. Now how do you get past the sucky parts of camping? I can’t give you any advice on how to make your tent magically pack itself at the end of the weekend but I can help you with the food part of camping. I refuse to do dishes on vacation so I have thought up a few ways to get away with it (and no, I don’t just make Ryan do the dishes.) First off is breakfast. This is probably one of the messiest and instead I’ve made it the easiest. Go to the freezer section in your grocery store and buy a box (or two) of your favorite Jimmy Dean’s breakfast sandwiches. I think that the English muffins kind work best but the biscuit kind work well also.

 They come in these individual plastic pockets so just throw them right in the cooler and you won’t have to worry about them getting wet from melted ice. Put the box in the trash, no need to have wet cardboard floating around in your cooler.

 So when you wake up in the morning and it’s time for breakfast open the plastic the sandwich is wrapped around and discard, then wrapped the sandwich with tin foil and put it on the grill. I’d say it takes about 7 minutes on each side but I would check it if you’re unsure.

 There’s your breakfast! No dishes required! Pair it with a donut or a muffin and you’ll be full until lunch time. Now, you can absolutely just make these a home yourself and package them up and probably end up saving money so more power to you.

My next great discovery for camp eating is burritos. Who would have thought? I found this easy recipe online because I had a box of Zatarains Red Beans and Rice in the cupboard and I was hoping to use it up. The recipe is (weird enough) Red Beans and Rice Burritos. Of course, the recipe isn’t for the grill but we can make it work. When you are about to make your burrito put down a square piece of tin foil and spray it with some Pam (I prefer the Olive Oil kind.) Then make your burrito and wrap it up with the tin foil. I put them in their own individual plastic bags and put them in the freezer. I can make these a week before our camping trip instead of rushing to get everything prepared at the last minute. Plus, if you have them in individual bags it’s a lot easier to just grab one out of the cooler.

 These were just a few of my favorites that I made over this camping trip but the possibilities are endless. Preparing the meals ahead of time is the key. Make a hotdish or a pot of spaghetti and meatballs in one of those foil trays and then heat it up on the stove one night. Or I’ve made foil packets of chicken fajitas and then just put the heated mix on a warmed tortilla.

 It is now officially the end of summer so I’m guessing many of you won’t be camping any more for the rest of the year but you can keep these ideas in mind when you go on an ice fishing trip or snowmobile trip this winter, don’t stop being creative just because it gets cold out!