Thanks!

I always love putting hot dogs on a stick/skewer (all the way through the dog) and then wrapping crescent roll dough around it. You have to be sure that the dough is secured at the bottom, then wrap around to the top of the dog, and stick through the skewer at the top. It is usually a good idea to wrap them with foil so the dough doesn’t fall off and so that you can cook them all the way through. Oh, and you can also try wrapping cheese around the hot dog before wrapping dough.
Also, DEFINITELY check out this website – http://chuckwagondiner.com/categories.php?id=11. We get a ton of recipes for easy, fun campfire cooking from here – it is reliable!
I love the idea of fun campfire cooking for the kids – it makes for a whole evening of entertainment and gives them a safe way to "play" with the fire, which we all know kids love to do!
Enjoy.

Thanks!

I always love putting hot dogs on a stick/skewer (all the way through the dog) and then wrapping crescent roll dough around it. You have to be sure that the dough is secured at the bottom, then wrap around to the top of the dog, and stick through the skewer at the top. It is usually a good idea to wrap them with foil so the dough doesn’t fall off and so that you can cook them all the way through. Oh, and you can also try wrapping cheese around the hot dog before wrapping dough.
Also, DEFINITELY check out this website – http://chuckwagondiner.com/categories.php?id=11. We get a ton of recipes for easy, fun campfire cooking from here – it is reliable!
I love the idea of fun campfire cooking for the kids – it makes for a whole evening of entertainment and gives them a safe way to "play" with the fire, which we all know kids love to do!
Enjoy.

Does anyone know any good (affordable) recipes for this sort of thing? I also probably won’t have refridgeration, so most of my ingredients will be dry or canned. One-pot recipes would be good; that way I have less dishes to do. I’m expecting to eat a lot of food based around rice, noodles, and potatoes, so simple recipes along those lines would be great.

Thanks!

Check out some books by Buckskinners. I do a lot of camp cooking with dried foods. You can make some very satisfying stews with dried soup mixes and jerky. If you’re going to be out there a while, I would suggest learning how to make sour dough bread in that dutch oven though. You can also use it to bake most desserts.

Probably the best suggestion I have though would be to find a book on the edible plants in the area you’ll be camping in. Without refrigeration, fresh food is a boon. A good reference will also have natural spices, coffee and tea substitutes, and the like.

However, I find that dried foods work out beautifully for extended camping trips as well. If you look around, you should be able to find a source for dried fruits and vegetables, or better still, invest in a dehydrator and prep your own stuff before you leave. If you’re not a heavy eater, you can fit about a months worth (2 veg and 1 fruit serving for 3 meals a day)of dried fruits and veggies in a standard sized cooler that can either be eaten dry or reconstituted for cooking. It will also cut down on the weight of your gear considerably, especially if you get a larger cooler and take your potatos in a dehydrated form as well.

For me though, it just isn’t camping without coffee. My favorite camp trick is to take dandelion roots and bake them until they are almost ash, and to use the remains as a coffee substitute with a little wild chicory.

Have fun!

2002 Salt Lake City Olympic Peach Cobbler
Coleen Sloan

1 large can sliced peaches, undrained
1 box spice cake mix
¾ can lemon-lime soda (Sprite or 7-Up)

In a preheated and oiled 12” Dutch oven, pour the peaches into the bottom. Sprinkle the cake mix over the peaches. Do not stir! Drizzle about ¾ of a can of soda over the cake mix. Cover and bake at 350o for about 35 to 45 minutes.
Serves 6 to 8
Coleen and I used this recipe for an event in which we catered during the 2002 Winter Olymipcs in Salt Lake City.

Dave’s Dutch Tamale Pie
"Cast Iron Covered Wagon Cookin’" by David Herzog

1 lb. ground turkey (try lean ground round)
1 ½ Tbs. chili powder
½ tsp. cumin
1 tsp. fajita seasoning
2 Tbs. garlic, minced
1 28oz. can diced tomatoes
1 15 oz. can whole kernel corn (try hominy, YUM!)
1 8 oz. can diced green chilies
1 ½ c. shredded Colby cheddar cheese
½ c. chicken broth
1 12 oz. box corn muffin mix (12 oz. Aunt Jemima corn bread mix from a 5 lb. bag)
½ c. milk
2 Tbs. melted butter or vegetable oil
1 large egg

In a 12” deep Dutch oven, brown turkey with chili powder, cumin, and minced garlic. Add tomatoes, corn and chilies. Stir well. Add broth, stir. Layer cheese over the top of meat mixture.
Mix corn bread mix, milk, butter, and egg. Spoon over turkey mix and cheese evenly. Cover and bake at about 375o for 35 to 45 minutes until bread is firm and baked through.
Serves 6

Braised Cabbage and Turkey Sausage
"Cast Iron Covered Wagon Cookin’" by David Herzog

2 c. 1” diced celery
2 c. 1” diced red onion
8 to 10 c. chunked cabbage, cored
8 links turkey sausage
Salt and pepper to taste

In a 12” Dutch oven, cook the turkey sausage over medium heat with 1 Tbs. olive oil. Remove sausage and set aside.
Add 1 Tbs. olive oil and sauté celery and onion for 8 to 10 minutes until slightly browned. Add cabbage chunks and ½ c. water or chicken broth. Cook cabbage 8 to 10 minutes, until slightly wilted.
While the cabbage is cooking, slice the sausage into bite sized pieces, then add to cabbage, stir. Salt and pepper to taste. Cook 8 to 10 minutes more to heat sausage. Serve with garlic mashed potatoes.
Serves 8 to 10

Chicken or Pork Tortilla Casserole

4 chicken breasts cooked and shredded or 1 lb. cooked and cubed pork
½ pound tortilla chips
1 pound cheddar cheese, grated, add some pepper jack cheese
2 Ortega chilies, diced

Mix together:
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup milk or sour cream
1 large chopped onion
1 7 oz can green chili salsa

Grease a 12 inch Dutch oven. Crumble half of the chips into bottom; then layer of chicken, a layer of soup mixture, a layer of cheese. Repeat layers, ending with cheese.
Bake at 300° for 1 ½ hours Serves 8

Beer Bread

3 cups self-rising flour
2 Tbs. sugar
1 can warm beer

Combine all ingredients together in a large bowl. Place dough into a 10” deep, Dutch oven and let rise for 15 minutes. Bake at 350° for about 45 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes covered then turn out on a board and serve warm with your favorite topping. You may also use this recipe for drop biscuits.
Serves 6 to 8

Cast Iron Basics
(some of the most important things you need to know!)

Seasoning: Cast iron may be heavy, but with a proper seasoning, is the greatest type of metal to cook in. But, you need to keep your cast iron free from rust and well seasoned to make it “stick free”.
When someone buys cast iron from the store, the foundry (manufacturer) coats the pot or pan with a coating of some sort to keep the item from rusting. This is done by spraying with a type of varnish or dipping it into hot paraffin wax. This protective coating must be cleaned off before seasoning your cast iron.
If your Dutch oven is made by LODGE, the protective coating is a sprayed varnish coating, which must be scrubbed off. Heat the Dutch oven inside your home oven to 225oF., then with a hot pad, lower the oven into hot soapy water, and scrub the Dutch oven with a S.O.S. pad. Scrub the inside and outside of the Dutch oven very well, rinse well, and towel dry. Then place the Dutch oven back into your oven at 225° to dry for about 10 to 15 minutes. The only way to dry cast iron is to dry it completely. I do mine in the oven because, the heat is not concentrated in one spot, as it is on the stove top, which can cause minute cracks.
If your Dutch oven is made by any of the other companies that make outdoor Dutch ovens, the protective coating is dipped paraffin wax, which can be burned off. Do this outdoors in your gas B.B.Q. or, a kettle type charcoal B.B.Q. like a Webber. In a charcoal B.B.Q., use Mesquite charcoal for fuel because it burns much hotter than briquettes. Start the charcoal or light the gas B.B.Q., set on high and pre-heat the B.B.Q. When the charcoal is white, spread it out a little so that is not to close to the cooking grate. Place the oven onto the cooking grate, upside down, and close the lid on the B.B.Q.
Heat the oven to 500° to 550° for 15 minutes. Close the B.B.Q. and cook the Dutch oven for about 1 hour at 500° to 550° , or until the oven stops smoking. Cool the scrub the oven and dry as directed above.
To season the Dutch oven, place the oven upside down on the cooking grate and warm the oven for 10 to 15 minutes at 500° to 550° . With hot pads, remove the D.O. and rub a light coat of lard, bacon grease, white Crisco, or vegetable oil, using a paper towel
Coat the inside and outside of the D.O. and lid. You only need a light coat of oil, you don’t want the grease to be dripping off the oven. Place the Dutch oven back onto the cooking grate and cook the Dutch oven for about 1 hour at 450° to 500° , or until the oven stops smoking. Remove the oven from the B.B.Q. with hot pads to cool. If the D.O. is a glossy brown color, not black, return to B.B.Q. to cook about thirty more minutes. By doing this outside in the B.B.Q., you don’t have to fill the house with smoke and set off the smoke detectors.

Cleaning: Cleaning cast iron is really quite easy and simple. As the same principal with seasoning, there are as many opinions as there are cooks. The methods I have found to work for me are written hereto share with you. However, as you cook more with cast iron and outdoor Dutch ovens, you will find a method that works best for you and your style of cooking.
Right after I am finished cooking in my Dutch ovens, I like to a spray bottle filled with a solution of 4 parts of water to 1 part of apple cider vinegar to clean and sanitize with. Scrape out all the extra bits of food with a spatula then spray the solution into the hot Dutch oven and wipe it out with paper towels. Sometimes, I need to spray and wipe out the oven several times to get it clean. But, it works well and the vinegar has other uses as well.
Many people will tell you to never clean cast iron with soap and water. I have found this to be an excellent way to clean cast iron and use soap and water frequently myself. Be sure that cast iron is warm, to free the food from the pores easily, and to rinse the cast iron with hot water very well to remove all of the soap.
The last and most important thing to do after cleaning your cast iron is not applying more oil to the iron. But, is to dry it completely over or in a heat source, to keep it from rusting. When drying cast iron, don’t get it to hot. It only needs to be about 225o for the moisture to evaporate and dry out. Once the pot, pan, or Dutch oven is cleaned and dried, place a paper towel inside with a little of the paper towel going to the outside to “wick” out any moisture from inside the pot and lid. Be sure to store your cast iron dry, without oil to keep it from turning rancid.

Storing: As mentioned before, cast iron needs to be stored absolutely dry, free of any water, or oil. The water will rust the cast iron. The oil may turn rancid, especially if stored for a long period of time. Personally, I dry my cast iron in the oven at 225o for 30 minutes, after towel drying. So that I don’t burn my hands, I just leave the cast iron in the oven until the oven has cooled down, about 45 to 60 minutes. When I’m camping, I dry my cast iron over a few coals, about 6, 4 under the bottom and 2 on the lid of the Dutch oven. Only keep the cast iron until the water evaporates. Then remove the cast iron from the heat source with hot pads and place paper towels inside the pot and place the lid on the pot. Be sure some of the paper towel lays over the edge of the pot to the outside to wick any internal moisture to the outside of the pot and into the air.
Once cast iron has been seasoned, unless it has not been cared for properly, does not need to be re-seasoned after you use it. So, why store it with more oil in the pot, pan, or Dutch oven. The oil will turn rancid, becoming sticky, smelly, and spoiled; just like food that has been around for to long in the refrigerator. The oil also attracts dirt, dust, and other things flying around in the air, like bugs. So don’t apply any oil to your cast iron until it is warmed up just before you use it and put food into it. Take care of your cast iron and, it will take care of you.

Temperature: judging temperature is an important skill that needs to be practiced when cooking with a Dutch oven. First off, use only name brands of charcoal. Once you find a brand that you like, stick with that brand. That way you become familiar with how it burns, how long the coals last, etc.
When cooking in a Dutch oven, use the 2/3rds rule. The 2/3rds rule is not based on fractions of any number of coals. But, is short hand for figuring out how many coals to use for a 350o to 375o oven. Take the diameter of the oven for the bottom coals and subtract 2. So, if you have a 12” o

These are some of our favorites!
Breakfast Burritos:
1 lb. breakfast sausage.
10-14 eggs (depending on how man people you have to feed)
Flour tortillas, shredded cheddar or jack cheese, salsa

Brown sausage and drain fat. Beat eggs in a bowl and add to sausage. Cook eggs through. Heat tortillas over the flame and fill to your liking!

We also make french toast, pancakes (Biscuit in the plastic container – just add water:)), and bacon.

Lunch/Dinner
Taco Salad:
1 lb. ground beef
1 packet taco seasoning
1 small or medium can of Ranch Style Beans
Fritos, Doritos or other corn chip
shredded cheese, lettuce, sour cream, salsa,…

Brown ground beef and drain fat. Add taco seasoning and beans; heat through. Serve over chips and garnish with everything else.

Foil Dinners:
(per person)
1 boneless skinless chicken breast
2 slices yellow or red onion
sliced assorted vegetables (We like fresh green beans, mushrooms, zucchini, and potatoes.)

You can put all ingredients in one large foil pouch, or everyone can make their own in small pouches.

Season meat and veggies. Layer everything in the foil pouch, starting and ending with the onions. (The onions keep the other food from sticking to the foil and from getting charred if the coals are too hot. Just tell the kids they don’t have to eat them.) Add a little butter to the pouch and fold up to seal. Place in hot coals for about 20-25 or until the chicken is cooked through.

2 lb Boneless chicken parts (may use bone in parts)
2 T Honey
2 T Dijon mustard
2 T Melted margarine
1 t Basil Leaves
1/2 t Garlic Powder

Preheat grill for direct-heat cooking. Place chicken on grill rack. Combine remaining ingredients. During last 3-4 minutes per side of grilling time, brush chicken with sauce.
The first thing to consider is to bring food that you, and especially the kids, like to eat. In fact, I ask the kids what they want to eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner and usually get a lot of “sugary” suggestions that I can build something wholesome out of, and everyone is happy.

For breakfast prepare what you would normally prepare like cereal and then add eggs or pancakes to it. You can purchase small, single-serving cereal boxes that you can cut a “T” shape into and pour the milk right into the box
tongs to pull it out of the coals and to peel back the foil.

Take a strip of tin foil about 12” long, cut a whole banana lengthways, then stuff it with chocolate, or caramel or Rolos (chocolate/caramel chucks). Squeeze the banana back together and wrap it tightly in foil. Put the foil-wrapped banana on a fire or on BBQ coals for about 3-5 minutes. Take if off the coals, open it up and dig out the gooey, chocolatey insides with a fork or spoon. CAUTION: It’s Hot! Use tongs to pull it out of the coals and to peel back the foil.

Cinnamon Apple
Much like the bananas above, but this time you use an apple core remover, knife, or the end of a potato peeler to remove the core of an apple but with the apple still intact! You want to make a hole big enough to put in some brown sugar and cinnamon. Wrap the apple in a couple of layers of foil and put in the fire, on the coals for 3-5 minutes. Take it out, peel back the foil and enjoy! CAUTION: It’s Hot! Use tongs to pull it out of the coals and to peel back the foil.

9 Easy Camping Meals You can Cook without Pots and Pans!

Forget the pots and pans! This is a hobo’s delight – all the cooking and no mess!! Here are 9 belly-bustin’ camp meals that you and your family can enjoy without using a single pot or pan. No, this is not a magic trick! The secret is……….tin foil! Can you believe it? This durable, non-flammable material is easy to use and dispose of to make cooking a snap. So, leave the pots and pans at home, grab a roll of tin foil and following these easy recipes for simple, yet satisfying camping meals.

Hobo
I Thinly slice carrots, onions, and potatoes. Tear off a 12” strip of tin foil. Place a hamburger patty on the foil. Place a layer of vegetables on top. Add salt, pepper or other spices to your liking. Fold the foil over the top and bottom. Fold up the corners so it won’t leak and place on the coals, hamburger side down. It should take 20-30 minutes depending on the heat of your coals. When done, open it up and use a knife and fork to eat directly from the foil.

Want that barbeque flavor for your Hobo? Put a squirt of BBQ sauce on the hamburger before you put on the vegetables.

Beef Stew
This is the same as a Hobo, but a little more up-scale since you are using beef cubes. Thinly slice carrots, onions, and potatoes or maybe add broccoli and cauliflower. Tear off a 12” strip of tin foil. Place beef cubes on the foil. Place a layer of vegetables on top. Add salt, pepper or other spices to your liking. This time add some butter and a couple of tablespoons of water to make gravy! Yum! Fold the foil over the top and bottom. Fold up the corners so it won’t leak and place on the coals, beef side down. It should take 20-30 minutes depending on the heat of your coals. When done, open it up and use a knife and fork to eat directly from the foil.

Chicken and Corn
Smear chicken pieces with butter. Spice to your liking and wrap in 12” strip of foil. Lay on the coals, turning the chicken every few minutes for about 20 minutes. The corn can be husked, lathered with butter and wrapped in foil for a nice roasting in about 10 minutes. Another way to do the corn is to pull back the leaves, remove the husk (hair-like fibers), close the leaves, dip the ear of corn in water and place directly on the coals! Should roast nicely in 8-10 minutes, turning often so it doesn’t burn.

Fish
In this recipe substitute meat or poultry for fish or shrimp! You can add thinly sliced vegetables or put finely chopped chives, butter and a slice of lemon in a 12” strip of foil. Smaller, lighter fish or shrimp will not take as long to cook so I would expect 3-5 minutes cooking time.

Ham and Sweet Potato
In this recipe use chunks of ham, thin slices of sweet potato, (chunks will also work) and a slice of pineapple. Put all this in a 12” strip of foil with a dollop of butter and a sprinkle of brown sugar. Wrap up the foil and put on the coals for 10 minutes each side and you have a tasty ham and sweet potato dinner in 20 minutes!

Potato
I use this when I want to add a potato to the meal, like the Fish and lemon meal above. But, I have to start the potato first, since it takes longer to cook than the fish. I take a fork and stab the potato 3-5 times in the front and back, wrap it in foil and bury it in the coals. It usually takes about 30-40 minutes to cook and I can tell when it’s ready by poking it with a fork to see how soft it is. I take it out of the coals, slice it open and stick a slice of hard butter in it! YUM!

Oriental Chicken
Use boneless chicken pieces or strips and frozen mixed vegetables. Put the chicken and vegetables in a 12” strip of foil. Add two capfuls of soy sauce, a dash of garlic salt and a sprinkle of brown sugar. Wrap and cook on coals for about 20 minutes, turning every few minutes.

Breakfast Nest
Here’s one you can try for breakfast! Take a sausage patty and put it on the foil. Take frozen hash browns and make a little nest on top of the sausage patty. Now comes the tricky part – crack an egg into the nest, wrap-up the foil and cook for about 5-7 minutes, turning every few minutes.

Mushroom Chicken
Use boneless chicken pieces or strips, frozen peas and a can of cream of mushroom soup. Put the chicken on a 12” strip of foil; add a couple of tablespoons of soup and a handful of peas. Wrap and cook on coals for about 20 minutes, turning every few minutes. This will be very moist!