pack c/o food

[bear dad]

Hello,

We are wanting to do a another pack c/o soon, other than burgers and dogs, easy to do and clean up, what is another easy thing you done for a meal? Never done spagetti for 30-40 people has anyone else? Your results. Does anyone have a good simple things to make for a group this size?

[Basementdweller]

I am assuming dinner

 

Penne pasta and sauce.... Holds the sauce better than traditional noodles.

 

Hot dogs roasted on the campfire, the kids favorite. Mac and cheese and sweet corn.

 

We have done dutch oven western ribs, They were 99 cents a pound.....

 

we have done Pie iron grilled cheese,

 

Burgers are greasy and messy, fries or any thing fried is a pain.

 

We even made the dutch oven cheese cake from the last issue of scouter.....delete the vanilla and sub lemon juice is my recommendation.(This message has been edited by Basementdweller)

[Twocubdad]

We did spag for a couple hundred at a Cub-o-ree many years ago. We were fortunate to have a dad who ran a restaurant in the pack help us out, otherwise we would have been hosed.

 

Two tricks -- one, use a fresh pot of boiling water for every patch of spag. Seems wasteful and takes a long time to boil that much water. But if you reuse the water it gets so starchy the second batch turns to mush. Secondly, precook the pasta and refrigerate it in the large aluminum catering trays. You can even pour the sauce over top. Then reheat it in the oven. Or if you're cooking just prior to the event, as you prepare each pan of spaghetti, cover it and keep it hot in an oven until ready to serve.

 

Of course I have no first-hand knowledge of this. The one time we did it we did as told by our expert and it worked out great. Others may have different advice.

 

 

Edited to add: I just realized that by "c/o" you may mean campout, not chartered organization. I wouldn't do spaghetti for those numbers on a campout unless your in a pretty civilized site with running water and some big honkin' stoves.

 

We've had luck with grilled chicken breast. Get the bulk bags from BJ's or Costco. It's not hard to march the breasts across the grill top until done and fairly easy to keep them hot, again in one of the aluminum catering trays. BBQ sauce optional. Serve them on a bun, or as a stand-alone entree. We had a couple of big grill sections we could put over a fire pit and cook a lot of stuff at once. You could use charcoal or a real fire. Most folks are amazed how much better anything tastes grilled directly over a real hardwood fire.(This message has been edited by Twocubdad)

[bear dad]

Yes this would be a for a camp out and just 1 meal dinner? looking for other ideals for lunch. Last time we had a pack camp out we did burgers which is okay, but wanted to try something else and try to keep costs low.

[EJCrimmins]

Tacos are easy and generally popular. Precook and season the meat then all you need to do is rewarm it. When we've done this in the past the pack provides the meat and shells (assortment of hard and soft) and then all the families brought a couple of favorite toppings to share.

[The Blancmange]

To make tacos even easier for a group, try "walking tacos." Use individual size bags of tortilla chips, Doritos, Fritos, etc. Crush them slightly in the bag, and cut the bag open (hint: cut the long edge of the bag, rather than the crimped end to make a larger opening - easier to eat). Add taco meat and regular taco toppings. Eat with a fork.

[Fehler]

My son hates hot dogs, which is standard ration in our Pack. So, I've taken to bringing along a bag of tortillas, a bag of shredded cheese, and a bag of sliced pepperoni. Then, using a two-pronged hot dog stick, spear the tortilla, sprinkle on the cheese, and lay some pepperoni over the top, and try to toast it over the campfire until the cheese melts without tipping it over and spilling the cheese into the fire.

[Scoutfish]

We have 4 leaders who have big ole propane pig cookers.

 

WE have cooked 17 Boston Butts at a time, cooked a 200 pound pig, cooked 4 batches of chicken leg quarters, cooked spaghetti ( pre cooked and reheated at camp) and we have cooked hot dogs and cheeseburgers.

 

 

We decided to stick with hot dogs and chips and macaroni for lunch, and we cook leg quarters, green beans abd boiled potatoes for dinner.

 

Truth be told, the scouts are simple when it comes to food. Give them a bottled water , a hot dog and chips and macaroni and they are just as happy as I am with a 20oz ribeye that is slightly pink inside with a loaded baked potato and gallon of sweet tea!

 

Point is, it's just so simple to do hot dogs. We can stick over 100 in a 48 oz cooler and stick half a bag of ice on them...they will keep great for the entire trip.

One bottle of mustard, oe bottle of ketchup and you are set.

 

Sidenote: We usually have about 25 uncooked hotdogs left over from lunch that we will cook for dinner for those 3 or 4 scouts who do not eat food other than hotdogs or chicken nuggets! (This message has been edited by scoutfish)

[Basementdweller]

Scout fish brings up a good point.......We always have PB&J and a loaf of bread available for those who don't like what is offered.

 

We do walking tacos for lunch. Or cold cuts and chips....something fast with out a lot of prep or clean up.

 

Most of the scouts just want to eat and be done with it to get back out and play.

 

I don't like chicken or raw ground meat on in a camp out setting. Just to big a risk in my book, I don't want a camp full of sick folks. Ground beef for chili or tacos is cooked at home..... if you are in a cabin with a refrigerator or close to town chicken would be fine. My troop got sick on chicken leg quarters as a youth, I have never gotten over it.(This message has been edited by Basementdweller)

[Scoutfish]

You know what is a bigger concern with our pack?

 

Trying to convince the scouts to wash their hands AND faces ....with soap... AND water!

[KC9DDI]

I would think spaghetti would be tricky for a group that size, and probably a little messy.

 

This might be a bit too complicated for cubs, but might be feasible if you have a couple more experienced leaders to oversee the operations: Dutch oven stews. With a large group you could probably make 5 or 6 different stews with different combinations of meat and veggies, to give everyone a little variety. Scouts and parents could help prepare the stew, and then the Scouts could run and play for an hour or so while they simmer over charcoal.

 

Another idea for an easy lunch is those frozen tubs of Italian Beef that you just have to simmer and serve over hotdog or hamburger buns. Or you could just do a "picnic lunch" - the pack could provide sandwich bread and a couple of lunch meats (and PB&J), and ask each family to bring a cold side dish prepared ahead of time to share.

 

If you're doing a breakfast, I've found that French toast and brown-and-serve sausage links are one of the easiest to make, especially if you want some of the older cubs to be able to help. Things like pancakes and scrambled eggs require a bit more experience to have them come out right.

 

I would recommend trying to shy away from burgers and hotdogs - non-outdoorsy parents are always impressed when you cook something a little different. Of course, you should only go as complicated as you feel comfortable with - people generally aren't very forgiving when they can't eat! Hopefully you have some more experienced adults in your pack, or maybe consider inviting a couple Boy Scouts from a nearby troop to come help?

[Scoutfish]

One thing we do is this:

 

On friday nights of our campouts...everybody is responsible for their own dinner. Bring your own, stop at MacDonald's, go to Subway or bring a pizza...whatever you want.

 

Alot of our leaders ( myself include) take advantage of this time to cook high sodium, high carb, artery clogging cholesterol filled food! Yeah....that's right....the great tasting stuff.

 

I cook a big pot of blackeyed peas and smoked sausage using two bags of dried beans soaked at least 8 overnight and two big packs of sausage,and an onion.

 

Our outgoing ACM cooks a big ( 8 gallon ) pot of deer meat Brunswick Stew.

 

One Wolf leader cooks a big pot of Low Country Boil ( crab, fish,shrimp, and potaoes) and fries up some clam fritters.

 

Another Wolf leader brings homemade sausage and brats and some awesome homemade zuchinni relish.

 

Another brings salami, ham, and turkey cold cuts , tomatoes, lettuce, 3 or 4 types of cheese and hogie rolls.

 

We all bring more than enough to feed about 15 people each.

 

A few of us bring our DO's to show how to make cobblers, cakes and desserts.

 

So far, I have observed that every year, more and more parents "forget" to bring their dinner!

 

We do it to show a variety of cooking ideas, ands also it's an unwritten bragging rights competition.

 

Anyways, the point is, we can throw down on Friday night, eat really good stuff - guilt free, and when Saturday and Sunday come, we don't mind simple stuff like hot dogs and leg quarters.

 

Bonus is, since each person does their own thing... we do not have a big mess to clean up.(This message has been edited by scoutfish)

[CCbytrickery]

On our pack campouts, Friday nights the families are responsible for their own dinner. The pack provides dessert, usually several different cobblers cooked in dutch ovens.

 

We did chicken fajitas, for almost 90. It was pretty easy, cooking the chicken on the grill, cooking peppers and onions in a skillet on the grill burner. Toppings: salsas, cheese, black beans, tomatoes, lettuce, onions and olives.

 

Taco bar: ground beef, cheese, etc.

Also have done chili, and served spaghetti noodles, so people could make "cincinnati chili" or just plain noodles (in the case of my son).

 

Lunches we have made just sandwiches (choice of breads, meats, cheese, lettuce, tomato, mayo, mustards) and chips.

Of course, hot dogs and hamburgers, for both meals.

 

Always fruits and salads available.

 

Breakfasts, we have made pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausages, biscuits. Always fruit and one "sweet" per boy (pecan roll or honey bun or something similar)...and the boys HATE it when I'm on breakfast duty because I enforce the one sweet rule.

 

Next year, I am kitchen coordinator, and have been searching for meals as well. I think we're doing a beef stew (fairly easy to make, and my recipe uses salsa so I don't have to cut up onions or tomatoes, and if it's mild, the scouts can eat it).

 

Also, I'm thinking of doing pulled pork at home, freezing it, and then reheating for dinner on Saturday night. Served with buns, bbq sauce, homemade vinegar based coleslaw (made on site).

 

Another option that has come up is to do turkeys at home, and freeze. Reheat and serve on Saturday night. Make some mashed potatoes and stuffing to go with.

 

Chicken--cut into pieces, rolled in ranch powder and grilled OR Marinate in teriyaki sauce, and make "Minute" rice with some baby corn and sugar snapped peas.

 

Steak skewers (unskewer before givign to boys), cuts back on the amount of meat needed per person.

 

I am going to try to do as much of the prep work as possible at home.

 

Edited to add: I got some really awesome information off of this website: http://www.bsatroop680.org/documents/Cooking/default.htm

 

 

(This message has been edited by CCbytrickery)

[Basementdweller]

what and the heck do you spend on a campout????? Steak for 90??????

 

We charged 5 bucks a head last trip.

[CCbytrickery]

BasementDweller,

You're thinking hunks of steak, like you get on your plate at Longhorn, right?

 

Skewers--3-4 pieces of 1 oz steak, grape tomatoes, bell peppers, onions. Other skewers with zucchini or other squash, other veggies. (conversely, just saute the zucchini and other veggies in a pan on the grill, makes it easier to serve group style).

 

1 lb of steak feeds 3 adults. I pay $3.99 lb for flank steak at BJs, just tenderize and marinate before skewering. BTW, ground beef is the same price.

 

This is not something I would serve for 90 people. This would be for the smaller camp-outs, where we have less than 40 go. Sorry I didn't give you the exact number I would serve this to.