More nutritious camp meals

[yarrow]

I am always disappointed in the variety of meals the boys choose. Too processed. Too salty. Too predictable. Tell me your favorite and nutritious camp meal. Especially dutch oven meals.

[FScouter]

I like chicken & rice with mushroom soup in the dutch oven. Surprisingly, the boys like vegetables with cheese in the dutch oven.

[ozemu]

Stir fry. Currently the Troop's favourite.

 

Maybe get the PL's to make a three month rule of:

 

nothing out of a can,

 

all vegetables to be natural when they arrive at camp,

 

no meal that we have cooked before (ie all new meals).

 

 

[red feather]

So many choices so few overnights.

 

First our troop bans hot dogs, hamburgers, quick food, etc. The boys must cook!

 

Many favorites but a couple that that I like to do and never had to clean a pot afterwords:

 

Chili

Three bean and three meat. Three types of beans ( your choice) three meats ( hot sausage, brats ( or equivalent) and ham) amounts depend on how many and how hungry.

 

Home canned tomatoes, onion, small cut potato,half can sweet corn, season to your taste,half green pepper, hot peppers to taste. ( dried garden jalapenos or store bought)

 

Cook down to little liquid three times adding liquid from bean cans or water. After third time add some fluid and coat top with corn bread mix and bake cornbread.

 

For breakfast,

 

Brown hot sausage, and any other meat you wish, remove, leaving grease (bad word?) behind. Put potatoes ( very small/thin slices) in grease and cook till almost done. Re-add sausage, eggs, cheese, rest of green pepper, rest of corn, and anything else you have handy to add or want to. Once mostly firm add cornmeal on top and bake.

 

These are one dutch oven meals and are easy to do.

 

 

bon apetit (sp)

 

yis

 

 

[KoreaScouter]

For a DO, I gotta go with lasagna -- easy to make, smells great cooking, very filling, and with carrot sticks and box oven rolls, you've got the complete package.

 

KS

[dancinfox]

I use a large flat stone to cook on at outings. I can make stir fry, bake bread, cook chicken, eggs, bacon, meat loaf, etc. No pots, dutch ovens. I have wittled a spoon and spatula out of wood and use these to cook with. Tastes great, the kids use it after I'm done, or have found their own.

Dancin

[jbroganjr]

Steak on a rock - marinate before leaving. Build a fire, place a large, dry rock in center. When hot enough, place strips of steak on fire.

 

I am kinda into this stuff, so here is what I have made w/ D.O. - basic cobblers, from scratch cinnamon raisin buns, D.O. Pizza (buy the dough, put on toppings and bake; Quessadillas, pot roast, meat loaf,

On a grate/grill over coals - chicken, which will taste different depending on wood used! Spicy Thai chicken, with Peanut sauce over rice, w/ suated brocolli raub or spinach and roasted peppers (sounds complicated, takes 30 minutes to make the meal)

Breakfast, partial to the 'mess' which is a combination of eggs, sausage or bacon or steak or ham or whatevers left over, potato pieces, a little hot sauce, peppers, onions, mushrooms Basically what ever left around and added to the mess and cooked in either a DO or cast iron skillet.

 

My son: steak or chicken, soups, pizza, spaghetti, d.o. doughnuts, frajitas, cobblers. Pork Roll/Egg/Cheese Sandwhiches.

 

All of my meals should not require lots of prep or mess, but like I said, I am into this stuff and cooking is one of my hobbies. One of my challenges is to reproduce a gourment meal made in a kitchen to the outdoors. My rule kids can have a taste, depending on my mood and amount of food, and I will always be there to help guide the kids to produce whatever food they like, they just have to do all the work.

 

I also enjoy the company of other ASM who can really cook to. We try to set the example.

Our kids really took up the challenge of cooking when they looked up from there hot dogs to see us "adults" getting ready for a one pot Pot Roast complete with trimmings. Never see hot dogs and such on camp outs any more!

Best advice is to come up with entertaining and enjoyable meals that are not daunting to the kids. Most Recipes, though, are daunting to th ekids, it requires a bit of show and tell to get them to adapt to a better menu.

 

Go and find the cookbooks on line either at macscouter or usscouts.org for D.O. cooking.

[OldGreyEagle]

Our Council recently had its second annual Venture Crew Rendezvous. Our Crew decided to kick the menu up a notch. This was my favorite menu for a campout yet.

 

Saturday Breakfast:

 

Crepes stuffed with Whip Cream and Strawberries or with sausages

Home made Doughnuts

 

Crepes is just a fancy name for a thin pancake. Make the batter a little looser than normal and you will get a thinner pancake. We had a large container of Cool whip. We rolled strawberries up in the crepes after coating them with the cool whip. We also had sausages that we wrapped in the crepes as well

 

We took a pot, filled it with 1 1/2 inch of vegetable oil and out it on a propane stove on low heat. Then we took a few containers of Poppin Fresh Biscuits, cut the already section dough bits in quarters and fried them in the oil. After they turned a nice golden brown we put them in various ziplock bags, one had powdered sugar, once had hot chocolate drink mix and the other sugar and cinnamon.

 

For lunch we had 3 dozen clams that we boiled and diped them in melted butter and we deep fried pheasant breasts. Also on hand was Shells and Cheese (distinctly not Maccaroni and cheese, they were shells)Dessert was more strawberries and whip cream.

 

DInner was a Pig Roast hosted by the Council, we had roast pig, potato salad, coleslaw, hot dogs, etc. It was great.

 

Breakfast on sunday was a compromise. Our Advisor wanted to do Eggs Benedict. The youth thought that might be to much, so they settled for Egg McMUffins. (you Emeril wannabees following this?) We fried eggs in a circular form, made canadian bacon, put the eggs and bacon on an english muffin with a slice of cheese and Voila, Egg McMuffin (hope Mickey Dees dont sue me, I didnt use that copyright thing. Of course the adult mixed up some instant hollandise sauce and had his Eggs Benedict anyway. I guess an Egg McMuffin wasnt as intimadating as Eggs Benedict.

 

We were the talk of the outing food wise, and it didnt take any longer than "normal" food(This message has been edited by OldGreyEagle)

[willysjeep]

Look in an old 1970's or earlier scoutbook for some great made from scratch ideas that are simple enough, yet not too common, for everybody. Cooking over an open fire can add a new dimension to the whole experience too. Grilling steaks, a ham, or even cornish game hens on strings are all fun and taste great. Dehydrated ingredints can be fun to work with too, and can be prepared weeks in advance at a troop meeting as long as a parent comes back to check on them the next day. Dried beans and fruits are more of a traditional ingredient and can make some pretty hearty meals. Adding refried beans to a pot of chile can thicken it up pretty nicely, if you allow tin cans.

 

BBQ'd SPAM is a good quick meal that may not be 100% origonal but it is fun and is a change in menu. Just roast the spam on a stick over a low fire and paint it with BBQ sauce.

 

Cooking whole fish in clay in the coals can work nicely. Some things just require a diferent cooking method. If your boys take the time to make a bean hole or set up a fire site for open fire cooking then they won't want to waste their energy on making a pot of macaroni. They might want to make the best use of their work and actually make a big pot of baked beans or a slow cooked stew.

 

Fresh eggs will keep for a week without refrigeration, or seven with. If you take a fresh egg and dip it in melted wax it will keep longer too. They are all sterile on the inside and only spoil when a micro-organisim penetrates the shell, the wax helps stop this. Fresh eggs can be baked in coals, or used in more traditional methods and taste a lot better than powdered.

 

Try a few local wild plants once in a while. They can add a little special twist to even the most uninspired meals. Another good thing to try is making a criteria for each meal.

 

Baking dutch oven bread or reflector oven bread is also a good way to add a little to a meal, especially a stew or chile. DUmplings are good too.

 

Look through some old scout books and you will get a ton of ideas for meals that don't use a lot of prepared ingredients.

 

It's funny but this just came up at my troop meeting the day I saw this thread here. Strange coincodence.

[silver-shark]

This is a common problem with a lot of troops in my district. Even to the point where our District Boy Scout Round Table Commissioner is looking for ideas for a cookbook that lists everything, including all sides, grocery list and utensils required for a complete meal. Basically, everything for our favorite complete meal.

 

We have already invested in something similar from our Scout Shop called Camp Cookery for Small Groups. (About $3.25 if I remember right.) Although it doesn't list out a full menu, it does have recipes for patrol sized groups including shopping list and utensils required. They include main dishes, sides, deserts, etc... The recipes vary between dutch oven meals, foil meals, and traditionally cooked meals. We got this for the younger scouts just starting to do outdoor cooking.

 

Our adults feel if we show what can actually be done outdoors, including things like baked spaghetti, crab stuffed chicken, Shish-kabobs, breads, cupcakes and pies, etc... in dutch ovens, eventually the boys will catch on to how WELL we eat, and they have.

[EagleWB]

My favorite is D.O. Chicken Parmesan. We also make all the extras to go with it. We started with a weekend devoted to cooking and the boys are slowly starting to make better meals on all campouts.

[red feather]

Try the ol' geezers cookbook. Great recipes.

 

Any search on the web for dutch oven recipes will give you many sites to surf.

 

yis

[LauraT7]

We have also started encouraging the boys to try new things -

 

one of the ways we do that is have great meals in the adult patrol - and let the boys have the leftovers. this does two things -

1 - it gets them to try new things

2 - somebody always either doesn't like what's being cooked or doesn't get enough - it uses up our leftovers

 

sometimes the boys 'forget' a major ingredient (hey, they're learning!) and their meal turns out bad - this gives them an example to reach for and something to eat if its really a disaster.

 

Our last campout was kind of cute -

Sat dinner they planned was Tacos - simple, right?

The PL decided to save on ice and keep things cold by freezing EVERYTHING. including the tomatoes, onion and lettuce. LOL! they had a huge 'brick' of hamburger they had to chip apart in chunks. He 'forgot' to pick up a taco spice packet - they were kind of bland.

 

coincidentally, the adults had planned tacos for lunch that day - Since there were only three of us - we had leftover meat - which we had re-sealed and saved - they dumped ours in theirs and got some 'spice' that way.

 

the adults had also planned meals that used similar ingredients in multilple meals - Omlets, tacos, beef stew, to 'use up' fresh ingredients and not have so many leftovers. But after making our dinner salads, we still had a tomato, some lettuce and onion and pepper we could give to the boys for their tacos.

 

On another funny note - we had ONE boy with us, who needed cooking experience. though he has been with the troop 2 yrs, he has severe asthma/health problems and seldom camps. (mom wants to keep him in a bubble, Dad wants him to camp) He kept wandering off when he was supposed to be cooking for his patrol at breakfast - so naturally - the hungry boys took over and finished - they wanted to EAT!

 

so this boy's Dad was with us, brought him over and had the boy light our stove, make Dad's omlet, etc. (Dad explained that he would NOT get credit for the meal for advancement as he walked off his duty - but that he needed to learn - good for Dad!) so the boy mixed up dad's omlet per dad's directions and Dad told him "When you're done, put the egg mixture in the bowl into the frying pan and let it sit until the edges start to cook." so what did the boy do? He put the whole bowl in the hot frying pan! LOL! you should have seen his dad's face!

oh well - experience is always the best teacher!

 

______________________

 

I have been experiemnting with new foods by finding recipies ont he 'net. there are LOADS of resources - i like the Scouter ones - as they have already been tested and tried by scouts and you KNOW they will like them.

 

3 recent hits were

 

the crepes and strawberries someone mentioned - nice thing about these, to - is that you can roll them up and eat them right out of the pan - no dishes!

 

Beef stew and biscuits -

 

marinate beef chunks in a ziplock with zesty italian dressing and Worchestershire sauce (prepare before you leave)

 

At camp in a foil-lined DO - fry up some onion and peppers in a little butter - take meat out of baggie and brown. (leave most of marinade in bag) Add one or two bags of frozen mixed vegies of your choice (good to use up leftovers)

 

the recipie calls for gravy mix - but i just added a little water and set it in the coals to cook - and then put some bisquick mix into the baggie with the leftover marinade and mushed to mix - made a roux to add to the now bubbling stew to thicken. Spice to flavor - a litle garlic, or allspice, salt, pepper? cook for about 30 min. stir occasionally.

 

take 1 can jumbo biscuits, and lay biscuits on top of stew, leaving spaces in between. put lid back on and a few coals on top - when biscuits are golden brown dig in. won't last long!

 

Another dinner

 

Baked Chicken and cheese -

 

chicken breasts or strips - in foil packs, spoon over them a mixture of olive oil (6 tbs), lemon juice (2 tbs) and tyme (2tbs), salt and pepper and cook on grill or in DO till chicken done (350 for 30 min).

 

open foil packs and place on top of chicken, 1 slice boiled ham, 1 slice swiss cheese, 1 slice tomato - bake open in DO for about 5 min (melt cheese)

 

___________

 

on a side note - we have noticed that we often have leftover supplies - cooking in patrols; packages too big, etc. and that boys are ALWAYS hungry and often do not plan desserts or snacks. We have started taking an extra cooler - with some raw veggies, s'mores ingredients, maybe some fruit, PB&J and all "leftovers" go in there - boys are welcome to 'raid the cooler' at will - and we end up with some interesting snacks, and less wasted or given away food at the end of a campout.

 

 

 

 

[KoreaScouter]

Come to think of it, DO enchiladas were a big hit, too, and very simple to prepare. I've made them in my cardboard box oven as well -- excellent results there, too.

 

SilverShark; have you suggested that your Roundtable Commissioner take a look at the Cooking MB Pamphlet? It has everything you said he's looking for (at least, the old one did before the requirements changed last year). Our troop has a copy of it in a plastic sleeve in every patrol box.

 

KS

[silver-shark]

Great idea KS. I'll look into that one.

 

Could also prove useful to the boys in the troop as well.