Considering the relatively sparse kitchen resources when camping, I'm trying to decide what's easier? Fix ahead and Freeze, or fix at CG. Things like spaghetti sauce and bbq can take a lot of time (and a lot of cleanup) so with no dishwasher and very few pots, I'm thinking that I can fix them at home, freeze, and shove in the cooler. I'm guessing that frozen blocks of dense food will help keep other food cool, and make prep time a breeze. Any thoughts pro/con? If you do fix/freeze, what sorts of camping food do you make? '64 Jack of all trades '97 Grand Cherokee '89 Coleman Laramie If it can't be fixed with bondo or duct tape, it can't be fixed!
If we are going out for more than a weekend, we prepare ahead and freeze as much as we can in foodsaver bags. Way easier to prepare a meal by sticking it in the microwave or boiling water than doing it from scratch. As far as what types of food.... Meatloaf, Pasta's, Stews are the main stays and easy to make in bulk Ray Cooper - Tigard OR <img src=../Images/icons/icon_smile_suv.gif border=0 align=middle alt="Tow Vehicle"> 2007 Hummer H3 - <img src=../Images/icons/icon_smile_pu.gif border=0 align=middle alt="PopUp"> 2007 Fleetwood Evolution E3 The boys & one Girl... Katie, Buddy, Toby, Ralphie, Sammy, & D.B."Cooper" Edited by - grcooperjr on August 16 2008 09:36:26
We do meals both ways. It's nice to have something already prepared but DH enjoys cooking so he likes to make things from scratch as well. Our cooking while camping is about the same as at home. MissLou
We do a combination of both. Last year we made darn near everything ahead of time - pasta, sauces, marinated meats, etc., and pulled things out as needed. This summer, we did the same with pasta and such, but also brought along the crock pot. We put it outside and cooked spagetti sauce one day and tossed a pork roast in for BBQ another. We got the disposable liners so cleanup was easy. Todd Wife, 3 Kids, 4 Dogs, 3 Cats, The Wabbit '88 Palomino TXL hardsider '93 Ford E-350 Van
Disposable crockpot liners! Can you also freeze stuff in them? Sounds like the perfect solution! Who makes them, and where can I buy them? '64 Jack of all trades '97 Grand Cherokee '89 Coleman Laramie If it can't be fixed with bondo or duct tape, it can't be fixed!
We generally do preparation of the foods that either would make more mess to prepare while at the CG or are more time consuming. Stuff like BBQ is always prepared at home before we leave. http://community.webshots.com/user/Barb_Dave <img src=../Images/icons/icon_smile_pu.gif border=0 align=middle alt="PopUp"><font color=red>1998 Coleman Mesa</font id=red>-<img src=../Images/icons/icon_smile_suv.gif border=0 align=middle alt="Tow Vehicle"><font color=green>1997 Plymouth Voyager</font id=green> <img src=../Images/icons/icon_smile_campfire.gif border=0 align=middle alt="Campfire"><font color=blue>Nights Camping 2008-20</font id=blue>
The crockpot liners are made Reynolds - they are similar material to turkey baking bags. They are at most grocery stores, in with the foil/wraps. You can't freeze stuff in them, but they are great - you just put it in the pot, add your food, and cook. When done, just pull in out and toss....the most you have to do is wipe it out a bit!! No, you can't freeze things in them. Later. Wife, 3 Kids, 4 Dogs, 3 Cats, The Wabbit '88 Palomino TXL hardsider '93 Ford E-350 Van
We have been prepping meals with our food dehydrator. This comes from our tenting days when travel light was a necessity. Several cookbooks dealing with hiking and camping have the recipes. We create a 'just add water' meal in a food saver bag, including the pre-printed recipe instructions. When it is meal time, we get out the dried meal in plastic, boil some water, stir a little, and wallah! a meal. Sometimes we pack dehydrated sides to go with that steak we bought just for the trip. And the Idaho potato dried potatoes are good too! Heidi & Paul '04 Fleetwood Niagara <img src=../Images/icons/icon_smile_jeep.gif border=0 align=middle alt="Jeep"> '05 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited If its got zippers and Velcro it's got to be fun!
Freezing is good for lots of stuff, but some things like Bernaise Sauce you just have to make al fresco. __________________________________________________________ 1999 Jayco Eagle 12SO pushing a F350 PowerStroke CrewCab 4WD long bed monster Here are my Jayco lift docs, they're now on the Portal for you! Jayco Lift System Diagrams L&W Lift System Instructions
I do a lot of both but it seems to me the food is just tastier made from scratch Then again all things seems to taste a lot better camping <img src=../Images/icons/icon_smile_pu.gif border=0 align=middle alt="PopUp"> 98 camplite <img src=../Images/icons/icon_smile_suv.gif border=0 align=middle alt="Tow Vehicle"> 91 F-150 <img src=../Images/icons/icon_smile_beer.gif border=0 align=middle alt="Cold Beer"> <img src=../Images/icons/icon_smile_bbq.gif border=0 align=middle alt="Barbeque">
I have begun to cook my own stews and freeze for the first night (I was using canned stew the first nite, but the sodium is NOW killing me!) The rest of my meats go into the freezer with whatever marinade/seasonings I am going to use on them, as they thaw - they marinate. And while they are frozen they keep the other foods colder! I have been researching MostlyOk's method of dehydrating as less frig/cooler space required, and less weight...not sure if I will take the leap! Maybe this winter I will get a cheap one and try it out! Lynn 2006 Pony 283*2008 Liberty* Reserved 2008: 16 days Camped: 4 nights
I thought MostlyOk's idea was interesting, but during some cursory google searches for dehydrating food, all I saw were recipes for jerky, dried fruit, and assorted snack-type foods. Nothing close to what would make a satisfying family meal. Since I'm a vegan, I'd like to find recipes for drying and using dried vegetables in main-course type meals. '64 Jack of all trades '97 Grand Cherokee '89 Coleman Laramie If it can't be fixed with bondo or duct tape, it can't be fixed!
Pre-made food is great for a few days, but I enjoy cooking from scratch if camping for a week or more. I do mixes ahead of time. I find after doing other camping activities, I have plenty of time for cooking. For long weekends, frozen chilli, getti, stew, etc, are great meals. 98 Coleman Cheyenne 94 Ford F-150
Norfolk - you can premake any vegetarian meal and then use a dehydrator on it. They come with a tray (usually for fruit leather) that you can use for saucier foods, so it doesn't drip down the deydrator. My DH has been hiking the AT and has started to dabble in dehydrating. We have done all kinds of fruits & veggies, sauces and things like taco meats, pastas etc. You can then do the add hot water to rehydrate. You could also do a combination with dehydrated foods but frozen sauces. Just a thought. Don't be afraid to dehydrate just because you only see jerky out there. We have a Nesco snackmaster and it works great. I personally like to cook at the campground on a weber Q, but will premarinate meats and veggies for the grill before we go. I also love the crockpot liners - they rock. Kate & Keith '99 Logan '02 Ainsley '04 Colin 2005 Honda Pilot <img src=../Images/icons/icon_smile_suv.gif border=0 align=middle> 2006 Fleetwood Utah <img src=../Images/icons/icon_smile_pu.gif border=0 align=middle>
I pre-make stuff alot, it sure makes clean up easier, plus I don't have to waste camping time cooking. I've made spaghetti in the crockpot using the liners - works great. Premake the sauce, heat it in the crock and add a little water, put your noodles directly in and it's perfect. I've also frozen beef stroganoff and heated in a skillet. I always precut onions to take, we put them in almost everything. Sometimes I premake our hobo packet so all I have to do is pull them out of the fridge and put them on the fire. We've done campfire pizza, precook the sausage, precut all the veggies and toss everything in one ziploc together, use a boboli crust and jar sauce. Got a question for all of you though, have you ever used Reynolds foil bags? We used to find them at the grocery store but not anymore, did they stop making them? I LOVED those bags for cooking on the grill. I make do now with a disposable foil pan and a roll of heavy duty foil. Valerie & Eliot
I have a "pack n go" book called: Camp Cooks Companion by Alan S. Kesselheim. I originally purchased it for the Dutch Oven recipes, but he has some interesting ideas about dehydrating foods, and a practical sense of things that happen when you camp like bad weather and the possibility of being able to rehydrate a meal quickly and easily... I found it very interesting and am looking into it as a camping activity to do over the winter...I would use it the way KMack suggests. Do you believe it is Labor Day almost? Lynn 2006 Pony 283*2008 Liberty* Reserved 2008: 16 days Camped: 4 nights
VNCONN - they stopped making them as far as I know, but there's a guy selling them loose on Ebay. Kate & Keith '99 Logan '02 Ainsley '04 Colin 2005 Honda Pilot <img src=../Images/icons/icon_smile_suv.gif border=0 align=middle> 2006 Fleetwood Utah <img src=../Images/icons/icon_smile_pu.gif border=0 align=middle>
