Camping WAS: Introduction

[Guest guest]

I went camping last fall. We had a cooler that didn't need to stay really cold.

 

Friday, we set up camp and then headed into town for dinner. Dinners were all

at local restaurants.

 

Saturday morning, we had grilled cheese (thick bread and lots of cheese,

assembled at home before the trip) and chunks of melon. We took a container of

hummus and pita triangles plus raw veggie sticks with us when we went hiking.

It made a nice trailside lunch. More fruit chunks for a late afternoon snack.

 

Before bed we took the time to set up raw oatmeal (Rolled oats, raisins,

cinnamon, water). Sunday morning we had the raw oatmeal with freshly opened soy

milk. We still had apples so added chopped apples to the oatmeal.

 

Lunch was pretty much a mix of whatever was left. After we broke camp, we

stopped at another restaurant for dinner before heading home.

 

All of the vegetables were in separate containers, prepared for snacking before

we left home. Carrots, celery, small romaine leaves, and cauliflower. The

melon chunk salad was the same. Whole apples, plums, oranges, and maybe

something else?, were also washed and in containers so that they stacked in the

cooler with everything else. We also had some muffins and cookies for snacks.

Oh and cheese cubes. When there's no meat in the cooler you don't have to worry

about cross contamination.

 

Although this would not make up a typical scout camping meal plan, it could be

adapted to work.

 

If chili is on the menu, my favorite quick chili is made with the following:

(same size cans)

 

2 tbsp oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 can Brooks chili hot beans + 1 can water

1 can diced tomatoes

3 cans other assorted beans, rinsed

1 tbsp chili powder (more if using big cans)

1-1/2 tsp cumin.

 

Saute onion in oil until tender. Add remaining ingredients. Heat slowly and

simmer for 15 minutes or much longer. If this is for the first night's meal,

you could rinse the beans at home before leaving and pack them in containers.

(This is very mild - 1/8 to 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper can be added.)

 

I always use peanut oil when camping because it works well with high heat, but

don't think you should risk that with a mixed group of kids. Someone might have

an allergy you don't know about.

 

Another camping favorite of ours is beans on toast. Vegetarian baked beans

right out of the can, heated by placing the opened can near enough to the fire

to heat very slowly. Spoon over toasted bread on a plate. Or if everything

goes wrong, served cold over untoasted bread. :-)

 

As you can see, we don't wash a lot of dishes when we go camping. The challenge

is to keep the amount of trash we produce to a minimum, which is why we always

take re-usable containers that are rinsed well and thrown back in the cooler

when empty, to be brought home at the end of the trip.

 

 

 

--

Kat_Doyle (@earthlink.net)

[Guest guest]

Veronica wrote:

 

> " One of my favorites from Girl Scouts was when we would take

aluminum foil and make packets with potato wedges, carrots, a little

celery, some onion, and if you like, a veggie burger (Or tofu pups--

they're a lot like hot dogs, but they do cook faster). Dust the

veggies with some Lowry's Seasoning Salt, throw it all on the fire

(you can put it right on the grill), and serve with a bun and lots of

ketchup and mustard. I still make this and most of the food we had at

Scouts was disgusting, so this was a huge improvement! "

 

I concur. Tinfoil packets of veggies were one of our favorites too

in the Boy Scouts. We placed them on the edges of the fire in the

still-hot coals and used sticks with forked ends to char the hotdogs.

 

Veronica also wrote:

 

> " Grilled PB & J is great too. Just make it like regular but fry it

up in a little margarine like you would a grilled cheese. Warning:

all of the non-veg kids will get hooked on this too! It's soooooooo

yummy. "

 

I had a babysitter when I was quite young who would make us

grilled fluffernutter sandwiches (peanut butter and marshmallow

Fluff). Absolute ooey-gooey goodness. For the vegans in the

house, the brandname Fluff has egg whites, but there is a

ricemallow cream that would fit the bill.

 

 

-Erin

www.zenpawn.com/vegblog